Autism Network - All Forums

Hi, Just registered and introducing myself. I am the mom of a 19 year old young man

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:22:48 +0000

Hi, Just registered and introducing myself. I am the mom of a 19 year old young man with Aspergers. Ironically, I have also worked in the field of Employment and Quality Life Services for people with disabilities for 28 years.

I am very interested in your use of PECS. I do the same with the people I serve but with photos which are "natural" to each person's life.

Kat

New Pictorial schedules and more.

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:10:06 +0000

Ok all i would love your feedback here, i am going to start creating a vast library of pictorial schedules, morning routine, night routine, going to the dentist/doctors, going out etc etc.

I will also be creating simple pages of PECS sets food, transport etc etc.

What i would like from you is as many schedule board, Pecs set suggestions as possible.

If you are suggesting a Schedule board please state what it is for and the pecs on it.

E.g.
Title: school schedule board
Pecs: Wake up, get dressed, breakfast, brush teeth, brush hair, school bag and go to school.

If you are suggesting a Pecs set then please state what it is for and the pecs on it.

E.g
Title: fruit pecs set
pecs: orange, apple, banana, grapes, strawberries, pear, melon etc etc

I am asking for your suggestions as it is easy for me to think up scenarios etc but much better if it comes from you and what sorts of things you need.

As many as possible would be fantastic.

Second opinion?

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:03:55 +0000

Hi

My 5 yr old son has asd (mild autism) and was tested when he was 3...thats when we got the diagnosis. He was also said to lie behind about a yr than the other children his age. He had made HUGE strides in both speech and sosially with other children. Eye contact has always been great. He just got retested and we got the results yesterday and I am in a it of a shock and confusion. This time it was a different psychologist that tested him and she said that he scored the same as two yrs ago, but that socially scored better this time. But this time, after the autism diagnosis, added with mild retartation...that he scored about a 70 on the IQ score, and that he will always be this way and even be childish as an adult. Well, to be quite honest, I didnt say anything to this dr as I was in shock and my son is in no way like Forrest Gump (to have something to compare with). I come from a long line of family members that have all types of dislexsia (sp?...lol) as you can see, myself...lol...and that perhaps this test or assumption was a bit premature as the children where I am living do not start school until they are 6 yrs old. Could it be he just didnt understand the questions, had an off day, was too obsessed with the toy he was playing with because of his autism...it could be many things, but mentally retarded is not what we see every day with our son! So, I totally disagree with this, but I had a gut feeling when he was 2 that he had autism, so its not like I am in denile. So this question goes out to all of you with asd children, have you ever experienced this labeling, in addition to the autistic diagnosis? Should I get a second opinon?

Aleta

Travel

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:53:23 +0000

I am going on a long flight with my Autistic 6 year old, Ryan. Im really worried about the flight, the airport etc as it is just me and him and a long flight. Does anyone have an sugestions of hw to make things easier. Thanks everone xx

New to the group

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:42:33 +0000

My name is Liz and I am the mom to soon-to-be 10 yr old daughter, Tori, who has ASD/Down syndrome and a few more acronyms behind her name. I am VP of the local ASA group and on the Board of Directors for our local Down syndrome group.

We have 2 older daughters, one who will be 30 in March and the other who will be 24 in March. Tori will be 10 on Tuesday, 2/23.

Autism Awareness Video in the making, come and help!

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:44:07 +0000

So here is the idea!

Hopefully we want to get this ready by April for Autism Awareness month please help us achieve this!

We would like to create a Autism Network video that will help raise awareness about Autism show people that it is a condition but that people with Autism are still human!

We have come up with the idea that we will have a short video clip for each letter of the word Autism, this video will then be posted around the net in as many places as possible to spread the word about Autism awareness.

Why are you telling us i hear you ask! Well we want your help.

We would like you to all have a part in this project, we want you to choose a letter that you would like to do from the list below and tell us what your video clip will comprise of.

Once we have all the letter we will get it edited together and ready to go to the world!

