Autism Awareness Month

Tuesday April 1 will start Autism Awareness Month. During this month communties all over the United States and local chapters of autism will be holding events to raise awareness and money for research to help the millions of children who are diagnosed daily. Every community is different, but local papers and townships will be able to inform their community on what events are being held during this month. Please get involved so we can find a cure!

The Autism society of America will soon be posting different events that will be happening during the month of April and your local paper will inform you of close events that is open to the public!

Inspirational Stories

The first reaction that many people have when they find out that a loved one is diagnosed with autism is shock, depression, and even denial. Many do not know where to go from there or even how to treat or reacted to that child now. This is a scary thought, yet even worse is when a person does not believe that person will be able to succeed in anything. However, I have found three inspirational stories of people and their loved ones who have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum and who have all found success in different ways.

First there is Jeff a father of four who found out that his twin boys were both autistic.

Then there is Kerry a college freshman who has been battling Autism since he was four.

Lastly, a grandmother, Ruth Elaine, who was diagnosed when she was just 18 months old, even before they truly new what autism was.

Resources

Autsim Society of America. (2008). Retrieved MArch 17, 2008 from http://www.autism-society.org/.

Shocking Statistics

I have come across some startling statistics during my research. The private funding that is given to autism is very minute compared to other child orientated disorders and disabilities. The statistics I found are as shown:

Leukemia affects 1 in 25,000 children and $310 million dollars are given
Muscular Dystrophy affects 1 in 20,000 children and $175 million dollars are given
Pediatric AIDS affects 1 in 8,000 children and $394 million dollars are given
Juvenile Diabetes affects 1 in 500 children and $130 million dollars are given
Autism affects 1 in 150 children and ONLY $15 MILLION dollars are given

There is no cure for Autism and interventions can help these children, but since most insurance will not pay for these therapies and funding is limited, children are put on waiting lists; which can be up to three years before they receive any help. This needs to change and we can all do our part, by donating just one dollar can change a child's life for the better. Early intervention is the key.

If you are interested in donating to help these children in need just visit the Autism Society of America. They are a non- profit organization and all donations help with autism awareness, education, research and most importantly families in need.

Resources

AutismSpeaks. (2008). Facts about Autism. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from http://www.autismspeaks.org/

Treatments

There is no cure for autism and the disorder is so complex that interventions definitely help over time but sadly do not "fix" the disorder.

Therapies and behavioral interventions are designed to help the symptoms and can bring about substantial improvement. According to NINDS, the ideal treatment plan coordinates therapies and interventions that target the core symptoms of autism: impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and obsessive or repetitive routines and interests. The earlier the intervention, the better.

NINDS has broken down the treatment into three categories and suggestions for each. They are as follows: (Take directly from the website)

Educational/behavioral interventions: Therapists use highly structured and intensive skill-oriented training sessions to help children develop social and language skills. Family counseling for the parents and siblings of children with autism often helps families cope with the particular challenges of living with an autistic child.

Medications: Doctors often prescribe an antidepressant medication to handle symptoms of anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anti-psychotic medications are used to treat severe behavioral problems. Seizures can be treated with one or more of the anticonvulsant drugs. Stimulant drugs, such as those used for children with attention deficit disorder (ADD), are sometimes used effectively to help decrease impulsivity and hyperactivity.

Other therapies: There are a number of controversial therapies or interventions available for autistic children, but few, if any, are supported by scientific studies. Parents should use caution before adopting any of these treatments. (These include diet change and therapies such as the Lego therapy.)

Resources

National Institute of Neurological Disorders. (2008). Retrieved MArch 22, 2008 from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/

How Autism is Diagnosed

I have given both the definition of autism and the signs and symptoms that occur with this disability, how I decided that a clearer idea of the process of the diagnoses was an important idea to included within this blog.

