Category Archives: Autism

Autism Speaks Staffer Kerry Magro interviewed actress Diane Kruger (National Treasure, Inglorious Basterds) who plays a character with Asperger Syndrome on the hit FX series “The Bridge.” You can tune into the season 2 premiere of "The Bridge" tonight at 10 PM ET/9 PM CT on FX! Diane Kruger: Sonya Cross is a detective with the El Paso PD. She's a very accomplished detective, who has the ability to focus on details that others don't see. She also has Asperger's. The Bridge is the American adaptation of the Scandinavian show, called "Broen." We followed the Scandinavian story lines for season 1, but for season 2 we are venturing out. This season is a dark and intriguing web of stories set on the El Paso/Juarez border. I wanted to be part of the project for it's relevant context and to explore a character as complex as Sonya who is living with Asperger's and yet manages to live a full and successful life. KM: Was there any special preparation you did while getting ready to play the role? DK: Autism Speaks has been a big part of helping me understand what Asperger's is, how it manifests itself and what the daily challenges are for people who live with it. It's been a long journey for me and I try to educate myself as much as I can. I feel a deep commitment and duty to portray a woman who lives with Asperger's to the best of my abilities and I am very grateful for the help and encouragement I have received so far from the community. KM: How has it been working with autism self-advocate Alex Plank on the show? DK: He's essential to me and the show. He meets with me and every director and points out the moments that are not to be missed. I know he always has my back and I rely heavily on him. Watch Alex Plank's interview with Diane Kruger below... KM: What would you say is one the biggest things you've learned about autism from being on the show and playing a character with Asperger's? DK: How often people misunderstand what Asperger's is and the negative reaction it can provoke in people. We never say that Sonya has Asperger's on the show, and at the beginning reactions to her ranged from bewildered-to-why is she so rude and bitchy? It took quite a few episodes for people to be able to look past her "oddness" and now it's a complete 180. People find her quirkiness endearing and fun and just different enough. Diane with the cast of "The Bridge". Photo Credit: Michael Bulbenko/the Paley Center for Media KM: What do you hope people take away about autism from watching the show? DK: That we should embrace what's different and not judge quite so easily. Autism can be incredibly isolating for people who live with it and just a little encouragement and understanding can help a lot. KM: What's next for you? Any fun projects coming up? DK: Once the show is wrapped, I will be doing a French film called "Sky."

This will be a game changer in the way scientists are researching autism," says lead author Raphael Bernier, clinical director of the Autism Center at Seattle Children's Hospital. Researchers have linked mutations in a specific gene to what appears to be a distinct subtype of autism. Their findings, published in Cell, represent an important first step in individualizing diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Past research has implicated hundreds of gene mutations as increasing the risk that a child will develop autism. Most of these gene changes increase autism risk only slightly. A few almost always lead to autism but as part of a larger syndrome – such as Fragile X and Angelman’s – with autism as just one symptom. As such, the new findings may represent the first clear-cut case of a gene specific to an autism subtype. (more…)

JOHNSTOWN — Tina Dallape heard the small child’s voice say, “Want some,” but she knew her 3-year-old daughter, Sophia, was not in the room. She looked through the door at their Richland Township home and saw her husband, Jim, staring, jaw agape, at their 4-year-old autistic son, James Jr.“Did he just say …” Tina began. “Want some,” her husband confirmed. It was not a surprise that young James would like some fruit that was being cut for dinner. But it was the first time James ever put two words together to express a thought. “Tears were running down my cheeks,” Tina Dallape recalled. James was about 18 months old and beginning to walk and say “mommy” “daddy” when suddenly all that stopped, his mother said. After a “battery of tests” the doctors confirmed James was “on the spectrum.” Autism is defined as a spectrum disorder because it is a “range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior,” the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says on its website. Brian Nagle, Alternative Community Resources Program director of autism services, says the spectrum includes everything from the nonverbal, severely disabled individuals with what he calls “classic autism” to the high-functioning, often highly intelligent individuals with Asperger syndrome. “One thing that’s common is the impairment of social skills,” Nagle said. “They don’t know how to make friends. They don’t know ‘stranger danger.’ (more…)

They have found that learning difficulties that affect young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be successfully addressed through targeted educational programs in regular childcare. 'Children on the spectrum have a lot of trouble learning from others. They have trouble imitating, participating in joint activities and making eye contact, essential skills in the learning and teaching process,' autism researcher Dr Vivanti said. Dr Vivanti said the team at La Trobe had used an intervention called the Early Start Denver Model(ESDM), which targets these learning difficulties and aims to bring the child back into the social loop so they can learn from others the way children without autism do. Research conducted in the US indicates that the program is effective in the context of intensive individual home treatment (15+ hours per week). However, as standard community services often lack the resources needed to support this kind of model, very few families currently have access to this intervention. The study carried out at the La Trobe University Victorian Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre in collaboration with the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre and the MIND Institute at UC Davis addressed this, documenting the feasibility and effectiveness of the ESDM delivered in the context of a community childcare setting. As opposed to the US study, the program at La Trobe was implemented using regular childcare teachers and a child-staff ratio of 1:3. The study measured the outcomes of 27 preschoolers with ASD receiving 15–25 hours per week of ESDM therapy over 12 months, compared to those of 30 peers with ASD undergoing a generic intervention program delivered in a similar community long-day care service. While children in both groups made progress, those receiving ESDM showed significantly higher gains in language (20 DQ points versus 10 in the control group) and cognition (14 DQ points, versus 7 in the control group). There was variability in the gains made by children receiving the ESDM, with children who had more spontaneous imitation, functional play and joint attention skills showing the most sizeable cognitive gains. This study indicates that even with the adaptations of delivering the program in a childcare group environment instead of intensive individual home-based treatment, the ESDM has positive effects on development of young children with ASD. Dr Vivanti said that by targeting skills that are crucial for early social learning, such as imitation, joint engagement, non-verbal communication and eye-contact, some of the biologically-based cognitive and communicative difficulties in ASD can be addressed at this early stage of development. Researchers will continue to monitor the children from the study as they enter a school environment. The findings have been published in the prestigious journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Bullying can affect anyone at any time, but young people with autism are especially vulnerable. The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place among groups of young people can make the social world a very daunting place for children with autism. Being at odds with their peer group can lead to social isolation, rejection, and a lack of the supportive friendships that can protect against bullying. Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is a developmental condition that the National Autistic Society describes as affecting “how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people and the world around them”. It is on a spectrum, meaning that although there are common areas of difficulty, people with autism are affected in very different ways, with widely varying degrees of severity. As a consequence, while approximately 30% of young people with autism spectrum conditions attend special schools, around 70% are in mainstream settings, according to the government. Worryingly, there is a growing body of research that indicates that young people on the autism spectrum are considerably more vulnerable to bullying than their peers. (more…)

Michael Barton, 22, has high-functioning autism and has just finished a degree course. He is currently promoting a new book - his second in three years, entitled A Different Kettle of Fish - A Day in the Life of a Physics Student with Autism. It documents how he feels travelling from Guildford to London for a day out and the autism-related difficulties along the way. Barton launched his book at the Manchester Autism Show where he also gave a talk which includes one of his pet subjects - how speaking metaphorically can confuse people on the autistic spectrum as they tend to take things literally. He spoke to Ouch this week: Is your book aimed at people with, or without, autism? (more…)

Many parents and professionals want to know how to teach an autistic child to swim. Some children naturally love the water while others are very apprehensive. It is important to address swimming on an individual basis for best results. Can Children with Autism Swim? Children with autism can usually do anything neurotypical children can as long as they have proper guidance. It helps to recognize how an activity like swimming can benefit kids on the spectrum. The activity is great for children who may need help with sensory processing, gross motor development, and following directions. Sensory Processing (more…)

In recent months, researchers have been quite adamant that environmental factors play just as an important role as genetics in the development of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). An increasing number of researchers have focused on environmental pollutants, which range from pesticides, to mercury and diesel. These toxins are thought to alter the brain development of fetuses. A new study confirms that pregnant women who live in environments where pesticides are heavily used, see the risk of having a child with autism increase by 60 percent. Dan Rossignol, an autism expert at Jeff Bradstreet’s International Child Development Resource Center in Florida, states, “Pesticides are one of the toxicants that appear to have the strongest association with autism”. He adds that these latest results “strengthen that association.” (more…)

