altism

My brother's five year old son has a less than twenty word vocabulary.
He does some rocking, but very little. He does pay attention to
outside sources, as in he fights over toys. They have seen a number
of doctors. Some say he is borderline altistic. I wish we could do
something to help him. I wish there was some way to get over this.
There have been times we wondered if he was just lazy. I really don't
think that is the case. It is a very fustrating situation. I feel
terribly sorry for this child.

On 3 Dec 2003 11:52:04 -0800, (Patty) wrote:

My brother's five year old son has a less than twenty word vocabulary.
He does some rocking, but very little. He does pay attention to
outside sources, as in he fights over toys. They have seen a number
of doctors. Some say he is borderline altistic. I wish we could do
something to help him. I wish there was some way to get over this.
There have been times we wondered if he was just lazy. I really don't
think that is the case. It is a very fustrating situation. I feel
terribly sorry for this child.

There are certainly things that can be done. If the doctors have not
suggested anything that helps, you can try here for information and
resources: http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

"Patty" wrote in message
om...
: My brother's five year old son has a less than twenty word vocabulary.
: He does some rocking, but very little. He does pay attention to
: outside sources, as in he fights over toys. They have seen a number
: of doctors. Some say he is borderline altistic. I wish we could do
: something to help him. I wish there was some way to get over this.
: There have been times we wondered if he was just lazy. I really don't
: think that is the case. It is a very fustrating situation. I feel
: terribly sorry for this child.

Just FYI, that's AUTISM and AUTISTIC. You won't find any info if you search
for altism.
--
ColoradoSkiBum

The child should be evaluated by the local school district. Almost every
school district in the US has a program for helping kids with special needs.
And the cost is free. His doctor should be able to help arrange this, if
necessary.

Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
: The child should be evaluated by the local school district. Almost every
: school district in the US has a program for helping kids with special
needs.

*Every* school district, as required by IDEA. If they don't have such a
program because they've never needed one, guess what, now they need one.
--
ColoradoSkiBum

On Wed, 3 Dec 2003 22:08:38 -0500, "Jeff"
wrote:

The child should be evaluated by the local school district. Almost every
school district in the US has a program for helping kids with special needs.
And the cost is free. His doctor should be able to help arrange this, if
necessary.

Jeff

Not the best evaluation for autism, however. I tend to think a
specialist recommended by her pediatrician would be the better
way to go.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

toto wrote in
:

On Wed, 3 Dec 2003 22:08:38 -0500, "Jeff"
wrote:

The child should be evaluated by the local school district.
Almost every school district in the US has a program for
helping kids with special needs. And the cost is free. His
doctor should be able to help arrange this, if necessary.

Not the best evaluation for autism, however. I tend to
think a specialist recommended by her pediatrician would be
the better way to go.

definately! the child needs to be evaluated by a child
neurologist & possibly a child psychologist (although finding
one competant with kids can be difficult). then they can refer
the child to physical, occupational, behavioural & speech
therapies as needed.
the problem with a school eval under IDEA is that they will
*only* help with things they feel are education related, which
means the poor kid may not be getting all the help he needs &
the *parents* won't be getting any support at all. school
evals tend to be barely "good enough"... just enough to get
the kid semi-mainstreamed, but not enough to really deal with
social skills or other difficulties. (in my experience, etc.)
leecurrently trying to get school evals on my kid, but they
don't even want to look at his problems other than speech

"Patty" wrote in message
om...
My brother's five year old son has a less than twenty word vocabulary.
He does some rocking, but very little. He does pay attention to
outside sources, as in he fights over toys. They have seen a number
of doctors. Some say he is borderline altistic. I wish we could do
something to help him. I wish there was some way to get over this.
There have been times we wondered if he was just lazy. I really don't
think that is the case. It is a very fustrating situation. I feel
terribly sorry for this child.

We have had some parents respond that they've been successful in getting
their autistic children to learn to read, maintaining their children's
attention for a significant span, using the Headsprout Reading Basics
(http://www.headsprout.com). I cannot unequivocally state that it always
works for autism, as we don't always get feedback, but we have had glowing
reports from parents of autistic children, dislexic children, and even
children diagnozed ADD and ADHD.