Since the disability is usually diagnosed by the age of three, parents observations are one of the main parts of the diagnoses. Once the parents have concluded that something seems wrong with the child they then complete an evaluation with the doctor. This evaluation consists of a list of questions about the child, screening instruments, and doctors observations. If the majority of the questions seem true the doctor will then complete a more thorough and comprehensive evaluation.

However, since Autism is so complex, a comprehensive evaluation requires a multidisciplinary team including a psychologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, speech therapist, and other professionals. The different members will conduct thorough neurological assessments and in-depth cognitive and language testing. A hearing test is also administered because hearing problems can cause behavior and learning delays that can be mistaken for autism. After all the tests are completed the doctors will come up with a diagnoses, contact the parents, and explain their findings from there.

Resources

Autism Society of America. (2008). Diagnoses and Consultation. Retrieved March 18, 2008 from http://www.autism-society.org.

About.com. (2008). Screening and Diagnosis of Autism. Retrieved March 18, 2008 from http://autism.about.com/od/whatisautism/a/screendx.htm

The Autism Advocacy

It seems like no matter the topic, event, or even person, if there is information out there, there will also be an advocacy site accompanying. Since information posted on the Internet is public domain people who create advocacy website can do so whether it is for a good cause or not. As I was conducting research I came along the Autism of America Advocacy website and wanted to share it because this was a sincere and truthful advocacy.

These advocacy has been helping and working with autistic children for over 30 years now and have been able to raise millions of dollars for research and services. As the website states, "Leaders and staff have had success in launching of a number of pieces of legislation aimed at protecting the rights of individuals with autism, legislation mandating education and other services for individuals with autism, bills to raise awareness about autism, and bills appropriating funds for research into the causes of and treatments for autism."

This is a truly amazing advocacy, one out there for a good cause. One that helps. One that succeeds. One that is truthful. And one that needs to be known so these children can be treated, so that they can live the best life possible!

Resources

Autsim Society of America. (2008).Advocacy Efforts. Retrieved MArch 17, 2008 from http://www.autism-society.org.

Signs and Symptoms

Just like how each person develops differently, the signs and symptoms of autism can be just as different. Not one child may have the same signs or symptoms as another, but doctors have concluded that children with autism seem to have difficulties in three areas of developing: social skills, language and behavior. Since the number of children being diagnosed with this disability is increasing, I figured that the one of the first blogs should include the signs of autism; begin where the diagnosis starts.

Children who are diagnosed as Autistic develop at an average rate for the first couple months of their lives. It may not be until they are about a year in a half old before signs and symptoms begin to show. Autistic children become less responsive to all people including those who are extremely closer to them, such as mom and dad. From there signs have been divided into three categories. This is the actually list from a Children’s Health article from MayoClinic.com.
Social skills include:

-Fails to respond to his or her name
-Has poor eye contact
-Appears not to hear you at times
-Resists cuddling and holding
-Appears unaware of others' feelings
-Seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her "own world"

Language:

-Starts talking later than other children
-Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences
-Does not make eye contact when making requests
-Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm- may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech
-Can't start a conversation or keep one going
-May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn't understand how to use them

Behavior:

-Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping
-Develops specific routines or rituals
-Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals
-Moves constantly
-May be fascinated by parts of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car
-May be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch

*Signs and Symptoms may vary and all children may not experience these. Additional symptoms can occur.

Resources

MayoClinic. (2008). Autism Signs and Symptoms. Retrieved March 13, 2008 from http://www.mayoclinic.com.

Myths

Just like any other disability, myths are floating all around. With the internet being public domain it is hard to find what is fact and what is fiction. In into society the first place people run to find information is online. And people, who do not know a lot about a topic seem to assume these different ideas because of what they have heard, believe a movie that they saw, or find falsehood on different websites.

