Here's a beautiful story of an individual explaining what it is like to have a brother with autism. Watch and share their inspiring story.
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Tuesday, 23 July 2013
10 Famous People With Autism
10. Albert Einstein
One notable person who deserves a place on our list of 10 famous people with autism is Albert Einstein. He was not able to read early in his childhood. He had difficulty in social situations and had lots of learning difficulties in school. He did not care much about how he looked or dressed or what he ate. His difficulties in school can probably be traced to the fact that there were no teaching techniques for autistics when he was young so he had no skills to learn the pattern that was taught then. Einstein’s almost un-natural focus on his work early in life led him to outdistance everyone in his study of physics and the development of his mathematical breakthroughs and the theory of relativity.
9. Amadeus Mozart
Amadeus Mozart one of the most gifted of composers in musical history may have been autistic. He had great difficulty negotiating normal social situations. His hearing was very sensitive and loud noises made him physically ill. He constantly was observed making facial expressions and was always actively moving his feet and his hands. He was literally unable to carry on an intellectual conversation. It is said that one day he became bored and jumped over tables in the room and meowed like a cat while doing somersaults. His overachieving genius in the field of music far outdistanced his contemporaries and was off the scale in the depth and enormity of his work.
8. Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton was not very adept at social small talk or even conversations that most people would have. He many times forgot to eat because he was so focused on his work. He was not ever able to make any close associations with people because he apparently did not know how, nor was he interested at all in people. He relied a great deal on routines, which he used to order his life. For example if he were scheduled to present a lecture, the lecture would occur even if there were no one present to hear it. Of course Newton became one of most famous and renowned physicists in history.
7. Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin was as a child very solitary. As he grew he avoided contact with people, preferring to write letter rather than communicate directly. He eventually focused on things and gadgets. His nearly total focus on natural items led to this theory of evolution, which occupied almost all of his time. He was very fixated and was a visual thinker, a trait common to autistics.
6. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was shy, did not like public speaking, and did not relate with other people well. He was very eccentric and would attend important meetings wearing slippers always with a mocking bird sitting on his shoulder. His obsession with writing letters and a passion for always remodelling his home are autistic characteristics. He also had difficulty with finances and died having considerable debts. His genius and focus gave us the third presidency of the United States, Declaration of Independence, and the Louisiana Purchase.
5. Michelangelo
Michelangelo had genius as an artist that ranged far beyond genius and may have been a symptom of an autistic person. He would become lost in his work to the detriment of eating and caring for his personal hygiene. He had no real feel for relationships with people and was very brusque and rude at times. He was very obsessive and followed very strict routines and regimentation. The result of his work such as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Pieta has graced the rest of us mightily.
4. Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll, author of Alice In Wonderland was a person who had a severe lack of social skills. He was very skilled in mathematics and was a minor inventor. He did not interact well with adults, but enjoyed the company of children instead. His writings took us to strange, mythical places that only his imagination could concoct.
3. Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen was known for his fairy tales for children such as the “Ugly Duckling” and “The Little Mermaid”. As a child he was awkward and had difficulty socially. He had difficulty cultivating any social skills and was fixated upon his writing. He exhibited signs of deep inner turmoil, which is reflected, in his writing.
2. James Joyce
James Joyce was an author noted for the difficulty that readers had in negotiating his works such as “Ulysses” and “Finnegan’s Wake”. He was extremely intelligent had had strange habits and phobias. He was very self-centred and exhibited a certain disdain for others. Critics claimed that is writings were made purposely difficult in order to maintain a certain distance between him and his readers. His difficulty of maintaining any close relationships and fanatic focus on his work were autistic in nature.
1. Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was an inventor and engineer noted for his expertise in electricity and energy. His intelligence and knowledge is said to have far surpassed Thomas Edison who is said to have “borrowed” some of Tesla’s ideas. Tesla was very eccentric and did associate well with people. He maintained his celibacy and would not enter a room if the room number was not divisible by 3. He was a recluse totally focused on his work and had many autistic behavioural patterns.
While there are certainly many more famous people who were probably autistic and deserve a place on the 10 famous people with autism list, this is a good cross section of people that illustrate some of the classic autistic behaviours, yet had unique genius which contributed mightily to the world around them and the world in general.