Also, two things to note:

* Your child can go through the first three lessons free, at which time you
can decide whether or not it's working.

* If you do purchase the program, and at the completion of the 40-lesson
program, you are not amazed at your child's progress (that's right -- the
guarantee is that you'll be amazed, not just satisfied), you can have the
entire purchase price refunded, and there's nothing to return (it's an
on-line program).

My connection to this (as somebody always asks) is that I'm the lead
programmer for the company -- kinda by accident: I was a freelance graphic
artist for 15 years prior (and happy with that), and this came along as a
temporary contract thing which worked into the most fun full-time job I've
ever had. We have an in-house user test lab -- all the instructional content
is user verified -- so we have children traipsing around the place on a
daily basis, all eager to use the program and oh so proud when they make
those achievement goals. All of us, from time to time, leave our daily work
on hold and go into the viewing area in the user test lab to watch as these
children learn to read, and it's really quite remarkable -- I've watched
kids struggling with a particular concept, and then it's really just like in
the cartoons: you can all but see the light bulb come on suddenly over their
heads as they grasp the concept. It's really a joyous experience.

If only I didn't have to spend 45 minutes in traffic each way. Sigh.


--
"There are 10 kinds of people in the world:
those who understand binary numbers and those who don't."
-----------------------------
Byron "Barn" Canfield
http://www.headsprout.com
"Where kids learn to read."

Patty

Here is a place to start.
http://www.autism-society.org/site/P...eo7wnj1.app14b

My middle child has a high functioning form of autism. This disorder
is a spectrum, so there are some kids who will be very seriously
affected, and some that are only mildly impacted.

My son certainly doesn't seem autistic at all - he doesn't have many
of the behaviours that people think of as characteristic of autism. At
10, he is extremely bright and verbal, and doing okay in school with
some specialized support, but a little off the beaten trail on many
fronts - a consequence of the way his brain functions.

Your nephew needs specialized help, and he needs a real specialist to
assess and diagnose him. If there is a children's hospital anywhere
near you, suggest he be seen by a pediatric psychiatrist or
neurologist with an autism specialty. We went through a lot of
nonsense to get our son properly seen to - many doctors just kept
putting us off, or just didn't know what they were talking about.
Early intervention can be very important to long term outcomes, so its
crucial to get to the right help. If there is an autism support group
where you live, contact them and find out what doctors, and other
resources they recommend (i.e. other parents in the area will have
tried various things and doubtless have some thoughts to share about
the best experts, programs etc.)

Part of the importance of diagnosis is to spring resources for the
child in school. We have a letter saying our son has a permanent
learning disability, and will need both ongoing support and
accomodation as he moves through school. This is an important document
to have, since it means the school has to find ways to help him (i.e.
to capitalize on his strengths and work around his deficits). Just to
give you a "for instance", this means if he has trouble with written
work, they may have to allow him to do oral exams, or use a tape
recorder to take class notes.

It is key as a family member that you understand that this kid is NOT
doing any of this on purpose. The way he behaves is a function of
having a brain that is wired very differently than most of us - he is
doing the best he can with what his brain will allow him to do, and he
needs help to compensate and overcome if he is to reach his potential.

Mary G.

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 16:35:39 GMT, "Byron Canfield"
wrote:

We have had some parents respond that they've been successful in getting
their autistic children to learn to read, maintaining their children's
attention for a significant span, using the Headsprout Reading Basics
(http://www.headsprout.com). I cannot unequivocally state that it always
works for autism, as we don't always get feedback, but we have had glowing
reports from parents of autistic children, dislexic children, and even
children diagnozed ADD and ADHD.

Byron, I consider this spam. You have touted this program several
times here and in k12 and misc.education and I am beginning to
really be annoyed with it considering that you are now claiming
success with autistic children when you don't seem to have a clue
what autism is and reading is NOT what the OP was asking about.

She is concerned about his speaking vocabulary, his social skills
and his rocking. Why would you advertize a reading program to
someone asking about a 5 year old boy who has less than 20
words in his oral language?


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits