My son is a wonderful young adult at the age of 21. Growing up has been hard for him. When he was age five, we (his father and I) decided to wait a year before we put him in kindergarten. Educationally he was very prepared to go but not emotionally. So when his first day of school did come around, at the end of the day, I received a note from a wet behind the ears, first time ever parochial school teacher that my son was not ready. I was really angry that this women, who had known my son for six hours was telling me that he had ADHD. I knew she was wrong. Throughout his life he was normal around us, but yet I noticed that on playdates, he'd stay by himself or with me. He wouldn't meet new friends. He was very withdrawn around stangers. There'd be no eye contact. No hellos to family or friends. And there was other signals that I noticed. Certain textures bothered him. He would not color with crayons, fingerpaints or use molding clay or Play-Doh. Everytime he had check-ups I'd mention to the pediatrician that James could not see "cause and effect". He didn't get the "big picture". The doctor wasn't concerned because all the growing milestones were being met. I kept telling the doctor that something was wrong , but he would not believe me. So we went through the evaluations for ADHD and tried a trial of Ritalin, but nothing changed. It was when I forced him to listen to me because I wouldn't let him out of the exam room, that he finally agreed to proceed further. And after a lot of testing at the Genetic Counseling Center at UT did we finally get an answer. Confirmation of ASperger's Syndrome... when I sent the report to Dr. Jim he apologized and told me that when he went to medical school, the more obscure behaviors were not talked about. In fact, he told me he had never heard of AS. So throughout all the years, my husband and I found ways to teach our son manners, how to be courteous to others, etc.. Does he still struggle ?  read more »

Here is a “tempting tidbit” in the form of a movie trailer, from the upcoming documentary being filmed in beautiful Tampa Bay , featuring Autism Spectrum and the local bay area families who are struggling to find answers.  The documentary will highlight Tampa ’s own Dr. Nelson Mane’ and the tremendously successful therapy Hemispheric Integration, as just one message of hope, and moving forward.

Here is your link to the movie preview…Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQIVp9x1xLI

I am a widow and single mother of a mildly to moderately autistic boy.  He will turn 3 years old in two weeks.  He was diagnosed with Autism just before his 2nd Birthday.  When he was diagnosed he couldn't talk or communicate, he wouldn't respond to his name, and there was no eye contact.  He was still drinking from a bottle and still eating baby food.  He has improved a lot in the past year.  His eye contact is really great now, he responds to his name, has learned to communicate some, immitate and initiate words.  He is now trying to tell us what he wants sometimes.  He drinks from a sippy-cup, sometimes from a straw, and sometimes out of a regular cup.  He still eats baby food.  We are still working on trying to get him to eat table food.  Because of his sensitivity to textures and also because change is hard, he will not eat anything he has to chew.   I have learned that parents are the best advocates for their children.  Parents know their children better than anyone.  What works for one child may not work for another child.  Each parent has to figure out what works best for their child, this could be true for normal children as well as autistic children. My son has a speech therapist, occupational therapist, and play therapist.  He has also been in daycare 3 days a week around normal children.  My son has a happy, sweet, loving, and playful nature.  He relates well to me when I play with him.  He likes games, like peek-a-boo. He is becoming good at imaginative and pretend play.  read more »

Inventor wrote, “In school aspie is called nerd, at work, the boss.” This quote is from a discussion on WrongPlanet.net about business owners with Autism and Asperger’s.  As it turns out, for some, “Nerds Rule!” is not just a saying.

Mary, my social networking guru, sparked this post (I’ll get to her in a minute.) when she sent me this link:  Autistic Traits: A Plus for Many Careers (I like the punny humor in that.) where Lisa Jo Rudy wrote, “But autistic people aren’t typical. And neither are the careers for which they’re ALREADY good candidates.”

Then I remembered the episode of House I watched where the “radical” doctor with long hair, a guitar, and tattoos was not hired because, to paraphrase House, the only radical kids were the ones who spent hours in the library studying while the popular kids were out partying.

You have to grow a tough skin to put up with the ostracizing from other kids.  Now, I have friends because high school is long gone.  I also have a business and I’m the boss.  Why?  I invented The Cozy Calm Weighted Blanket.

I’m not unusual.  Evidently, it’s common enough for people with autism and Asperger’s to be self-employed or own businesses.  I have no stats for this, just the accumulated knowledge from being on a lot of Asperger’s and Autism boards for adults–something I noticed.  read more »

My friend Craig posted a hilarious blog in which he shared pictures of a “book” he wrote when he was 9.  Craig had his first book published by a publisher this month, so it was really neat to journey back in time to view this young literary prodigy at work.  Check it out:  http://craiglancaster.wordpress.com/

My son Cooper loves to illustrate stories.  Because his language is so delayed, I love the insight his books give us into his thoughts.  I have a portfolio of his “books.”  This link: http://www.forthesakeofjoy.com/young-talent/  goes to my  web site where I posted pictues of a story he wrote about how he envisioned Christmas Eve. (I couldn't put that many pics into this site's blog space)  He writes how he talks – leaving out words in the sentence and using many sound effects.  We use story writing in his therapy to work on sentence structure; phonics; reflective thinking; and many other skills.  I will continue to encourage him in his writing ~ maybe one day he too will be a “Craig Lancaster”  : )  Peace!  ~kp

I am watching college football and my Alma mater is losing to the team that was our biggest gymnastics rival when I competed for Penn State.  Yes, JoePa and the Nittany Lions are being outplayed by Ohio State.  (Stupid Buckeyes.)  Although I have nothing to do with the outcome of the game and I have no financial interest in who is the victor, I still want my team to win and the fact that they will lose has made me just a wee bit grumpy.  I know this grumpy feeling will last approximately 64 seconds after the game actually ends, and then it will be gone.  Because even though I wanted them to win, my mood for the day does not depend on it whatsoever.  

