Puzzle Pretzels made by Bachman
Bachman is an active supporter of Autism Speaks. They are donating 5% of the proceeds from the purchase of this product to Autism Speak.
Deanna Ballard and TV production specialist Todd Wise have developed a new series of educational DVDs called My World Learning. Featuring regular children as well as animated figures, the videos meticulously introduce basic concepts to children with learning delays. What makes these DVDs unique is how the video moves at a far slower pace & has more repetition than your typical children’s DVDs.
He Doesn’t LOOK Autistic….
A seminar I attended (at RESA) over the summer had a great diagram explaining children with Autism. I am putting it on here for a few reasons.
1. To show that Autism is a Spectrum for a reason…no 2 children are alike.
2. Just because a child doesn’t LOOK Autistic doesn’t mean he isn’t on the spectrum. That is why it is a spectrum. There are varying degrees of severity.
3. A child doesn’t have to have ALL signs to be on the spectrum. There is a scale doctors go by. A child must have a certain amount of symptoms in different areas to be on the spectrum.
Here is their example.
Student A
- Is in 5th grade
- Loves playing baseball and watching movies
- Has a dog he takes care of on his own
- Does homework for 30 minutes a night
- Enjoys socializing with people
- Lives with his mom during the week and dad on weekends
- Likes to listen to music and play the computer
- Wants to be a baseball player when he grows up
Student B
- He has Autism and moderate mental retardation
- He can read basic sight words
- He cannot add without using a calculator or a number line
- He doesn’t know the values of coins and can’t tie his shoes
- He gets lost in the school if he does not have someone to follow
- He is easily frustrated
- He can be aggressive towards other people at times
Student AB
- Is in 5th grade
- Loves playing baseball and watching movies
- Has a dog he takes care of on his own
- Does homework for 30 minutes a night
- Enjoys socializing with people
- Lives with his mom during the week and dad on weekends
- Likes to listen to music and play the computer
- Wants to be a baseball player when he grows up
- He has Autism and moderate mental retardation
- He can read basic sight words
- He cannot add without using a calculator or a number line
- He doesn’t know the values of coins and can’t tie his shoes
- He gets lost in the school if he does not have someone to follow
- He is easily frustrated
- He can be aggressive towards other people at times
(end of example)
Student A and student B CAN be and often is the same student. Autism (of any level) is not noticeable through facial features. It is noticeable through behaviors the child exhibits. Please do not try and diagnose a child you have little or no contact with simply because he
doesn’t LOOK a certain way. With early intervention, whether it be Occupational therapy, Behavior therapy, Social stories, medication, or a combination of all (and others I didn’t list), children with Autism are often able to overcome behaviors that prohibit them from doing
something they can’t do properly.
Autism is a lifelong disability, and there is no cure. Although behaviors often get better, help is usually still needed to ensure behaviors don’t come back. Or if they do return, to work on them immediately.
A lot of children with Autism have difficulties in public places, especially those that are crowded and they don’t know the people. These times are often the hardest on a child with Autism. Please remember this the next time you see a child “misbehaving” in public.
Instead of criticizing and degrading that child, or his parent or guardian, ask to help. You never know the reason that child is misbehaving and what is going on in his or her (or her parents) head.
Children can come a long way with help. A child can go from little or no speech, no eye contact, no communication skills, no social interaction, etc. at age 4, to a child who loves to play with friends, gives eye contact, enjoys being around others, and even speaks for the first time at age 5. That doesn’t mean that same child doesn’t still have concerns to be dealt with. Autism is more the the visual. A lot of the children have no understanding of safety or fear, weird phobias, extreme sensory issues, and “abnormal” behaviors such as
rocking or body movements, need for repetition, etc…things you won’t necessarily see all the time from a child with Autism.
Like they say, “People who have met 1 child with Autism have met 1 child with Autism”.
Please educate yourself and understand. Don’t criticize. Every child is special and unique. Its important to see them for what they can do and can accomplish. Let’s focus on the positive, not what some consider the negative.
There may be no greater challenge facing public schools today than the staggering increase in children diagnosed with autism.
