Friday, May 15, 2009

Triumph Over Autism Bilingually

Over at my Spanish Lesson Plans for Children blog, I wrote about the struggle I'm having on whether or not to teach my Jaden Spanish. I had mentioned that the school he's going to recommended that we speak English only with him.

Here's an encouraging article about a girl who talks when the doctors said she wouldn't, but she's bilingual! Read on Triumph over Autism

The parents used a therapy call the Son-Rise Programme. I decided to look more into this therapy and found that it's very similar to Floortime. Over the next few posts I will put up information about Floortime. This method of therapy seems like something we can learn to do at home. Right now Jaden get ABA (applied behavior analysis) for 2 hours at home and 2 hours at school.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

AOL Article: Research Suggests Children Can Recover from Autism

All things are possible with God.

Here's an article I happened upon about children recovering from autism. I believe all things are possible and it's a good reminder to never give up hope. It's not easy when you're living it day to day and not seeing results...but results come from the inside out. It's in there.
Research suggests children can recover from autism

CHICAGO -Leo Lytel was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. But by age 9 he had overcome the disorder. His progress is part of a growing body of research that suggests at least 10 percent of children with autism can "recover" from it — most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy.

Skeptics question the phenomenon, but University of Connecticut psychology professor Deborah Fein is among those convinced it's real.

She presented research this week at an autism conference in Chicago that included 20 children who, according to rigorous analysis, got a correct diagnosis but years later were no longer considered autistic.

Among them was Leo, a boy in Washington, D.C., who once made no eye contact, who echoed words said to him and often spun around in circles — all classic autism symptoms. Now he is an articulate, social third-grader. His mother, Jayne Lytel, says his teachers call Leo a leader.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, involves children ages 9 to 18.

Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, called Fein's research a breakthrough. (Read more)