Something to Think About

Always
Unique
Totally
Interesting
Sometimes
Mysterious


Acceptance, Tolerance,
Compassion, Patience.



~Keep on Dreaming~

So Many Pieces

Here we are back on track again.

How do you communicate?
When you were small how
did you convey your wants
and needs?

Did you use--
Gestures/pointing
Facial Expressions/
eye to eye contact
How about verbalization-
Did you ask for things?


Imagine a world where you
have no clue how to communicate 
with others or how to express your
wants and needs.

Now imagine how frustrating
that can be. This is the world
of a child or individual
with Autism.

These are not skills that
children / individuals with
Autism have. They struggle
with these throughout their
lifetime.

Patience, patience, patience
is the mantra here.

As we see in all the
Autism logos--It is a puzzle.

For more information on
Autism
Google Autism or
www.autismspeaks.org 

~Keep on Dreaming~

It's a Puzzle

April is Autism Awareness Month.
Last Tuesday's post was about what
Autism is.

Gayle at Garden of Daisies asked
why boys are more affected than
girls. I checked into this and found
many theories on this topic but the
one I agree with and found mentioned
many times was that the *gene or genes
for autism are located on the X chromo-
zome. Girls inherit X chromosomes from
both parents, but boys only only inherit
one from their mothers. For girls--it is
thought that the X from the Father is
"protected" thus making girls less
likely to develop the condition than
boys.* There is more to this but I'm
going to stop with this it could get long
and drawn out and I am not a scientist. 
(If you would like to know more-check
your friend Google)
*Info from the internet

Last Tuesday I mentioned  three areas
that are affected by Autism.

Today we will touch on:
Verbal and Nonverbal
Communication
Communication issues vary from
individual to individual. Some may
have a delay in expressive language
and some may never develop
meaningful speech.
Their language can seem rote
or scripted, repetitive, or lacking
meaning--talking about something
that does not relate to "right now."
Most do not use gestures or give
any indication of their wants and
needs. This is where our "Sherlock
Holmes" skills come into play. We
learn to "read our kids.
Most do not have the ability
to carry on a verbal conservation.

In my class I have three boys
with Autism, two who are
nonverbal, they are able to
follow directions with lots
of verbal prompting and
gestures that we do. My boys
do not do a lot of gestures on
their own but we are making
baby steps in that area.
We have communication devices
for the kids to use and they are
their voices. These are very
helpful during "meltdowns" due
to frustration becasue they can't
say what they want or what the
problem might be.

Our third student has limited
language. He does gesture and
most of the time we can satisify
his wants and needs. Some of
what he says is "his own
language", and we have to
pick up his meaning for things.
example: Cheerios are Yoyos.

I would say that having a lack of
speech or limited speech is one of
the most frustrating things these
individauls deal with. My students
would agree with this.

Next time we will touch on
Social Interaction.

~Keep on Dreaming~

It's a Puzzle

April is Autism Awareness Month
and several of my posts this month
will be about this puzzling disorder.
(Hence the puzzle logo)

This subject is near and dear
to my heart because so many
of "my kids" (aka: my students)
have to deal with this on a daily
basis as do their families.
When I started in the field of
Special Ed many years ago,
Autism was fairly unknown
today it is a very prevalent
disorder.

What  is Autism?

It is described as a complex
disorder of early brain
development.
The most obvious signs and
symptoms of Autism are seen
around the ages of two and
three with varying degrees of
the disorder.

Areas affected are:

Social Interaction
Verbal and nonverbal
communication
Repetitive Behaviors


According to statistics:

1 in 88 American children
are diagnosed with Autism.
This is a ten fold increase
in prevalance in 40 years.

Studies also show that boys
are 4 to 5 times more affected
than girls. An estimated 1 in
54 boys and 1 in 252 girls
are diagnosed with Autism.

The increase of those diagnosed
is due to improved treatment
and awareness.


My goal for these post is to give
you a peek into a window that you
may or may not have looked in.

~Keep on Dreaming~