Posts Tagged ‘Autism’

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Can Family Vacations Become Successful with Autistic Children

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Family vacations can be stressful during the planning process and becomes a satisfying experience for all in the end. Family vacations with an autistic child is no different. You just have to keep in mind that for an autistic child, vacations can be either confusing or a memorable and learning experience at the same time.

How should you plan your itinerary?

You should keep in mind that certain locations can greatly influence your autistic child. you should choose based on your child’s special needs. Vacations by the beach, lake or going camping can best suit your child if he or she is sensitive to sound. All in all, you should also consider the enjoyment of the other family members,

Timing also plays an important role during vacations. You may want to avoid large crowds that may confuse or scare yoour child. You can do so by either going to a place very early or late or you may consider going on a vacation during the off-season if your child’s school will not be affected.

Distance should also be considered. How far away from your home? How will you get there? You will have to map out your area. Search the nearest hospital in case of accidents etc. What are your transportations to be used? You have to educate your child with the different types of vehicle or transportations you may encounter during your trip. You may prepare your child about security especially if you need to go through an airport.

Everyone should be able to enjoy during vacations. But we should not neglect learning and social interaction opportunities for an autistic child. Outdoors, especially the beach can be a comfortable place for an autistic child especially if he or she likes to shout without upsetting others. Museums can also be a great learning place for kids who are normally quiet where they can ask questions and vice versa.

How do you deal with other people around?

Sometimes we will meet people who have never encountered autism before. Try to understand their lack of knowledge yet at the same time defend your child if he or she is being treated unjustly. Satring usually happens so try not to be rude to the people who do. Instead just ignore them and focus on making your vacation a happy, memorable and a learning experience for everyone.

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Diet for Autistics

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

What should an autistic person avoid in his or her diet?

Nutrition and diet play a huge part in any kind of disorder may it be physical or mental. Autism must be treated with different methods and one way to keep it under control is through diet.

Two of the main nutritional concerns are casein and gluten.

A substance commonly found in milk and other dairy products is Casein. While in wheat, oaks, rye and others, you can find a substance called Gluten. These two substances if consumed in large amounts may affect the autistic behavior of an indivdual.

Gluten and Casein are difficult to digest because of the peptides found ithe foods. These peptides can not all be broken down in the body, the extra peptides are absorbed in the blood stream. High levels of peptides disrupt major brain functions influencing the effects of the disorder.

Undergoing a simple urinalysis will help determine whther your child has a high absorption rate of these peptides.

Consult with a nutritionist how to modify your diet especially when you decide to remove casein and glutton in your diet.

Do not attempt to completely remove the substances from your diet. Instead, do it gradually. Reduce the amount you intake. Or, you can ask your doctor to get the nutrients that you need through dietary supplements. All in all, maintain a balanced diet is the healthy thing to do to keep both you body and mind functioning at its optimal level.

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How Autism Is Diagnosed

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Autism is a complicated disorder to be diagnosed. So when a doctor suggests that your childmay have autism, you are most likely to seek a second or third medical opinion to prove or disprove your first doctors diagnosis.

A disorder that manifests during a young age, autism is usually detected at the age of three or can be earlier. Delay in speaking and unusual behavior in social situations are both early signs of autism.

If you suspect your child to demonstrate these unusual behaviors, then your child must undergo a thorough physical exam, a review of family history by your pediatrician and a visit to a specialist who has examined autism and oter disorders to ensure that your child is accurately diagnosed.

Hearing tests are also included in Autism diagnosis. There are two types of auditory tests. First. recognized tones that the child can hear is recorded. Another would require the use of sedatives then the brain response to the tone is measured.

Next step would be testing your child for Fragile X syndrome whih is present with children with autism. Metabolism can also be taken note of by analyzin a child’s DNA through a blood, urine or saliva sample.

Diagnostic tools such as MRI or CAT scan can also help. you would just have to trust your doctors. Second opinions are useful but if your child is diagnosed, stay with one doctor. by doing so, you are not only letting your child get use to his doctor but the treatments to be done will not be as complicated if you change doctors all the time.

It is a difficult disorder to be detected so parents and carehivers should arm themselves with enough knowledge to address the special need of an autistic child.

By early detection of autism, you are giving your child a shot to be a highly functional individual in his life.

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How to Deal with Autism?

Sunday, December 28th, 2008

Autism is a complex disorder. Most of the time you feel helpless because you dont know what to do especially if you discover that your child has the disoder. You have no idea what to do next. by having enough knowledge, you can help your child cope better in our environment.

You are not alone in your situation. A lot of parents and caregivers experience the same as you do.

What should you do?
Support groups are essential when dealing with disorders and diseases. join one. Keeping in touch with others who experience the same challenges and stress can certainly be of help especially if your child has just recently been diagnosed with a disorder. You can contact National Autism Society of america then trace local branches near you. Your other children can also join a suuport group to better help them cope with your home situtaion.

If youre married, you can get marriage counseling. Common problems that arise when having an autistic child are blaming and neglect for each other. this can seriously put a strain in your marriage. with the help of a counselor, couples can be helped to understand and support each other and also help their child better.

Educating yourself to become your child’s advocate. Some doctors are not experts in autism so they may recommend improper treatments and medical opinions.

By doing so, you are not the only one benefitting but your family especially your autistic child as well.

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Teaching An Autistic Child

Monday, November 17th, 2008

First is to realize how autistic children learn so that we can teach them in the same enthusiasm that we would teach other kids. Having enough information aboout the disorder, will help the teacher deal with autistic people especially the kids in and out the school.

Second, identify what kind of learner an autistic child might be. Most often they are visual thinkers. They are mostly interested or they learn more in lessons that involve picture usage. Words combined with pictures such as nouns or verbs are the easiest to teach in an autistic child because sometimes teachers have difficulty explaining what such word is if not backed up by a picture or a video. Teachers should also avoid using long sentences when speaking as an autistic child is a visual learner. A good way to instruct or teach tehm is to let them write the instructions es[ecially during exams for them to be able to understand more clearly.

Picture or object fixation is very common in an autistic child. If this happens, you can try to use the picture or object as an example in your lessons to catch the chil’ds attention.

Arts and music are some of the activities that autistic children enjoy and very good at. parents and teachers alike should encourage these activities and set a schedule for them to do their paintings or play an instrument.

Computers are also helpful as some autistic kids have writing problem because of their lack of control in their movements. Allowing the child use a computer can reduce his dissatisfaction.

Teaching an autistic child is not easy. you have to be patient and creative at all times to catch their attention. By doing so, you are not only giving them the best opportunities in life but also teaching other kids to be less prejudiced about an autistic child.

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