Facts About Autism Treatment

Autism treatment is not considered to be a fix-all, a cure. People diagnosed with developmental disorders can expect to have to live out their lives with them. Treatment is for therapeutic purposes. Treatment is given in the hope of providing these individuals with coping methods, and skills needed to successfully handle life's situations as easily, and comfortable as possible. Treatment takes on the form of therapy sessions both one-on-one and in a group setting. It involves speech pathology therapy that focuses on not only the semantics of verbal communication but the psychological and emotional characteristics as well. Treatment can also take the form of standardized classroom instruction-these classes are special education classrooms that specifically are meant to educate individuals with developmental disorders.

Depending on the severity of the symptoms a child may be able to participate in the general setting of classes at his/her school. High functioning autistic, while still faced with the awkward social skills and awkward communication skills do have some ability to successfully participate in group setting such as public school classrooms with little or no extra help or attention. However, they still look at things in a different way and will probably come to understand and learn them in a different way as well. Because of this difficulties are more likely to occur than not and teachers and parents need to be aware of this. Children with developmental disorders are prone to bullying and negative relationships with their peers. It is difficult for children, especially those at a young age to be accepting of something so drastically different from their selves.

Most will act out because of fear of the unknown. It is necessary for teachers and caregivers to teach children a more accepting attitude of change and difference. It is with open minds, patience, and compassion that we can live together peacefully. Hiding anything different from the world is not the best course of action. However, in some cases where the severity of autism is extreme it is beneficial to everyone involved to place the child in an educational environment geared toward his/her disorder. This doesn't mean ostracize them from the general public but simply provide them with a stable environment in which they can learn to handle said general public, comfortably.

Speech pathology therapy can be useful in helping an autistic child to build a better communicative repertoire. Communication is often difficult for autistic children no matter the severity of their symptoms.

They do not understand and react to social, environmental, emotional, intuitive cues. Due to this autistic children can develop antisocial tendencies that can unknowingly ostracize themselves from their peers. Therapy can help them to develop communication skills they are comfortably with and able to use in any situation. This can actually help them to better understand those around them which will lead to success in everyday life. It can also help autistic children to make friends-which can be of great benefit to them.

Again, autism treatment is not meant to be a cure. But it can help to alleviate the major negative characteristics of the disorder. It will help a child live as best a life as possible for him/her.

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

Original article

Coping With Autism Spectrum Disorder Meltdowns and Behaviours

What is an Autism Related Meltdown?
A child with Autism can be very prone to meltdowns in public and unfamiliar places. Meltdowns can be described as a tantrum or fit of rage as the child may be confused or stressed due over loaded sensory inputs or an unfamiliar place and situation.

An Autistic or ASD meltdown can be difficult to control and can be a very emotional trauma for both the ASD child / person and the carer. It can also put the ASD child / person and carer in danger of personal injury purely from a reaction to a situation, event or even emotional vibes.

To add to the drama of a meltdown in public places there is always the onlookers and concerned individuals. It is only human nature to be concerned if a child / person is acting in a manner which may be perceived as if the person is in danger or in trouble. It would be a sad world if this wasn't the case, as in a recent event in China where a small child was hit by a vehicle and ignored on the street by passers by.

I recall when Isybee was just 3 or 4 years old, one of the first outings we had in a busy shopping center, the surroundings, lights, noise and crowd was too much for her to handle and she had a meltdown. For passers by it would have seemed as if we were trying to harm her or kidnap her, people were trying to intervene and looked upset and concerned, we felt like we had to try and explain that our daughter was Autistic, however at the time your focus is on calming the child. Some even went as far as commenting on what terrible parents we were. We ignored them however it still affects you.

Coping with an Awkward Situation
So how do you go about coping with these sort of situations? Everyone would have their own way of dealing with such an event, and you have to quickly learn to not let others perceptions bother you. You could try and avoid outings, social gatherings or anywhere where there might be a chance of the ASD child having a meltdown, however at some stage you will have no choice and at some stage you will need to accustom the child with Autism to everyday living situations and slowly modify their behavior by making them feel comfortable and understanding what is going on around them.

One clever way we found to handle onlookers and concerned citizens when a meltdown or perceived disruptive behavior occurs by your miss-understood child with Autism, is to hand out an Autism Awareness card that gives in brief, an explanation of why the child is in this state. It can be a very effective way of communicating without having to go into verbal explanations and allows you to focus and deal with the task at hand - calming your child!

Print Your Own Autism Awareness Cards
We made up the Autism Awareness cards into a template which can be printed out into business card style and size cards. These can be printed out directly by any home Ink Jet or Laser printer using the IJ39 Business Cards format which matches most word processor software formats. Printing sheets are available at any Office Supplies outlet. This template will print 10 business style cards per sheet. See link below.

Below is a link to the Autism Awareness Cards Template Free Download page:

http://isybeeautism.com/autism-asd-insights/coping-with-autism-spectrum-disorder-meltdowns-and-behaviours/

Hi, my name is Henry, I am Isy Bee's father

My wife and I originally started Isabella's Autism Pages and Isybee Autism web pages to help other parents in similar circumstances, and to give recognition to other people and organisations who have helped them help me.

We hope to cover a lot of ground writing articles and providing information and resources for families and persons affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Please visit our website for more information and resources:

http://isybeeautism.com/ - Autism information and resources.

Original article

Musicophilia Meets: Media Bombardment's Contribution To Autism

Musical imagery just happens...

