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AUTISM FIRST STEPS
AUTISM DAILY NEWSLETTER
Monday December 17, 2001
INDEX:
* MANAGING BEHAVIOR:
CALL FOR GREATER TEACHER TRAINING
* Computer helps autistic girl learn to
communicate
* Mother and autistic boy see eye to eye
* Giving help to disabled is her passion
* Room for some calm in autistic pupils' lives
* Looking past limitations
******************************
MANAGING BEHAVIOR: CALL FOR GREATER TEACHER
TRAINING
Room for students' disabilities
Alex Morris, 9, center, seems oblivious to the activity around him as he waits
to get back to class after lunch. His classmates at Wake Forest Elementary,
from left, are Ben and Ryan Parsons, Collin Chapman and Marvin Tanner.
Staff Photo
By Susana Vera
HOW THE LAW WORKS
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amendments were signed into law
on June 4, 1997. They strengthen a federal law, originally known as the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. The law is up for
congressional review next year.
The 1997 act is designed, among other goals, to:
ensure that all children with disabilities have available a free, appropriate
public education that emphasizes special education and services to meet their
needs and prepare them for employment and independent living.
assist state and local systems and agencies and federal agencies to provide for
the education of all children with disabilities.
ensure that educators and parents have the necessary tools to improve
educational results for children with disabilities.
assess and ensure the effectiveness of efforts to educate children with
disabilities.
Source: Office Of Special Education And Rehabilitative Services, U.s.
Department Of Education
By MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE, Staff Writer He is ruffling his hair, seething with
nervous energy, riled and rowdy and ready to burst. Carl Johnston is on the way
to an after-dinner tantrum in his Cary living room unless his mother takes
control. "Catie, get out of his way," Diane Johnston directs Carl's
older sister. "No, get in my way! Get in my way, get in my way!" Carl
demands. Like any 9-year old boy, Carl can be irrational. But unlike most of
his fellow students at West Lake Elementary School in Apex, Carl is also
autistic. Carl occasionally gets in trouble at school, too -- he was suspended
last year -- but his mother feels that school officials could better
distinguish between misbehavior and behavior related to his disability. Federal
law established in 1975, clarified in 1997 and up for congressional review next
year provides equal access to public education for students with disabilities.
The law also directs teachers not to punish behavior associated with such
disabilities. North Carolina recognizes 13 types of special education students,
from those who are autistic to those who are learning-disabled. As the number
of special education students like Carl rises in North Carolina schools, so
does the number of disabled students who are suspended. Advocates for the
disabled and many parents are calling for improved teacher training in managing
students' behavior. "The issue isn't discipline -- it's behavior,"
said Connie Hawkins of the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center, in
Davidson. "If this child was getting appropriate support around the
behavior, we might not be getting the discipline." Many students with
disabilities are in public school until age 21, Hawkins said. "If you have
early-on identification of those problems and how to deal with them, you'll
save time down the road," she said. Suspension is about the harshest
available punishment for students with disabilities, one that teachers say they
rarely use. Yet the number of disabled students suspended since 1998 has more
than doubled in North Carolina, from 1,089 to 2,751 per year. Wake Forest
Elementary principal Craig Matthews said the rise may be attributed to safe
schools legislation that lowered the threshold for tolerance when it comes to
discipline. Of 46 disabled students suspended in Wake this year, half were
removed for a drug or weapons offense. Others, however, are suspended for
behavioral problems, which often riles parents. Michael Teague challenged
teachers and administrators at Hodge Road Elementary in Knightdale when his son
was repeatedly written up two years ago. He didn't want to see the boy
suspended at age 7 for throwing a plastic cup and grabbing another student.
