My Child Has Been Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - What Do I Do Now?

Once your child has been diagnosed with ASD, begin researching best practices for effective learning. Autism is a lifelong disability, however, research indicates early intervention using the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) can make significant changes in your child's ability to learn and meet his or her potential. ABA therapy is one of many programs available however, when researching different programs, talk to other parents who have gone through the program, examine data, and research the professionals in the program's credentials as a therapist. Be cautious of programs offering "cures" or "recovery" as autism is a lifelong challenge and effective means to prevent or cure autism do not exist at this time.

Although most public schools do not offer the intense ABA therapy needed for a child diagnosed with autism, there are many private agencies or professionals that can help develop an appropriate program to meet your child's individual needs. The most important step for a parent is to make sure the professional you choose is licensed by the state in which you live and or is a board certified behavior analyst with experience in working with children on the spectrum.

Programs should be individualized, use positive reinforcement strategies and increase wanted behaviors while decreasing unwanted behaviors. The philosophy of applied behavior analysis is to look at the function of a behavior. For instance, if your child screams every time you run water for a bath, then you either postpone the bath or skip the bath, the function of the screaming is to avoid a bath. By giving in and delaying or skipping the bath, the parent is then reinforcing the escape and avoidance behavior. At the same time, screaming can also mean something different when it occurs when a child wants a cookie and the parent says no. If the parent gives the child a cookie to stop the screaming, the behavior has been reinforced again, thus guaranteeing the behavior will be repeated again in the future because it worked for the child; he got what he wanted.

Parents should be involved in the development of the plan and asked what they would like to see their child learn in the process. Be thinking of what is most important to you, your child and family. Therapy should be preformed 20-30 hours per week even with children as young as 3 years. Early intervention and intensity are keys to success with someone diagnosed with ASD.

Kerri Duncan has been supporting families with children diagnosed with autism. She aims to increase awareness and educate those involved in the lives of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you need more information and support, click here to see how she can help you and your child reach a brighter tomorrow.

For more information contact Kerri Duncan, Ed.D., BCaBA at 417.860.7640 or at http://www.facebook.com/hart4autism

Original article

Asperger's And Transitions

Transitions are often a major challenge for those with Asperger's. I witness this first hand with my nine year old son and see the amount of stress and anxiety he endures when he faces change. For example, this past Christmas break he enjoyed two quiet weeks at home mainly playing with his new toys, one play date, and a couple of family gatherings. For the most part his social interactions were limited and kept to small groups or one on ones. All of this came to an end after the first week of January and he returned back to school. The transition back to school was difficult for him and resulted in a minor melt-down. His senses were on overload, especially his audio with frequent requests to turn the car radio off that was barely loud enough to hear in the first place. His stomach was unsettled for a good week as well. His teacher commented that the first week back was a struggle for him. He had had great success at school with regards to his social development for the month of December. I guess two steps forward and one step back in this case. Most of us do not like change, but for those with Asperger's Syndrome that can be a huge understatement. I guess the final message I am trying to drive home is firstly, anticipate the struggle your child/student may have when a transition is ahead. Give them lot's of warnings and instructions for the forthcoming change. Show some compassion and understanding for this period as you know it is only temporary as your child/student adapts to the new routine. Half way through the second week back to school things seemed to have balanced out and my son appears to have settled back into his school routine and all the social challenges involved for a child with Asperger's syndrome. Transitions can be events like the one I mentioned above to less complex situations such as changing class rooms for the next subject at school. It's important to remember, the actions of one child with Asperger's will seldom be the same for the next Asperger child as many will handle transitions differently than others.

Some strategies you can adopt to help your child/student with Asperger's syndrome and coping with transitions include:

Lot's of warnings about the upcoming change.You could act out or role play the upcoming event.Visual aids such as a daily schedule at the child's desk.A timer so they can countdown and prepare for the next event.

For more tips and information on helping your child or student with Asperger's Syndrome you can visit http://www.understandingaspergers.ca/

Original article

Autism and Tactile Stimulation: Use It to Your Advantage!

You're doing every thing you are supposed to be doing according to all of the specialists. Your loved one, or student, has a disorder on the Autism Spectrum and you feel like you are simply treading water. You have tried to create structure. You have visual schedules, charts, and communication boards. Nothing seems to be working. They seem to be constantly seeking out stimulation of touch, or feel.

If this is your case then there are some things you can do to use this to your advantage. Since our skin is so sensitive and such a huge part of our sensory system, with Autism this is either amplified by ten or diminished by ten. The stimulation is so rewarding to them it can consume their world. I once worked with an individual who would have spent his entire day standing at the kitchen faucet. He would stand there just running his hand underneath the water, and flicking the stream. You can use this behavior, with a little earnestness on your part. Instead of fighting it completely. Put "water time" into the day's routine. Put into the schedule designated times that they can retreat into their autism. This will allow them to decompress after the demands you have been placing on them prior. Make sure that it is a set length of time. Try setting a timer, and let them know when the timer goes off it is time to move on to the next activity. You might be surprised how well the person responds, when they know that they will get their sensory time. You can try and use it as a reward system that they can earn, but(depending on the person) this may backfire the first time they don't earn their time.

You may now be asking "How can I put this into their schedule, when I can't get them to follow a schedule?". This is a very valid point. If you are using a picture schedule and not having much success then I have a suggestion for you. Try attaching small pieces of different textured materials to each picture. Use many different types of materials, but make them all feel different. Try things like felt,different grades of sand papers, and various fabrics. Just put a different material on each activity. If an activity is repeated during the day, use the same material for both. When it is time for that activity have the person touch the material as you tell them what they will be doing. They will also see the picture. The material will serve two purposes. The first is that it will slightly satisfy their need for stimulation. This should allow them to focus on what you are saying, or what they are seeing. The second is if they can't focus on anything else, then they will begin to associate the activity with the feel on the schedule.

I have used both of these ideas with great success in real life situations. I know that everyone is different, but give them a try. You might be surprised by the results.

I have been working in the field of intellectual disabilities for twenty years. I have seen a lot of what works and what doesn't. I try to keep abreast of what is new and good in the field. I have more tried and true resources on my website at http://autismspectrumresources.blogspot.com/

Original article

Sensitivity to Lights and Sounds in Vehicles

Children with sensory integration disorder or sensitivities to light and sound, can resist going out for a walk, playing on the playground, and even going for a ride in the car. Sensory integration disorder is when the brain doesn't understand the information it is receiving from the senses and misinterprets it.

When a child is sensitive to the brightness of light or sound that it is either too loud or high-pitched, they may overreact and exhibit a variety of behavioral challenges, such as crying, screaming, having headaches or stomachaches. As onlookers, we interpret this child as being temperamental or having a bad day. The way the parents respond, if they are not aware of this sensitivity, is to do a number of things to calm or stop the child's behavior. Most people have not heard of sensory integration disorder, although it is on the rise, primarily due to the frequency of diagnosis and quantity of people having the same or similar sensory issues.

Sensory integration disorder can coexist with Autism spectrum disorders, other learning disabilities or disorders. The book, "The Out of Sync Child," by Carol Stock Kranowitz, discusses and explains what this disorder is and how to adjust events in your child's life so that your child can be more comfortable. Checklists on the web do not fully understand the disorder, and try to attest their validity by making blanket statements, with black and white conclusions. Many children exhibit sensory issues, but parents and therapists may not recognize all the symptoms. Symptoms may occur one day and not the next two days or new ones may surface. Some days a child may be overly sensitive to sound or light, and other days they may be under sensitive.

Some children are okay with having sunglasses on, to protect their eyes from the light. Those who do not like to have things on their face or who are too young to wear eye protection, can typically shield their eyes with a hood or cover. Vehicles that have darkly tinted windows in the backseat are perfect for these children. Some people find that tires that do not have a specific expiration mileage will produce more sound and noise than tires that that last for just 50,000 or 100,000 miles, for example. These types of tires are firmer due to the amount of rubber that is spun tighter around the tire.

Some of the newer vehicles, have features that auto adjust mirrors so light is either reflected or muted and won't glare or bounce off other reflective objects in the car. Additionally, there are muted colored lights throughout the car that given an amber, blue or red glow to light the console or dashboard.

If you are unable to purchase a newer vehicle, there are ways to adjust the interior of your car to reduce the glare or brightness. Private investigators use black curtains hung near or around the windows to prevent the light from glaring in. The same curtain can be used to hang from the inside of the car's window, using the window to hold it up. Using white noise machines, video games, or soft music helps with irritating or aversive sounds.

Observe your child's behavior on a daily basis to see how or if the amount of light is bothersome. Ask your child questions and help them become more comfortable. Traveling in a car with your child in car can be a pleasant experience; most importantly, it needs to be safe so the driver is not distracted and the passengers are safe.

