Our son lives in a group home 2 and a half hours away. He is now an adult and seems to be handling the move to the group home.  He will be there two years in April. He was more than we could handle as far as his behavior and we made the very difficult decission to place him in the care of others. I still worry about his care because he has limited verbal skills and he seems very aggitated on the weekends. I know my son well and know that weekends are hard due to no school or day program. He loved school and was heart broken when he could nolonger attend. We went through a number of adult day programs and due to the fact of both elderly and disabled were mixed  our son did not last long and was asked to leave.  We went through about 4 day programs and in home care.We had to move him out of our city in order to find a day program. Once I developed breast cancer I knew we had to find our son a place where we would not have the major task of his daily care. We have him visit at least three times a year but I still worry about his care. He calls every evening and sometimes I hear the anger in his voice. I would love to have him closer to home. I worry because he just goes into a rage when he feels that it is time for him to have a home visit.  We need more supports for when our children are adults and the numbers are growing. Will any of us have the needed private or governments supports for the long term care of our loved ones with autism ?  

In recent months there has been a lot of information about autism being delivered to us at an astounding rate. Oprah has dedicated shows to it, CNN has done a series of specials on it, and even Jenny McCarthy has written a book. These are all people looking for answers, much like the rest of us, but time and time again the same accusations and finger pointing arise. The answer in every case is that these children have been given autism through the proccess of vaccinations.

I should first explain that I am not against the idea that vaccines may play a role in the development of autism. The theory (and as of the writing of this blog it is still a theory) has been taken into consideration by many of the top researchers in this field. It does seem to make sense from the parent's perspective. My son was progressing at a strong rate in his daycare, ahead of many in his class with repect to problem solving, motor skills and creative development. Then sometime in his twos he began to distance himself developmentaly from the rest of his peers. This is roughly the same story we all have and the only thing that makes sense is that right around that time he had his MMR shot. Seems to make sense.

But what if that's not the answer? Perhaps we just want it to be the answer and maybe we are trying so desparately to find someone to blame that we are missing out on other possibilities. There are plenty of reasons why lawyers are very interested in class action lawsuits regarding autism. And every one of those reasons revolve around money. If we could somehow convince enough people that vaccines are the cause then we would have one of the biggest bank accounts in the world to draw from. We could all win a sum of money from the declaration that this was the problem all along and then we'd have closure. But the only problem is, we really wouldn't.  read more »

Diet is the whole key to recovery because they have to grow new brain cells (damaged to varying degrees by various things in vaccines, like toxins from bacteria causing necrosis of budding dendrites). Brain cells can keep growing in the Higher Brain (with protein, balanced, non-toxic diet), but NOT in the Old Brain. The Old Brain at the base,  location of all Behavioral Instincts, and Chemical Regulation for the body, including the Gastro-Intestinal Tract, releasing the chemicals needed for break-down and digestion. Thus, these kids problems are compounded by difficulty digesting (absorbing nutrients). Digestable high protein diets will give the building blocks in the form of Amino Acids to make new brain cells. The peculiarity of Autism is from Developmental Damage in the Old Brain - depending on the severity of brain cell damage, recovery occurs everywhere , but in this area (being the foundation). BUT recovery cannot be ruled out, and anything is possible. But therein, within the unknown region of the Old Brain, lies the dilemma. Higher brain recovery can become great enough to raise geniuses whom can learn to understand what they lack instinctually. Using their highly developed conscious minds (Higher Brains), they can teach themselves how to behave properly, becoming Consious of what is missing, thus learning to teach natural behaviors to themselves cognitively. (by the way, each vaccine dose is suspended in vials of heavy metals, so Thimerasol did not need to be replaced by anything). I give talks with drawings on chalkboards for visual comprehension; about germs, vaccine recipes, and infant physiology. I have a booklet about how vaccines cause Autism, and the site http://www.trackingvaccinations.com (Tracking Vaccinations).

In honor of Autism Awareness Month, the bookstore will be offering a 10% discount on all orders placed through our website, www.autismbookstore.com throughout the month of April. Use the code AAM2008 at checkout to receive your discount, and, as always, all sales go to provide services. Thank you for your support!

I am reaching out to you in hopes that you take this special opportunity to provide parents with information about Goosie Cards and how they can be used as communication tools in treatment programs.

The launch of Goosie Cards® triggered an overwhelming response from parents, teachers and medical professionals in the autism community. Since Goosie Cards can be customized with personal photos and text to fit the needs of each specific child, they have become powerful teaching tools for autistic children. The benefit of Goosie Cards is that parents and teachers have the flexibility to teach a child about their world around them, exactly as it is. This direct connection to real, visual objects enables autistic children to easily associate words with the corresponding object, and therefore making it easier to communicate.

