A Personal Journey:
Autism
EDUC 6163
A research topic that I would like to examine and share with colleagues involves finding correlations between behavior and symptoms of Autism and how early childhood programs help Autistic children succeed the same academic excellence as others in a learning environment. I find this topic personal because of my nephew Jordan.
Jordan is my first-born nephew. It was the first time in my life I got to hold
a newborn baby, and I was officially an Aunt. I got to watch Jordan grow in the
first year of his life and helping my sister, I enjoyed it so much.
It wasn’t
until Jordan started lacking motor skills, strength, emotions, and when he got
older, he was fixated on sequences, patterns, shapes, and numbers. This
fixation turned into OCD. At 4 years old, my sister was concerned and told me
what Jordan was doing and how he was behaving. I used what I have learned with
psychology and told her he may be Autistic. She took him to get evaluated, and sure enough, Jordan was diagnosed with mild
Autism. Since then I have become interested in Autism, how children and adults
behave, interact, and adapt. I have watched Jordan grow into such an
intelligent second grader still showing signs of OCD and behavior issues, but
because Jordan gets assistance at school since preschool, I want to know what
it is in early childhood programs that distinguish an actual academic
excellence. Does one program such as and IEP trigger more brain activity than
another? Does early screening challenge the effectiveness of programs?
After watching my nephew Jordan grow into such a remarkable little boy, with personal experience, I am excited to use research to find the correlations between autism and early childhood programs that look over well-being for children and parents. I am happy to contribute my time and studies to Autism with Jordan in mind and in my heart.
Here are some resources I have found that will help me in my research journey:
Boyd, B. A., Odom, S. L., Humphrey, B. P., & Sam, A. M. (2010). Infants and Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Early Identification and Early Interventions. Journal of Early Intervention, 32. DOI:10.1177/1053815110362690
Cohen-Baron, S. (1988). Social and Pragmatic Deficits in Autism: Cognitive or Affective. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18(3), 379-402.
Courchesne, E., & Karns, E. A. (2001). Unusual Brain Growth Patterns in Early Life Patients With Autistic Disorder: An MRI Study. 57(2), 245-254. DOI:10.1212/WNL.57.2.245
I have a soft spot for children with autism, I used to be a one on one aide for a child with autism and it was the most rewarding experience I have ever had. I feel that autism is a topic that is not discussed because our society thinks of it in a negative light. It seems as though autism speaks to you as well. How do you approach children with autism? How do you feel our society should approach children with autism?
ReplyDeleteI never understood what autism was until I worked with adults who had autism. It was challenging but I learned sign language and creative ways to communicate with them. It wasn’t until my nephew came along that I wanted to get closer to autism. Since autism is diagnosed at a young age it is important to approach autism and autistic children with open arms and an open mind. Treat them the same as others such as involving them in activities, and asking them questions and finding what they like even if they are nonverbal. Never give up. Society should be accepting just as educators are. There is focus on the matter and it needs to be continued in studies and conversations so that treatment is made possible.
DeleteThank you for the feedback!
C. Richards
Hello Cassandra
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog. My family has also been touched by autism I have two nephews who are on the Spectrum. As the saying goes when you meet one child with autism you've only met one child with autism, as each child is so different. I will be interested in following your blogs regarding this topic. This is one of my topic of interest and initially I had planned to do my research on this topic.
I am sure that you aware of the different activities regarding this topic Here in Dallas we have the World Autism Day when they have various activities at the DMA( Dallas Museum of Arts) I also participate in the walk for Autism annually.(missed the last two due to scheduling conflicts) I follow the various blogs and websites that provide great resources for autism. The question you asked was if early screening challenge the effectiveness of the programs. I am a firm believer in early intervention. I have seen the difference that it made in my nephew and also students in my class. The children who have moved on from our school that were on the Spectrum, while they still remain on the spectrum they have showed marked improvement in behavior, social skills and other functional activities, so whenit comes to early intervention I am all for that.
Great blog.
Angela.
Hello Angela! It was great to hear from you today! Thank you for the help! And as I am looking at journals and articles regarding autistic children I am finding that early interventions benefit learning and early childhood education. This is such a great topic and it is great that there are conventions and activities that support the awareness of autism. Diagnosis of autism is rising so it’s important to remain aware so Autism is still support through research.
DeleteThank you again!
C. Richards
Thank you for sharing your personal story. I also think that we have more interventions in place earlier and it is helping more autistic kids be successful. I have seen more and more autistic children in main stream classes and being successful which is wonderful. I have an autistic student in my second grade class at church. He use to have an aide but they decided to try him on his own this year. He is a great asset to the class and does really well on his own. I'm looking forward to hearing about your findings.
ReplyDeleteSo far in my findings everything is positive which is good. WHEW! Children with autism should have their own space, exploration, and ways of doing things. They shouldn’t be placed on a shelf somewhere and forgotten so I feel from my personal journey with my nephew, support must remain prominent. I’m curious what I will find too!
DeleteThank you
C. Richards