Julie Callicutt is the owner of Ferko Therapeutic Group, a company specializing in providing intensive rehabilitation therapy to children with disabilities, specifically those on the Autism Spectrum. Julie's services include 1:1 intensive therapy, coaching/mentoring of caregivers and making herself available to speak at local and national early childhood conferences. If you would like more information, please visit, http://www.ferkotherapy.com/.

Original article

How Can You Help Your Autistic Child Create Friendships?

Friends are important to people. Having friends and creating friends for your autistic child could be challenging. How will you be able to accept this challenge and help your child who has the disorder of autism, create friendships?

It is imperative to know your child.Know his or her weaknesses and strengths. Consider the social limitations your child may have. Not only participating with autistic children, but non-autistic children. Each child is unique and may need various kinds of help or coaching for encouragement and to gain confidence.

Some autistic children may have difficulty in expressing their verbal language. In addition, not being able to understand verbal language from other children. This can make it a challenge to communicate and create friendships with other children and autistic children.

Therefore, it is wise to determine the limitations your child may have, before you decide, your child should socialize and create friendships.

By taking this action, you will learn what your child is expressing and what he or she is able to handle. This will determine what kind of friends are appropriate for your individual to socialize with, when trying to create friendships.

Set a play date for that is fun for your child and other children. This could be done at school, or outside of the classroom. Take time to find the right situation for your child and other children to participate in.

When you do find the time that will work for all of the children, and the place, keep the time short and limited. This will eliminate stress, frustration and rejection from other children. By being aware of this and taking charge of the situation, your child will probably want to continue this activity or another one. It will help to create friends at his or her own pace.

If your child does not like crowds, bright lights, loud noises, confusing activities, multiple activities, take this into consideration. Do not force your child to take part in areas, where you know he or she will become upset. What is a fun activity or place for some children, could be extremely overwhelming for a child with the disorder of autism.

Another way you can help your autistic child create friendships is, if you have made many attempts for your child to participate in activities, new places, new times, to socialize and it does not seem to be working, perhaps it is time for you to be creative with a new idea or plan.

If you know your child, you will know if he or she needs more time to adjust to other individuals, activities, new places, etc. Be sure you are not placing an enormous amount of pressure on your child, by having too high expectations for him or her to socialize on your terms and thoughts. Instead, take into consideration each individual is different. You will want to evaluate your motives for encouraging creative friendships and socialization for your child.

If your child feels comfortable with one friend and is having fun, that may be all that is necessary for the present time. You may find you do not need to create more friendships or have your child participate in more social activities. Keep the pace simple for creating new friendships. Do not push your child into new friendships, when one or two friends could be enough and it will avoid unwanted stress.

Bonita Darula operates a web sight==> http://www.autismintoawareness.com/ SIGN up to RECEIVE your COMPLIMENTARY WEEKLY AUTISTIC NEWSLETTER on current TOPICS. For example: How can you help your child create and have friends? Order your Autism updated information from your Complimentary Autistic Newsletter to help your child and you.

Original article

Benefits of Small Class Size for Students With Disabilities

One of the students referred to us spent a whole year sitting and staring before he was even referred. Another used to scream at a high pitch for hours before he was referred. Still another used to run around the room an not focus on anything. Another used to beat up his mother and get away with it before he was referred. Because we had a small classroom size and support we were able to deal with the behavioral challenges these children have with learning. It is extremely important to have a child's attention and focus to learn. Also, distractions should be kept to a minimum. This simply does not happen in the average American classroom, which is busy, noisy, bright and overwhelming to a lot of children with learning challenges.

The importance of relationship building for children with autism can not be overstressed. Social skills building needs to be a priority and children need much help in learning proper social skills and behavior. Because the behavior is challenging and difficult and learning and change does not happen rapidly, teachers without the understanding, experience and training just often give up. Believing the child can learn and will learn if one is persistent and does not give up is a necessity. The individual child has to be a priority. This simply does not happen in the mass production concept of American education.

Another difficulty in American education is that children with the same problems are dumped together but not given anymore help than if they were in the average American classroom. Thus, inappropriate behaviors are reinforced by children seeing other inappropriate behaviors. The Lord of the Flies concept happens with children leading the classroom rather than a strong adult leader. This is not a teacher's fault. If a teacher has to spend all of their day correcting behavior, it leads to very little time for learning. That is why I am against classroom sizes of fifteen to twenty for children with autism. Even eight students is too many. I as a teacher have had my greatest success with children with autism in a classroom with no more than four students and one aide.

As you can imagine, education can get very expensive when one does the right thing by a child. I have not even included the therapy and other services that autistic children can benefit from. Moreover, the special schools that autistic children need are often denied as school districts often refuse to pay for the private non-public schools that autistic children benefit most from. Thus, policy has to change and doors have to be opened for parents to be able to pick what works best for their child. Small class size is a start. And parents being allowed to pick non-public schools that work well is also a great start.

Give children a chance to learn and enroll them in a school that insists on a small student to teacher ratio.
The way you learned is not the way your child with autism will learn. They will be lost in the shuffle in most classrooms and then be blamed for not learning or their behavior. I have seen what children can accomplish when given what they need and I hope you will veto the mass education high number classroom that is usually the American way.

Original article

Web Cams and Autism Treatment

Unfortunately, my computer recently took a turn for the worse and prompted me to seek a newer model. While webcams and built-in cameras have become standard issue on most laptops and tablet computers, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that my new desktop PC also included one. I was even more pleased to find that this particular model included a face-recognition software program which gradually 'learns' my face and signs me into the system as well as gives me the option to replace physically entering passwords and usernames for most sites that I use (a particularly useful feature if you're tired of typing and remembering these).

Inevitably, the folks on Madison Avenue have noticed this new technology and are now developing TVs with built-in cameras as well as software which will, eventually not only recognize your face when you are browsing the net, but also be able to tell if you thought that last commercial or ad was humorous. Putting aside the Orwellian aspects of this in respect to society in general, there may be unforeseen benefits associated with these developments. Autism researchers have begun to explore uses for this technology as well.

It has long been observed that individuals on the autism spectrum have displayed challenges in social situations - in the area of emotion interpretation in particular. According to a study by Lawton and Reichenberg-Ullman (2007), 66% of respondents with ASD and other developmental challenges have trouble recognizing faces. While these and similar studies suggest that children and adults with autism have challenges recognizing facial patterns - and therefore associating the individualized, social significance that they represent, recent focus has been on their reaction to typically emotion generating facial expressions in general. These factors may well be connected since typically developing peers learn very early on that their parents' faces and facial expressions are significant - and the child's recognition of these expressions is rewarded. Studies have shown that a significant number of very young children with ASD respond differently to images of their parents' faces. In other words, if there is an early challenge associated with recognizing the significance of parents' faces, (and the reinforcement generated from this is therefore absent) the skill of emotional reading may not develop later in life.

If this is the case, it would seem that any future efforts associated with using facial recognition technologies in the world of ASD need to be introduced very early on to be most effective. How this technology takes shape in the autism field is still being explored. The University of Victoria's Centre for Autism Research Technology and Education has developed a facial recognition game which requires the user to match facial expressions displayed on a screen to level-up. There are also several apps which children on the spectrum can access on I-Pads that have been designed for this issue, such as "Look in My Eyes: Steam Train" and "Smile at Me". While the nuances associated with facial expressions (and their complicated role in social interaction) are vast, the ever increasing technological advances in computer software may be able to create effective and beneficial treatments in this area of autism treatment.

Mr. Jeffrey Young is the President and Founder of Innovative Piano, Inc. Mr. Young has published over 17 books dealing with music and autism. To learn more about the author and the program please visit http://www.innovativepiano.com/

Innovative Piano, Inc.

Offering piano lessons for students with autism - Nationwide!
http://www.innovativepiano.com/

Original article

The Basics of Asperger's Syndrome

John is an eight year old male who enters my office and is engrossed in Angry Birds on his Kindle Fire. His mom asks him for the device and he mumbles and it is obvious he is not ready to give it up. The mother proceeds to take it from him and he screams at the top of his lungs. He runs to one of my chairs and climbs in with his backside to me. He says he is not going to talk that he wants to play Angry Birds. I tell him in here, this is his special time and that he can say and do almost anything he likes.

You see, I am a child therapist and I work with children with many kinds of problems. As we proceed with the session, he climbs under the chair, kicking his shoes off in the process and climbs on to the bottom shelf of my book shelf and bangs his head. You may be wondering at this point, what is wrong with John. Is he just being oppositional? Actually, John has what is commonly termed Asperger's Syndrome. There are several symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome. They may include all or some of these characteristics:

· Problems reading social cues

· Dislikes changes in routines

· May appear to lack empathy

· May be unable to recognize subtle differences in speech tones

· May avoid eye contact with others

· May have unusual facial expressions

· May be preoccupied with one or more things

· May have one-sided conversations

· Delayed motor development

· Have high sensitivity to noise

This list is not all-inclusive. These are typical behaviors seen in children. John does not like a change in routine, so when he came into counseling, this was totally new and different. His way of coping was to try to make me go away with his behaviors. John sees me the same time each week now. He comes in and asks how long he has until he can leave. He pulls out a game and we play. When you ask him questions his answers reflect his stuffed animal or something else he finds comforting. You cannot have a long drawn out conversation with what he did with his friends. He has no friends according to him because he is so different. I read him a story of a cat that is different then all his friends and ask him if he feels like that. He cannot answer. He has no vocabulary for feelings and has difficulty relating to other things or other people.

