5 posts tagged “autism”

Yes, as our dear readers of Fightinggale's blog can tell, we did go to Chattanooga with the family this past weekend and I did in fact enjoy it, much more than I did the last time!  The kids actually had fun there at the Aquarium which, in Josh's case, is an improvement. 

There are pics on her blog if you would like;  I might post some at some point, but not tonight

Joshua had his sleep study last night at the Vandy Marriott along with Fightinggale;  Gracie slept at Nina's house(and Grandad's) which left me by myself.  It was a little.....lonely.  Its strange in a way, but in a way not.  I missed my family. 

I really enjoy my family even though its crazy sometimes with autism and such, but still, I enjoy my family.

Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism

Temple Grandin

I am just now reading this book and I find it most enlightening.  I first heard about Temple Grandin from a videotape that I got on loan from RIP; we were interested in this after Fightinggale and I received a sprovisional diagnosis of Asperger's for our son, Josh.

So while I am reading this to understand my son's situation more, I am actually finding out more and more about myself.

The way she describes her thought processes is just about the way mine worked as well, when I was about Josh's age.

I know that most of the people at Faces of Autism are already familiar with Temple Grandin, but for you edification and mine, I highly recommend it.

I usually have absolutely no interest in what goes on in these reality shows such us "Survivor" and "Big Brother".  As I understand it, though, it appears to be rather revealing.

I found this article in the news.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Autism Group Demands Apology From CBS

9 hours ago

NEW YORK — A national autism advocacy group is demanding an apology from CBS over a disparaging remark a contestant on the reality show "Big Brother" made about people with the disorder.

John Gilmore, executive director of Autism United, said Monday that his group has been trying to speak with CBS executives since last week's broadcast.

On that episode, a contestant named Adam, who claims to work for an autism foundation, said he would spend his winnings on a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities "so retards can get it together and get their hair done."

His partner, Sheila, told him: "Don't call them that."

Adam responded: "Disabled kids. I can call them whatever I want. I work with them all day, OK?"

The show's Web site describes him as a 29-year-old public relations manager from Delray Beach, Fla.

In a statement released Monday, CBS condemned Adam's comments, saying they don't represent opinions held by the network or the program's producers.

"We certainly find the statements made by Adam to be offensive but believe they were countered by the immediate reaction of shock and condemnation from a fellow houseguest, Sheila," the statement said. "Adam's remarks would not have been permitted to air unchallenged."

"Big Brother" also has been condemned for contestants' remarks on incest, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Some contestants have been removed following incidents that were deemed violent or racist.

The premise of the show is that contestants — or "houseguests" — are isolated from the outside world while under constant surveillance. Once a week, they vote to evict a member of the group.

When just two people remain, a jury of voted-off contestants picks the "Big Brother" winner of the $500,000 grand prize.

Autism is a complex disorder featuring poor social interaction and communication skills.

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On the Net:

Autism United: http://www.autismunited.org/

Big Brother: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/bigbrother8/

Speaking as a father of a child who is autistic, I find his comments rather disturbing.  He works with autistics all day, and this is how he truly feels. 

I will admit that working with and helping to raise an autistic child is challenging and equally frustrating, but I would never say anything demeaning about someone with these disorders(although, a certain, ubuntu user said that it is not a disorder, but simply different. I can relate to that)

As it happens, I am different too(in some ways, by choice, and other ways not).  I love classical music, and choir music! I will tear up on Stravinsky's "Firebird", simply because I find it so exciting!

Fightinggale is different; she certainly was on her B'day; she was dancing when no one else was.  That was cool!  Gracie is different(that's my daughter; she is Josh's older sister).

Those of us "outcasts" have feelings of our own and yes there is a part of me that is offending by Adam's comments, there is another part that says "I pity you Adam, for you are afraid to admit your own fear"  I am no stranger to that either.

Josh has the most difficult time with changes; as adults, we know that things happen that will disrupt our daily routine.  Usually, we can handle that; kids may have some issues.  In Josh's case, it's almost intolerable. 

Yesterday, he has a bad day because the routine was really off due to eye exams and other issues. Today, his big sister was sick and could not attend school, so Josh gets upset.

How, do we help a 5 year old child, who may or may not have some form ASD(diagnosis not made yet) deal with changes without having a meltdown? 

Well the meeting was pretty good.
It seemed evident to me that the school was taking Josh's condition seriously and was not intentionally violating his rights.   As it happens, it takes a great deal of time to get placement for Josh, so we have filled out tons of paperwork(Fightinggale did most of that, acutally, I had to run off to the office shortly after the meeting)

We discussed developing new strategies to help us(we all agreed that the old ones weren't working as they are) there was much discussion within the discussion between the Special Needs coordinator, the Speech pathologist and Mrs. D.  It was a bit noisy, but by the same token, I was most gratified that this was happening.  They weren't off topic at all; they were putting their heads together to help Josh.  That was cool!

Mrs. D told me in the meeting that somehow, when Josh was on the pc, it suddenly stopped working, but she said that it would be fixed.  I checked it out after the meeting.  It appears that Josh was on a site that offered some print outs of sorts and he had opened 22 print windows which was probably eating up a lot of system resources.  He always did have some issues when it came to printing.  Just a wee bit overexcited about it. LOL!

The assistant principle said that Gracie(that's Josh's big sister (7 years old) was like a mother hen with Josh.  She likes to help him out, which is fine.  Everyone thinks she so sweet! LOL!

In time, we will figure out how and why Josh is the way he is. 

You know, when I first heard of Autism when I was in college, I said to myself "There's no way I could handle that."  Now that we and the others (including the school psychologist) feel that Josh is an ASD child, I feel a little differently.  I guess to me, he's still Josh.

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