"I'm in the schools; I see kids grabbing kids all the time, and they're
not getting written up. So it seems to me there's a little bit of a different
standard," said Teague, 54. He reached a compromise with the school on how
much time his son spends in the regular classroom and is impressed with
principal Jamee Lynch, who arrived in July. But many parents are unprepared to
contest schools' decisions, said Polly Laubinger, an attorney with the
Governor's Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities. As a former teacher,
Laubinger knows the frustrations of being thrown into a special education class
she was unprepared to teach. "Having a student with autism, especially a
high-functioning student, the teacher does need some extra training," she
said. Local teachers are offered opportunities for ongoing training in managing
difficult behavior. Matthews of Wake Forest Elementary talks about various
approaches used at his school -- including positive reinforcement. This means
Alex Morris, a 9-year-old with autism who spends most of his day in regular
classrooms, gets prizes for good behavior. At Oak Grove Elementary in Durham,
veteran teachers began training this fall through a state-administered grant of
about $100,000 and could continue for five years. Part of the goal is to
distinguish between developmental and behavioral problems, program director
Allen Murray said, and to increase emphasis on socialization in kindergarten
through second grade, "starting with the assumption that we have to teach
kids good behavior." A child with learning disabilities, for example,
might become frustrated trying to keep pace in a regular classroom. Teachers
need to recognize the connection and make appropriate adjustments, Murray said.
In coming years, Murray hopes to include other area schools. He's already
talking with teachers around the Triangle and gets calls from across the state.
"If we can increase the skill level of all of our teachers -- both
exceptional education and regular classes -- for difficult behavior, we're
going to see a stronger foundation for all the kids," he said. Staff
writer Molly Hennessy-Fiske can be reached at 829-4884 or mhenness@newsobserver.com
http://www.newsobserver.com/saturday/front/News/Story/845335p-831091c.html
******************************
Computer
helps autistic girl learn to communicate
12/10/01By MARIANNE
ARMSHAW NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Heidi Bolanos measures progress one word at a time."Cookie," chirps
the slim, dark-haired little girl. "Popcorn. Cake."At age 9, Heidi is
learning to talk with help from a computer and software provided by the
News-Press Christmas Fund."Heidi was diagnosed with autism and some mental
retardation," explains her mother, Aida Lopez. "Autistic children
hide away from the world and Heidi always stayed deep inside herself. She would
not talk."Autism is a complex disease that affects as many as one out of
1,000 people, making it the third most common developmental disability. Though
severity of symptoms can vary widely, autistic children typically fail to make
eye contact, remain socially and emotionally withdrawn, lack language skills,
and tend to repeat physical gestures, such as rocking or head
banging.Researchers think that the disorder begins during development of the
brain, possibly even before birth, and that the change prevents affected people
from properly processing sensory information from their environment. Recent
research at Duke University suggests the syndrome may be genetically linked.At
6 months, Heidi seemed unnaturally passive and quiet. "She wouldn't even
cry unless she was really hungry," her mother recalled.Mrs. Lopez, a
Mexican immigrant and former UCSB student, received conflicting diagnoses from
a series of doctors. When autism was diagnosed in Heidi's sixth year, Mrs.
Lopez began researching the disease and fighting to get the best care for her
child. She took college courses in special education. She schedules her work as
a house cleaner around Heidi's school calendar.Determined to help her daughter
develop to her full potential, Mrs. Lopez emphasizes that Heidi needs to be
able to communicate. "Otherwise she can't even tell what is wrong or if,
God forbid, someone did something bad to her. There was no physical reason why
Heidi could not talk. She just didn't," said Mrs. Lopez.All that began to
change when the girl began using an Apple iMac computer running "Learn to
Talk" software during special education class at Hollister School, where
Heidi attended classes until this year."I noticed she would really pay
attention during our lessons. She began spontaneously to use words she heard in
the program," said Beth Anderson, the county social worker who taught
Heidi.With a home computer, software and touch-sensitive screen, Ms. Anderson
reasoned, Heidi could make even more progress. She began the arduous process of
finding a source to foot the system's $1,100 price tag. After refusals by other
agencies, Ms. Anderson received a yes from the Christmas Fund."She was
wonderful, took her own time to write letters because she saw Heidi was
responding to the program. We are so grateful, because Heidi really needs this
and we have been through so much," said Mrs. Lopez, a single parent who
also has a son, Ivan, 14.Heidi clearly enjoys playing the interactive computer
game each afternoon with her mother. When the program asks her to pick one of
several pictures, her hands dance and she wiggles in delight as an animated
infant skips across the screen to a cheerful soundtrack."Baby," she
crows. Mrs. Lopez marvels that Heidi, who has trouble concentrating, spends up
to 20 minutes at the computer and often leads her to the computer for a second
session.This Christmas will be the family's first in their own home. After
enduring a spell of homelessness and years of renting rooms in run-down
dwellings shared with 15 or more strangers, Mrs. Lopez and her children moved
into an immaculate two-bedroom apartment at El Milagro De LaDera, where their
rent is subsidized.Still, things remain tough financially. Heidi needs more
one-on-one therapy, but the money just isn't available. And Mrs. Lopez would
like more time to take Heidi to the carousel she loves, or hire a trusted baby
sitter to stay with Heidi so mother and son can spend time together. Yet Mrs.
Lopez feels grateful for any help."You fight for your children, to get
them what they need. I look at Heidi and see so much progress," she said.
http://news.newspress.com/topsports/1210bolanos.htm
******************************
Mother and autistic boy see eye to eye
BY LAURA PEEK
A SCHEME to
teach autistic children and their parents how to communicate helped a
four-year-old boy to look his mother in the eye for the first time. Deborah
McDougall had despaired of ever making normal eye contact with Jamie, who was
two when autism was diagnosed. Because of the severity of his condition he
could barely communicate with the rest of his family. He ignored his parents
and could not play with his older sister, Rachael. “He just wandered around the
house in a world of his own, ignoring everybody,” Mrs McDougall, 41, said.
“Sometimes there were dreadful tantrums and I was tearing my hair out.”
However, a pilot scheme run by the National Autistic Society (NAS) changed
everything, radically improving her relationship with Jamie. The Early Bird
scheme aims to support and educate parents of children with autism during three
months of lectures and home visits. Autism experts host weekly talks for
parents, home visits are made every three weeks and parents are videotaped
applying the new skills they have learnt. One of the Early Bird volunteers
suggested that Mrs McDougall gently rock Jamie on her knee then suddenly stop,
as an exercise to improve his eye contact. The effect was instant: Jamie
enjoyed the game so much that he wanted it to continue. He looked at his mother
and made noises to encourage her to start rocking again. “It was absolutely
brilliant,” said Mrs McDougall. “We did Row the Boat on my knee and he
loved it and didn’t want it to stop. The scheme gives you the tools to unlock
your child’s world.” The Times Christmas Appeal is raising money for the NAS,
which depends on charitable donations to fund vital services for people with
autism and Asperger’s syndrome, a similar condition. Organisers of the Early
Bird scheme are hoping for funds to expand it, giving more families access to
the kind of care and education that helped the McDougalls. Jo Stevens, the
scheme’s director, said: “We are trying to start more programmes to reach as
many parts of the UK as we can. Early intervention for children after a
diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder is essential and the involvement of
parents has been shown to have a positive influence.” Before she discovered
Early Bird, Mrs McDougall, who lives in Sheffield and works in a blood
transfusion centre, had researched autism on the Internet and had attended a
six-week course. She said: “I was very depressed with what I found on the
Internet. I had no idea how to help my child and that was a dreadful time. I
spent a year floundering around and panicking. “The course was no help either.
The children were put in one room and the parents in another. We were left out
in the cold. Parents were not empowered in any way. It all had a knock-on
effect on my relationship with my husband. I was snapping at everybody.” Early
Bird “redressed the balance”, Mrs McDougall said. “As well as the skills it
gave us, there was also the opportunity to exchange stories with other parents.
People said ‘I had that problem and this is how I solved it’. We learnt from
each other. It was a fantastic morale booster. We were so much happier.” The
scheme also helped to bring the family together. Jamie’s sister joined in with some
of the exercises and gradually built a relationship with her brother, who is
now seven. “They played games together, which improved matters a lot. They were
quite rough and tumble, like lots of siblings.” Mrs McDougall credits Early
Bird with transforming her life. “I cannot praise it highly enough. It was a
lifeline. The earlier you can intervene then the better the prognosis for the
future with autism. Early Bird did a fantastic job. “That is why it needs money
so that more and more families across the country can benefit like we did.”
Since it was set up in South Yorkshire in 1997, Early Bird has helped more than
450 families. The scheme aims to help parents to understand their child’s
autism, structure interactions in which communication can develop and pre-empt
problem behaviour and deal with it when it occurs.
Make your donations using the coupon, or online at www.thetimes.co.uk/appeal.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001580136,00.html
******************************
Giving help to disabled is her passion
FIRST COAST CHRONICLES
Tonyaa Weathersbee
As a child, it bothered Karen Hanson when her disabled classmates
became either the target of bullies or the brunt of jokes.Bothered her so much
that when she grew up, she not only devoted her life to helping disabled youths
but in helping others see their humanity."In elementary school, when they
[non-disabled kids] would pick on the kids with disabilities, I hated it,"
said Hanson, a counselor who works with developmentally disabled youths and
young adults at the Webb Center. "I tried to make them stop."Today,
Hanson, 33, is trying to see to it that they never start.Recently, she
spearheaded a seminar at the Webb Center that not only included youths with
developmental disabilities such as autism and cerebral palsy but their
non-disabled peers ages 9 to 18. The seminar attempted to help the youths, as
well as parents and caretakers, appreciate each other as people with unique
strengths and spirit."Sometimes, it's kind of a shock to see someone who
is different, so a lot of what happens is more or less because of a lack of
understanding," Hanson said. "A lot of kids aren't used to being
around kids with disabilities."Being a purveyor of empathy is part of
Hanson's family trade.Both her parents were social workers in Duluth, Minn.,
where Hanson grew up. Not only that, her mother also found time to work with charities
there, she said. After working as an in-home family therapist and crisis
intervention counselor in Wisconsin, Hanson decided it was time to shake off
the snow and soak in some sun. She moved to Jacksonville in 1996. For a time,
Hanson worked with youths with brain injuries at Brooks Rehabilitation Center
before moving on to the Webb Center. The jobs were a fresh challenge, she
said.But Hanson's empathetic touch prevailed."There was this one young
fellow who had cerebral palsy, and he was in a wheelchair," Hanson said.
"I was thinking about how I was going to get through to him, since I was
limited verbally.""Then he gave me this big smile, as if he knew what
was going on in my mind ... he picked up on a lot. You could tell a joke, and
he would start laughing before the person who you were telling it to could
laugh."He taught me a lot."Namely, it reinforced what Hanson learned
as a child, and now tries to teach to others. That disabled youths deserve to
be treated as people. To be able to laugh at jokes.Not be the brunt of them.Tonyaa
Weathersbee's columns appear in the Wednesday and Saturday Community News
sections, and on the Monday Opinion page. She can be reached at 359-4251 or at tweathersbee@jacksonville.com.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121501/new_8077740.html
******************************
Room for some calm in autistic pupils' lives
BY LAURA PEEK
LINDA HALL
has dedicated her life to helping children with autism to lead fulfilling
lives. She became fascinated by the condition after hearing a talk on it almost
30 years ago and has risen from being a teaching assistant to deputy head at a
leading school for children with autism. Mrs Hall, 48, spends every day caring
for children at the National Autistic Society’s Helen Allison School and is
always looking for new ways to reach them. Children with autism tend to
withdraw from their surroundings, lacking social skills and finding it
difficult to read facial expressions or to make eye contact.
The Times Christmas Appeal is raising money for the NAS, which is entirely
dependent on charitable donations, to fund a wide range of essential services
for people of all ages with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. One of the main
support services that the society provides is education and the Helen Allison
School in Kent is an inspiring example. Mrs Hall is keen to equip a “sensory”
room, intended to calm the children and to increase their concentration through
sounds, lights and textured surfaces. The room, which will cost about £15,000,
will include a sound-light floor and a musical wall. If a child touches a
certain zone it will light up and make a sound. Equipment showing children how
to interact with the environment will include patterned and textured areas and
other stimuli including wind chimes, glistening balls, light-reflecting beaded
curtains, tactile walls, wobble boards and water features. An NAS spokeswoman
said: “The children love these rooms. You see them reaching out to touch the
different things. People with autism are prone to sensory overload. These rooms
allow them to control what their senses take in. They can dim the lights or
make different sounds. It’s a way of allowing their senses to calm down.” Mrs
Hall, from Kent, worked at the school at Meopham as a teaching assistant for
three years before taking a teacher-training course and returning to the
school. Twelve years later she was appointed deputy head. “It’s a very
interesting disability that is constantly challenging,” she said. “It’s a
puzzle to work out what makes them tick. “You have to have a sense of humour
and be able to think on your feet. You also need to be patient. A vital element
is teamwork with the school and with the families. There is no quick fix for this
condition.” The school has 67 pupils aged five to 19, including 28 boarders.
The children have a range of abilities. It operates a modified version of the
national curriculum with a focus on “life skills”, everyday tasks most people
take for granted. Every aspect of school life is designed for children with
autism. They are encouraged to make simple social transactions, such as using
money, in every class. The classrooms are divided into work areas to make it
clear what is expected of them in certain places. There is a social area, a
quiet work area, a kitchen area and personal cubicles where each child is
surrounded by their own books, pictures and photographs. Music is often played
in class because it helps to calm the children. Children with autism find it
hard to cope with abstract concepts so another aspect of the school’s work is
to make their studies more meaningful. “If they are studying the Romans in
history then we organise a trip to a Roman villa,” she said. “Children with
autism can lead very narrow, rigid lives so we try to increase their quality of
life.” The pupils are taken horse-riding, climbing, canoeing, cycling and
orienteering. The special care requires a high level of staff support, which is
expensive. But as Mrs Hall has shown, the progress that can be achieved from
such dedicated work has its own rewards — for both teachers and pupils. Please
help this work to continue. Every donation counts.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001574682,00.html
******************************
Looking past limitations
Tuesday,
December 11, 2001
By DIANE GALE ANDREASSI
NEWS SPECIAL WRITER
he conviction in Evan Stosick's voice when he says he'll be the next Albert
Einstein makes everyone in hearing distance believe his dream will come true.
The fact that the 12 year old is autistic doesn't detract from his aspirations,
but is evidence that he already knows how to overcome larger obstacles than
most of us will ever face.In spite some of his limitations, the Dexter resident
keeps excelling. For instance, he recently met all the requirements for his
black belt at Keith Hafner's Karate in Ann Arbor."I have seen a
significant growth in Evan," says Melanie Hamilton, program director at
Keith Hafner's Karate. "He has matured and learned so much. He's come a
long way."Stosick's vocabulary is excellent as he talks about his
struggles and his successes."Most kids think karate is all about fighting
and that's not really true," he says. "It's to help yourself and not
to hurt someone else." The seventh-grade, Mill Creek Middle School student
learned discipline, too."The first couple of belts weren't hard," he
says. "The black belt camp, man, that was tough."While eating his
lunch at school, the red haired, pre-teen describes what it's like to be
autistic. After a moment's hesitation, as he struggled with a question, Stosick
seemed to be illustrating his words when he explains:"It's very difficult
for me to focus, because I'm distracted by too many things."Other times,
his conversation is fluid and articulate.Reacting appropriately in social
situations is something he works on improving. Since his behavior can seem odd
to others, Stosick decided he would give a small speech about autism to his
classmates."Now that they know about autism, they also help me in a nice
way," he says. "They say, 'Evan, get to work.' I may think it's
annoying, but I know they're trying to help me."When he was in the third
grade Stosick was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is considered a
disorder on the higher end of the autistic continuum."At the time of his
diagnosis, we were just terrified for him and the quality of his life,"
says his mother, Brie Stosick."What we have come to realize from raising
him, is that he is differently abled and sometimes that will be difficult,
embarrassing (for us mostly), but mostly amazing if we opened ourselves up to
the way he is, worked with his strengths and helped him to understand his
disability and work toward his personal best," she says.Stosick, who was
born on Christmas day, has an uncanny talent for creating detailed drawings and
loves to brainstorm cartoons. In fact, he often takes school notes, especially
in science and math, by sketching pictures to capture concepts. If he's not a
great inventor or scientist, Stosick says, he'd like to be a
cartoonist."We always sensed there was something different about
him," Brie Stosick says.He met all the developmental milestones and at
times at a quicker rate than most children, like knowing his alphabet when he
was two and being able to repeat verbatim 40 pages of a story that was read to
him.But, there were other obvious problems that Brie Stosick refers to as
"little red flags" that hinted something was wrong, like not being
able to switch from doing one thing to another and having a hard time
focusing."He couldn't remember what I just asked him to do, but he could
name all the planets in the solar system and give you the distance between them
in light years," Brie Stosick says. "Sunlight would send him into fits
of anxiety. Noises like the vacuum and hand dryers would unhinge
him."Despite the tremendous hurdles he's had to face, Evan Stosick says
that if given a choice to rid himself of autism he didn't think he would,
because that's part of what makes him who he is."Although it would help me
tremendously," he says, "being autistic is unique in a way if you can
still talk and stuff."His advice to other autistic children is: "Try
your best and maybe try to get everyone else to understand who you really are.