Thursday, 18 July 2013
Something To Ponder On...
Below is an interesting article on a study that was conducted by the University of Missouri School of Medicine on whether children with autism have distinct facial features. The results prove to be quite intriguing. Take a read below:
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Children with autism have distinct facial features: Study
(CBS) Scientists may not agree on what causes autism, but a new study that looked at kids' facial characteristics might help researchers understand the origins of the developmental disorder.
The study found that children with autism have distinct differences in facial characteristics than typically developing children.
"There is no clear answer about whether autism is caused by genetics or by environmental influences," study author Dr. Kristina Aldridge, assistant professor of anatomy at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, said in a written statement. "If we can identify when these facial changes occur, we could pinpoint when autism may begin to develop in a child."
For the study - published in the Oct. 14 issue of Molecular Autism - researchers compared facial features in 64 boys with autism with faces of 41 typically developing boys, all 8-12 years old, with a 3-D camera system. After mapping out 17 points on faces, the researchers found significant differences between the two groups.
The study found children with autism had wider eyes, and a "broader upper face," compared with typically developing children. According to the study, children with autism also had a shorter middle region of the face - including the nose and cheeks - as well as a wider mouth and philtrum, the divot above the lip and below the nose.
The study also found that children with more severe autism traits such as behavioral problems, language difficulties, and repetitive behaviors had distinct facial differences from other children with milder autism.
Aldridge said finding out when these changes occur will enable researchers to focus on finding the disorders' underlying causes.
"Knowing that point in time could lead us to identify a genetic cause, a window of time when the embryo may be susceptible to an environmental factor, or both," she said.
One out of every 110 children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). People with an ASD may experience difficulties with social interaction, communication, intelligence, or behavior.
The CDC has more information on autism.
Click here for another article that also supports this study.
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Changes In The DSM-V
One of the most important changes in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The revised diagnosis represents a new, more accurate, and medically and scientifically useful way of diagnosing individuals with autism-related disorders.
Using DSM-IV, patients could be diagnosed with four separate disorders: autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, or the catch-all diagnosis of pervasive developmental dis- order not otherwise specified. Researchers found that these separate diagnoses were not consistently applied across different clinics and treatment centers. Anyone diagnosed with one of the four pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) from DSM-IV should still meet the criteria for ASD in DSM-5 or another, more accurate DSM-5 diagnosis. While DSM does not outline recommended treatment and services for mental disorders, determining an accurate diagnosis is a first step for a clinician in defining a treatment plan for a patient.
The Neurodevelopmental Work Group, led by Susan Swedo, MD, senior investigator at the National Institute of Mental Health, recommended the DSM-5 criteria for ASD to be a better reflection of the state of knowledge about autism. The Work Group believes a single umbrella disorder will improve the diagnosis of ASD without limiting the sensitivity of the criteria, or substantially changing the number of children being diagnosed.
People with ASD tend to have communication deficits, such as responding inappropriately in conversa- tions, misreading nonverbal interactions, or having difficulty building friendships appropriate to their age. In addition, people with ASD may be overly dependent on routines, highly sensitive to changes in their environment, or intensely focused on inappropriate items. Again, the symptoms of people with ASD will fall on a continuum, with some individuals showing mild symptoms and others having much more severe symptoms. This spectrum will allow clinicians to account for the variations in symptoms and behaviors from person to person.
Under the DSM-5 criteria, individuals with ASD must show symptoms from early childhood, even if those symptoms are not recognized until later. This criteria change encourages earlier diagnosis of ASD but also allows people whose symptoms may not be fully recognized until social demands exceed their capacity to receive the diagnosis. It is an important change from DSM-IV criteria, which was geared toward identifying school-aged children with autism-related disorders, but not as useful in diagnosing younger children.
