I have transferred my blog to tumblr, please follow the link:)

http://andreamajor.tumblr.com/

Autism iPhone breakthrough: from tantrums to app-y days

Few can legitimately boast that an iPhone app changed their life but for 10-year-old Grace Domican, unable to speak due to autism, the touchscreen phone has given her a voice for the first time.

"With the phone showing exactly what she has requested, it is now very clear to all of us what she needs and we see a huge reduction in frustration behaviour as a result," Domican said.

"Grace is capable of a two- to three-hour tantrum that leaves your ears ringing, so this is a good thing."

http://images.theage.com.au/2010/04/16/1331617/graceapp200-200x0.jpg
http://images.theage.com.au/2010/04/16/1331613/gracedomicanmain-420x0.jpg

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/smartphone-apps/autism-iphone-breakthrough-from-tantrums-to-appy-days-20100416-sjjl.html

Autism Therapy: visual schedules

http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/visual-schedules

All sorts of interesting articles from visual scheduals, to colour intervention..read below one article:


Color as a Therapeutic Intervention
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, by Ludlow, AK, and Wilkins AJ, published in 2009, summarized Dec 28, 2009
Colored lenses that filter out certain colors may help visual processing and reading skills for people with autism.

This case report describes a 10-year-old boy with autism who was sensitive to artificial lights, strobe lights, and reflected light. He also suffered headaches and nausea in response to certain colors of walls, food, and clothing. The authors allowed the child to choose a colored film that was placed over a page for him to read. He chose the color purple, and he was able to read faster right away with the purple overlay. He also said that he could see the words more clearly. When the boy wore glasses with purple tint all the time, he had fewer problems with headaches and nausea.

Online blogs

There is so much information on line, blogs and support networks. The "Autism Hub", on facebook, has heaps of really helpful links. (facebook hosts a lot of support blogs for autism)

I listened to this autistic girl through this site "Hope For Autism & Asperger's Syndrome: My Story"
It's so interesting hearing Autism explained from their lived experience, check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV_CcmLlaw4

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works -- sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.
[need to work out how to embed videos]

check out her talk on TED: "The world needs all kinds of minds"
http://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_needs_all_kinds_of_minds.html

also her talk: "Why autism is a gift"

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/01/temple.grandin.ted/index.html?eref=rss_health&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_health+%28RSS%3A+Health%29&utm_content=Google+International

Autism Picture Cards

---> more picture cards
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=52037749167

Photos from Autism Creativity and Imagination

---> All art created by Autistic children of varying ages. Parents on the site discuss the benefits of creative expression; whether the child displays raw talent, or the process is simply soothing adn therapeutic. Either way it's positive!

This pic is from Van Gogh's Starry Night and Andy Warhol's Butterfly. It stands for detaching myself from reality when life is too much, and daydreaming (or in this case night-dreaming).
The different colored dancing people are from Keith Haring, and the lady sitting at the table is called Lonely Lady but I can't remember the artist. It's supposed to represent myself sitting alone while everyone else is out interacting and enjoying themselves.

This pic was based on "The Scream" and a bright, busy, chaotic abstract pattern. It is supposed to represent sensory overload.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=85129094626

".. it deals with a phase of life where one is hardly aware of a thing called “choice”/”interest”/”inclination” and so is very likely to shrivel and retreat into a shell (too young to understand that he/she is just different but not wrong)….when figures of authority simply pronounce judgements rather than trying to understand the problem an individual is facing."

"..Ishaan’s gift, in a more direct sense, is painting. That gift makes him prodigious, not just special. The movie proves the specialty of that child to the rest of the world, not just to his parents.."

--->most beautiful heartfelt movie, must watch!

A genius explains

Daniel Tammet is an autistic savant. He can perform mind-boggling mathematical calculations at breakneck speeds. But unlike other savants, who can perform similar feats, Tammet can describe how he does it. He speaks seven languages and is even devising his own language. Now scientists are asking whether his exceptional abilities are the key to unlock the secrets of autism. Interview by Richard Johnson

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2005/feb/12/weekend7.weekend2

Sue Larkey: International Author, Autism Spectrum Specialist, Teacher

Sue Larkey is uniquely positioned within the education system having taught both as a primary school teacher and a special education teacher. She is a highly qualified educator who has taught students with autism spectrum disorder in the mainstream and special schools. She combines practical experience with extensive research having completed a Masters in Special Education and currently working towards her Doctorate of Education, focusing on inclusive education.

http://www.suelarkey.com/

Cloud 9- Children's foundation NZ

What We Are All About
We are a support oganisation that works on both the national and regional level in New Zealand to help out children and teenagers who have Asperger's Syndrome. We also aim to assist those who help people with Asperger's Syndrome such as the person's family and carers, teachers and professionals. An important first step in helping children and teenagers with Asperger's Syndrome is increasing the awareness of the syndrome in New Zealand as well as around the world. We therefore have many programs and activites which aim to lift the profile of Asperger's Syndrome in the community.

How We Came To Be
Raymond Thompson is the Chairman of the Cloud 9 group of companies which produces family orientated television shows distributed to over 125 countries around the world. Both Raymond Thompson and his son have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Raymond felt that New Zealand needed more readily available information and support for children and teenagers with Asperger's Syndrome. He also believed that he could be a positive successful role model for others. In October 2000 the Cloud 9 Children's Foundation was established as a non-profit charitable trust.

