In order to be successful in the world, a person must know the basics of reading and writing. Literacy is key in an evolving world like today. It all starts at the beginning of student-teacher interaction in the classroom. There is always an assignment or a teacher that makes an everlasting life changing impression on a student. Senior year of high school, the students in English IV are asked by the principle to prepare a research paper that they think they could apply to community service. Tons of students do their research on cancer, smoking, and obesity. I wanted to be different from the rest. I chose the topic, “The Importance of Early Intervention in Children with Autism”. This topic started a fire within me. It pulled me to learn more than I could fathom.
My younger brother, Jacob, is on the Autism spectrum. His whole life he has been in therapy. At the age of four, Jacob was diagnosed and had already been seeing a regular speech therapist. My family recognized his signs very early, and we acted instantly. Due to my family’s proactive attitude, my brother’s development is exactly where he needs to be or maybe even further. I wanted to do the same for other children
…show more content…
I learned so much about the children who become affected with this disability. I learned about how I could make a difference in someone’s life. I went to my church and spoke in front of my congregation about being aware of the disability and how they could help the Autism community as well. I went to a preschool where there was a class of children with special needs and did a lesson on painting with non-conventional objects. We laughed, learned, played and had the time of our lives. I got to meet some amazing people in the Autism community through this opportunity. I made a difference, no matter how small, in these peoples’ lives. It was a truly eye opening experience not just for me but my whole
Hartmann, Ashley, "Autism and its Impact on Families" (2012). Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers. Paper 35. http://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/35
For the purpose of these literature review a search was done using PubMed which is available through the Medical Library of the National Guard Health Services. This research focus is Autism and its management. Using these four key words "Autism" "definition" , "symptoms", and "treatment". As result, nine papers were found and this literature review summarizes them.
Van Hees, V., Moyson, T., & Roeyers, H. (n.d). Higher Education Experiences of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Challenges, Benefits and Support Needs. Journal Of Autism And Developmental Disorders, 45(6), 1673-1688.
I first began with the question, “How did having an autistic child change your life?” I first asked this to get an understanding on how it effects the normal lives of a family. She responded, “It changed the direction of our lives. We have much less freedom than other families. His autism limits our ability to do things as a family unless we have a helper for him. We have had to set up our house in a specific way to keep him safe. For example, instead of having a dining room, we use that space as a time-out room if Chris is exhibiting destructive behavior.” I know that having a child with autism brings a lot of struggles with parenting and making sure they get the attention they need so I asked, “What do you find to be the greatest challenge?” She responded, “A change in a routine can set off a major tantrum with destructive behavior. As he gets older and stronger, this becomes more challenging to handle. His unpredict¬able behavior also limits our ability to do things in public.” Autism is a challenge but it also is a learning experience and an experience that ca change the way you look at certain situations. I then asked the question, “What have you learned from raising a child with autism?” She answered, “Raising a child with autism has taught us a lot about patience. We’ve
My step-brother was born with autism, but in some ways he is even more intelligent than myself. He has made me a better person and made me want to help others with disabilities in any way I can. In my lifetime I hope that we can eradicate the negative perception that is so commonly associated with mental disabilities. This change will not be brought by time; we can only bring an end to this delusion through education and exposure. It is my goal in life to one day start a charity to educate society on mental disabilities as well as ensure that people with disabilities can get the treatments and accommodations they need. We are all human beings. we all have flaws. No one has the right to feel superior to someone with a
Most Autistic children have different abilities and task they can and can not do, It is important to raise awareness for children with Autism. Most people do not realize how many
Having worked in an Autism program first hand I can tell you these people are doing everything they can to help these kids into functioning members of society. Though some will need to be assisted their entire lives some can lead semi-normal lives. In these classrooms these programs not only focus on learning the fundamentals like all children in school (english, math, science, etc..) they also teach social skills and activities, they teach the kids things like proper etiquette in public places, safety on the phone, all the things that that isn 't 'common sense ' to them because of their disability. They work hard to help the students who are more high functioning to integrate into normal classrooms and the children who are more so low functioning to be able to do the basics and beyond for themselves. These programs are continually developing and reshaping to best fit the needs of their