The DSM-5 criteria were tested in real-life clinical settings as part of DSM-5 field trials, and analysis from that testing indicated that there will be no significant changes in the prevalence of the disorder. More recently, the largest and most up-to-date study, published by Huerta, et al, in the October 2012 issue of American Journal of Psychiatry, provided the most comprehensive assessment of the DSM-5 criteria for ASD based on symptom extraction from previously collected data. The study found that DSM-5 criteria identified 91 percent of children with clinical DSM-IV PDD diagnoses, suggesting that most children with DSM-IV PDD diagnoses will retain their diagnosis of ASD using the new criteria. Several other studies, using various methodologies, have been inconsistent in their findings.
DSM is the manual used by clinicians and researchers to diagnose and classify mental disorders. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) will publish DSM-5 in 2013, culminating a 14-year revision process.
APA is a national medical specialty society whose more than 36,000 physician members specialize in the diagnosis, treat- ment, prevention and research of mental illnesses, including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at www.psychiatry.org. For more information, please contact Eve Herold at 703-907-8640 or press@psych.org.
© 2013 American Psychiatric Association
Taken from: http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Permata Kurnia
Permata Kurnia, a centre to be opened in 2015 for about 100 children with autism, is currently looking for the best approach in handling children with autism. Recently its patron, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, visited the Tree House School in Muswell Hill in London, which uses ABA as their form of approach. Take a read of the article below:
Permata Kurnia to help kids with mild autism
LONDON: Permata Kurnia – to be opened in 2015 in Sentul – will help educate and train about 100 children with mild autism.
The working committee for the Permata Kurnia programme is looking into getting the best technique for its learning and education programme for autistic children.
“It has to be the best method and approach taken and we have to get it right (from the onset),” said Permata Negara patron Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor after visiting the Tree House School in Muswell Hill in London, which is a special school for children aged three to 19 diagnosed with autism.
“I am definitely impressed with what I have seen at the Tree House. We are still in the midst of finding out what is the best technique.
“It can either be an American or British method, or even a combination of both,” she said.
Rosmah had in 2010 visited the Ivymount School in the United States where music is used to help children understand their lessons better.
The Permata Kurnia centre, which is a new programme under Permata Negara, will help teach autistic children and address the problems faced by them.
Full article can be found here: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/07/04/Permata-Kurnia-to-help-kids-with-mild-autism.aspx
Click here for a related article.
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Using Visuals To Teach Individuals with Autism
Here's a short video clip showing the power of using visual tools when we teach our kids with autism. Visuals in the form of learning, tokens and reinforcement are used as they can be easier for our kids to understand rather than using spoken language. Watch this video to learn how visuals can be used:
Taken from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO6dc7QSQb4
Thursday, 4 July 2013
Follow The Leader
Have you heard of the Hanen Centre? It is a Canadian non-profit charitable organization aimed at helping parents, early childhood educators and speech-language pathologists promote language skills, social skills and literacy skills in young children.
Here's an intriguing article written by their Clinical Staff Writer on the importance and power of imitating children with autism. Who knew so much could be done following our child's lead. Take a read!
If you have a child with autism spectrum disorder, you may find it difficult to
join in with him when he’s playing, or to catch his attention when you want to
show him something. But when you “follow the leader” by imitating or copying
your child, you will discover an easy way to connect with him and get him to
notice you.
If you’ve ever played “Follow the Leader” as a child, you’ll remember that
one person is the leader, and the others follow along, copying whatever the
leader does. You can do the same thing with your child at home, copying his
actions, movements, and sounds.
There are many advantages to imitating young children with ASD:
- Your child chooses the activity – because you imitate something that your child is already doing, he is naturally motivated by that toy or activity. Children are more likely to interact when they pick the activity themselves.
- You and your child share the same focus – when you are both doing the same thing, it is easier for your child to pay attention to both you and the activity.
- It helps your child notice you and look at you – when you do exactly the same thing that your child does, it encourages your child to look at what you are doing. Studies have shown that when children with ASD are imitated, they look at the adult more than if the adult plays with them without imitating (1,2).
- It promotes other social skills – besides encouraging children to look at the person imitating them, children with ASD have also been observed to vocalize, smile, play, sit closer, and touch the adult imitating them (2).
- It encourages your child to lead – when your child notices that you are copying him, it might encourage him to perform new actions or try new things in an attempt to get you to copy him again.