Asperger's Syndrome is considered to be an autism spectrum disorder. There are questions as to whether it really exists and whether it is a form of high functioning autism. Asperger's Syndrome was named after a pediatrician Hans Asperger, MD who noted strange behaviors in some of his patients. Specifically they had poor non-verbal skills, demonstrated limited empathy towards others, and where physically clumsy. There is no exact cause of the syndrome and there is no single treatment. Typically, cognitive behavioral therapy interventions are used to teach appropriate social skills. Despite this, social and communication skill deficits may be present. There is no cure.

John likes to talk about Egypt. So we talk about Egypt. He tells me of this cartoon movie that takes place in Egypt and he takes everything it says about Egypt literally. I read him a book about what makes him worry. He says losing his stuffed animal. He has a specific name for it and losing his cats. I ask him if he gets worried can he count to five and take a deep breath and we practice belly breathing. Does it carry over to other things in his daily life, I don't know. I just know he had a bad day at school, refused to do his work because it involved writing and he can't write. He then proceeded to climb underneath the desk and tear up his work book.

My place of employment is near the fire department and when the alarm goes off, John jumps up and says what's that and wants me to make it stop. I tell him that they are testing the fire sirens. He quiets down, as they are now over. He will ask me how much time we have left and when I tell him it is time to clean up and he says "good" and runs out of my office, into the waiting room, and tells his mom it is time to go.

Every week we run through a roller coaster of emotions with Asperger's kids. We go slowly one step at a time and savor the awesomeness that the experience can bring.

Carolyn L. Nelson is a licensed clinical social worker who has been in the field over 20 years. She writes for her Blog at http://blog.therapistscornerblog.com/

She also can be reached at her website at http://www.therapistscornerblog.com/

Original article

How to Prepare for an IEP Meeting

In order to prepare for the meeting, parents must have an idea of what is to take place. Under the law, the IEP meeting is intended to 1) determine the present level of the child's academic achievement and functional performance, 2) develop a plan to meet the child's needs for the upcoming school year, and 3) to establish goals so that the child makes continuous progress over the coming year. Remember, none of this is written in stone and can be amended during the course of the year. A meeting can be requested by the parent at any time. At the same time, be sure and include EVERYTHING you want for your child in the IEP to ensure that the goals are implemented.

If your child has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, the school can either accept a medical diagnosis or can pursue an educational diagnosis. Chances are, even if your child has a medical diagnosis, the school district personnel will want to conduct their own testing to establish an educational diagnosis

In preparing for the IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting:

*Review existing and prior IEP's, evaluate IF progress has been made.
*Review any recent or new evaluations.
*Review the child's present level of performance. Has there been measurable improvement in performance? Have goals been met? Are they realistic?
*Ask yourself, "Where do I see my child in one year, three years,..." You can not create a plan and/or SMART (specific, measurable, action words, realistic/relevant and time limited) goals if you have no idea where you want to go and what is realistic for your child.
*Remember the purpose of IDEA is to provide a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment to a disabled child with the purpose of preparing the child for further education, independent living and employment.

An IEP is a stepping stone to future accomplishments. It is imperative that your child make gains in his or her educational journey. The function of the IEP is to create an individual plan for your child that is measurable. This measurement needs to reflect your child's progress. If your child is not making adequate progress, the plan needs to be re-visited. This review of existing goals should be done on a regular basis. Do not wait until the end of the year to look at your child's progress. It may be too late then.

Kerri Duncan has been supporting families with children diagnosed with autism. She aims to increase awareness and educate those involved in the lives of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you need more information and support, click here to see how she can help you and your child reach a brighter tomorrow.

Original article

Benefits of a Sticker Reward Calendar

In our experience with Asperger's syndrome, we as parents, have tried many different ways to reward our son's positive behaviour at school. We would take him swimming or to the park or maybe buy him a special gift. The only drawback in this type of reward system is, that if your child goes on a run of rough days in class, it's not fair to deny all the fun things you could do together. After much research and learning, we found a fantastic tool that we've easily implemented. We use a sticker reward calendar. Each child with autism/Asperger's might be different in what works and what doesn't, but a reward calendar is a cheap idea and can be very effective in improving and promoting good behaviour.

You can use any calendar you like. At first, we just used a regular calendar we had, but shortly after, we decided to get a more child friendly calendar. When we had a regular calendar, Jacob noticed, but wasn't that impressed. But when we got him a Twisted Whiskers calendar, he really took notice and became interested. So we do recommend a cartoon or a sports calendar. They're relatively inexpensive and you can find one with any character or team on them. I've seen Sponge Bob, Looney Tunes and Harry Potter on calendars, so finding your child's favourite should be easy.

Then we went to a dollar store and found hundreds of stickers we could use. You should however, try to find smaller stickers. That way you get more for your money and they'll fit into the squares on the calendar. Right now we have some star stickers and some little animal stickers. During the Christmas holiday we had some snowmen and snow flake ones. There are literally thousands of them and each dollar store carries different styles, so the sticker choices are endless.

What we did was, we installed a cork bulletin board in our hallway. Not only do we put important items for us on it, but it also holds Jacob's stickers and calendar. We just hung the calendar at Jacob's height for easy reaching. Then we divide each school day in half. The left half of the square is the morning and the right half is the afternoon. When Jacob comes home for lunch, if he had a good morning, he'll get 1 sticker. Then when he comes home after school, he gets 1 more if he had a good afternoon. So it's possible to get 2 stickers a day. If your child doesn't come home for lunch, you can still reward them with 1 or 2 stickers, depending on their day. During a week, there's a possible 10 stickers to achieve. So then you can create an overall reward program that's visible for your child.

Number of Stickers (earned during week) Reward

5 or 6 Family dinner at their favourite restaurant

7 or 8 Dinner as above and movie night

9 or 10 Dinner, movie and a toy

These are just examples of rewards that you can use. You can go on a picnic or to the park if you're on a budget. The choices with rewards are very open. You can even take the rewards a step further and develop monthly rewards. During a month, there's approximately 20 school days or 40 stickers. If your child has a great month, maybe you could speak with their school about a special reward to help solidify the good class room behaviour.

We noticed that Jacob's behaviour began to improve almost immediately after beginning a sticker reward calendar. When a child sees their calendar fill up with shiny stickers, it gives them a sense of accomplishment and it can help them in wanting to have good and productive days while at school. And for those of us with kids with autism/Asperger's, we know how easy their day can be off, so if a sticker reward calendar helps, then it's definitely worth it.

Not only special needs children can benefit from a sticker reward calendar. This type of reward system can work with any child, boy or girl. When Jacob was diagnosed with Asperger's at age 6 we were shocked. But the diagnosis did in fact, explain a lot about Jacob's behaviour and issues at school. A sticker reward calendar was an effective way to modify his behaviour positively. Now that we've been using it for 2 school years, we can't imagine not having it. We've even began giving a new calendar to Jacob as a Christmas gift each year. This way he'll always have a new calendar for back to school. The entire calendar/sticker purchase is under $20 and that's with a years worth of stickers. So try it out, and if it works, it sure beats buying all those Nintendo DS games.

My website is called Jim's Autism Blog and together, my wife and I express our feelings associated with the ups and downs of raising a child with Asperger's syndrome. Here's the link to our blog
http://www.jimsautismblog.blogspot.com/

Original article

CEASE Therapy for Autism

CEASE therapy was developed by Dutch physician Tinus Smits who was looking for a way to help children with autism. CEASE stands for Complete Elimination Autism Spectrum Expression and Dr. Smits helped well over 300 children with Autism prior to his death in 2010. While his method was originally designed for children with autism, Dr. Smits and those that he trained have experienced success treating a number of conditions including MS, Chronic Fatigue, allergies, ear infections, hyperactivity, and detoxification.

CEASE therapy practitioners focus on the cause of the illness and will spend quality time on an intake to assess potential insults including: environmental toxins, dental work, medications, emotional symptoms, illnesses and more. The focus of CEASE is to remove energetic blockages by utilizing isopathic remedies and then support the system with inspiring and classical homeopathy as well as other approaches uniquely applied to each client's situation and circumstances.

As each person is genetically and physiologically different, his or her response to pathogens, toxins and environmental stresses differs. With CEASE, we endeavor to find just the right support, clear out toxins at the right time and in the right order. This gives a consistent response and recovery to our clients. As a result, patients who start with CEASE therapy see a process that leads to harmony and balance on physical, emotional and mental levels. This is far more than just the elimination of symptoms.

