2011 was another eventful year in autism news. Parents and advocates continued to raise awareness about wandering safety, a critical issue in the autism community. Scientists showed us that environmental toxins play a major role in autism, despite the previously held belief that autism is all genetic. And a groundbreaking documentary helped debunk myths and showed that even – especially – non-verbal people with autism have a lot to say.
Links to the articles as well as excerpts are below.
Wandering Awareness and Safety
Preventing autism wandering deaths: Mason Alert, tracking, medical code proposed
Children with autism are often prone to wandering, fascinated by water, and unaware of danger. Many of these children are also impulsive and nonverbal. This combination of characteristics can be fatal.
“It’s just terrible to watch it happen over and over again. We relive the loss of Mason each time,” said Sheila Medlam, whose 5-year old son Mason drowned in a pond after wandering away from his house in Colwich, Kansas July 27, 2010.
Medlam has been raising awareness of autism wandering in the months since Mason’s death. “Losing Mason was like losing the other half of my soul,” Medlam told Examiner.com. “From the very beginning we shared his story with everybody because we didn’t ever want it to happen to anybody else and we wanted to give some meaning to something so horrible.”
Interview with advocate Sheila Medlam on her son Mason and autism wandering
On July 27, 2010, 5-year old Mason Medlam, a non-verbal boy with autism, wandered from his home in Colwich, Kansas and drowned in a pond despite numerous safety precautions.
Mason was one of at least nine children with autism in the U.S. who died after wandering in 2010, all from drowning. Since her son Mason’s death, Sheila Medlam has established the Mason Allen Medlam Foundation for Autism Safety and collected more than 100,000 signatures to propose a “Mason Alert” program. The Mason Alert would consist of an alert that would be triggered when a child with autism goes missing, and a registry of children with autism and other disabilities at risk for wandering.
When asked what she wanted Mason’s legacy to be, Medlam said, “I want the world to know Mason's name, his face and what we lost the day he died. I want the world to know how to keep these children safe. I want other children like my son to live long, beautiful lives. I don't want anyone else to lose a child like Mason. He was the best of what I was and his loss is enormous.”
New CDC medical code expected to help prevent autism wandering, raise awareness
A medical diagnosis code for wandering was announced by the Centers for Disease Control, a move intended to prevent wandering among people with autism and other disorders and diseases. The code will be identified as “wandering in conditions classified elsewhere” (V40.31). The code was announced at the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee meeting in Bethesda, MD, and was welcomed by autism advocates. Although the code is not specifically linked to autism or any other disorder or disease, it is hoped that the code will improve safety for those vulnerable to wandering, which include those with autism, cognitive disabilities, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association, told Examiner.com the code is an important safety measure. “We hope that by acknowledging wandering as a medical condition, we can reduce the number of deaths in the autism community by creating the opportunity for the development of resources for families, training for first responders, support for parents seeking safety protocols at their child's school supported by their IEP, and establishment of support for families,” she said.
Environmental Causes of Autism
Toxic chemicals found in baby products; some may be linked to autism
A new study shows that 80 percent of products tested made for infants and toddlers contained toxic chemical flame retardants that can have harmful effects on health. The products include items made with polyurethane foam such as car seats, mattresses, and changing pads. Of the 80 samples in the study that contained flame retardants, 79 were either brominated or chlorinated.
Brominated flame retardants, or those based in the chemical element bromine, have been implicated as potential risk factors in autism spectrum disorders, cancer, and other health problems. Studies on brominated flame retardants have shown adverse developmental effects on animals.
Brominated flame retardants have increased in household products over the last 30 years because they make them less flammable. However, the toxins from these chemicals can leach from the products into the environment and accumulate in the body. Fetuses and babies are especially susceptible to toxic chemicals.
Dr. Philip Landrigan of the Mount Sinai Medical Center has said environmental causes, including brominated flame retardants, are strongly associated with autism.
Studies: environmental factors during pregnancy may increase risk of autism
Two recent studies in the Archives of General Psychiatry show that environmental factors play a major role in the development of autism in the womb. The findings are significant because for decades, the mainstream medical establishment has steadfastly maintained that the causes of autism are primarily genetic. However, some experts, and many parents, have known for years that the causes of autism are largely environmental.
In the first study, researchers examined 192 pairs of identical and fraternal twins from California. Each pair had at least one twin with autism. The study showed that environmental, or non-genetic factors in the womb, may significantly influence whether a child develops autism.
In a smaller study, antidepressant use by pregnant mothers during the year before giving birth, especially during the first trimester, was found to lead to an increased risk of having children with autism.
The Washington Toxics Coalition has developed recommendations for mothers-to-be in Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy.
Scientists say rise in autism may be linked to toxic chemicals in environment
The sharp rise in autism in recent years may be partly linked to toxic chemicals, according to a coalition of scientists, policy experts, and parents who discussed the potential connection during a conference call Tuesday. The group, led by the advocacy organization Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, is calling for legislation that would require chemicals, many of which are pervasive in the environment and in household products, to be tested for safety.