---> There are all sorts of activities and great support networks within Cloud9, they could be really interesting to get in touch with to find out more information about engaging with autistic (esp. aspergers) children. what stimulates/over or under stimulates etc

a snippet from a student's work on Cloud9 site:
(really interesting essay) http://www.withyoueverystepoftheway.com/page24/page25/page25.html
"

An eccentric Scientist, famous for the theory of relativity.
The richest person in the world, computer genius and the head of the corporate giant Microsoft.
A baroque composer who became the most famous of all time.

Albert Einstein

Bill Gates

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

What do these 3 elite achievers have in common apart from their genius?

Asperger Syndrome!!!"

--->especially people with high functioning autism (aspergers), can be incredibly tallented in a particular area, the area of talent just needs to be located and nurtured..

MonoKey

In short, MonoKey is an electronic flashcard/easy to operate wireless input device for kids who still can't use a keyboard or a mouse.

It was originally conceived as a computer input device for children with developmental differences comprising autism/ASD. However we found out that it is also suitable for very young children, even babies.

Since many of them don't have enough motor skills to operate regular input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse, a specialized input device is needed in conjunction with computer aided learning software, software implementation of ABA/DTT, or educational computer games.

http://www.acella.org/monokey_productsummary.php

iPad App Helps Autistic Teen Communicate

Mean was developed by Michael Bergmann, a New York-based filmmaker whose son is autistic, and Richard Meade-Miller, an 18-year-old first-time programmer from Los Angeles. Bergmann's son, Daniel Bergmann, 14, was not only the inspiration for the app, but provided significant input on the app's design.

"This is something the iPad delivers that few other devices could," explains Bergmann. "It cannot be done on a phone-sized device because many users cannot operate a small keyboard. But the iPad, with its unique combination of large size, touch display, and extreme portability, is perfect." More information on iMean is available at www.iMean.mobi

Autism often includes physical limitations, such as motor-control difficulty, that make actions like speech or typing impossible. Some autistic people communicate using a card with a large alphabet on it, which they point to with a pencil to spell out words. This process often includes active participation by a facilitator who encourages the user and says the words as they are being spelled.

	Daniel Bergmann, the first user of iMean, talking to his father by tapping the app. He was comfortable enough with the iPad to hold it himself the very first day. Photo by Meredith Bergmann

http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=188282

Some educational visual aids:

Thumball - Numbers The Attention Getting Learning Game for Home, School , Work, Therapy and Parties

Mr Face Autism or ADHD Emotions Visual Aid



---> majority of resources I've found are really basic and badly designed (obviously aesthetics on their own are not of importance, but I'm wondering if they were better designed they would be more powerful tools?)

Soul Man - Rudolph Steiner

Towering figure Rudolph Steiner at work on a sculpture 1919. Gerteud von Heydebrand-Osthoff

A Steiner blackboard drawing. Rudolph Steiner Archiv, Domach

Clockwise from Left: A model of his colour chamber. The Goetheanum; A room atributed to his follower, Oswald Dubach. Clockwise from Top Left: Andreas Sutterlin


"Practically no one outside anthroposophical circles, it seems, lifted specific shapes or motifs from Steiner, but his concepts fascinated creative figures across the aesthetic spectrum. The exhibition will include pages from Wassily Kandinsky’s diary with jottings about Steiner, fan mail from Piet Mondrian, a note from Franz Kafka requesting Steiner’s comments about a new manuscript and a 1923 invitation from the architect Richard Neutra, then a disciple of the Expressionist master Erich Mendelsohn, to visit the new Einstein Tower in Potsdam, Germany. Luminaries in every medium warmed to Steiner’s conviction that the arts could make intangible, universal law..

I can’t imagine a better place to ponder such questions than inside a farbkammer, or “color chamber,” which Steiner conceived for solitary therapeutic relaxation. Each polyhedral room was to be lined in one solid tone and suffused with soothing light. Century-old working farbkammer prototypes have vanished, but a rare group of sketches and small metal models for a 12-chamber series recently turned up at Dornach’s Rudolf Steiner Archiv. Vitra has constructed a full-size lilac-colored dodecahedron, about nine feet high, where visitors of every age will be welcome to bask in Dr. Steiner’s aura — mind, body and soul."

Founded in 1995 by the mother of a child diagnosed with Autism, Different Roads to Learning carries over 500 products carefully selected to support the Autism Community.

http://www.difflearn.com/

Our Mission is to provide Aids, Resources, and General Information on Autism and the Treatment of Autism to Parents, Educators, and the Community in General to Assist in the Development of Communication, Curriculum, Legislation, and ultimately the Betterment of Autistic Children.
http://autism-visuals.com/products.aspx

On Respite

A lecturer raised a glass of water and asked "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

Snoezelen Room

The Snoezelen Room promotes relaxation through the gentle use of aromas, tactile, audio and visual stimulation: an approach that, when introduced, marked a radical departure from traditional therapies. The participant is in control of his or her interaction with the environment, thereby reducing any feelings of pressure. The Room provides accessible relaxation away from the cares of a disability. Snoezelen allows all people, regardless of their ability level, to enjoy relaxation and active play at a rate that they are able to control.
http://www.peicod.pe.ca/sno-history.htm
..Snoezelen is the first opportunity some children have to control their environment through making choices—a vital step in self-realization.
..Educational benefits are noted in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic gains. The basic premise is to begin observing the signs of enjoyment and then build on the skills that are identified through this enjoyment.

-such an interesting way to interact and physically 'express'. Maybe the materials themselves don't matter anymore, creative expression we all crave can equally be achieved through physical interaction with digital interfaces?