Sima Ash studied with Tinus Smits in the Netherlands and has been successfully utilizing CEASE therapy to help children and adults with a variety of healthcare concerns. Sima began using CEASE to help her daughter with autism and once she saw the results, needed to share with everyone coming into her practice. She is currently the ONLY certified CEASE practitioner in the state of California.

J.B. Handley of Generation Rescue has this to say, "The CEASE approach stands out among many others for its clarity, simplicity and focus on cause".

CEASE Therapy is clinically proven, well researched and individualized treatment protocol that integrates the best homeopathic approaches as an overlay to the detoxification process. The benefits of CEASE Therapy include:

• Individualized treatment plan specific to each client
• Custom-made remedy packets specific to each client
• Resolution of digestive and gut-related issues
• Improvement of brain function
• Profound, deep-healing effect, physically, emotionally and mentally
• CEASE Protocol addresses causes, not just symptoms, including damage caused by vaccinations, iatrogenic drugs, and medications.
• CEASE Protocol heals traumas of physical, emotional and chemical exposure.

What is the CEASE Protocol? (Whether for autism or any chronic illness in adults or children)

• Isopathy & Tautopathy prescribing
• Inspiring and Classical homeopathy
• Sanum combination
• Psychosomatic energetic (REBA)
• Unda (Organ drainage)
• Support with nutritional products
• Phytotherapy
• Oligotherapy
• Bach flower
• Schuessler's Cell Salts
• Quinton Original Seawater Minerals -Stops detox reactions

Each of these is evaluated for its merit in different circumstances, building on the strengths of each approach, then uniquely applied to the client's individual situation as needed.

Obstacles to curing children
The main obstacle to curing children seems to be the lack of information from parents about causes. When important events in the life story of a child are overlooked or unknown, an essential key to healing can be missed.

Vulnerable brain of unborn and small children
During pregnancy and the first two years of life, the brain is extremely vulnerable and should be protected as much as possible. That's why medications during and after pregnancy including vaccinations need to be addressed. Even imprints in the energetic field of the father and mother before pregnancy can be passed to the child by energetic transfer.

What can parents do to help their child?
Avoid environmental factors to the extent possible in order to bypass genetic susceptibility:

• Give your child the best nutrition available, like fresh organic foods. Avoid packaged foods. By doing this you will prevent further toxicity from heavy metals, pesticides, flavor enhancers like MSG, artificial sweeteners, color additives, GMOs, preservatives and other waste products. Many studies have shown that there is a link between MSG and obesity, diabetes, migraines and headaches, autism, ADHD, and even Alzheimer's.
• Give your child sourdough bread instead of yeast bread to prevent the binding of zinc and magnesium to an insoluble complex with phytine acid, and to enable the assimilation of nutritional zinc and magnesium. Since whole wheat sourdough bread is often very heavy, it would be better to start with lighter bread.
• Give your child enough pure water without copper or other toxins.
• Avoid the use of microwaves for all food and drinks, and avoid plastic containers and packages as much as possible.
• Avoid sugar, sweets in general, and artificial sweeteners. They are poisonous to the intestines and pancreas and several other tissues. Sugar also inhibits the production of EPA and DHA, omega-3 fatty acids that are of crucial importance to brain tissue.
• Provide a quiet and peaceful environment for your child, eliminating excess stimuli such as TV, Game Boys or computers. Try to really be there for your child.
• Make sure your child is well grounded to the earth. Static electricity may give rise to both emotional/mental disorders and physical complaints. Synthetic clothing, isolated shoes (rubber or plastic soles) and synthetic floor coverings (vinyl) should therefore be avoided. Even wooden floors with a thin plastic covering can be harmful. Have your child walk around barefoot at home, and barefoot on the grass or earth as much as possible. Eliminate all electric appliances in the bedroom such as electric alarm clocks, TVs, computers, cell phones, or audio equipment.
• Provide a healthy sleeping environment for your child. A healthy bed should not contain any metal. If possible, have your child sleep facing North or East. A dark room is important for the production of the sleep hormone melatonin.
• Use antibiotics with caution since they impair intestinal flora and consequently increase underlying problems. In case of infection, opt for naturopathic solutions. When medical treatment is necessary for your child, try to find energetic solutions that boost the immune system like homeopathy or acupuncture, rather than symptomatic treatments that are suppressive. If your child is not functioning well on the mental, emotional or physical level, (e.g. has a chronic runny nose, repeated other infections, is easily tired, cross, has no appetite and is not sleeping well), don't wait until he gets sick and needs another course of antibiotics, but have him treated preventively with natural medicine. If you suppress symptoms with regular medicine, the disturbed energy will remain, and sooner or later it will cause the same or even deeper health problems.
• Reconsider your child's vaccination schedule. Do not add to his or her problems, but seek the help of a certified CEASE practitioner and professional homeopath.
• Add the right nutrients to maximize your child's health. We will recommend the best nutrients for your child during consultation.
• Put your child on omega-3 fatty acids, the highest and purest quality you can find. Normally, use no more than 500 mg a day. Avoid the over-consumption of omega-6 fatty acids from soy and corn, which are mainly in processed food. Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory, omega-6 are pro-inflammatory. The ideal ratio would be 1:1, but modern food contains 1:25.
• WHAT MANY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW IS THAT AUTISM IS TREATABLE.

To find out more information about CEASE and other treatments that can help with Autism and other chronic disorders, visit http://www.healing4soul.com

Sima Ash
Healing 4 Soul
http://www.healing4soul.com/

Orange County
283 N Rampart Ste E
Orange, CA 92868
(714) 939-9355

Los Angeles
8704 Santa Monica Blvd. 3rd Floor
West Hollywood CA 90069
Tel: (310) 738-8878

Original article

What Are Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)?

ASD is a group of developmental disabilities that greatly affect a person's social, communication and behavioral abilities that a person typically deals with throughout their lifetime. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate the rate of autism occurrence is 1 in 100 children in the United States. This high number of occurrences makes ASD more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. There is not a blood test or x-ray that can detect autism. It is generally diagnosed through observation in the areas listed below. Autism has a wide range of symptoms and looks differently with each child, but typically includes difficulty in one or more areas each category listed:

COMMUNICATION:

* Poor or limited eye contact

* Limited language skills, both receptive and expressive, verbal and nonverbal.

* Repetition or echoing of phrases in place of normal language usage

* Loss of language skills as a toddler

* Lack of reciprocate language skills when language is present

SOCIAL SKILLS:

* Lack of shared attention with others

* Inability to play with other children, parallel play may exist.

* Not showing an interest in other people, sometimes even significant others such as parents.

* Not able to understand and learn social cues most children pick up on naturally.

BEHAVIOR:

* Unusual reactions to the way things smell, taste, feel or sound.

* Little or no fear of common things.

* Unusual or unrealistic fears.

* Craving physical contact or avoiding physical contact.

* Restricted or limited interests; repetitive patterns of behavior.

* Difficulty with changes in routine.

* Insistence on things being done the same way.

* Using behavior as a means to communicate needs.

* Using people as objects to get things done.

ASD is a complicated disorder and affects 1 in 100 children according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). It affects boys 4:1 when compared to girls. Most children are diagnosed as young as age 3 by a pediatrician, neurologist or developmental specialist. Some children will show signs of autism but not be diagnosed. The key is know what to look for and be sure all areas listed above have at least one or more characteristic observable in a child. If as a parent you feel certain that something is going on with your child and the doctors won't listen, or feel you are being over protecting, get a second opinion by someone trained in autism. Most of the time, parents are generally accurate in their assessment of their child. After all, a parent knows their child better than anyone else.

Kerri Duncan has been supporting families with children diagnosed with autism. She aims to increase awareness and educate those involved in the lives of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you need more information and support, click here to see how she can help you and your child reach a brighter tomorrow.

For more information on ASD, contact Kerri Duncan, Ed.D., BCaBA 417.860.7640 or go to http://www.facebook.com/hart4autism.

Original article

5 New and Fun Ways to Use Token Boards

A token economy or system can be a great way to help your student focus and allows you to set manageable goals from them to attain. If you are not familiar with token boards in general, take a look at "How to Create a Token Board" for more information on the basics.

Your main goal with any token system should be to make it fun! The best way to do this is by individualizing your system to each student. Their age, likes and dislikes and comprehension level should all play a part in how you choose to proceed. It's important to note that higher functioning students can benefit from token economies as well; a good imagination and more complex approaches work well here. Let's take a look at five examples of token systems that you can use to help your student succeed.

1) Photographs as Puzzles
Sometimes, pairing tokens with a reward can be challenging. This approach can be a great way to accomplish this. If, for instance, your student likes dinosaurs, why not incorporate this into your system. By finding a picture of a dinosaur and breaking it up into pieces, you can deliver each piece individually. Laminating these pieces after you cut them up will make them sturdier. You've now made the token board into a puzzle for the student that they can interact with each time they earn a token!

