Autism Stereotypes Show How Misunderstood ASD Is

Aussie Channel Ten apologized for an autism joke stereotyping children with autism. British comedian Russell Kane was quoted as saying to the host of Good News Week that "We went at you like an autistic kid on a drum, we destroyed you". He was apparently talking about his team that won in a comedy fest contest.

Angered parents voiced their complaints about the comment made in the show that aired a couple of days ago. The TV station's website was flooded with upset comments. Complaints even reached Australia's Parliamentary secretary for disabilities, according to new sites news.com.au and TheDailyTelegraph.com.au.  Secretary Bill Shorten was quoted, "where it stereotypes vulnerable children it goes too far...What don’t they understand about making fun of a disabled kid?” Several concerned organizations condemned the comedian's irresponsible joke. Channel Ten's airing the pre-recorded show unedited was seen by many as irresponsible.

Stereotyping children with autism (or any child with any disability, for that matter) just shows how egotistical some people are. In this case it happens to be a celebrity. After the uproar, he'll probably just shrug it all off with a comment that he didn't mean it, make a press release and then go on like nothing happened. The press release by the TV station that aired the pre-recorded show unedited shows even more callousness. A spokesperson from the station was quoted as saying the network is a strong supporter of autism awareness, and that they pledged to increase community service announcements for one organization working for the cause of autism. The sad truth is their pronouncement sounds like a convenient excuse so they could slither away unharmed after saying sorry and making amends by bribing people with their 'goodwill'. Jokes like these and half-hearted efforts by those who tolerate them make the impression that it's 'acceptable' for people to joke about disabilities. And it just shows how misinformed most people are about autism and how terribly heartless they can be.

Educating Children with Autism- NC School Sets Example

There's this great feature from WFMY News 2 about the progress of children with autism in a regular school. The story features Sam Johnson and Brightwood Elementary of North Carolina. It's a success story each parent with a child that has autism aspires to happen where they are. One is more support in regular schools for programs especially designed for children with autism. The other is an advocacy of parents that are being acted on by school boards.

Setting aside teaching resource for children with autism can be expensive. Teachers have to be equipped with proper training and teacher-student ratio has to be low enough so they could really focus on each child. They also need separate classrooms so these children can work with their teachers in environment that's free of distractions.

For more information on Sam's story and his school, please go to
http://www.digtriad.com/news/education/article.aspx?storyid=140683&catid
=164 and watch the video.

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

Matt Turns 7

Today we had a party for Matt. As with any sort of event that we have to accommodate Matt in, we had to make sure the party would be enjoyable for his special needs. We also wanted to make it meaningful. The party had to be short, no more that an hour and a half at most. We also had to have some sort of way to divert his attention away from the music being played on loudspeakers. He actually loves music, but wants to always be in control of what's playing. We've often had to watch him and warn him beforehand at parties not to "turn off the CD". He often gets away with it anyway and that manages to upset some party hosts. And then we wanted the celebration to be meaningful. So key things were that it had to be short, meaningful and the music had to be something he wouldn't want to "turn off".

As a way of accomplishing what we set out to do, we invited kids from the Children's Joy Foundation. We set it up so that guests were informed ahead of time that instead of gifts for our son, they should bring along any donations they would have. We wanted to give these kids a good time and at the same time we promoted their particular organization.

They did share a wonderful gift for Matt. They played songs for Matt, live! Matt had no way to "turn off" the music. He sat attentively while watching these kids perform. In a very rare moment, he behaved so calmly.

Overall, the party was a success. We were able to gather about 10 small bags of clothes and school supplies. A few friends also shared cash for the kids. There were also a few guests who asked if they could have the kids perform at their events as well. So we were able to make it enjoyable for Matt and at the same time meaningful. It was moving to see smiles on these kids' faces. It felt like we were making a big difference, even if just for a day.

Autism Is Also A Class Issue

As I read an article published in PSL Website, I found myself nodding as I went. I can definitely understand how frustrating the costs can be. For our situations, therapy costs account for roughly 15% of my salary. Though I may be seen as fortunate by some, It still takes a toll on the budget.

Parents in the US have it better in terms of research and advances. They also bear the brunt of higher therapy costs. In the Philippines, or at least where I live, the costs are a whole lot lower. I expect to have spent around 37,000 pesos this year for therapy costs alone. We are fortunate that we started therapy at the time that we did. Booking therapists is getting to be a frustrating affair for parents who been asking schedules lately. The waiting lists seemed to have increase exponentially during the last few months. We already have our slot and we are sticking to it. We can't change schedules now unless the therapists have free slots. The demand in our area is that big. As the months roll by, more children are seeking treatment.

I can just imagine how hard it would be for parents who earn less than I do. It would be difficult enough for them to get a slot for therapy. They also have to contend with the costs.

Research Links Autism Risk to Environmental Mercury

Science Daily reports that a study released by the University of Texas - Health Science Center at San Antonio links the occurrence of autism cases to industrial mercury released into nearby environments.

The recently published study compared data from a Texas school district and industrial mercury-release data. The reports says it showed a statistically significant link between the amount of industrial release of mercury and increased autism rates in the immediate area. The study "also shows—for the first time in scientific literature—a statistically significant association between autism risk and distance from the mercury source".

You can read the whole article here: Autism Risk Linked To Distance From Power Plants, Other Mercury-releasing Sources.

You can view the news release in it's original form from here: Study links autism risk to distance from power plants, other mercury-releasing sources.

Obama Supports Autism Cause

I was browsing my news alerts when I happened upon this blog as a result of my clicking through several sites. A fortunate succession of events :-)

I discovered that Barack Obama actually has a position on how he plans to help Americans with autism. You can find his position paper here: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/AutismSpectrumDisorders.pdf (found via the blog Hyperlexicon).

Yet another reason I like Obama :-)

Did you hear about the hunger crisis?

Hi,

The world hunger crisis is all over the news this week. In just three years, the price of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice has almost doubled. If we don't do something soon, hundreds of thousands of people face starvation and a hundred million more could fall into extreme poverty.

I just took action with the ONE Campaign and you can too, here:

http://www.one.org/hungercrisis?rc=hctaf