You're autistic and you don't understand things that well. But, it doesn't mean
you're dumb. You're born that way and it's something that some kids
have."In what Stosick calls "the first part of his life" he and
his family had no idea that he was autistic "and it was kind of tough,
because my mom didn't know it wasn't my fault. People didn't understand that I
had autism and it made them think I was strange and rare."Stosick's blue
eyes widen as he explains: "I'm the most popular guy in school. Even guys
I don't know come up to me and say, 'Hello."'Brie Stosick says that Evan's
only sibling, nine-year-old sister, Tessa (Nick), came home from school one day
upset, because a friend told her that kids in his class were making fun of
him."It's so interesting how even in his own family (which also includes
his father Doug) we have to be educated." It's also a constant struggle
for Brie to get relatives, friends and strangers to understand what autism is
and why her son might act the way he does.Evan gets help in school from a
paraprofessional, Charlie Wilke, who accompanies him to most classes."Evan
keeps an extremely positive attitude about things, despite the fact we are
often trying to put him, a square peg, in a round hole," Wilke says.Arlene
Winn, Stosick's teacher consultant from the Washtenaw Intermediate School
District, describes him as "a very kind, creative and motivated young boy,
who is extremely sensitive."Stosick takes all the classes other students
his age attend and he maintains a B grade point average. His potential is
limitless. In fourth grade, for instance, he won a recognition certificate for
inventing a sleeping bag that a person doesn't have to get out of to go to the
bathroom.His mother describes him as someone who teaches the people around him lessons
of courage, self-acceptance, compassion, patience, creativity, what being
"smart" means and "most of all" compassion and
love.High-functioning autism is characterized by an average or above average
intelligence. While public speaking is something that Stosick's good at, he
also had to be taught how to begin and end a conversation.I sometimes wish I
could get in there and change the wiring that seems crossed, it would be so
much easier," Brie Stosick says. "He is just going to process life in
his own way." Brie Stosick describes a "mourning period" when
her son was diagnosed with autism."A little over three years later he is
thriving," she says. "We had to give up the idea we had a perfect
love or a perfect child, but in its place we got something much greater. We've
met amazing people who have all been members of Evan's team including teachers,
tutors, speech pathologists and karate instructors and have formed deep bonds
with people who 'get it' about him."He is our sort of litmus test with
people. The way people respond to him says a lot about them, whether they will
take the time or not."Evan Stosick says if other kids with autism, think
something is too hard for them to do, they should "put your mind to it -
there's nothing they can't do."He regularly seems to have the insight of a
sage. Like the time his mother noticed he was being teased by a couple of boys
and she called him in to explain what was happening."He says, 'But, mom
everyone deserves a second chance,"' Brie Stosick says. "I try to
look at the world from inside his shoes."
http://aa.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20011211aautism1211.frm
******************************
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,56-2001574984,00.html
******************************
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