Discussing Autism

For years children with Sensory Processing Disorders and autism have been using not only pressure vests, but also weighted vests, weighted blankets, and lap pads to alleviate anxiety and to capture the deep pressure that their bodies crave.

Doctoral student Brian Mullen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has created a vest, which can also be used for adults with processing disorders, offers children what he likes to call a “portable hug”, or otherwise known as deep pressure touch stimulation (DPTS). (more…)

I’m sure by now you have all heard, or read, of the 5-year-old kindergartner, Alex Barton, who was cast out of his classroom last week by his own teacher and classmates.

If not…

Port St. Lucie, Florida teacher, Wendy Portillo, was removed from her duties as kindergarten teacher because she held a vote in her classroom in which students literally “voted-out” Barton because they did not like him in the classroom. Often a behavior challenge and often either in the principal’s office or nurse’s office for acting up, Alex is currently being tested for Asperger’s Disorder, a form of autism.

The problem here is not necessarily that she humiliated him in front of his peers, that she teased and bullied him (and allowed other students to do it as well), and not that she even committed emotional abuse in a classroom.

The problem here is that (and thanks to Daily Kos and Thinking in Metaphors for their fabulous interpretations) she took matters into her own hands when she got frustrated with his behavior. Instead, she was required BY LAW to give him services under IDEA and to help participate in the creation of his IEP if he is found to be autistic. (more…)

Summer time can be difficult for parents with special needs children, especially when summer school is not provided (because there was no regression) or when both parents work.

What options does a parent have to care for a child with autism or special needs? Children with autism need special services, structure, and they need adults who know how to work with them every day in order to prevent behavior issues from becoming too challenging. (more…)

This year my son does not qualify for Extended School Year (ESY), as he did last year. Some of your children will and that, depending upon the school district, may be a very good thing.

For us, last year, it was something to pass his time and to fill his mornings. I don’t think that he learned anything new or that he progressed but he was able to keep a school schedule, continue to take a bus to school everyday, and maintain a some of what he had learned the year before. (more…)

Although my son does not have traditional autism he has many of the symptoms of a child who has autism; developmental delays such as receptive and expressive communication delays, gross and fine motor delays, echolalia, sensory processing disorder, and even biomedical markers like a leaky gut and mercury toxins.

Currently, my son is on Clonidine for sleep, Risperdal for aggression and behavior, and miralax for chronic constipation. Additionally, he is taking numerous vitamins and minerals to help him with his nutrition and digestion of nutrients (because of his leaky gut). (more…)

Typically developing children learn without the need for intervention and they learn at a natural rate. However, children with autism and special needs don’t acquire skills at the same rate and they don’t always maintain what they learn because of processing disorders or deficiencies in memory.

ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis, is the design, implementation, and evaluation of environmental modifications to produce socially significant improvement in behavior. ABA is based upon the idea that a child’s behavior is determined by past and current events as well as genetic make-up. So, it focuses on explaining events that can be manipulated rather than focusing on the internal make-up that is beyond parental control. (more…)

Now that you know a little about Auditory Processing (and I say little because there is to much information out there that I have only scratched the surface) where do you go to get help?

Unfortunately, audiologists can not make a reliable diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorder, or Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), until a child is seven (and it takes specialized testing) because of the way the neurological system develops. However, visual processing can be diagnosed early and a neurologist can determine if a child will or is having trouble processing auditory information.

(more…)