I don't know anyone with autism, but I am aware of how pervasive it is, and how we really need to learn more about this. If she can be taught to communicate, hopefully this will open a lot of doors and help us understand it much much more.
It truly is, and as much as I wish I knew what caused it, what's more important is to understand it and possibly find a way to lessen its severity, if not cure it. She uses a combination of words, sign language and gestures to communicate things she wants, but I would love to find out what she's really thinking. Sadly, most insurances won't cover these things, and that's really a shame given how many children are diagnosed these days.
The bit at the end, about how she doesn't want to be the way and do the things she does, so don't be mad, be understanding - I think that applies to a lot of mental illness sufferers. Not, like, the people who are all "Yeah I have a tiny wee problem that really doesn't affect me very much at all, be nice to me", but the ones who really have to learn to live with it. It's hard. And it must be incredibly so much harder when you can't even communicate what you're thinking to the people around you, especially when they're people you love and want to reach out to.
Wow. Thank you for the link to this. That's an awesome article.
My youngest son is autistic. Right now one of his biggest communicators and connectors are a picture/card book at school with pictures of activities/things around the classroom that he wants and his foam letters here which he's taking off spelling out words right and left. Though he is minimally verbal (blurts with frustration) and has *finally* mastered pointing for what he wants as well.
Translating what's in there is a challenge but it's in there. And thankfully, even just the age difference between the girl in the article and him (he's 5) it's that much more difference in the tools/methods used from the get go with him.
I was glad to see clear shots of the girl typing by herself. I remember back in early 90s when there were similar stories about much more severely autistic children doing the same things with assistance. The general conclusion is that their assistants were more responsible for their communications than not.
Thanks for the link! I'm going to print it out and bring it to my daughter's school for the staff to read.
My daughter also has autism, although it's a much milder form. The most touching part of the article is at the end, where the girl says how she *wants* to act one way, but can't always stop herself from acting another way (emphasis mine). That's exactly what's happening to my daughter...she wants to act a certain way, and she's been disciplined several times this year when she just can't seem to do it as quickly or as completely as the school staff wants her to.
Thank you so much for posting this link! Both of my kids are on the autism spectrum, and this was such a nice change from all the negatives associated with all of that.
It's really hard being autistic - especially if you were diagnosed as an older child. No one understands why someone might rather sit on the curb and watch the others play instead of joining in.
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The bit at the end, about how she doesn't want to be the way and do the things she does, so don't be mad, be understanding - I think that applies to a lot of mental illness sufferers. Not, like, the people who are all "Yeah I have a tiny wee problem that really doesn't affect me very much at all, be nice to me", but the ones who really have to learn to live with it. It's hard. And it must be incredibly so much harder when you can't even communicate what you're thinking to the people around you, especially when they're people you love and want to reach out to.
My youngest son is autistic. Right now one of his biggest communicators and connectors are a picture/card book at school with pictures of activities/things around the classroom that he wants and his foam letters here which he's taking off spelling out words right and left. Though he is minimally verbal (blurts with frustration) and has *finally* mastered pointing for what he wants as well.
Translating what's in there is a challenge but it's in there. And thankfully, even just the age difference between the girl in the article and him (he's 5) it's that much more difference in the tools/methods used from the get go with him.
My daughter also has autism, although it's a much milder form. The most touching part of the article is at the end, where the girl says how she *wants* to act one way, but can't always stop herself from acting another way (emphasis mine). That's exactly what's happening to my daughter...she wants to act a certain way, and she's been disciplined several times this year when she just can't seem to do it as quickly or as completely as the school staff wants her to.
Thanks for the link! ^_^
It's nice to see it becoming more understood.