Musical imagery is the brain hearing music when there is no music actually playing.

In Musicophilia Dr. Sacks shows that "Musical imagery is not voluntarily commanded or summoned but comes to us apparently spontaneously." Could the spontaneous nature of this imagery - at times be sparked by associative thought? I am not sure. But Dr. Sacks pays attention to the associative thought process - as he points out how one of his correspondents says that "Every memory of my childhood has a soundtrack to it."

Musical imagery comes from repeated exposure to a particular piece or type of music. Dr. Sacks points out how a type of musical imagery that entered his own mind, while lacking an associative emotional attachment (like from childhood memory), was pleasurable enough for him to attend to. He relates his musical imagery to the fact that..."I have bombarded my ears and brain with them, and the musical "circuits" or networks in my brain have been supersaturated, overcharged with them. In such a supersaturated state, the brain seems ready to replay the music with no apparent external stimulus." (Dr. Sacks)

The type of musical imagery that Dr. Sacks deals with is described as rarely intrusive or uncontrollable. However, the doctor has treated those who have more voracious experiences within the realm of musical imagery - or that which is just flat out auditory hallucination.

When considering Dr. Sacks described bombardment and resulting musical imagery I am given cause to pause with regard to all the auditory input that children are bombarded with in our current society.

For my own autistic daughter who experienced a worsening into schizophrenic like psychosis at about ten years of age, it became imperative to stop her constant engagement in viewing familiar animated movies, games and TV programs. For the most part they all have similar music - but with the added dash of intrigue that ended up being very bad for her.

Right before her worsening she needed the volume turned up on anything that she listened to. It was as if she was trying to drown out other things in the environment. Soon it was apparent that she was having internal conflict and I realized she was trying to drown out what was going on in her head. She progressed to the point of having inexplicable screaming episodes as she tried to occupy herself with watching her movies or engaging in a video game.

She really got to the point where no known external stimulus need be present in order that she go berserk. As the outburst expanded in duration, intensity and number - the internal conflict was coupled with catatonia like presentation. By this particular point I and my family had identified auditory and visual hallucinations were a part of the overall process for her.

Perhaps the succession that led to horrific hallucinatory process started with that of voracious musical imagery that was intertwined with visual media imagery. As far as the motor movements that also took her over, what can one expect when so much is going so wrong neurologically.

Her worsening did not relent for several years. However, my daughter was eventually able to discern that she needed to be void of too much stimulus, and while a hospital inpatient she would many times voluntarily take herself to the seclusion room that was void of stimulation during her rougher times.

Her determination to shine in spite of the tremendous neurological challenges only emboldened the determination to hang on with her. Most doctors felt we should give up. I and my family did not know how to give up because as unbearable as life was with her - it would be worse without her. We were witness to a cherished one who was suffering in a neurological hell, all the while trying to make her own way out.

Throughout those years there were tries at helping her that were inconsequential. These were the kinds of help that might more aptly apply for those who were not so obviously suffering from a severe neurological - and not strictly volitional - condition.

During an occupational therapy evaluation: My daughter hated classical music playing in the background. She hates sound with too much treble quality. The OT felt it important to find music that she could enjoy, however all that she experienced turned into conflict so that not even music soothed her. The OT noted that we already utilized strategies at home such as swimming and swinging, exclusively doing so because my daughter usually responded to favorably to them. The report gave a very long and excellent list of ideas for settling at night, but the active hallucinations and manias cared little for such a list.

I previously had exposure to, and understood the OT's suggestions since my daughter lived her entire life in the world of autism. Everyone tried so hard to help but the fact for the current time was that we were not dealing with anything near normal, and my daughter was not responding to most of these types of interventions normally. Her world represented an upside down one. Things considered soothing by many became intolerable.

During a relaxation session: An attempt was made to have my daughter utilize certain relaxation techniques. Mostly breathing exercises and music. The deliberate breathing required repetition, or ritual. How could I explain to the therapist that this meditative breathing might be bad? Ritual proved harmful to my daughter and seemed to through her into absence spells. The repetitive relaxation breathing might contribute to troubling absence spells. Past absence spells disturbed my daughter enough to result in violence and screaming.

My daughter tried relaxation with the therapist, but as she engaged in the deliberate breathing she looked disturbed - the way she usually looked when dealing with internal conflict. Her thought processes were fried and repetition of any sort was an enemy. Meditation upon meaningless music, breathing, or idle thinking was in vain. It really pointed to her susceptibility toward spells, as compared to some individual's susceptibility to hypnotizing. Perhaps my daughter's involvement in any sort of repetition put her in a trance state, without benefit of suggestion from the hypnotist. All she had was her inner conflict from which to draw.

Indeed, for my daughter types of music represent an evolving trigger process for imagery, hallucination and ultimately conflict.

As I read Dr. Sacks' work and consider my daughter's presentation over her entire life I can easily conclude that caution is advised for our current culture. The bombardment of media - the constant viewing of cartoons, animated movies and other media, most of which have a lot of music intertwined is something better avoided in large dose; especially by those identified as being part of the spectrum of autism. These media, in too large a dose, may represent for the autistic child the same scenario as the bombardment that Dr. Sacks talked about with regard to his own musical imagery.

While Dr. Sacks is better able to make sense of his own imagery's intrusion. An autistic child will have a harder fought life long journey of discernment with regard to what they take in, and how their psyche responds to it all.

*****

About our journey with autism... At the very beginning I figured we would 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. This articles are just an outreach. 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