So here we go

A = Awareness (Maybe a shop or service that offers some sort of communication aid for people with Autism like the use of PECS to help comunication)

U = Understanding (Maybe a breakdown somewhere public and member of public helps by showing understanding, asking passers by to move on or offering there help)

T = Teach (Specialist teaching activity)

I = integrate

S = support

M = ??

As you can see we still need one for M so any suggestions welcome!

Please if you wish to help with this project, choose a letter and tell us a little about the idea you have for the video clip.

The suggestions above are exactly that, to show rough the sort of thing we are looking for.
We do want something along that line though.

Video clips only need to be 30-50 seconds in length, please no phone camera video's unless it is of good quality.
Email clips to info@bid4allneeds.com
Lets tell the world about Autism!

photo documentary

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:56:31 +0000

Hi,

I am a photographer and I am working on a documentary on Autism. I
am keen to show the realities of this disorder and how it affects the lives
of both those suffering and their families. I hope that the medium of
photography can help suffers a platform to better illustrate the challenges
that they face.

If anyone could help me with this work and be interested in taking part
please do reply to me. I am willing to work openly with people and the
photos will not be used without prior knowledge. I am also happy to
provide those involved with photos at no cost.

Thanks

VERY picky eater

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:40:13 +0000

Hi everyone, I'm new here and would be very interested to hear your views on this if you have/are dealing with something similar. My gorgeous, Thomas-obssessed 5 year old son with autism is SUCH a fussy eater it is driving me mad When he was a baby he would eat most things put in front of him, but has steadily become more and more fussy and has a penchant for crispy textured and dry foodstuffs, ie, crackers (no topping), cereal (no milk), crisps etc. He eats the following things: brown bread, crackers, raw carrots, apples, corn on the cob, watermelon, peas, ready salted crisps, plain pasta, homemade chicken nuggets, KFC (yes, would live on it if I allowed him to ), M&S nice rice and chicken, Frosties (no milk), toasted seeds (sesame etc) toast and jam, chips and chocolate of course and that's about it. I have just managed to get him to drink strawberry milkshake (have to hide other drinks first). He did used to eat a few other things, but has decided that he doesn't want them too now. I know some people will be well, actually that's not bad, but it really is not much of a variety at all and he resolutely refuses to try anything new. The minute he gets a sniff of what's coming his way it is "yuk, that's s'gusting"... I've tried to just put new things on the edge of his plate and ignore it and see what he does (ends up on table or floor) and I've put things in separate bowls near to him (ignores it). Does anyone have any advice please?! Just a point to note - he is growing well and is very rarely ill, but that doesn't make the situation any less frustrating...dinner time is most definitely the most difficult and stressful and of course, we all know how lovely a child is (esp. with autism) when they are hungry... Many thanks. Tina

Hello

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:29:13 +0000

Hello, Everyone, Just wanted to drop a line to say hello

Advise for a new member please

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:23:10 +0000

Hello Everyone, I have litrally just signed up to this site having read some threads i thought some members on here would be able to help.
My daughter is 3, Just after her 2nd birthday i went to the doctor on my own accord and ask for a hearing test, My daughter had just started speaking and nothing was coming out clear, well to cut a long story short, she is 3 and 6 months and the hearing test was finally done only 2 weeks ago and it was fine, she has a wide vocab of words but everything pronouced with a D sound, Di Dont Da Do Do Da Doidet (I want to go to the toilet), After speaking to the SALT she thinks she may have verbal dyspraxia which i totally agree with but both the SALT, Nursery and HV all share the same concerns with her ability to mix with other children, and say she shows signs of a social communication disorder and a sever speech sound disorder, Has no Eye Contact, and Has Fixations on Such things as the Number 3 and the Colour Yellow.
From and early age my daughter has always been distressed leaving the house without as many toys as she can possible hold in her hand. She now has a brother of 16 months and even him she wont comnnuicate or play with.
She has a very big bond with me, everything she needs doing she will only allow me to do it and gets very frustrated if anyone else helps
Do you think my daughter my have Autism or Something simular. Please take the time to reply
Many Thanks

downloads!