Chemicals commonly found in air, water, the ground and the food supply, as well as in everyday goods, have been linked to diseases and disorders such as autism, cancer, and asthma. Fetuses and infants are known to be particularly susceptible to toxic chemicals in the environment.
"Today, to a mother carrying BPA, mercury, phthalates, and brominated flame retardants, is born a baby with 200 contaminants already in its cord blood," says Donna Ferullo, Director of Program Research at the Autism Society. "The developing brain is exquisitely sensitive to environmental exposures from conception through childhood."
Autism Therapy
Puppets, play therapy can improve social skills, speech for children with autism
Playing with puppets is an excellent way for children with autism and other special needs to practice spontaneous, imaginary, and symbolic play, which can help bring children who think concretely into the world of abstract concepts and ideas.
Children with low verbal skills often undergo intensive verbal behavior analysis, speech therapy, and even oral motor exercises. These therapies are often successful to various degrees, but playing with puppets can also bring out speech development and help kids use what they have learned in a natural environment.
In one class, some children spoke more during puppet play than during all other times combined. Emotional engagement and motivation are factors that contribute to potential increases in speech for certain children.
Imitation and joint attention, two skills used in play therapy, have been shown to be early indicators of how well children with autism will learn language and other skills. Joint attention occurs when children use eye gaze or gestures such as pointing to communicate with others.
Children can use imaginary play to communicate non-verbally through joint attention used during play. They can also begin to use words meaningfully, through emotions rather than through rote memorization.
Several studies have shown that symbolic play skills are associated with language abilities in children with autism.
Play, puppets can help kids with autism learn social skills, understand concepts
Imaginative play can help children with autism and other disabilities understand concepts and relate information into meaningful contexts.
Role play and playing with puppets can facilitate creativity and spontaneity in kids on the autism spectrum. By enabling students to take part in scenarios that help them understand how the world works, imaginative and symbolic play can help students who think in concrete terms understand abstract concepts and relationships.
Because children with autism often have a difficult time learning concepts and ideas, it is believed that acting out situations using puppets, toys, and other three-dimensional objects can lead to greater spontaneity, less scripting, and ultimately a more meaningful social experience. It is believed that reciprocal social interactions and the use of spontaneous, meaningful language can also be enhanced through the use of imaginative and symbolic play.
Exercises can help children with autism improve focus, balance, motor skills
Exercises and yoga poses can help children with autism and other developmental disabilities gain confidence, develop better coordination, and improve motor skills.
Improvements in balance and motor skills often go hand in hand with progress made in cognitive function and academic achievement. Exercising and playing sports also gets more oxygen to the brain, helps kids stay in shape, improves sleep habits, and can improve relaxation and decrease aggressive behaviors.
For children with autism, copying a facilitator’s actions can lead to improvements in the ability to imitate, which is often lacking in kids on the spectrum.
Doing exercises in the context of fun and meaningful sports, especially using balls to throw, catch, and kick provides the best of both worlds, but the exercises described below can benefit children with disabilities when used as warm-ups at the beginning or end of teaching sessions, or during breaks.
Miscellaneous
‘Wretches and Jabberers’ documentary opens April 1 for Autism Awareness Month
Wretches and Jabberers: And Stories from the Road is a powerful, moving documentary that follows two men with autism as they travel the world, visiting friends with autism and changing attitudes about disabilities along the way.
Many people with autism have extremely limited verbal skills or no speech whatsoever. It has long been assumed by the general public, and even by many parents, educators, and caretakers that scant speech equals low intelligence.
In Wretches and Jabberers, the movie’s protagonists dispel this myth. The two men and the four friends they visit show the world that they are in fact exceedingly intelligent, eloquent in their writings, and charmingly funny. Like Helen Keller before them, the “wretches” in the movie are pioneers, blazing trails for others to follow. The message of the movie is to show the world that there are others like them who are vastly underestimated and whose potential is untapped. It is a message of hope.
The central figures in the film are all either non-verbal or possess limited speech, and they also struggle with many of the sensory and motor issues common to others with autism. What is unique about the stars of this movie, however, is that all of them communicate by typing. They type on keyboards that speak the words and show the text they type. The microphone picks up the tapping of the typing, which can be a time consuming process. But it’s well worth the wait to find out what they say.
In his Wretches and Jabberers blog, Tracy Thresher, one of the stars of the film, exhorts people with autism to keep their heads held high even when they struggle:
"I would like to let everyone know that things do not always meet your expectations. The important thing is to keep plugging along. The world is a tough place and change comes slowly when we are dealing with discrimination that is so entrenched. There are those times when you may struggle and feel down. I know that feeling very well. I have had to push very hard to make change in my life. There have been many heartaches along the way. I have often thought things would remain terrible. The best advice I can give is to keep your chin up and tell everyone your story."
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