Warning Signs of Autism in Early Childhood
Parents should ask their child’s family doctor for referral to a developmental pediatrician for assessment if there are concerns with any of the following:


• No babbling by 11 months of age
• No simple gestures by 12 months (e.g., waving bye-bye)
• No single words by 16 months
• No 2-word phrases by 24 months (noun + verb – e.g., “baby sleeping”)
• No response when name is called, causing concern about hearing
• Loss of any language or social skills at any age



• Odd or repetitive ways of moving fingers or hands
• Oversensitive to certain textures, sounds or lights
• Lack of interest in toys, or plays with them in an unusual way (e.g., lining up, spinning, opening/closing parts rather than using the toy as a whole)
• Compulsions or rituals (has to perform activities in a special way or certain sequence; is prone to tantrums if rituals are interrupted)
• Preoccupations with unusual interests, such as light switches, doors, fans, wheels
• Unusual fears


• Rarely makes eye contact when interacting with people
• Does not play peek-a-boo
• Doesn’t point to show things he/she is interested in
• Rarely smiles socially
• More interested in looking at objects than at people’s faces
• Prefers to play alone
• Doesn’t make attempts to get parent’s attention; doesn't follow/look when someone is pointing at something
• Seems to be “in his/her own world”
• Doesn’t respond to parent’s attempts to play, even if relaxed
• Avoids or ignores other children when they approach
Autism is treatable.
Early intervention is critical.
Know the warning signs of autism in young children.
Act early.

For more information contact

Autism Ontario – London Chapter

Positive Discipline and Autism

My girlfriend who has an eight year old daughter was feeling fraustrated yesterday. Her son was in Walmart with her and had a tantrum, he started to pull down the shelved items breaking glass items. She said she was so embarrassed about the whole incident which felt like eternity.....she said when it appeared that he wasnt calming down she almost wanted to hit him to stop....Eventually 'security' had to help her carry her son to a room ...she said she didnt know how to deal with him.....positive discipline? Everything she learnt at the  Discrete Trial Teaching drills (based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis) went down the drain and all she felt like doing is spanking him and crawling into a hole where no one can find her....


So the question is ......what is positive discipline?
This Link below helps with the awnser.....it is not specific to autism but it is a handy tool for every parent to have....
http://mena.savethechildren.se/Global/scs/MENA/Resources/Positive%20Discipline%20-%20What%20is%20it%20and%20how%20to%20do%20it.pdf

Happy 2012!!!!

I know I  havent been on this blog for a while....busy busy busy......

So its January 31st 2012 already!!!....I am excited because i know that this year will be All GOOOOD!

I hope this year  we will together tackle the issues of Autism in Nigeria specifically and how we can empower our children and break the barriers that hold them captive ....

.....One voice...one hope.....One Vision

CARTOONS COULD HELP SPOT AUTISM

People with autism find it difficult to read social cues

Watching how a toddler responds to animations could help diagnose autism, research has suggested.

Babies usually start paying attention to movement soon after birth, and pick up information from the cues they see but children with autism often do not.
A study, published in Nature, where two-year-olds were shown manipulated animations found those with autism focussed on movement linked to sound.
UK experts said a test of this kind could help pick up autism early.
In the Yale study, researchers created five versions of animated children’s games such as ‘peek-a-boo’ and ‘pat-a-cake’ where points of light marked movement, each with sound.
On the other half of the screen, the same animation was presented upside down and in reverse, but with the same audio as the upright version.
Previous studies have shown that, normally, children’s attention is drawn to such changes from around eight months old.
Twenty-one toddlers with autistic-spectrum disorders (ASD), 39 who were developing normally and 16 who had developmental problems but did not have autism were studied.
Both the toddlers who were developing normally and those with developmental problems showed a clear preference for looking at the upright animations. However the toddlers with ASD showed no preference and looked backwards and forwards between the two halves of the screen.
But when the toddlers were shown the ‘pat-a-cake’ animation – where the figure repeatedly and audibly claps his hands – those with ASD showed a marked preference for the upright animation, where the sounds were in time with the movement, choosing it 66% of the time.
The other children continued to prefer the upright version.
‘Grabbing their attention’
Dr Ami Klin, of the Yale Child Study Center, who worked on the research, said: “Our results suggest that, in autism, genetic predispositions are exacerbated by atypical experience from a very early age, altering brain development.
“Attention to biological motion is a fundamental mechanism of social engagement, and in the future, we need to understand how this process is derailed in autism, starting still earlier, in the first weeks and months of life.”
Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health – which helped fund the study, said: “For the first time, this study has pinpointed what grabs the attention of toddlers with ASDs.

Patrick Speech and Language Centre

We are involved in the care of the Autistic Child, providing structural and educational support. Our website contains resources and educative information about Autism and Asperger Syndrome and various other supplements about the disorder.

Please feel free to browse our site for information about our various events and activities aimed at helping the Autistic child and providing ample support for the parents of such children.

Has anyone used their services? how is it like? Am sure alot of people will like to know please.

WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley.

This write up by Emily Kingsley always give me hope:

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Watch Mozart and The Whale

The film tells the story of two people with Asperger syndrome (a form of autism). Donald (Josh Hartnett) runs a small self-help group for people on the autism spectrum who are more affected by their autism than he is. Isabelle (Radha Mitchell) is referred to the group by her therapist. Mozart and the Whale is a fictional account, using characters loosely based on the real-life relationship of Jerry Newport and Mary Meinel (now Mary Newport).