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:14:08 +0000

these are cool! thank you

New FREE downloads area!

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:03:40 +0000

As many of you may know our new downloads area is ready for use. we have updated all our free worksheets etc and given them a nice new area so you can easily navigate them.

So why not go get them http://www.autismnetwork.co.uk/downloads.php

Get your very own Autism Network signature

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Yes you can now get your very own live stats Autism Network signature copy the codes bellow to get this signature and use it on your sites, other forums etc enjoy!

BBcode

Code:

[url=http://www.autismnetwork.co.uk][img]http://www.autismnetwork.co.uk/mybbsig.php[/img][/url]

HTML Code

Code:

Vote to bring the portal back or keep as is.

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:09:36 +0000

Hi all so as many of you may be aware we had a portal type page on the site not so long ago. This was like a landing page for the site so rather than going straight to the forum you got to see latest news, posts, members etc etc then you could access the forums as normal by clicking the link we would like to know if you would like this portal page to return or do you prefer just having the forum so when you visit us you get directed to the forum right away please please let us know and vote here.

If you can not remember what the portal looks like them click here this site is running the portal that we did so looks similar http://www.promybb.com/portal.php we will go with the winner so get your vote in!

We can not make things better for you if you do not tell us.

Welcome to Holland (poem)

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:56:39 +0000

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans: the Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may even learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After several months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and but new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower placed than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there awhile you begin to notice that Holland has windmills... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things... about Holland.

(Copyright 1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved.)

For Canadian Residents *FREE

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:51:08 +0000

For those who are not aware of this program "No Child Without" (Canadian Medic Alert Foundation) please note that all children ages 4-14th birthday qualify.

MedicAlert bracelets, sports bands, and necklets (not recommended for children under 10) are provided free for your child(ren). You can update or download your child's Medic Alert record at anytime.

MedicAlert identification can alert school staff, friends, coaches and others about your child's medical condition should an emergency occur. First responders look for the MedicAlert identification to immediately know what condition(s) {such as *Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and *Autism} your child has and what medication(s) your child takes.

Visit http://www.nochildwithout.ca for a comprehensive list of conditions that might require your child to wear Medic Alert.

To enroll, call toll-free 1-877-282-5378 Monday-Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm (Eastern Standard Time) or visit http://www.nochildwithout.ca

Information and Support Web Page

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:08:43 +0000

O.A.S.I.S (Online Asperger Syndrome Information and Support Web Page)

Has specifically designed Instructions for Educators:

I.E.P. Modification/Adaptations/Support Checklist

Copies of the IEP/ARD Documents may be downloaded for personal, educational, or medical use without permission. For use in seminars or papers, please cite Nancy Dalrymple, PhD and Lisa Ruble, PhD as the Authors. Any use in printed publications or by other organizations requires written permission from the authors.

http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/IEP_...klist.html

to access site search OASIS, Asperger's

Acedemic Areas most Affected

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:36:26 +0000

While students with ADD may have impaired functioning on any school task, some activities tap more directly into the specific deficits central to ADD.

Written language usually is problematic. To begin with, the majority of students with ADD have poor fine motor skills. Thus the motoric activity of holding a pencil and making it do what it's supposed to do can be a struggle. Motor planning is required in order to correctly form letters and connect them with one another, but such planning does not come easily for impulsive students.

Divided attention, that is moving back and forth between two or more tasks or ideas is particularly difficult.

If the motor and other mechanical aspects of writing occupy full student attention, the message of the written communication will be lost; or at least the flow of the writing will be lacking. Students with ADD describe major difficulties with taking notes in lecture classes. "I can listen or I can write. I can't do both. When I write, I lose the instructor until I'm done." Obviously, much of the message is lost when that happens. Reviewing notes taken by students with ADD reveals large gaps in the information which makes its way onto paper, validating this problem.