So I decided to find the common myths about autism that are floating around. The website About.com has actually found seven common myths and has explained why each is false. There are definitely more, but the seven most common myths seem to be:

1. Autistic people are all alike
2. Autistic people don’t have feelings
3. Autistic people don’t build relationships
4. Autistic people are a danger to society
5. All autistic people are savants
6. Autistic people have no language skills
7. Autistic people can’t to much of anything

All of these seem extremely harsh and degrading; however, people who do not know what is fact and fiction may truly believe this. So let’s put these myths to rest. These are ALL FALSE!

Rudy, J. (2008). About.com. Autism Myths. Retrieved March 11, 2008 from http://www.autism.about.com/.

Interesting Article from the Philadelphia Inquire

So I was reading the Philadelphia Inquire yesterday morning and on the front page there was an article titled “Building Blocks in Autism Therapy”. I figured what a perfect article to read and it was so interesting that I wanted to share it with you. There is a doctor by the name of Daniel Legoff who is a pediatric neurophysiologist. About 15 years ago he went to Honolulu for post- doctoral training and realized that his autistic patients, who were very isolated and quiet, ignored all the toys except for legos. Furthermore, the children began talking and playing with the legos with each other.

As the article states, “A hallmark of autism is an obsessive dedication to one to two interests or activities- typically involving taxonomies, mechanical systems, and hierarchies.” He found this amazing and soon after developed the “Lego Club”.

The Lego Club is a Social Development Therapy that helps mildly autistic children develop social skills and helps them make friends. The children are divided up into groups of three and each child is given a job: the designer, the builder, and the supplier. The children build and create different figures and then put on a skit with their creation. The parents whose children are involved love the therapy; one mother says “I have seen growth. This has helped him get a group of friends where he fits in. It’s built his self-esteem.”

This therapy session has three trained adult leaders who help then learn to interact and communicate socially. This session costs $45 and there are some downfalls, according to the article, that include: it is more difficult and expensive, not suitable for severely autistic children, and it is not based on any particular theory of what is wrong in the autism brain. Yet, since no discovery has been made to why or how autism occurs, this still seems like a great therapy to help the children become socially interactive. Even principal Matthew Sharp says, “When a child has a birthday now he has friends to invite.”

Resources

McCullough, M. (15 March 2008). The Philadelphia Inquirer. Building blocks in autism therapy.

Definition of Autism

For those out there who have heard of Autism, but do not know exactly what it is I am going to explain it. I have been doing a lot of research and with all the materials that I have complied and have put together this definition:

Autism is a developmental disorder that affects 1 in 150 children by impairing their social interaction, problems with verbal and non verbal communication and repetitive behaviors that can lead to obsessive interests (National Institute for Neurology). Children that are diagnosed with Autism are usually diagnosed between the ages of 18 months to three years. These children start developing at the average rate and slowly begin to dwindle or regress. Parents or caregivers are the first to notice the changes which will lead to an extensive line of tests and specialists who will conclude whether the child is Autistic. Sadly, there is no cure, but when caught at early age it is definitely treatable. There is no link to this disorder having any racial or cultural connections, yet no one really knows what causes it. The one true statistic that has been found is that boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed than girls.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the definition of autism can visit the following websites:

Kids Health

Autsim Society of America

Resources

National Institute of Neurological Disorders. (2008). Retrieved MArch 11, 2008 from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/

Introduction

Hello, my name is Heather and I am currently a senior at Rowan University. I am receiving my Bachlor in a dual major, Elementary Education and Writing Arts and plan to get my Special Education Certification. For my Writing, Research and Technology class I had to make and maintain a blog. This is something that I have never done before and I am extremely excited about.

We had to chose a topic of interest and from there create an informational and educational blog regarding that topic. My topic, Autism. I have always been extremely interested in this disability and can not wait to further investigate so I can post my findings. I will be pulling information from all sorts of texts while incorporating personal stories from families that are impacted by this learning disability.

My dream is to work with Autism and children that are affected by it while giving support so a cure can be found. I hope that you enjoy this site as much as I plan to enjoy it! Lastly, any personal stories that you would like to share, I would love to hear!