Tips for Keeping Autistic Spectrum Children Engaged During Summer Break The more senses an autistic spectrum child uses in a day the better, said Kim Denitto, an occupational therapist at the Center for Spectrum Services, a school for children on the autism spectrum in Kingston, N.Y. These children have trouble processing and responding to the world around them—either because it’s hard for them to screen out what’s happening around them, or because it’s hard to take in important information. Denitto says activities that use multiple senses help calm and organize their nervous systems and form new neurological connections (actually reorganizing their brains in a healthy way). The following are some activities parents can do at home. Household Tasks Working in the garden, pushing the shopping cart, and even taking out the trash, are much more beneficial for autistic spectrum children than most people realize, Denitto said. When children push and pull things and carry weight, it teaches them to plan and execute unfamiliar tasks from beginning to end—skills many of these children really need to work on, she said. Household tasks, which she calls “heavy work,” can also help children build confidence and think at a higher level, because when they learn to do more things on their own, they rely less on prompts from adults. “Many children on the autism spectrum become prompt-dependent (often due to their processing delays and our natural instinct to nurture and help our children succeed),” Denitto said in an email. “It is important to provide opportunities for them to learn and experience success in managing and completing many of life’s everyday tasks. This sometimes takes patience and understanding on our part.” Floor Activities Contact with the floor also helps children develop their senses and motor skills, Denitto said. With her students, she uses things like “Bosu balls (half of a therapy ball), fabric tunnels, rocker boards, foam bolsters and wedges, low balance beams, [and] small plastic play equipment that children can climb and slide down,” she wrote in an email. Denitto recommends finding activities that get children crawling, such as going through tunnels and obstacle courses, and putting materials with different textures on the floor, so children can step on them and feel the textures underfoot. “You can buy textured stepping stones online, in toy stores, or in therapeutic catalogs, but you can also use everyday items like plastic grass mats, rubber bathtub liners, carpet squares, yoga mats, bubble wrap, anything that provides a variety of tactile input,” Denitto wrote. Movement DVDs A yoga DVD that’s made for children can help calm and occupy them when parents need to take care of other things. A good way to help children transition between activities is the “MeMoves” DVD, developed by an occupational therapist. It guides children through very calming, rhythmical movements. “It’s a nice way to do a little calming or a little warm-up before we introduce another activity [in class],” she said. The program also has an application version. Strap-on Animals A couple months ago, Denitto’s school received a set of movement-geared stuffed animals, and the children have really taken to them, she said. Called Stretchkins, these stuffed animals have very long stretchy arms and legs with bands on their paws, which children can attach to their hands and feet. Thus the animals do whatever movement the children do. Denitto said the Stretchkins help children become more aware of their bodies in space by giving a good amount of resistance to their movements. Children find the furry creatures fun to touch, and the animals help students engage socially when they’re doing group activities. Adding resistance gives children a greater awareness of where they are in relation to objects, other people, and their environment and can help “improve attention, strength, balance, and muscle tone,” Denitto said. Stretchkins come with an interactive movement DVD that has exercises and dances that children can move with. Writing If parents want their children to work on writing over the summer—which many autistic spectrum children are not motivated to do—Denitto recommends making it a sensory experience. You can warm up by playing with materials like play-dough, sand, rice and beans, shaving cream, or having the child rub their hands with lotion. Hand-strengthening activities that involve pushing, pulling, shaking, or squeezing can also be helpful. You can use things like carts, scooters, wagons, and medicine balls to strengthen children’s hands and get their body ready to learn, Denitto said. It is also important that children sit correctly when they write, with their feet flat on the ground and their body upright. You can modify the chair height with seat cushions or wedges and place a block on the floor under their feet so they touch flat. You can also use a nonslip shelf liner to keep them from sliding off the chair, Denitto said. Some children benefit from writing on an inclined board or a vertical surface (placing paper on a wall), which helps increase their wrist extension and gives them greater finger control. The school has started using a program called Handwriting Without Tears, a multisensory handwriting system, which was developed by an occupational therapist. The program uses things like wet sponges, play-dough, and wooden pieces to shape letters. For many children on the autism spectrum, working with these tactile elements is more motivating than a pencil and paper, Denitto said.