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Boy in a bubble
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Posted by sylvia on Monday, August 03, 2009 (23:34:04)
Scotland on Sunday By Catherine Deveney
IMAGINE an unfamiliar world in which little is recognisable and you feel constantly frightened.
Faces are impenetrable masks, the expressions on them both threatening yet devoid of specific meaning. You do not understand your position in this place you find yourself. You are a square peg in a round hole, constantly crammed into someone else's space that simply doesn't fit. The faces talk to you but their language is alien and you are frightened of misinterpreting their words. In fact, fear defines your world. You take comfort in ritual and repetition and scream when it is interrupted. Often you simply withdraw inside yourself to an internal world that contains only you.
This was Dale Gardner's world. As a child he was severely autistic. He is 20 now and it is fascinating to sit in his house in Gourock listening to him describe a world he finally emerged from. Autism is a complex condition that affects roughly one in 110 people in Scotland – that's 45,000 – and causes sufferers to have difficulty with social and linguistic interaction. The symptoms and severity of the condition vary; some autistic people will never learn to speak, others will function relatively normally. But it is very rare for someone like Dale, who at one time couldn't talk to his parents or empathise with others, to be able to unzip the autistic brain, show you what's inside, then zip it up again. His descriptions are often very simple and to the point. "I would say," he says, "that autism is a disability that makes people scared at the wrong times."
Two things prompted Dale's remarkable progress: the determination of his parents, Nuala and Jamie; and the help of a rather special dog called Henry. The story of how Henry helped bridge the gap between Dale's world and his parents' was first made into a film, After Thomas, starring Keeley Hawes, Ben Miles and Sheila Hancock, and Nuala later went on to tell the full story in her book, A Friend Like Henry. Now, she has taken things further. Dogs have long been used to help blind people and epilepsy sufferers. But she is working with Dogs for the Disabled to develop a full training course to reach autistic children. Results have been encouraging and she is now looking at the possibility of sourcing gun dogs.
Research Autism is also carrying out its own systematic evaluation of dog programmes and Richard Mills, the charity's director, says there has been an improvement in the quality of life for both the children involved and their families. "We're not building up hopes that this is a cure for autism but we really think there's something worth looking at. And while some interventions for autism are extremely expensive, this isn't."
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Autism scheme success
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Posted by lightfoot on Saturday, May 24, 2008 (11:09:15)
A ground-breaking scheme to help borough autism sufferers cope with difficult situations has proved a big success.
The scheme - a partnership between West Midlands Police and the charity autism.west midlands - involves people with autism carrying a pocket-sized attention card to alert people of their disorder.
People affected by an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can carry the credit card sized piece of plastic with them at all times and present it to someone if a difficult situation presents itself.
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Surrey school reaches out with autism workshops
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Posted by lightfoot on Thursday, May 15, 2008 (23:23:33)
SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS were yesterday introduced to new methodologies in teaching autistic children.
The Linden Bridge School from Surrey, England, which specialises in educating autistics from ages three to 19, is staging two weeks of workshops in Barbados in collaboration with the Autism Association of Barbados.
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TA Tips - Tips for Securing a Teachers Assistant For Your Autistic Student
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Posted by lightfoot on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 (16:49:56)
By Harold Doherty
I am a lawyer and an active member of autism organizations in New Brunswick. Mostly I am the father of two boys one of whom is profoundly autistic. Like everyone else, I am continually fighting for a trained Teacher's Assistant to work with my autistic son; preferably one who has received the Autism Support Worker training course from UNB CEL. Many parents are fighting just to get a TA period. I offer these tips primarily for those who might need some guidance or who are just starting out. This is offered as parental advice and general information and is not offered as legal advice. For those seeking help in obtaining a TA I suggest the following and stress that you should seek assistance from other parents. I did. They were a big help in getting a TA for my son.
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Study supports theory that rise in autism is related to changes in diagnosis
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Posted by lightfoot on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 (16:49:30)
By Craig Brierley
Research funded by the Wellcome Trust suggests that many children diagnosed with severe language disorders in the 1980s and 1990s would today be diagnosed as having autism. The research supports the theory that the rise in the number of cases of autism may be related to changes in how it is diagnosed.
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