Shift gears...   Cooper currently has two favorite songs.  One is titled "The Best Day Ever" and is sung by Spongebob Squarepants.  The other song is "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter.  Best Day Ever and Bad Day.  I find it interesting that the extremes of "best" and "bad" are what appeals to him.  It makes some sense though.  He has trouble finding the middle ground.  Usually he is at one or the other end of the emotional spectrum....Completely happy and satisfied or agitated and inconsolable.  When he was younger, if he was having a day living in sad-ville everything would become all about getting us back into happyland.  We would do everything we could to get him out of the funk.

On Wednesday of this week he had a really hard transition from school to home.  By the time we got home he was in such a state that he and I sat on the landing of our stairs for a good 20 minutes.  I just held him while he sobbed.   At some point he said, "I'm sorry mom."  
I said, "You have nothing to be sorry about." (big pause)  Then I said, "I hate to see you cry."  
His response was, "I know.  Me too.  I can't help it."  read more »

A Marietta College student and Warren High School graduate is attempting to cover new ground in autism research, exploring an area of the disorder mostly ignored until now.

Heather Haught, 20, of Tunnel, a junior at the college, is entering the second phase of a research project aimed to form a better picture of what foods those with autism spectrum disorders prefer and how a diet can be made to cater to their needs and address eating problems associated with autism.

Often, children with autism are underweight, while many adults with autism are overweight or obese.

"I want to try to determine how we can get these people into a healthy weight range and have it be based in science," Haught said.

Haught had little background on autism when she learned a bit about it in a developmental psychology course at the college. She took that interest to assistant psychology professor Alicia Doerflinger, who had a background in the research of development of feeding behaviors, and the study was born.

The two found they would be virtual pioneers in their experiment, titled "The Effect of Food Preferences, Food Intake and Taster Status on Body Weight in Children with Autism."

"When we started to look at the literature, there was obviously not a lot of work done in that area," said Doerflinger. "Even though it's pretty well known that parents of children with autism have feeding issues on a daily basis, there didn't seem to be investigation into that in any depth. It was a little niche we could move into."

The lack of previous studies may be due to the difficulty of working with young children who are autistic or simply because with all the functionality issues related to the disorder, it may not have been a high priority, she said.  read more »

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - Research on a new device - a version of which is now available to consumers -  that measures young children's language-learning environment and holds promise for use in the screening, assessment and treatment of  young children with autism, will be the topic of the first 2009-2010 UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute Distinguished Lecturer address on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The address will be presented by Steven Warren, a senior scientist, professor of applied behavioral science and vice provost for research and graduate studies at the University of Kansas, at 4:30 p.m. in the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute auditorium, 2850 50th St., Sacramento.

Warren is internationally recognized for his contributions to understanding language development in children and his leadership in the field of developmental disabilities. He has conducted extensive research on early communication and language-intervention approaches and has published more than 120 papers, chapters, and books on these and related topics.

Warren’s major research interests are early communication and language development and intervention and the prevention of mental retardation. His Distinguished Lecturer address focuses on his research using a new device that is an extension of the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) system, which Warren calls a “breakthrough technology.”  read more »

(NaturalNews) According to a U.S. government survey just published, rates of autism in children have doubled since 2003. Today, an estimated 1 in 91 children are being diagnosed with autism, making this the highest rate in any population in the history of human civilization. Meanwhile, the vaccination push in America continues, specifically targeting children with not just seasonal flu vaccines (which may contain thimerosal), but also the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

It all begs the question: Is there a link between vaccines and autism?

In defending vaccines, many doctors have blamed autism on a genetic cause. But if it's genetic, why are rates skyrocketing so quickly? The gene pool obviously isn't changing that dramatically. There's no such thing as a "genetic epidemic." If genes caused autism, the rate of autism diagnosis should be holding steady year after year. Clearly, something else is at work, causing the sharp increase in autism.  read more »

I know I’ve mentioned that I grew up with no one knowing I had Asperger’s Syndrome. It made things quite a challenge for any who dealt with me and there were those who gave up. I’m not writing to talk about them today. Today, I want to pay my undying respect to those who took one extra step beyond and never, no never, gave up on me.

The first person I want to talk about, taught me in Boy’s Chorus at Irving Jr High in 1982. I have to say that Junior High years were the hardest on me. I had a heavy helping of bullies and general difficulty. Matters at home were no different and I felt depression’s grip icily on my heart.

I started storming out of classes because I simply felt so overwhelmed. I couldn’t handle the fact that I had no safe haven. I couldn’t process all of what happened around me and I had no idea why. So, I started considering suicide. No, no one knew of this, not even Ms. Paula Baack, my chorus teacher.

Ms. Baack gave me an example in life that made me change my mind about how long I wanted to live. She never knew this until I emailed her recently. One very special day changed everything and started me thinking. I got very upset that day and I stormed for that door, like I had several times before. What she said froze me in my tracks.

“David, if you go out that door, we are through!”

No one had ever said anything like that to me before and I couldn’t imagine what a dire consequence it meant I faced. All the same, it flipped a switch somewhere in me that no one else had managed to find. I turned and slowly walked back to my seat. The rest of the class could only stare in total amazement.

Ms. Baack is, to this day, a great teacher and powerful performer in her own right, but she can do one other thing better than most teachers I ever met. She could and still can reach the student. She reached me at Death’s door, even though she had no idea that such an event lay so close to me.