Kids With Autism Love This Software

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Now Meg and Casey are taking part in a SketchUp partnership with Cornell University, where Matthew Belmonte, an assistant professor in the department of human development, is creating a video game called Astropolis. Belmonte says he wanted people on the spectrum to help construct the game, which will ultimately be used to test the range of cognitive abilities in people with autism. Meg and Casey joined the team, using SketchUp to create designs that have been fleshed out and incorporated into a test version of Astropolis. The teens say they were thrilled to take part and their mother was delighted to see her children being treated with respect for their talent, rather than patronized for the skills they lack.

At the Judevine Center for Autism in St. Louis, Mo., CEO Ron Ekstrand says educators will use the software as both a socialization tool and a design program. Using SketchUp, educators can map out unfamiliar environments that kids with autism might visit, like office buildings, city parks or doctors' offices. The unknown can be a major stressor for kids with autism. If the student has a teeth-cleaning appointment, for example, teachers can create a SketchUp model of the space, complete with the dentist's chair, then walk the child through what to expect when he gets there. Judevine is building a new lab to teach SketchUp in collaboration with Mackey Mitchell Architects, a firm that is eager to tap the design insights of people with autism. The kids will be taught how to use SketchUp and asked to create their ideal living and learning spaces. Ekstrand says he hopes to incorporate these dream spaces into designs for a future school campus and for residential homes that the center runs for adults with autism. Mackey Mitchell hopes to merge the students' ideas into architectural plans for an even larger autism community, creating new classrooms, schools, living spaces and treatment centers nationwide that are specifically designed for the growing number of people on the spectrum. "We believe people with autism have unique capabilities that are going untapped," says Ekstrand. "We think we can provide opportunities for them in the future with highly marketable, highly valuable skills."

Job skills are, of course, critical for kids on the autism spectrum. The unemployment rate for adults with autism is estimated to be as high as 87 percent, says Marguerite Colston, ASA's vice president of marketing and the mother of an 8-year-old boy with autism. And 76 percent of parents of kids with autism are very concerned about their child's future employment. "The tragedy is that they have these remarkable skills which are totally unshared with the broader social world because we never give them a chance," says Cornell's Belmonte. Casey Grothus is glad he was given the opportunity. "It feels really good," he says.

For more about Project Spectrum, check out the organization's Web site. Or, take a look at this video demonstration on You Tube. And for more about using Sketchup, visit the official Google Sketchup blog; for more about the video game "Astropolis," visit the Autism Collaborative.

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Posted By: quiact @ 02/13/2009 3:01:52 AM

Autism continued....

While intelligence is within normal limits with the Asperger???s patient, social interactions and abilities preset difficulty for such a patient. As with Autism, medications and behavioral therapy are treatment regimens with one with this syndrome
Rett???s Syndrome or disorder presents with not only atypical behavior, but also suffers from restricted physical growth and movement. There is cognitive and social impairment as well. The disorder affects mostly girls, and the cause is due to a gene mutation.
Childhood Disintegrative disorder is rare, and is 10 times less common than autism. The disorder has a late onset with mild autistic symptoms. The disorder affects mostly boys, and regression is sudden and possible with this disorder. Skills lost with this disorder may be language, social, self-care, as well as play or motor skills. Decreased function or impairment with this disorder may include social skills and behavioral flaws. Central Nervous System pathology is a suspected cause of this disorder.
Finally, there are passive development disorders that are not otherwise specified. This may include atypical autism, for example. Yet as with the rest of types of these disorders, the symptoms vary in their frequency and intensity, as well as the range of abilities of these developmental disorders vary widely as well.
Medicinal treatment along with cognitive and behavioral therapy prove to be most beneficial for all the different types of Passive Development Disorders that unfortunately exist for unknown reasons, yet further research should be done to discover both the etiologies as well as more effective treatment for the Autism Spectrum.
www.autism-society.org
Dan Abshear
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Posted By: quiact @ 02/13/2009 3:00:40 AM

Thoughts Regarding Autism Spectrum Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Of these rare neurological dysfunctions, Autism is the most common of these passive developmental disorders. Autism is a disability caused by a brain development disorder of unknown cause, yet some suspect the cause is some sort of neurological dysfunction- possibly with a genetic predisposition.
Usually, symptoms of the disease present themselves before the toddler reaches the age of three. Before Autism was more understood, others inaccurately labeled autistics as childhood schizophrenia or as having a psychosis or mental retardation.
Out of over two dozen diagnostic criteria utilized for these disorders, eight must be present to be considered autistic, according to the DSM. As with all passive developmental disorders, the person expresses language, social, and behavioral difficulties.
Treatment includes what are called psychotropic medications that delay the progression of the disorder, as well as relieve some of the symptoms of one who is autistic. Behavioral therapy is common as a treatment regimen as well. Boys get Autism much more than girls.
Then there is the controversy between many who claim that thimerosal- a preservative containing mercury, which is a neurotoxin that was used in vaccines until 2001, was the catalyst for autism in children.
Over 5000 lawsuits have been filed because of this belief, and some have been successful for the plaintiff. Yet most agree the correlation between thimersal and autism is void of scientific merit. Furthermore, the cases of autism have not decreased since the preservative was discontinued in 2001.
Aside from Autism, the other four passive developmental disorders are known as autism spectrum disorders.
Asperger???s Syndrome is more common than autism, and the symptoms are milder, as there is minimal delay in language abilities, if at all. What is expressed with Asperger???s syndrome is mild autistic symptoms. In time, the patient may express
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Posted By: I_am_reality @ 01/23/2009 4:42:51 PM

Hey Newsweek - here is another "happy fluke" - Medical science intent on trying to get rid of all diseases created dozens of vaccines that were shot into newborns and young children. But because big pharma companies wanted to make these vaccines more profitable they took shortcuts. They used mercury and aluminum as preservatives and they loaded up the shots so that often kids would receive three, four or five live viruses as once. Now kids, like my son had their immune and digestive systems overloaded from all these shots and developed autism. This "happy fluke" shows that the road to you-know-where is paved with good intentions.
Newsweek - instead of interviewing Paul Offit, Alison Singer or talking about some computer program, why don't you talk to parents who saw their kids lives destroyed from vaccines. And why don't write about how there are no studies that study the impact of the full schedule of today's approved vaccines on children.