autism?

There is a fantastic organization in North Carolina called the Autism Society of North Carolina. They do alot of training sessions all over the country. Their web site is www.autismsociety-nc.org

Autism is a spectrum disorder with sysmptoms ranging from very mild to severe, that would account for the 3 different kiddos you have. The Autism Society of America also has a web-site, that give good information and even a sample IEP. As a parent of a child on the spectrum I have tried a few things that work with my child that I would be willing to share with you off line if you would like. Not all children on the spectrum react or benefit from an intervention in the same way so it is kind of a trial by error thing. If you desire feel free to e-mail me with any question you have.

is a website set up by the mother of an autistic child. It has a lot of good information and links. http://www.ccnet.com/~njones/Connor1.html

Mary

There are numerous products by Lingui systems to help you learn and get ideas for servicing children with Autism. Have you contacted an SLP? Perhaps they may have some other ideas that could help you.

This is just a vent, here. Autism is exploding. Please read “Dad’s” post on “parenting LD.” As a singular resource teacher in a K-6 building, this is beginning to overwhelm me for I can scarcely service my LD students to my standards, let alone begin to deal effectively with autism issues. Another pattern we are getting too frequently now (as our classroom teachers are more effectively teaching phonology) is that of the language disability split, really, really low verbal IQ and anywhere from low to average performance IQ. I have students with splits like: 55/80 and even 55/95. I have several of these on my caseload at this time, along with autism spectrum, classic LD, maximal ADHD……….. My state is having several 2 day workshops on special ed, to cover among other issues, FAPE, serving students…………one is during my spring break this year. I am thinking of going because this sitation is getting more out of hand each year. If they want special education to be effective, they have to create an environment where we CAN teach effectively, not one where we run at top speed and stress over how to get all the students and their goals covered within the parameters of the school day.

In my district, autism and other severe students are sent to certain schools where the staff are specially trained. My son’s resource teacher doesn’t have any.

My son who falls on the spectrum does have that split his is 82/104. Before his placement in the LD class this year he could not read, he is now up to a second grade reading level and making great progress. I attribute this to the low ratio in this class. There are only 10 kids in the class with 2 teachers. 3 of the students have an autism spectrum disorder. The remaining students have various disabilities. When the students are mainstreamed which they are for PE, art, lunch, recess, science, and social studies the LD teacher goes with them to the class and helps co-teach. This system seems to really work. The extra teachers are not just there for the LD students but all students who need it and all benefit. Wonder if something like this could work at your school?

I second the recommendation to check out Lingui-systems. Their website is

www.linguisystems.com

My favorite books begin with the title “The Source”. Some good ones that are described on the website are:

“The Source for Treatment Methodologies in Autism”
“The Source for Autism”
“Autism”
“Autism in Adolescents and Adults”

There are also units on social skills lessons for those on the autistic spectrum. As far as books, two of my favorites (both written by professionals) about the autistic spectrum are:

“The Autistic Spectrum” by Lorna Wing, MD
“The World of the Autistic Child” by Bryna Siegel, PHD

Both the above books delineate the spectrum which is so important to understand nowadays since so many more kids are being recognized as being on this continuum.

She is a very lucky woman.

Robin

We are seeing a plethora of children who have autistic tendencies in several areas, but not enough to be labeled autistic. These youngsters have much trouble in school and display some real intraindividual differences in their psychoeducational profiles. I can think of 4 of them right now as I sit here. 9 years ago when I started at my site, I almost never, ever saw these “odd children.”

There has to be something to the allegation of the MMR being linked to this. The increase in this collection of symptoms is too great to be explained by the fact that we know more about autism today. I also suspect there may be more to it than just the MMR. These children pop up all the time.

The resource programs are not well-equipped to really help these youngsters. Their issues are not the kind that can be remediated w/a pull-out program plus the issues are pervasive enough that inclass 30-45 minutes per day won’t really get to the issues either. We are not well equipped to give these children any substantial help at our public school.

To start with, here is a most excellent site put together by a woman in CA who is on the Spectrum:

http://home.pacbell.net/cscomp/dmain.htm

It contains a great number of links to other sites, as well as an enormous wealth of information. Happy surfing!

Now for the less pleasant part…

There is a growing body of evidence that autism is a collection of medical problems centered around toxic metal exposure/vaccine damage. There is evidence that there is a genetic component to some autism, but there is also evidence that other autism has no genetic connection.

These children need 1:1 attention if they are to maximize their potential. Many will need to be placed on very restictive diets to allow their bodies to heal to where they can respond more effectively to educational therapy. See www.gfcfdiet.com www.feingold.org

ABA-DTT is the best method found to date for breaking thru the communication barriers, but there is strong evidence that it is only the first step, and a number of children who have made significant gains under ABA fail to generalize the information and sometimes lose their gains when the DTT is ended.

Traaditional school is not the optimum setting for these children, and may even be inaapropriate for them. They have lifelong difficulties learning socialization skills, and there are literally hundreds of adults who suffered such abuse at the hands of peers and even staff that the over all impact of school has been detrimental to them. They are more appropriately worked with 1:1 in a more private setting, with the home being the best.

Autism was first identified in 1938, published in 1943 shortly after the introduction of modern vaccination with thimerosal as an ingredient, and has grown steadily over the years with the increasing load of vaccinations on the mandatory schedule. This is very suggestive of a direct causal link, although the science to back this theory is still in the works. Still, we have gone from 1 in 10,000 to 7 in 1,000 in about 70 years, an increase of about 6900%. There are mitigating factors (better recognition, expanded diagnostic criteria) that reduce this by about half, leaving a real adjusted rate of approx. 3500%.

Historically there was a jump inprevalance within several years of the introduction of the MMR vaccination in 1971, and a second jump after the introduction of the Hep B Vaccination in 1990. Again, there is no empirical evidence of a direct link, but then again, Sam is not funding studies which might prove that such a link exists.

Many even suggest that there is no real increase in autistic children, that it is all over diagnosis, mis diagnose and expanded criteria. Thise who have been in the trenches of special education may have a very different idea about this.

All I know is my boy and the other children I have met with autism would have been labeled something 20 years ago, and autism presents several very easily identifiable common characteristics for those who are familiar with what to look for. And 20-30 years ago there were most certainly far less of these children than there are today. Anyone who insists it is otherwise is either a liar or a foll, take your pick.

Sorry this was not more helpful to you. Good luck in helping these children.

Interesting that you say autism is ‘exploding’
Have you read anything which correlates autism and vaccines?

also see www.garynull.com
for more on autism and vaccinations

I agree with Dad, there MUST be an environmental link here. No way in creation that we would suddenly have this kind of increase otherwise.

barringmavericks like Singh or privately funded studies like Wakefield we may never get scientific proof of that. Neither the NIH or CDC has funded a single study since ‘95 which looks for anything other than a genetic source.

As if we could have turned over the gene pool enough times since 1938 to reach our present rate of prevalance…

Ever wonder what it is they are so desperate for us not to find out?

Well Dad, we could really get into one here. My husband told our daughter the other day the reason they have not “found” a cure for the common cold is because we have a multi-billion dollar over-the-counter drug industry. They won’t find cures for cancer when they are determined to look only at a drug cure (to the tune of over $1,000 for each chemo. administration and that was 10 years ago).

We just have to keep on looking and sharing. I spoke last week w/ a colleague on autism and MMR (both of us believe there is a link), another professional said, “I recently read that they have ruled this out entirely.”

There you go, they tell us this and we believe it. But, some of us don’t.