- It encourages your child to imitate you - imitating others is a particular area of difficulty for children with ASD (3). The ability to imitate is linked to other skills such as language, and it also helps children learn through observing others (4). Therefore, helping your child to imitate you is an important goal. When you imitate your child, he may notice what you are doing and start to imitate you back.
To read the full article, click here.
Written by Lauren Lowry, Hanen Certified SLP and Clinical Staff Writer
Tuesday, 2 July 2013
As bad as things can get when you have autism, they can get better too!
"In 99% of cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's
what autism is."
All I can say is thank goodness most people don't think like that. I was
diagnosed with Asperger syndrome when I was nine. I don't remember much about my
childhood - I feel left out when my friends talked about how fun school was
during reception class.
The only real memory I have of it is hiding under a table, feeling really
stressed out. Most of primary school was distressing and all I remember is that
I really hated it. I really couldn't deal with being in a classroom with other
people all day, when all I wanted was to be alone. I didn't know how to talk to
people or make friends and being close to others made me very uncomfortable.
I began to run out of class to be alone, which was so much easier and much
more fun. I loved to pace up and down for hours on end if I could and in fact, I
still do that nearly every day, whilst listening to my iPod. However, back then
if people tried to bring me back into class again I kicked and hit out.
I don't remember being diagnosed, but the result was that I got a full time
helper to avoid being excluded. Mrs N. was amazing. She soon became the person I
was closest to at school. She was firm, but very kind and funny, and I miss her
a lot. I would never have managed primary school without her.
However, things did slowly change for the better. I was told I would get a
Gameboy if I didn't run out of class for the whole six weeks leading up to
Christmas. It was really hard to do, and I needed Mrs N. every step of the way,
but I managed.
People began to wonder about secondary school. My mum and dad thought about a
special school but decided against it. So we went round lots of local schools. I
hated some because they were so big and noisy. One school told my mum that
because I had a statement I would be in the front door if I wanted - but that
they would have me out the back door as quickly as they could. Knowing that
hurts even now, years afterwards.
Although we looked around many schools I already knew where I wanted to go.
My school is all girls, small and really friendly. I fit in and have a group of
eight friends, but I get on well with nearly everyone in my class. I only had
two friends in primary school. I am doing really well with my lessons and I'm
expected A*’s in all my GCSE's.
I'm looking forward to being more independent, starting sixth form and
learning to drive. Living on my own will be hard because I find it
very difficult to fill in forms or make telephone calls- I had to phone the bank
recently and when the man came on the phone I panicked and couldn't say a word!
I'm sure I will manage these things eventually with help from my parents.
Some people at school still don't know 'about me'. Until quite recently I guess
I felt ashamed of being different, afraid of people's reactions. They wonder
about that time in year eight when I screamed and hit out, they wonder why I
have two helpers, and I'm sure they wonder why I put on my iPod sometimes,
screen everyone out and pace up and down the room.
But they don't ask about it and I'm pleased they don't. I feel comfortable
enough around my class to pace in front of them when I need to. My friends don't
care - to them that is part of what makes me 'Ellie'. Other than that, you
probably couldn't tell anything about me was out of the ordinary if you met me.
Eye contact is difficult and although I like going to the cinema on my own,
if a stranger sits next to me I panic and want to leave. But I have learned that
if I stay, I will eventually get so absorbed by the movie that I’ll simply
forget they’re there!
A while back I made a big step and decided by myself to go to some mock job
interviews to help with eye contact etc. I was shaking when it was time to go in
but I did it and my feedback was really good! My interviewers certainly hadn't
noticed anything different about me.
I don't like my routines being disrupted and it will be difficult to
transition to the sixth form, but I know I will soon settle down and I am sure I
will like it - in fact I am looking forward to it!
My own story has taught me that as bad as things can get when you have
autism, they can get better too - just never give up! It upsets me when people
who know nothing about autism say it would be good if there was medication for
all people with it. I don't want a 'cure' or any 'treatment' whatsoever.
I couldn't imagine being 'normal' and far from being ashamed of being
different, now I can confidently say I'M AN ASPIE AND I AM GLAD I AM.
By Ellie
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