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                                                   My Gilbert

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                                                   My Gilbert

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Gilbert is currently 8 years old. Gilbert was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at 3 years 8 months old. He was diagnosed officially by East La Regional Center, a neurologist, and school district. It came about when his preschool teacher and director suggested that he have a formal diagnosis done on him. It seemed his behavior at school was becoming aggressive. When he was a toddler he was always very quiet and kept to himself. He would throw a lot of tantrums, but we thought it was just normal for his age. At this point we had never met a child with any sort of autism so we had no idea how to see the early signs. We had to grieve the loss of the child we had expectations for, and create new expectations. We miss out on a lot of things that typical families get to do. Parties, friends, sports and so much more. Specifically, our younger son, Gavin has been affected by his brother's diagnosis more than most of us. He has had to forego many things like having parties and friends over. We treat Gilbert like he is Typical, we don't ever want to use his diagnosis as a crutch. We do modify things for him, but we don't make him helpless. We do recognize that sometimes if a behavior is so severe, we would need to keep him safe and others around him.

We would really like to see Gilbert eat more of a variety, enjoy life socially and maybe go to college when he is older.  For school, he is in a special Learning Handicap class He receives speech therapy once a week for 30 minutes. He has an IEP. Also, at a Regional Center he has weekly community integration group. Weekly social skills/ adaptive skills group. My husband and I also decided to pay for him to receive private Music Therapy. Music Therapy Music class encourages communicative behavior and has encourage interaction with others, which is something that Gilbert has had great difficulty with. At such a young age Gilbert has never let his disability affect what he loves.  He loves making you-tube videos. He enjoys drawing, and video games. He also loves going to Disneyland.  He enjoys watching Marvel movies and he loves to make up his own stories about Disney characters.

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. Autism is known as a “spectrum” disorder because there is wide variation in the type and severity of symptoms people experience. ASD occurs in all ethnic, racial, and economic groups. Although ASD can be a lifelong disorder, treatments and services can improve a person’s symptoms and ability to function.

Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people

Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors

Symptoms that hurt the person’s ability to function properly in school, work, and other areas of life

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Social communication / interaction behaviors may include:

Making little or inconsistent eye contact

Tending not to look at or listen to people

Rarely sharing enjoyment of objects or activities by pointing or showing things to others

Failing to, or being slow to, respond to someone calling their name or to other verbal attempts to gain attention

Having difficulties with the back and forth of conversation

Restrictive / repetitive behaviors may include:

Repeating certain behaviors or having unusual behaviors. For example, repeating words or phrases, a behavior called echolalia

Having a lasting intense interest in certain topics, such as numbers, details, or facts

Having overly focused interests, such as with moving objects or parts of objects

Getting upset by slight changes in a routine

Being more or less sensitive than other people to sensory input, such as light, noise, clothing, or temperature

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Doctors diagnose ASD by looking at a person’s behavior and development. ASD can usually be reliably diagnosed by the age of two. It is important for those with concerns to seek out assessment as soon as possible so that a diagnosis can be made, and treatment can begin.

Diagnosis in Young Children

Diagnosis in young children is often a two-stage process.

Stage 1: General Developmental Screening During Well-Child Checkups
Every child should receive well-child check-ups with a pediatrician or an early childhood health care provider.

Stage 2: Additional Evaluation
This second evaluation is with a team of doctors and other health professionals who are experienced in diagnosing ASD.

This team may include:

A developmental pediatrician—a doctor who has special training in child development

A child psychologist and/or child psychiatrist—a doctor who has specialized training in brain development and behavior

A neuropsychologist—a doctor who focuses on evaluating, diagnosing, and treating neurological, medical, and neurodevelopmental disorders

A speech-language pathologist—a health professional who has special training in communication difficulties

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Although people with ASD experience many challenges, they may also have many strengths, including:

Being able to learn things in detail and remember information for long periods of time

Being strong visual and auditory learners

Excelling in math, science, music, or art

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Strategies for Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Strategies for Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Use Task Analysis –very specific, tasks in sequential order.

Always keep your language simple and concrete. Get your point across in as few words as possible. Typically, it’s far more effective to say “Pens down, close your journal and line up to go outside” than “It looks so nice outside. Let’s do our science lesson now. As soon as you’ve finished your writing, close your books and line up at the door. We’re going to study plants outdoors today”.

Give fewer choices. If a child is asked to pick a color, say red, only give him two to three choices to pick from. The more choices, the more confused an autistic child will become.

Give very clear choices and try not to leave choices open ended. You’re bound to get a better result by asking “Do you want to read or draw?” than by asking “What do you want to do now?”

Repeat instructions and checking understanding. Using short sentences to ensure clarity of instructions.

Providing a very clear structure and a set daily routine including time for play).

Providing warning of any impending change of routine, or switch of activity.

Using various means of presentation – visual, physical guidance, peer modeling, etc.

. Recognizing that some change in manner or behavior may reflect anxiety (which may be triggered by a [minor] change to routine).

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1. www.autismspeaks.org -One of the leading autism science and advocacy organizations. Autism Speaks provides a comprehensive resource guide for all states. The site also boasts an impressive list of apps that parents may find useful, including games that focus on communication and social skills.

2. www.autism-society.org -Another great site that includes helpful resources for those with autism,  family members, as well as professionals. Autism Society also gives updates on the latest autism news and press releases.

3. www.disabilityscoop.com – Sign up for Disability Scoop’s e-mail news to receive the most current updates on developmental disabilities. Disability Scoop’s experts have been cited by multiple online news sites, including USA Today and People.com.

4. www.autismnj.org -Run by a network of professionals and parents, Autism New Jersey strives to provide New Jersey residents affected by autism with the most up to date information, including info on Health Care and insurance mandates in New Jersey.

5. www.autism.com– The Autism Research Institute focuses on researching the causes of autism, as well as developing safe and effective treatments for those currently affected by the disorder.