A Rightful Place

      J is a 28-year-old, high functional adult with autism.  The time came that his learning abilities reached its plateau. This signaled his parents to put a stop to J's schooling and let him do other things that would still enhance him as a person. 
   The  family owns a freight forwarding business and employed J to work as a data entry encoder. The years spent in special school and therapy center has prepared J to this new phase in his life. It may not be easy at the beginning, but with patience and guidance, J dealt with his new- found place in the society's work force reasonably well. 
     J has been working as a data entry encoder for a few years now. As an employee, he pays his taxes, therefore, contributing to the nation's progress. He is also a Social Security System (SSS) member which assures him of a pension on his retirement. 

So Called "Right to Life"

        I learned from one of the autism blogs I follow, Juniper Hill Farms, the heart-breaking story of Paul Corby. 

        Paul Corby is a young man of 23 years from Pennsylvania, U.S.A., who suffers from a very rare congenital heart disorder, left ventricular non-compaction (LVN). This disorder primarily affects the muscles of the heart, most commonly the left ventricle, which unnaturally appears spongy. This defect renders the heart ineffective in performing its function of circulating blood thus the danger for life-threatening complications. Paul survived three strokes and has been maintained on 19 sorts of medications daily. This being the case, a heart transplant would be the best treatment option.

A Positive Look at Echolalia

        C, a 4 year old child with Autism, was brought to his Developmental Pediatrician for his mid year follow up. The mom gave the doctor an update regarding C's behavior and current concerns. 

" Well, doctor, C's off task behavior was lessened according to his therapist. He can now follow more complex commands. However, he recently has this annoying habit of repeating words or phrases spoken by another person. Sometimes, he tends to repeat phrases from TV commercials. He sounded like a parrot when he does that," his mom told the doctor. The doctor smiled and  replied in a mirthful tone, " That's a good sign. You should not feel bad about C sounding like a parrot. It is a positive indicator for future language development."

Fun Based Learning

Jigsaw Puzzle

         Special needs children when not attending school or therapy sessions should be provided with worthwhile activities at home. Activities that would keep them busy so as not to encourage emergence of self stimulatory behaviors. Or better yet, provide them with activities that would address different sensory issues or motor problems they may have. We can always improvise from whatever we have at home. Like for instance an old coin bank or box with small slit where your child can slip poker chips or coins for fine motor improvement; old plastic jars or containers with screw lid which your child can open and close to strengthen
his grip. Still there are many other ways to improvise therapy devices or toys with special purpose.

Autism Science Then and Now

       Several decades ago, there was a poor understanding of what Autism was. It was in the 1960's that it became recognized as a different entity from psychotic disorders. Since then, Autism has been a focus of many researches determined to find out its causes and how it can be treated. Those researches led us today to the knowledge that genetics and the environment are involved in its causation. However, it is not clear how and why while the number of affected children is continuously rising. And there is no known cure as yet.
     There are still a lot of stones to be unturned to discover all that we need to know about Autism and find the cure. If not the cure, a more effective way to treat it at least. Or ultimately, finding a way to prevent it.
     The medical field has not stop its quest. In fact, here are some of the recent findings and development from studies and researches scientists have been conducting.