Actively thinking about forming letters and spelling words is required for many students with ADD.

Confronted with a sentence to write, the student must think what she wants to say; then the words must be selected; then the spelling of the individual words must be considered; then how the letters themselves are formed may occupy conscious thought. ("Let's see. To make an "I" in cursive, I have to start at the line and make a loop and then back down like this...") By the time a few words have been written, the intent of the sentence may have been lost; so the student must return to "go" and start again.

Rote memorization is excessively difficult for students with ADD.

Nothing requires greater sustained concentration than memorizing. Yet learning math facts involves huge components of rote memorization. How do we learn that 9 x7= 63? We just go over and over the number combination until an automated connection is formed in our brains. There is not much context tothat piece of information; and higher level cognitive processes are not much help. The information has to be memorized. Students with ADD are impaired to their ability to make these types of connections through rote memorization, partly because of their difficulty focusing forced, intense concentration for any subject, and partly because of their difficulty forcing confused, intense concentration for any subject, and partly because the information is not inherently interesting nor attractive. Math facts, by their nature are dull and colourless. Thus the learner must bring more of themselves to the task; and the students with ADD are unable to "turn on" attentional processes on demand. Higher level math is much more conceptual and logical, and thus is more interesting. However, in order to get the right answer, students usually have to utilize math facts memorized in elementary school. A common pattern among students with ADD is a markedly better grasp of math concepts than the ability to form computations.

Add impairs functioning on many sequentially ordered activities.

Think of acedemic tasks in which the order in which the information is presented, or the order in which the problem is solved, is critical. These will be difficult for the ADD students. Working multiple digit multiplication or long division problems requires that a set of steps to be followed in the right order. If any step is followed out of order (e.g., you don't bring down the next number from the dividend before the divisor is entered again), your answer will be wrong. Of course, such problems require sustained attention to small details within the problem, sometimes for a minute or more. If attention wanders, careless mistakes will also occur.

Other sequentially ordered tasks include spelling. Knowing the letters to be used in a word does little good if the order is wrong. Spelling requires memorization, too, at least for the many irregular words or "exceptions" in the English language; and thus rote memorization and sequencing problems combine to impair spelling.

While written language (including spelling) and math are the most prominent problem areas of students with ADD, all types of acedemic functioning can be comprised by the disorder.

Distractibility, disorganization, and lack of intensity of focus, along with writing and/or math difficulties noted above, will greatly limit productivity. Thus the amount of work completed within a given time frame will be markedly less than that produced by peers. Inability to remember multiple step directions often results in students with ADD being confused about assignments and wasting much time getting started, only to find later that the wrong problems were done or the incorrect work sheet was used. Forgetting items necessary for tasks (e.i.,failing to bring home books needed for homework or projects) obviously interferes with getting assignments done.

Report Cards for student with ADD give a glimpse into the nature of the disorder.

Typically, grades will vacillate from year to year, or even within marking periods of the same year. Part of the vulnerability is due to the "fit" between the educational environment and the student's needs. For examplle if a teacher writes assignments on the board and makes sure that all students have the materials needed to complete the assignments before they leave for home, the student with ADD may do fine. If writing is a big part of the cirriculum one year, and the only way to do well in history or in science is to write regularly, grades likely will plummet.

Often the best clues about how much the disorder is impairing school functioning is to look at the comments teachers incluse with the grades. The most common notes are "does not complete assignments", "inconsistent test scores", and "missing homework." These notes indicate difficulties for the teacher in evaluating the student's work. However, they may or may not indicate how much or how well the student is learning the material.

Thanks everyone

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:47:17 +0000

I would just like to take time too Thank everyone for doing what you do and make this community great im a long time reader and first time poster so i just wanted to say thanks.

hi all

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:12:40 +0000

hi there, my name is Tina.

found this website and read some great discussion and feedback so decided to join

i am happy to help others and offer advice where possible