2) Point Systems
In the example above, each token delivered represents an equal achievement toward a goal. Teachers and parents can benefit from varying the significance of each token depending on what the student accomplishes. For instance, if a learner read a sentence correctly, teachers can deliver a 5 point token. If a whole page is read independently a 20 point token can be delivered. With this system, you can offer increasingly rewarding items or activities depending on how many points are attained in a given period.

3) Dollars and Cents
Here's an example we can all relate to! This is a wonderful opportunity to teach to the life skill of earning and spending money. Any "play money" can be used and usually found at local toy stores or you can create your own money system (just don't get too realistic!). Cashing-in on different items or activities can be left up to the student here and can encourage long-range goals and reinforcers (a $100 trip to an amusement park for instance). A dry-erase board with items/activities to earn can easily be adjusted depending on what the student is working toward.

4) Teaching Opportunities
Since tokens should generally be delivered on a fairly regular basis (to help highlight positive responses) teachers can use this as a way to cover basic concepts being taught to. For instance, if arithmetic is being reviewed, the "tokens to earn" section can be made-up of equations (such as a small card reading 4 x 4=). Below this section, in the "earned tokens" area, the appropriate answer would be the landing zone for this particular token (i.e. 16). Having the student deliver the token himself will teach and reinforce at the same time!

5) Time Based Systems
While the previous examples largely focus on earning items or activities, teachers can also create a time based system. Each token could represent a certain amount of time that the learner earns that ultimately allows access to an item or activity. That way, the better a student does (i.e. more time tokens earned) the greater the amount time they can spend with the item. This concept can also be stretched-out to represent weekly or even monthly goals. For instance, a board with each day of the week could be used to keep track of how many times a student practices piano, for example. Setting a goal of three practice days and helping learners refer to this system can foster independence and reinforce longer-term goals.

About the author:

Mr. Jeffrey Young is the President and Founder of Innovative Piano, Inc. Mr. Young has published over 17 books dealing with music and autism. To learn more about the author and the program please visit http://www.innovativepiano.com/

Innovative Piano, Inc.
Offering piano lessons for students with autism - Nationwide! http://www.innovativepiano.com/

Original article

The Borderline Symptoms of Autism

If there are any truisms regarding disorders of the Autism spectrum, it is the fact that the disorder cannot be determined by employing a specific blood test that targets it. In addition to this, an MRI will not reveal that the disorder is present. Interestingly enough, one of two things that typically occurs during the time of diagnosis is that it is diagnosed improperly or misdiagnosed as something else when the disorder actually is present in the child. There is also the issue of borderline symptoms of Autism.

What do we mean by borderline symptoms? Borderline symptoms of Autism are the same as the "full-blown" symptoms with two exceptions in that they do not occur with the same frequency or severity that comprises the full diagnosis of the disorder. The borderline symptoms of the disorder include difficulties or problems involving:

o adaptability
o body use
o developmental and social issues
o language
o making transitions
o social skills

Answers provided by the child's parents and other caregivers (i.e. the day care center personnel, teachers in school, etc.), directly observing the child, and performing several developmental screenings, are the three components that comprise the diagnosis of Autism.

Adaptability and making transitions - changing from one activity to the next or not being able to tolerate receiving new clothing are a couple of prime examples involving the difficulties involved with adapting or making changes and transitions. One of the most common symptoms of Autism is the inability to tolerate any type of change in routine.

Language issues - delays in the development of a child's language skills are extremely common with Autism spectrum disorders. It can range from slight difficulties encountered with communicating to being completely non-verbal and not speaking at all. Being overly verbal while dominating a conversation or just making strange noises for communication purposes are both common symptoms.

Physical behavior - although they do not occur as frequently and with the same severity as the common symptoms, the borderline symptoms of Autism include certain physical aspects such as behavior that is not normal or unusual. Certain symptoms include:

o butting one's head against a floor or wall
o repetitive hand motions
o rocking and spinning in place

Social skills - no matter what disorder of the spectrum you are talking about, there are borderline symptoms of Autism that relate to the affected child's social skills. The child could be extremely fearful, outgoing and even overbearing, or very shy, or they may display more anger or fussiness than other children.

Other developmental and sensory issues - other indications of the borderline symptoms of Autism may include negative reactions to color, lighting, smells, sounds, and textures. Less than average or even poor coordination may be evident as well. Interestingly enough, any one of these symptoms on their own does not indicate the presence of Autism. However, if there is a cluster of these symptoms occurring between two to 10 years of age, a team of educational, medical, psychological, and vision professionals should examine and evaluate the child.

For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula on Autism please visit childdevelopmentmedia.com.

Original article

Motivating Autistic Children With a Variety of Activities

For those parents of autistic children, you are probably aware of how to motivate the child by employing a variety of activities. However, if your child has just been diagnosed with Autism you are most likely not aware of this as you may not have had the time yet to educated yourself about how this affects the individual. Children as well as teenagers and adults with Autism have a great deal of difficulty conversing and interacting with others while also having impaired communication skills.

In order to help autistic children develop behavioral, language, and social skills, you have to find ways of motivating them to pay attention and learn from this. The key to developing certain life skills may be an early intervention, but these have become easier to teach thanks to the help of some newer motivational methods that are now available. The following are some suggestions for how to motivate autistic children by employing a variety of activities to accomplish this.

Use play therapy that encourages self-expression, provides a sense of accomplishment, and teaches skills to motivate children with Autism.

Allow autistic children to choose the activity they want to engage in such as dancing or jumping and then be sure that you participate in these activities with them. Keep participating with them in these different activities until they communicate with you spontaneously and make eye contact.

Activites involving scripting or "social stories" should be encouraged as it oftentimes helps the non-verbal child with Autism to become more verbal while learning more appropriate behavioral skills. This also helps to improve their communication skills and has the tendency to decrease social isolation.

Employ positive reinforcement during their learning periods and therapy sessions in order to keep communication going. Praising correct answers or prompting another answer after an incorrect one is an excellent way to motivate them into responding more frequently.

Introduce new drills and tasks while still using familiar ones in order to make learning more fun and interesting. Granted, routine and structure are essential to providing autistic children with a comfort zone and teaching them numerous skills. However, Autism studies have revealed that when tasks are interesting and varied, autistic children are better behaved, give more correct answers, learn quicker, and stay more focused.

Incorporate activities that involve sensory integration. These will decrease or increase the level of sensory stimulation that autistic children receive. When a child with Autism is overwhelmed with sensory input, occupational therapists help them to participate in certain activities that help them to filter the amount of sensory input they are receiving.

Finally, children with Autism can also be motivated by employing music therapy and singing. In some cases, autistic children who cannot speak a single word can sing when they are exposed to tunes with repetitive and simple lyrics or phrases. This actually helps them to develop language skills that are lacking while at the same time helping them to eliminate those monotone speech patterns that are so common with autistic children.

For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula on Autism please visit childdevelopmentmedia.com.

Original article

Knowledge About Early Signs of Autism

Whether you're new parents that have just had their first child or you have recently added one more sibling to the family group, at some point in time, being concerned about Autism may have crossed your mind. Roughly one out of every 150 infants that are born today is autistic, so it is imperative that the disorder be detected early in order to treat it properly. If you are unfamiliar with the disorder, it is important to educate yourself about it and learn about the early signs of Autism.

First and foremost, Autism is a neural development disorder that is characterized by the impairment of communication, language skills, and social interaction as well as repetitive or restricted behavior patterns. In most cases, these different characteristics appear by the time the child has reached three years of age. Autism affects how the brain processes information by altering the way that the nerve cells connect with and organize the synapses.

It is one of three different types of Autism disorders found on what is referred to as the Autism spectrum. The other two are Asperger's Syndrome where cognitive development and language skills are lacking and PDD-NOS or Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified. This disorder is usually diagnosed should the criteria involved in the diagnosis for either Autism or Asperger's Syndrome not be met.

What to look for

What you want to remember above everything else when you are concerned about the possibility of your infant being autistic is that recognizing the early signs of Autism may be the difference between diagnosing the disorder properly and missing it completely. The earlier the disorder is diagnosed, the sooner you can start treatment and increase your chances of having a better outcome for both you and your child.

Early detection of Autism is critical so the sooner you educate yourself about the warning signs, the better. Here are some basic suggestions for recognizing the early signs of the disorder based on what the child should have accomplished by a certain time in their early development:

o By the time your child is 6 months old, they should be smiling whenever they are delighted or feel joy for one reason or another.

o Mimicking facial expressions, vocal intonations, and words should be evident by the time your child is 10 months old.

o Once the child has reached two years of age, they should be talking and should have at least several words in their ever-growing vocabulary.

Remember that the child may only exhibit one of the early signs of Autism. Even if all the symptoms are not being exhibited, your child may still be diagnosed as autistic. One way or the other, you should take your child to their pediatrician to determine if further testing for the disorder may be necessary. Diagnosing the disorder as early as possible in the child's development is critical and could mean treating it sooner that you can prevent complications and avoid more additional negative consequences.

