Did anyone see the Early Show on television this morning? Autism Speaks is to launch a new way for those wondering if their child is showing signs of Autism. The base of this is a study comparison of about 100 kids was videotaped. They show how a typically developing child would act during an intervention with adults around,and then a video of an Autistic childs reactions to the intervention. The show the comparison and what you should look for. I think this is a wonderful tool for those who just need to take a look and draw theis own decision. I remember when I rented a video at our local library on Autism in 1995. There was very little out there for me to read. I remember shaking as I put the video into the VCR. As I put it in, I shook even more and my gut was wrenched. I just listened and couldnt look. As I started to peek,I watched. I realized this was not my child. A whole lot of it was but a whole lot was not. After watching,I then drew my own conclusion to continue to look into other diagnosis. My story ends differently,as my son was diagnosed with Smith-Magenis Syndrome.It is very much like ASD and PDD. It is easily mistaken for both. What I am saying essentially is that these video feeds will be so helpful for that parent trying to take thier first step into looking at first signs.I know first hand how much that video, that many years ago helped me.
For those of you who missed the show, here's a link to the story at the Early Show's web page:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/15/earlyshow/health/m ain3366548.shtml
Here is a link to the video glossary at Autism Speaks:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/press/video_glossary_launches.ph p
Thanks RobinF!
what a great resource for parents just beginning to question behaviors!!!!! I'm so glad this was created especially for those who get nowhere with pediatrics
I think anyone working with young children should be required to watch all of these videos!!!
My sons preschool teacher had no clue what was going on with my son. He spent most of his time rattling her supply cabinet and Teacher complained to me almost daily until i pulled him out and had him evaluated, turns out he was dx with pdd. I even asked preschool teacher if she thought he might have ASD, she said no but just that he wasn't progressing with the rest of kids. She was a teacher for years at a local church. How could she not see the warning signs being a preschool teacher. had she been educated in this area She would have seen warning signs. I'm not blaming her for anything I just think we need way more education about ASD .
I have to say that yes boys develop different but the things being shown in these videos are not something you just chalk up to a boy being a boy. A child who doesn't babble. A child who walks around flapping their arms and pacing when stressed. A child who screams when they get wet. A child who completely ignores a parent's presence etc etc these are not " oh its a boy thing..." these are things EVERY child should/shouldn't be doing.
As far as my opinion on these videos I am very glad they have set this up. I have been talking to a woman I met via my daughter's girl scouts and we got to talking about our kids. Her son was doing all kinds of things that seemed eerily familiar to me. He also has a speech delay issue going on. Until I mentioned the word autism and what it was really like living with it day in and day out she had been told by family and friends that she was imagining things and holding her child to extremely high expectations... to let him be a kid. Today I sent her a link to those videos. She emailed me back that she sees for sure what I meant when we had talked about things and is going to make an appointment to talk to the pediatrician about things. So they are doing exactly what is hoped. They define the words like self stimming and avoidance etc for a parent who is completely in the dark about the spectrums and the various aspects of what actually goes on.
I read online about that genetic thing. The lady I mentioned who's son sees dr. Stewart is going to have her son checked for that syndrome.How did you get that test for Zan I want Daniel/I both to get that done. Are you testing all your kids for that? Our kids no longer see a kid dr. just a family practice dr. Other question is I have always herd boys usually develop slower than girls anyhow. I just now also herd of a book called Boys learn differenly. Let me guess more hands on. Even a workshop my mom atteneded for her job. A adhd adult man talked about how Public education is geared more towards girls. Another is that Se will have to return do to our US GOVT. to helping only severe disability students. Another budget cut by them. To me this is totaly wrong!