It is with great pleasure to support this community. We continue to work with the autism community across all levels to better develop the Goosie® Gallery. The gallery holds additional photos that customers can use to customize their cards at no additional cost. Goosie's goal is to continue to invest and grow our photo gallery based on the needs of this community and provide these parents with an improved picture system to better communicate with their children. We have created a Teaching Tools page that explains the benifits of our cards for the early development interaction.

We are offering a 15% discount for the month of April and looking for your help to spread the word.  read more »

I'm a single mom and my daughter was diagnosed hours ago with autism. I've been told to contact the police department, fire department, board of education, SSI, and 2 local elementry schools in my area. I've got information overload and a little overwhelmed. Can anyone give me tips to make this process any easier.

BEHIND THE FACE OF AUTISM IS THE GIFT OF VISUAL INTELLIGENCE 

My name is Janel. I am the mother of a 21 year old son with Autism, a Curriculum Adaptation Specialist and  Private Tutor for children and young adults with Autism. I have been on a mission for many years to eradicate the extreme rate of illiteracy amongst people with Autism.

After much intervention I succeeded in teaching my son all of his basic academic skills and even taught him to speak again. I wanted to see if I could mirror my son's success with other persons with Autism so I set out on a journey armed with my program Visual Academics and an open mind.  I have taught those who were labeled "uneducable" and witnessed amazing grace display itself gifting them all with profound math, reading and language skills.  This includes persons who can or cannot write or are nonvebal. 

I would like to hear about your experience with Autism and academics, in particular those who have loved ones with Autism who cannot write or are nonverbal.

 Sincerely, Janel

3/3/08

I TOOK COLBY AND THE GIRLS TO THE PARK TODAY AFTER SCHOOL. THERE WERE LOTS OF KIDS THERE. I WAS NERVOUS ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO WATCH HIM CLOSELY, AND WAS SCARED THAT HE WOULD HURT ANOTHER CHILD. INSTEAD, HE DID THE OPPOSITE. COLBY DIDN’T INTERACT WITH ANY OTHER CHLDREN. HE ACTED AS IF THEY WEREN’T EVEN THERE, JUST WALKING PAST, ALMOST OBLIVIOUS TO THE COMMOTION.  HE WOULD RUN FROM EQUIPMENT PIECE TO PIECE AND NOT PLAY. HE WOULD STAND, STARE INTO SPACE AND TALK TO HIMSELF. WHEN SPOKEN TO, HE WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE ME, THOUGH VERY FLAT AND AS IF HE JUST WOKE UP. HE WOULD IGNORE CHILDREN THAT SPOKE TO HIM. HE WOULD RUN OVER ANYONE IN HIS WAY, AS IF THEY DIDN’T EXIST, NEVER EVEN NOTICING THAT HE TOUCHED OR HURT SOMEONE.  read more »

COLBY’S PROGRESS

3/3/08 - HISTORY

I’M STARTING THIS JOURNAL TO HELP ME REMEMBER WHAT I NEED TO TELL THE DOCTORS AND THERAPISTS. SOMETIMES HE IS SO OVERWHELMING THAT WHEN IT COMES TIME TO EXPLAIN, I JUST GET OVERLOAD AND CAN’T REMEMBER THINGS THEY SHOULD KNOW.

COLBY WAS DIAGNOSED ALMOST A YEAR AGO WITH PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENT DISORDER, NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED (PDD, NOS); DEPRESSIVE DISORDER, NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED; AND DEVELOPING BI-POLAR DISORDER. HIS IQ TEST SHOWED HIM TO BE "SUPERIOR" IN KNOWLDGE, BUT HE HAD MANY ISSUES WHICH NEEDED ADDRESSED.

IT WAS A LONG AND ARDUOUS PROCESS IN WHICH I FELT LIKE I WAS THE ONLY ONE ADVOCATIONG FOR MY CHILD.

BUT I FINALLY SUCCEEDED AND SINCE THEN  HAS A WHOLE REGIMIN WE FOLLOW. HE SEES AN OCCUPATIONAL AND SPEECH THERAPIST WEEKLY, A BEHAVIOR THERAPIST (PSYCHOLOGIST) WEEKLY AND A PSYCHIATRIST MONTHLY. HE HAS BEEN PLACED ON RISPERDAL (ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDICATION) AND HAS HAD 4 DOSE INCREASES.  read more »

Hi,

I am an artist and a mom to an amazing 4YO that has inspired me to create great work. I normally would not post my work but want to share my recent work. www.atelierjax.com (artwork link - to autism link). I just started diving into this topic, but I am creating work that I hope will provoke thought and awareness for a cause that is dear to my heart. I invite you all to visit my site, post my work, link, spread the word, image or my website. I would like to invite other artists and connect the dots to create several shows in NY. For Autism, by Autistic artists and those affected by Autism. Any suggestions, ideas, connections, are much appreciated. Art can be a powerful expression promoting change!

I also have a blog called creativespectrum.blogspot.com. Creative posts and ideas and stories I run accross.

So - Please email me with your comments or comment on my blog. Thank you

Jax Chachitz

jax@atelierjax.com