For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula on Autism please visit childdevelopmentmedia.com.

Original article

Autism Treatment for Adults

Despite the fact that decades of research has gone into understanding the different disorders found in the Autism spectrum, there is no known cure in existence to date. It is bio-neurological in nature and prevents individuals of all age groups, including adults, from communicating and interacting with the individuals around them in their environment. As a result, the medical community will prescribe one of a number of therapies that help to diminish the effects of the disorder.

One of the important aspects to realize regarding adult Autism is the fact that the public school's responsibility to the afflicted individual once they reach 22 years of age. At this point in time, the parents of the autistic individual are faced with some significant challenges such as employment opportunities and living arrangements for the person. They also have to be concerned with finding facilities and programs that offer supportive services that will help the autistic individual to achieve their goals.

Effective adult Autism treatment

This also applies to dealing with adult Autism and may involve the use of therapies ranging from behavior modification to dietary and nutritional counseling. In so doing, the effects of the disorder can be diminished while enabling the autistic adult to be a contributing and productive individual in social environments. Here are some recommendations for Autism treatment in adults:

o Occupational therapy can help the autistic individual learn how to perform everyday chores and tasks including dressing themselves and following proper hygiene

o Physical therapy is a highly effective form of Autism treatment because of regular exercise and how it teaches the individual to control their different body movements

o Behavior modification techniques are extremely effective for diminishing and eliminating those behavior patterns that are labeled as being aggressive, repetitive, and undesirable

o Sensory Integration Therapy exposes the autistic adult to a variety of sensory stimuli that teaches them appropriate reactions

o Change the person's diet so that foods containing casein (a dairy protein), gluten, oats, and wheat are eliminated as these types of foods are not adequately absorbed by the autistic individual which in turn can affect how their brain functions

Remember that for the best results where adult Autism treatment is concerned, you want to use a combination of several approaches and not just rely on a single one. As no two individuals are ever alike, neither are any two autistic adults as they will respond differently to different approaches to treatment.

Another avenue of Autism treatment is treating the disorder naturally without the use of medications. This is oftentimes preferred by parents as it involves the use of alternative medical approaches and vitamin supplements. Over the past several years, the natural approach has become increasingly more popular. Basically, the natural approach to Autism treatment is more commonly referred to as a Holistic approach to treating the disorder. It has been hypothesized that Autism may be caused by high levels of toxic metals in the system or vitamin deficiencies.

For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula on Autism please visit childdevelopmentmedia.com.

Original article

Do Children With Autism Have Other Disorders - Which Are Related? Find Out

Have you ever thought because your child has autism, he or she could have other disorders or difficulties which are related? How would you know if your child is suffering from some other difficulty or disorder? That is an excellent question. Let us find out, if there are some hints or clues, that may be combined or related to autism.

I have learned and experienced, that it can be common for children who have autism, to display and suffer from conditions such as, dyslexia, schizophrenia, ADHD, attachment disorder, and other related disorders.

The question is, how are you going to get a diagnosis that is accurate for your child, to determine if he or she has other disorders,or other difficulties?

First, know your child. If you have concerns or have an inkling something does not seem healthy, balanced, with the behavior of your child, consider having your child diagnosed with a knowledgeable professional. Choose one who knows and understands the disorder of autism and other related disorders that are common to autism.

Second, educate yourself about the symptoms that vary or behaviors that could be suspicious, as a link to another difficulty or disorder that could be related.

For example: Some symptoms that are the most common are dyslexia, schizophrenia, ADHD and attachment disorder.

These symptoms and behaviors might be present in your child who has autism or could be related or interact with the disorder of autism.

DYSLEXIA:

* The individual articulates well, seems to have a difficult time to read, spell and write. These symptoms are apparent when an individual is old enough to learn how to read, spell and write.

* Sometimes the person takes on the appearance of a being dumb, lazy, immature does not comprehend what they are to do, or know how to go ahead and initiate the project.

* Displays a low or poor self-esteem. Feels and acts as though he or she is dumb. Due to this feeling, the individual becomes frustrated while trying to study for tests and gets frustrated about grades.

* Some individuals seem to lose track of time. They space or zone out.

* People with dyslexia seem to learn and pay attention better through visual demonstrations, visual aids, hands-on projects and activities, observations and experimenting.

SCHIZOPHRENIA:

* Social withdrawal.

* Appear to have a gaze that is expressionless.

* They have an inability to share and express sorrow or joy.

* Many have a difficult time to concentrate and they struggle to remember things, because they are forgetful.

* May have delusions.

* Many have hallucinations.

* Display inappropriate laughter or tears.

* Hostility and suspicion is evident.

ADHD:

* Many individuals will take on activities that are dangerous.

* Displays temper tantrums that are extreme and sometimes out of control.

* Shows signs of always being active, restless, has a difficult time settling down, and become difficult even when going to sleep.

* When you are talking to the individual, he or she appears not to be listening.

* Individual may make many mistakes, because he or she is not paying attention to details.

* Disruptive when others are speaking.

* Unable to play quietly. Wants to speak loudly and is rude to others who wants to be quiet.

ATTACHMENT DISORDER:

* They will manipulate others by being charming to people they do not know.

* Will be affectionate to strangers.

* Has a desire that is strong to be in control.

* Become demanding.

* Destructive to self or their property and other individuals.

* Displays values, morals, that are low.

* Many are cruel to animals

* Constantly chattering and asking questions that are silly.

* Show no interest in having friends.

* Learning delays.

* Makes bad choices.

* Fascinated with weapons, fire, evil, blood and gore.

Take action and ave your child diagnosed by a qualified professional, if you feel there may be some of these symptoms or behaviors present. These symptoms can vary with gender, age and the level of autism your child has.

Bonita Darula operates a web sight==> http://www.autismintoawareness.com/ SIGN up to RECEIVE your FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER on current Autistic TOPICS. For example: Possible related disorders, symptoms, behaviors to autism. Order your Autism E-Books to identify symptoms and various treatments listed in your FREE Newsletter for your child and you.

Original article

Autism and Educational Effects

Autism affects many aspects of a person's life. Education is one of the main areas that has to be modified in order for the child to learn what is necessary to lead a productive life. Autism and education isn't just about teaching academics, it includes various forms of therapy and approaches.

Learning Disabilities

Often, a child with autism suffers from other problems that affect the ability to understand important subjects such as reading or math. Dyslexia is often present in children with autism. This affects the ability to read, write, speak and even complete math problems.

Dysgraphia affects a child's ability to write correctly because it interferes with fine motor skills, as well as organizing thoughts well enough to put on paper. While not classified as a learning disorder, Sensory Integration Disorder directly affects a child's ability to learn information because the brain does not read and interpret information gathered from the senses correctly.

When a child with autism has learning disabilities, it makes teaching an even bigger challenge. Techniques that work for one disorder may not be affective for another. Receiving proper diagnoses is crucial in helping the school staff brainstorm ideas to work with all of the challenges the child faces. Therapy is beneficial to a child on the autism spectrum because it can reduce some of the symptoms, helping him understand his school work.

Therapy in School

Most schools offer some type of therapy to aide in the teaching process. These may include speech and language therapy, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), sensory integration therapy and physical or occupational therapy. The types of therapy and the amount of time spent vary from one school district to another based on finances and availability of trained professionals.

Types of Classes Available

Another thing that may vary from district to district is how the school handles children with autism. Some schools keep these children in classrooms designed for those with special needs. There, they receive one on one attention and work on social skills as they interact with only a few children. This helps reduce the stress levels and possibility of too much sensory stimulation.

Other districts work to include the children in typical classes, removing them only for subjects they need extra help in. This often works well for children who are higher functioning, but may take extra time to include a child who is lower on the autism spectrum. Trying different therapies, teaching techniques and classroom situations are crucial when working with autism and education.

Maximum Potential specializes in online learning environments for ABA Therapy

Original article

Why Is Special Education Needed With Autism?

If your child has been diagnosed with autism, you need to get his or her life has normal and structured as possible so they can thrive in their environment. That includes obtaining the appropriate education. You need to find a school that caters to autistic children in order to have the right balance of education necessary in a structured class.

A special education teacher is specially trained to work with children with autism. They know how to help them understand and they work to build up a trust between themselves and the teacher. There are special training classes that a special education teacher must go through before they qualify to teach special education.

When first introducing your autistic child to their special education teacher, it is important to only speak kindly about him or her, even if you have a problem with the teacher. Don't ever pass those harsh feelings onto your child. If you do, your child may not feel as comfortable with the teacher as you want them to and this could ruin your child's day at school everyday.

On the first day, it is important that you take your child to school to meet his special education teacher. Don't cause over excitement in your child waiting on this day. Simply mention the new teacher's name and how they will learn new things with them. Your child needs to create a sense of acceptance and be prepared to adjust to their new structured schedule.

