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Showing posts from January, 2010

Dance and Drama Workhop-Part 2

         In the older lot, the children were asked to express their feelings for the oppoite sex.What did x feel about Y? The parents were asked to comment on their dreams and fears for their children. For those of the children who could express themselves, either by writing or verbally,  they were encouraged to do so. For the rest, the parents put in their aspirations and fears. Some of the individual dreams were that they could encourage their childrens’ culinary skiils, music talent, painting interest, to become a chef, musician, and painter. Data entry was also one of he options mentioned. As one of the boys put it in his own words, “I do not want my mother to be hurt, I want to be able to take care of my bag and mobile”…., to me the depth of their thoughts and concern was amazing. Some of the common fears were What after us? Self defense Ability to take care of their belonginings Financial dealings Any major health ailments Anybody taking undue advantage of the children.   

Dance Drama Workshop-Part 1

A dance drama workshop was conducted on the 13th, 14th, 15 th and 16 th of January in the Rotary auditorium. Initially I was sceptical as to how a workshop of this kind would work for a non verbal child. The workshop was conducted BY ASHA, Basweshwara nagar under Jaishree’s stewardhip. Nikki Bettcher Erickson ,autism coordinator  from WCI, Willmar,Andrew Nelson ,Educational specialist form Marshall Unversity, Huntington, along with Prof.Ramamoorthi  from Madurai Kamaraj Unversity conducted the 4 day workshop in Bangalore.Majority of the children who participated were in the age group 12 and above.                  The work shop was conducted in a phased manner .The first two days were more of warm- up sessions. On the third and fourth day this was followed by practise on a play, discussions with parents on various issues concerning autism. There were lot of fun games, involving the children, and encouraging them to participate.Some of the games included Pass the power, statue, guess

More Websites

I have given below a list of websites that maybe useful to the readers on a range of topics related to autism. www.autismspeaks.org    on issues of advocacy, and information www.teacch.com  life span program based on structured teaching, wish they had free downloads. www.firstsigns.com  on first signs of autism, early detection. I have written a post on early intervention that has more websites you can look up. www.autismtoday.com  on resources and information. www.autismsociety.org   the officialwesite of the autism society of America. www.ready-2-learn .com innovative   instuctional material for pople with autism www.aspergersyndrome.org   online asperger syndrome information and support. Last but not the least    http://care4autism.blogspot.com/  . Modesty  is not  one of my virtues, anyway! ha ha ha

Early Intervention

Early intervention goes a long way in helping children with autism, has now been proved beyond doubt. As I recall ramam’s initial diagnosis, the umpteen assessments, visits to therapists, coming to terms wih the diagnosis, the innumerable sleepless nights, the will to battle autism, the gamut of emotions are so huge as to last a lifetime. With early intervention we can nurture the young children into autistic adults with certain deficiencies.Yes, of course it is a spectrum disorder.The initial years are so crucial especially working on his fine motor,gross motor, eye contact, eye hand corodination, social and communication skills. The stress is never on academics.The book, a guide to understaning early intervention, early development and care by Suma shastri, IRC,is a well written document   that the emphasises the need for early intervention, the early warning signs,to watch out for.The book also mentions in the various developmental milestones   to be achieved by a child in chronolog

More On Gluten Free Diet.

This is a mail send to me by Gina, a  lot of must know facts about gluten and the harmful effects it has on your body and mind.  The article posted by Mark hyman on gluten in the Huffington post,  states that celiac disease and gluten sensitivity masquerade as dozens and dozens of other diseases with different names.  There are 55 diseases attributed to gluten sensititvity. These include osteoporosis, irritable bowl syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores,  and rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other autoimmune dieases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric  and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression,   schizophrenia, dementia, migraine, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). It has also been linked to  autism . Gluten sensitivity is actually an autoimmune diseaese that creates inflamation throughout the body, with wide-ranging effects across all organ systems including your brain, joints, heart,dig