Story Time

A recent achievement of Matt has been in reading. It has improved a lot in the last 2 months since he joined a class of regular kids. Although previously he could read individual words, he now reads sentences! In the last couple of months, he's begun to read to us. He would get a book, either Spot Goes to School or Teachers Are For Reading Stories and sit down in front of us in his little chair. He would open the books so it faced us and read the lines. An audience is required, so we sit and let him read, correcting him gently when he reads a word wrong. His little sister got the hint and she now sits down excitedly in front of kuya when she sees him get a book from the shelf of kids' books.

I guess Matt wants to do it like the teachers do during story time at school. Just this morning, since I was busy in reading email, he sat down in front of his sister and read Spot Goes to School. She would repeat the lines right after kuya said them. My wife did try to let him read Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs & Ham, but he still couldn't follow it much. The rhythmical repeating word patterns seemed to confuse him. Eventually though we hope that as he expands his vocabulary he will be able to read more complex sentences.

He has terrific 'picture' memory in that he remembers words by the patterns of the letters, not the letters themselves. I remember when he was still very young that he was often able to recognize brand names because they often appear in TV ads. It was easy for him to recognize Sony, JVC, Samsung, LG, Canon or Nokia. We soon discovered that if we change the color and fonts on say the word "SAMSUNG" he couldn't recognize it right away. So I guess kids like him really do read in 'pictures'. Even words are pictures for them.

We are excited that he is learning to read and he is doing it in a social way. We can't help but see that having a little sister has made it easier for Matt to open up.

Siblings and Autism

At times I worry about how my kids will handle autism. My eldest child has autism. His sister is 5 years younger. How will things turn out when they grow up? I constantly worry about how my girl's adolescent years will be, with her older brother's autism casting a shadow on her. Or who will take care of Matthew when I and my wife have grown old. Taking care of him will be a big responsibility to take on for one person, especially a younger sibling.

So I was actually pleasantly surprised to read this article from NorthJersey.com. I can understand how it is that most of the focus in on children with autism. I can relate with the feeling that it seems immediate family is greatly affected by it and it is fairly common for the parents to have support groups to help them deal with it. Siblings of children (or adults) with autism don't have the same support system. They deserve to have their own support groups too, because they have to deal with it with the same if not greater degree of difficulty as parents do. More so when it comes to growing adolescents who have the burden of trying to fit in with peers. Reading about Gabby Abramowitz striving to bring a message across through her research and through her organizing efforts make me feel hope that my children will manage on their own when the time comes.

It makes me smile when I see the little one hug and imitate her kuya. It fills my heart with joy when I see Matthew kiss the little girl on the head when they're playing. They will manage, I have hope.

Playgroups Help Up Social Skills -Aussie Study

Playgroup Australia is about to publish research study that sought to prove that playgroups improve socialization skills of children with autism. The report is based on interviews of over 40 families that participated in Playgroup's PlayConnect program. Over 4-of-5 have confirmed the program has had an impact on their children's development. PlayConnect's program brings together children with autism so they could play and socialize in a safe environment. Parents also benefit as they get a chance to interact with other parents in a support group environment.

Karen Merange, Playgroup Australia's Executive Officer, looks forward to the program's continued expansion. “We are delighted that the research will confirm great outcomes from these groups for the families involved. We bring parents together for networking and information-sharing, and show them how to use play-based learning specific to a child with ASD. It is clearly making a big difference to people’s lives," Merange said. Playgroup aims to have 150 of these groups all over Australia by 2011.

The original announcement can be found here: http://www.playgroupaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?objectid=94378DED-E7F2-2F96-30864044DA4E9776