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Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Book Review: Active Imagination Activity Book

Review by Lorna d'Entremont

Looking for the perfect gift for special needs parents? Know that overwhelmed parents cannot deal with more preparation, equipment, or time consuming reading of how-to books? Active Imagination Activity Book: 50 Sensorimotor Activities for Children to Improve Focus, Attention, Strength, and Coordination by Kelly Tilley, MCISc, OTR/L has all the features to please busy parents. The fifty sensorimotor activities will definitely please any child, not only children who need help improving strength, coordination, focus, and attention. Kelly Tilley’s unique book is the best resource for fun, effective and fuss-free movement activities I have seen. If you have a child, student, or client who could benefit from getting exercise, or who needs specific movement activities for calming, energizing, or strengthening, Active Imagination Activity Book has to be on at arm’s length.

Who Benefits from this Book?
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What [or who] is the inspiration behind Trueman Bradley, Aspie Detective?

My inspiration, ultimately, was my brother. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome(AS) from a very early age and I have been close to him since birth. It was only due to him that I learned what Asperger’s was. In my day, growing up in 1980s Canada, there was no test for Asperger’s in schools. So, if I have it, or any other member of my family has it, we are largely unaware of it. Aspies can be adaptable and, if their natural tendencies are not accommodated at an early age, they may force themselves to become typical, at least on the outside. This may seem like a good thing to people who are neurotypical, but this kind of self-suppression is likely psychological harmful to the Aspie–encouraging them to see their natural self as flawed. Retrospectively, some of the more eccentric qualities of my extended family seem to be neatly explained by this possibility of repressed Asperger tendencies. But, regardless of whether AS runs in my family, the lack of understanding, and even occasional prejudice, I would see my brother encounter would break my heart. I came to realize this “prejudice” was more often than not caused by a lack of knowledge, rather than by any genuine desire to be hurtful. People are naturally wary of what is unknown to them. More Here...
Autism Today: What is Dr. Shaw’s view on immunization?

The talk covers Dr. William Shaw’s perspective on the metabolic causes of autism and developmental disorders. Genetic variations of the immune system, inborn errors of metabolism, or adverse reactions to immunizations lead to recurrent infections that are commonly treated with antibiotics. A yeast overgrowth of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract occurs following the elimination of the GI normal flora with antibiotic treatments. Yeast produce abnormal compounds called gliotoxins and other immunotoxins harmful to the immune system. Because the immune system is weakened, the child gets another infection and more antibiotics until a vicious cycle is established. The yeast produces a number of harmful effects on the child’s metabolic and neurological functioning, including impairing gastrointestinal functioning, production of excess oxalates, inhibiting energy production, and eliciting food allergies that may manifest as behavior disorders. Discussion will include why high oxalate foods may contribute to negative effects including formation of crystals in tissues. More Here...

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Autism Is Not a Condition of Childhood

Guest post by Merope Pavlides, editor of AutismAfter16.com, author of Animal-assisted Interventions for Individuals with Autism and mom to two sons, one of whom is on the autism spectrum.

Autism is not a condition of childhood. Autism follows the person. It follows the person into the workplace, the community, adult relationships and health care. Until recently, however, little attention has been paid to issues surrounding adulthood with autism. Fortunately, we have now begun a national dialogue, and Autism Speaks is bringing its voice—and resources—to the discussion in a big way.

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Book Review: The Parents’ Guide to Teaching Kids with Asperger Syndrome and Similar ASDs Real-

In The Parents’ Guide to Teaching Kids with Asperger Syndrome and Similar ASDs Real-Life Skills for Independence, Patricia Romanowski Bashe guides us through teaching life skills to kids with ASDs with average or above average cognitive skills who are seldom taught the basics of how to get along independently. It is often assumed that our kids are smart enough to just pick up these skills, but the author describes how various aspects of Asperger Syndrome and other co-occurring conditions make it difficult for our kids to learn.
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Autism Light: Jim and Nuala Gardner

Jim and Nuala Garder are from Scotland. They are parents of a son and daughter with autism. Both Jim and Nuala are praised for their hardwork and dedication that went into facilitating a healing relationship between a Golden Retriever named Henry and their autistic son Dale. Nuala and Jim Gardner are Autism Lights because their story of being engaged parents has had an impact on other families around the world who may be considering getting a dog for a child with autism. More Here...
When You Are No Longer Here

Having read over my posts for the past several weeks I have noticed that I have been a total maudlin pain in the ass. I would like to take this moment to thank everyone for coming back. I was thinking of blaming it on that hormonal descent called menopause. But then figured it was rather disingenuous, much like blaming others for your failings or for your inability to solve the economic crisis. I decided it was whining. I concluded that I won’t pass the buck, but that I do want kudos for recognizing that I have been in one of those moods and that I need to get my head out of my ass.

A topic has come up that I think we as parents need to address. What happens if we die and our children can’t take care of themselves? What kind of planning goes into securing your child for when you are no longer around? Yes, this is much better than I have been. It’s not like I am talking about the Holocaust, healthcare or suing the schools. Unfortunately, however, this topic is something that we have to talk about and something that is a realistic necessity.

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Monday, 20 February 2012

Finding the Questions

I'm gathering questions for the first leg of my journey to discover how families with Autism overcome specific issues.

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You Might Be An Autism Parent If

1. You might be an autism parent if you have to change the movie your child is watching 10 times in 5 mins because he wants to watch something else. – Jessica Bishop More Here...
Meet the Autisable Team: Zoila Nusbaum

Working on building the Autisable Community we have a group dedicated people working steadily on the site to keep things running. Much of what is done is behind the scenes by both the @thexangateam, and the Autisable Team. This post is about one of the newest Autisable team members, Zoila:

Zoila began blogging as a way of coping with the diagnoses of her two boys and her husband with Aspergers Syndrome. She soon became involved with her local chapter, Tidewater Autism Society of America. It was at the Autism Summit in Virginia Beach Va in 2011 where she had the pleasure of meeting Joel Manzer. More Here...