What is Autism? Autism, more recently referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is an umbrella term for a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that can be characterized by difficulties with verbal & nonverbal communication, social interactions, and repetitive behaviors. The word spectrum infers that there is a range of symptoms, impairments, and severity of ASD. Theses can be arranged as a hierarchical levels based on the severity and functionality of the individual. The sub groups of ASD include Asperger syndrome, autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Some with ASD have visual, musical, mathematical, or artistic abilities that they particularly excel
Autism is extremely common but a complex disorder. I have a cousin who was diagnosed with autism at a very young age. He is just two months older to me. Whenever all of my cousins would meet during a get together, he would hardly talk to anyone. He would be engaged in his own work or would be engrossed in his phone. He used to have a lot of problem in socializing while I could make new friends in just one chat. Both of our lives were like two distant poles. Then I didn’t meet him for the next couple of years. When I finally met him during a wedding, he seemed like a totally different person. I asked his mom about the noticeable change in him. She told me about all the advancement in technology that helps people with autism in learning and how
I care because I have a godson who has autism. His name is Zan Torres, and he is three years old. Autism is a mental condition; autism is difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people. For example, Zan has a communicating skills of a one-year-old, and he is three years old. Zan was enrolled in an early development program for children with special needs. Within seven months, Zan went to two different schools because the special education program got cut from previous school. Class sizes are getting bigger and bigger which is a problem, due to the fact there is only one teacher and one assistant per class. With classes getting bigger the student doesn't get the full one on one attention the student needs. I saw from moving to a different school Zan attitude changed from loving school to crying every morning when he was dropped off. It was not because the teachers were cruel to Zan, it was for the reason that he was not close to them like he was to his other teachers. Children with this type of learning disability have a hard time getting comfortable with new people and its time to create a bond with them. A child like Zan was slightly affected by this budget cut and now hundreds of other children are probably being affected in a more negative
I began interacting with people who have disabilities from a young age. My older brother of seven years has Autism, my cousin has multiple developmental diagnoses, and second cousin has Autism as well. I never saw these people as their disability but as my relatives who functioned and lived life differently than I did. This point of view changed when a few members of my church pointed out the “bad thing” about them. This event led me to question God for the next 11 years of my life. By senior year of high school I began to see that having a brother with Autism as a gift from God. I began to learn all the things by brother was capable of doing and the love he showed for others. The disabled population was always an interest of mine even during
My son is nine years old and suffers from Autism, Cerebral Palsy, and mental retardation.He was born prematurely and critically ill. Though odds were very much against him, he made it. A year later, after his first MRI, we first heard the words Cerebral Palsy. By the age of two I knew he was Autistic but we could not get a diagnosis until he was seven. He was put on medication to help his self-abusive behaviors and self-stimulation.
The past year, I had the experience to volunteer at Mandy Canfora Valley, the autistic program at my middle school. The program was located in a classroom, and had about ten children in it. Frankly, I was apprehensive at first, because I did not have any experience working with autistic children before. On my first day, I entered the room with two other eighth graders and was warmly greeted by the children. We played Pictionary, a game where a designated person draws on a board and someone else guesses what they drew. It was my turn, and I remember that I drew an apple. One of the kids, named Timothy raised his hand and guessed, “A ball? Hm.. an apple?” When I said “Yes!”, his eyes lit up. The happiness I saw radiating through Timothy’s eyes
I have always grown up in a more ‘normal’ setting and seeing people with disabilities was something that was rare to me. When I was younger, my thoughts on people with disabilities were that they could only be physically seen, nothing else (mentally, intellectually, etc.). As I reached middle school, I realized how broad the world is and how many ways people were affected by disabilities. Some of them led a more normal life and some have a harder time adjusting. Just seeing and reading how so many are affected and how harder it is for them really opened up my mind and allowed me to have a wider perception of how broad things are in the world.
It was not until I saw the movie (before our class) “I Am Sam”, my thoughts about people with learning disabilities started to change. The movie changed my perception that mentally challenged individuals are strange by nature because they do not seem to understand when people talk to them and is different from myself. The movie showed me that they do comprehend information, have feelings as I do, and most importantly, that I have wrongly stereotyped their differences.