It's always important to keep things as steady as possible when it comes to your child's schedule. They need to start their schedule off on the right foot by going to bed at the same time each night. In the morning, you should have a routine that is easy to accomplish and can be done realistically. Don't set the standards so high that if you are sick or someone else is doing the schedule for you in your absence, they will have a hard time doing so. You want to offer your child a breakfast, an opportunity to get dressed, time for personal hygiene, and to have time to mentally adjust to the change from home to school.

While in school, the special education teacher should be able to combine a balanced curriculum based on your child's age and skill level, not based on their autism. However, this teacher is specially trained to deliver the curriculum to their students with autism.

No two children have the same symptoms when it comes to autism so a special education teacher with autism is usually careful about how many students they can have in their classroom due to the one-on-one attention that each student will need. In some schools, the teacher will have a helper that will be in charge of assisting one child throughout their day.

Your child will be able to be comfortable with this individual and depend on the individual to help them every day they are in school. The added help will depend on many factors such as how severe is the autism? Can your child function better with assistance or by themselves? Does your child need assistance with daily routines? Once it is determined what may be best for your child then the school will accommodate accordingly.

For the latest videos and training information on child development as well as books and curricula on Autism please visit childdevelopmentmedia.com.

Original article

Neurological Release In Autism

In Dr. Sack's Musicophilia, one individual compares her already present musical imagery against a stronger hallucinatory process that started to happen to her after a trial of prednisone was attempted due to worsening hearing problems. Her hallucinations, she emphasized, were unlike anything she had ever experienced before. They tended to be fragmentary...

"...A few bars of this, of few bars of that - and to switch at random, sometimes even mid-bar, as if broken records were being turned on and off in her brain. All of this was quite unlike her normal, coherent, and usually "obedient" imagery - though it did have a little resemblance, she granted, to the catchy tunes that she, like everyone, sometimes heard in her head. But unlike catchy tunes, and unlike anything in her normal imagery, the hallucinations had the startling quality of actual perception."(Musicophilia)

The individual feared that she was becoming mentally ill, but Dr. Sacks pointed out that she was having release hallucinations that were neurological and not psychotic.

The individual's aforementioned thoughts about her hallucinatory process cause me to consider a part of my young daughter's own experience. At times I have attempted to describe the development of clinically verified hallucination with regard to her autism journey. I have tried to relate the staging type of developmental process for my daughter that went from; simple echolalic phrases in her earliest years, to sometimes ruminating content of differing cartoons as she became older, to motor movements' accompaniment of the echolalic process that eventually represented a variant of catatonia.

All of the above symptoms reached a crescendo -- causing an almost void of my daughter's previously fragile perception of reality. That fragile perception present due to her initial autism that was identified at three years of age; at the time of her symptomatic crescendo at around ten years of age, schizophrenia needed to be ruled out. For my daughter, hallucinations were proposed by some to be an improbability due to her already present autism. It was a mincing of diagnostic criteria because, perhaps the doctors wanted it to be a predominantly psychological concern without elements of the neurological. They wanted to see my daughter's hallucinations as ones willfully created by her psyche due to her initial autism, and not ones that were from neurological cause. A diagnostic bias against children who have the autism label seems to prevail since the doctors seem to think that autism is predominantly psychological.

Years ago I was asked about personal perceptions of my daughter's psychosis. I related some concerns to a well-known doctor:

"I wanted to clarify about the question I was asked today. I was asked about the different words Sarah uses being related to cartoons. This was the same interest that one of the local doctors had. They had been curious if Sarah was just echoing in delayed fashion for some reason, or ruminating. I would have to agree that she has done this in the past with the different content of animated cartoons or movies that she has watched throughout the years. In the context of how she is doing it now, it is not scripted in a way that makes it relate to the content of the cartoons and movies in which she previously had interest. It is now used in a fashion that makes absolutely no sense, in relation to how she had previously felt...

I remember one local doctor pointing out how schizophrenic hallucinations have to relate to things that are going on in society at the time. Like my Great Uncle Pat who was schizophrenic. He would think that loud speakers were going off in the city when they were not. He would think that the secret service was listening in on him at all times; he had issues with electronics of that time and may have heard voices from them. He had been a courier for the secret service and had actually suffered head injury during one of his assignments. At any rate, the local doctor was trying to make the point that Sarah could not be hallucinating but rather was delusional. His point was lost on me because cartoons have been Sarah's world, her society, for all of her life. She has not paid close attention to the paradigms of our day".

As things have transpired for my daughter, I conclude that it seems possible that worsening that is experienced by some within the autism spectrum is a result of a gradually building imagery process that causes complicated repertoires; ones that eventually, internally overtake and relentlessly over stimulate in the form of pretty constant hallucinatory release. Thus, what may have started as a type of mental imagery -- more easily distracted or controlled -- became hallucination with the startling quality of actual perception. This might actually be considered a separate form of autism, from others who do not enter in to this type of process.

Medications alongside a steady delivery of redirection away from the thoughts that became her captors have wrestled my daughter away from of her profound psychosis.

****

About our journey with autism... At the very beginning I figured, no big deal, we'll get our daughter normalized in no time and pretty soon she would be asking for the car keys. It didn't quite work out that way and as my entire family and I continued to work through the ebb and flow of her unique walk, we fell madly in love with her in all her glory. For a real life look at one case of severe autism, just Google "Hello, Dr. Wells". It is a sixteen year account of autism that turned to schizophrenic like psychosis.

Original article

A Christmas To Forget

In this posting, I'm going to talk about Christmas last year. For most people this is a time to celebrate and reflect back on all the good times we shared throughout the year. But for us, Christmas 2010 was not like any we'd had before.

It was our first Christmas with the diagnosis of Asperger's. The diagnosis did help explain why Jacob didn't like the holiday so much. It was the anxiety and lack of control. Jacob still has gifts from last year he hasn't opened. The day started out as usual, all of us in the living room, exchanging gifts. It was almost 10AM when I decided to get us coffee. I'm surprised I even go to Timmie's now. When I was coming home I noticed police cruisers had set up a type of perimeter in my neighbourhood. I thought what could be happening today? Then I saw the police cruiser by my house. I thought it was for a neighbour or something. It wasn't until I saw my wife Shannon's face. I felt sick. I knew the tragedy wasn't happening to a neighbour, it was happening to my family.

I don't think you can tell, but I needed some time to relax after typing that last paragraph. I haven't shared those details with anyone outside my family.

I ran past everyone and asked my wife what was going on? She did her best to explain. A knock came to the door and when she looked out she saw a little girl. She thought it was our friend's daughter. It wasn't. It was a girl she'd never seen before. It wasn't until she opened our door that my wife Shannon saw the giant pit bull. But it was too late. The little girl had found the pit bull wandering the streets and wanted someone to call the SPCA. She has a friend that lives next door and mixed up the 2 houses. 6 months earlier we had gotten a dog, to help be a companion to Jacob. Dogs are good with kids with Asperger's. So we got a little poodle named Max. He was small and white. He was very smart and very well trained, he was only 2 years old at Christmas.

Another break.

Max went everywhere with Shannon. So of course he was at the door when she answered it. He'd had his first treat out of his new stocking. "The pit bull new he was there." My wife said. It had him before she could move. She was screaming for help, but it happened so fast there was nothing anyone could do. The pit bull was so big compared to Max, who was 7 pounds. When my wife and I had to go ID the dog, only then did I see it. It was huge. So huge that I didn't know if I could have done what my wife did. The pit bull shook Max. Please don't picture it. When I came in there was blood, pee and fecal matter everywhere in my hallway. You could tell by the shifting of all the stuff that something had happened.

My wife is my hero. Since the knock at the door came at Christmas, everyone wanted to see who was there. Even Jacob. My wife had to protect Jacob from the dog, he was only six feet away. She jumped on the back of the pit bull and started to choke it with its own collar. It was wearing one of those choking collars with the pegs that help teach a dog not to pull. My wife said she was on its back and it was so strong. But she was stronger. While strangling the dog she forced the giant pitbull towards the door. The blood from the pitbull's mouth, that came from Max, was smeared on the bench we have in the hallway. She now had to get the doors open to get the pitbull out. Then she pushed the pit bull and it ran off like nothing had happened. But something did happen. My poodle was torn apart right in front of my son, on Christmas day.

Another break, with a walk.

Let me say again, my wife is a hero. What would have happened had Jacob had one of Max's toys like so often before? I can't think about that now. My dear wife put her life on the to protect my son. That's a question most men would like to have answered. At first, I on the other hand, did the unthinkable. I blamed her. Didn't she look? Didn't she see the dog? It didn't matter. I felt so bad later. I've apologise a million times since then. I saw my poodle laying in the kitchen, still breathing with red on his white fur. I didn't know what to do. I then thought of Jacob. He had run too his room. He was in the corner of his room, on the bed rocking and sobbing. He wouldn't let me near him. So I went back down stairs. The police, animal control and paramedics had been there asking questions. I had some questions too.

I'm going to take a break after each paragraph.

So my wife and I took our dog to the emergency vet clinic. After a few trips and a couple heart attacks, my dog had to be put down. I would have put him down sooner, but before we left Jacob asked me to save his dog. I didn't want my son to lose his best friend on Christmas day. But he did. I put Max down at 6PM. And we were out over $2500 dollars. I didn't have to worry about that though. After all they found the dog and I would find out who the owner was, right?

Throughout the next few days I received lots of calls from people offering dogs. I told the Spectator our story and we were on CHCH news. "A Christmas Tragedy" they called it. People had no problem finding us and offering support, but we weren't ready for a new dog. Then on December 27th we got another call, but this one was different. It was a lady named Nancy. Nancy was a poodle breeder and she was offering us a new poodle. She said that she saw us on the news and had to help. She asked how we were? Did we want another dog? How is your son? I couldn't speak. I was crying, just like on the news. My wife had to field Nancy's questions. Eventually we agreed to get a poodle from Nancy.

The new poodle we were set to receive, wasn't going to be ready until Valentine's day. So while waiting, we set out to find the owners of the pit bull. We went to the police. We did the Freedom of Info search. Both turned up nothing. The city wouldn't reveal the owner's identity. "It was a major invasion of someone's privacy" they said. The city chose to protect the pit bull's owner's and leave us in the cold. Hey, as long as the owner pays the fine to the city, what does the city care if I get our money back? It didn't matter to us though, we were getting a new dog.

Valentine's day was upon us before you could blink. What a winter storm in Nancy's neck of the woods. She was from Chatham, ON. Nancy and her husband John drove 2 hours in whiteout conditions to see us and Jacob. We had never met them in person, but we felt so close. They came to us in our moment of need, an event sometimes friends not might be there for you, but they were. And we didn't even know what they looked like.

The Spec was there to cover the event. "Chico and the Boy" was the title. That's what we named our little, black bundle. Ironically, I had a black poodle named Chico when I was a boy. Jacob had light in his eyes again. I hadn't heard him laugh or play like that for a while. Even a year later, as I sit and type this, they are wrestling right beside me, Jacob's been laughing the whole time.

Even during this horrible time, the worst in my life. Something beautiful had happened. My relationship with my wife became stronger, if that was possible. And we became lifelong friends with Nancy and John. All 3 are heroes to me. Now my life is greater than ever before. This Christmas we'll be celebrating Chico's first Christmas with us and we'll be remembering the good times with our old dog Max. And I promise you this. We won't be opening the front door.

I have a blog called Jim's Autism Blog it can be found at http://jimsautismblog.blogspot.com/

Original article

Dealing With Embarrassing Situations As a Parent of a Child With Autism

Every once in a while parents are embarrassed by their child's behavior or the factual remarks they make, such as pointing to a person next to you in line and claiming, "she's fat!" Moments like this can be very uncomfortable but fortunately do not occur often, but the risk may be higher if you are a parent of a child with Autism.

All children eventually learn how to regulate their behavior and speech but children on the Autism spectrum tend to be slower at acquiring this skill. Children with autism experience the same world we live in but in a dramatically different way and they are limited in their ability to read social situations.

Most children with autism don't even realize that their behaviors are socially unacceptable. Some of these behaviors may include:

1. inappropriate touching or invading another's space,

2. handflapping, spinning or stimming

3. fascinations with particular objects,

4. extreme displays of affection or the exact opposite.

Some children respond aggressively when least expected and many have sensory issues that produce bizarre reactions to food textures, tastes, light, sound and smells.

Therefore, as a parent of a child on the Autism spectrum the possibility of having your child commit a social 'faux pas' in public is high. Unfortunately, until we are able create more awareness about Autism and minimize the judgmental reactions of others, parents will have to continue to deal with some embarrassing situations deemed 'socially inappropriate' by onlookers.

Eventually, you may develop a protective armor from the piercing looks of disgruntled strangers that just don't understand but what can you do in the meantime?

Finding ways to minimize or prevent the number of embarrassing incidents you might have to endure is one option. Here are some strategies to consider that might help.

• Remember, you are your child's best teacher. Your child may be receiving therapies that work on building appropriate social skills but you are with your child 24/7. Don't overlook potentially embarrassing actions and address them as they occur by telling and showing your child what to do instead, how to do it and when.

• Appeal to the way your child's brain works best. Most children on the Autism spectrum are very visual so use pictures, photos, lists or video modeling to communicate with your child. Some may respond better to auditory input, so make a recording for your child with step-by-step instructions for them to listen to. Others may need to be physically manipulated by taking their hand and demonstrating just how much pressure to apply to petting an animal or touching people.

• Be persistent. Constant repetition and reinforcement will eventually work to instill more suitable behaviors in your child. It typically takes twenty-one repetitions of an action before a new behavior becomes a habit but a brain that is wired differently may take more time - so start early, practice often, practice some more and have patience.

• Use distraction. Plan ahead when going out in public and bring a bag of tricks with you to divert your child's attention when your gut begins sending you a warning that something potentially unacceptable might occur. Fill a backpack with stress relievers and favorite items that will quickly catch your child's interest.

• Give people information. If all else fails, be prepared with a short statement to say to others that will enlighten them. Some parents carry around cards that explain their child's behavior and may even provide suggestions for being helpful or information about websites that educate people about Autism.

• Ignore onlookers. It takes time to build up the confidence, courage and a secure sense-of-self necessary to disregard the gawkers and disapproving stares that you may encounter. Begin building your protective armor by forcing yourself to focus on your child who really needs you to respond appropriately in that moment. Try creating a mantra to recite in circumstances such as these that would reassure you and help you concentrate on what is most important - your child.

Most importantly, be kind to yourself. Remember that every child has the potential to call attention to themselves or fall apart and every parent has the capacity to handle it inappropriately at times so don't be hard on yourself after an episode such as this. Tell yourself you did the best you could and use it as a learning experience to gain insight about what you might do differently the next time.

Connie Hammer, MSW, parent educator, consultant and coach, guides parents of young children recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder to uncover abilities and change possibilities. Visit her website http://www.parentcoachingforautism.com/ to get your FREE resources - a parenting e-course, Parenting a Child with Autism - 3 Secrets to Thrive and a weekly parenting tip newsletter, The Spectrum.

Original article

Divorce and Autism: Making the Best of an Unfortunate Situation

The myth that families of children with Autism have an 80% divorce rate was proven false by researcher Brian Freedman, PhD, clinical director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, as this article, Autism Families: High Divorce Rate Is a Myth, states. Despite the fact that parents of a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder experience more stress, the rates of divorce remain similar to those of parents with neuro-typical children. Unfortunately, that does not mean that parents of special needs children do NOT get divorced.

So what is a parent of a child with Autism to do when they suddenly become an every other weekend dad or mom? The answer is the same I would give any other divorced parent; find a way to co-parent constructively. When couples with children divorce it becomes necessary for them to mindfully redefine their relationship. Remember that there are no ex-parents, only ex-spouses. Despite the fact that the marriage has ended the parenting connection will continue forever.

The best gift any parent can give their child in this situation is to make a conscious effort to redesign their roles, without conflict and negativity. This means:

1. Putting the needs of the children first.

2. Separating parenting issues from personal issues.

3. Establishing new boundaries.

4. Discovering a way to effectively communicate with one another.

This is much easier said than done but here are a few suggestions to keep you on track.

- Communicate regularly with your ex about the therapies your child is receiving and find out how you can reinforce them during your time together. Consistency is important for children on the spectrum and keeping schedules and routines as similar as possible between houses will help.

- Pay attention to your environment and try to look at it from your child's perspective. Taking your child's sensory sensitivities in mind try to create a space for him that will be predictable and comforting in order to make her feel secure in their other home.

- Be mindful of how your child handles the transitions when moving from house to house. Coping with a new situation takes time. Keep in mind that it will take her a while to settle in when first arriving from the home of your ex.

- Don't let guilt run the way you parent. Remain in charge. Your children need to know the boundaries and how to be responsible for themselves more than ever. Loving, positive rules create emotional order, which in turn allows character and love to grow.

- Create your own family rituals, they make great memories. This can be as simple as having regular family meals with candlelight, making bedtime a predictable routine with storytelling, or creating traditions for holidays and special events.

- Remember that love is not about externals. You don't have to be a Disneyland dad or an overindulgent mom. Spend your time, not your money, on making genuine connections that create secure relationships with your children. This will reduce the need your children may have to search for outside 'things' to feel valued and important.

- Manage your new home with the same close attention you give your job/career/ business. Remember, in this job, you are the boss and you run the household. Keep in mind how you would rate yourself on a performance evaluation.

Connie Hammer, MSW, parent educator, consultant and coach, guides parents of young children recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder to uncover abilities and change possibilities. Visit her website http://www.parentcoachingforautism.com/ to get your FREE resources - a parenting e-course, Parenting a Child with Autism - 3 Secrets to Thrive and a weekly parenting tip newsletter, The Spectrum.

Original article