Helped my Autistic boy - I don't see why it won't help most if not all children

Edward is going really well and in 5 months if we can get him nappy trained I don't see a need for a carer at kindy.  He is intelligent, I believe most if not all children on the spectrum are.  I have ideas and dreams of helping other children, but I totally understand mums wanting to keep their children close.  If you feel that the things you are trying don't feel right or don't sound right, and you want to know what I did.  I mean 1 or 2 weeks just to try something that may just work because it did for Edward just might work for other children.

Connect to them first - copy their behaviour
List their behaviour for reference -

Spin
Jump
Rock
Flap
Tippie toe
Staring at sparkly things
Swinging

Sing and talk to your child while swinging them.

I like ( whatever they like)
"I like spinning spinning spinning, I like spinning how about you?"

copy their behaviour and sing simple songs that have movements if possible.
Why song? Because the autistic brain is more receptive to it than speech -
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/135/3/961/F2.large.jpg

Head, shoulders knees and toes - http://youtu.be/Ozzo7GQLoAE
I love you (barney song) - http://youtu.be/IYBHt9j_IF4
Twinkle twinkle little star - http://youtu.be/i6GDkELs9UY
Row row your boat - http://youtu.be/DuXbEolKGwM
Jump    - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcQJDpj5TSY
Indian cry (hand on and off mouth)

Talk touching child’s head with your head, during sleep even better
or talk to your child with their hand on your face while talking to them
every chance to use spectrum analyser use it (app can be found on both ipad - cost associated with ipad app and on the android apps is free)

Son-rise    - copy the child, sing along (make a song to go with the motion)
Showing that you like what the child likes, you are connecting yourself with the like factor in your child’s brain.  “Do what your child with autism is doing and you will connect more deeply with them. When they flap, you flap, when they rock, you rock, when they line up objects, you line up objects.”

Simon-Baron Cohen's idea - connecting emotions and faces with the like factor in your child’s brain using the video called “The transporters”  about $100  free sample is here http://youtu.be/8kU_CQGWBsU

Kristine Barnett’s idea of “muchness” - adding and giving more of what the child enjoys in slightly different ways (an excellent idea for connecting those neurons).  Her book is called “The Spark”  - more on Kristine http://youtu.be/yBPiY0bKoks
My idea -  every chance to use spectrum analyser (gives visual feedback of verbal self) and use mirrors (gives visual feedback of self and self awareness) http://suzannejeffares.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/well-i-am-stumped.html

Find videos that have songs on the childs favourite subject try to find them with songs and with captions.

"In 10 of 11 of the autistic brains, they found patches of cortex that didn’t follow the normal rules."

from :http://www.wired.com/2014/03/disordered-cortex-autism/
"In 10 of 11 of the autistic brains, they found patches of cortex that didn’t follow the normal rules. The patches were a few millimeters across (roughly a quarter to half an inch). In some patches, a specific layer was missing. In others, certain cells weren’t there. The details varied from case to case."

It would be better if they could be a bit more confident in their findings. It explains while our babies are so amazing they rewire their brains to understand the world around them for the more severe they need more help with the patching. And that patch big or small allows our lovely babies to make the world a better place because they see from a different perspective. Between this info and the info from Daniel Amen on how amazingly plastic our brains are, I would like to see a brighter future for all people with neuro differences than being institutionalized.http://youtu.be/esPRsT-lmw8

Edward's medical notes

                            1) Moderate Autism Spectrum Disorder
                            2) Developmental delays

The points about Edward seem to be at 23 months:
"only recently started to point"
"has said some words he typically does not use words to communicate"
"Edward does not respond to his name or any verbal instructions"
"Hearing test is underway" - (which came back as no problems)
"He seems to respond to sounds"
"Edward is in his own world"
"He cuddles on his terms"
"Eye contact is poor"
"He has occasionally pinched his mother for no reason and shown no remorse."
"He has little interest in other children" (talking about our experience at ygym)
"He has no interest in a foster child in the home" (He was noticing Edward's complete ambivalence to our Foster baby who was a year younger trying to get Edward's attention)
"Suzanne has been teaching him signs however he simply copies these" (he means NZSL alphabet and a few basic words)
"No pretend play or imaginary play"
"He can perform some insert puzzles/matching shapes but he typically likes lining objects up and grouping them into colours"
"He stacks items"
"He earlier flapped his hands with excitement"
"He is sound hypersensitive, becoming scared if the front door opens even when his father arrives home and also if someone sneezes"  (not in his notes, Edward would jump a mile when someone knocked at the door and also when the phone went.
"He eats cardboard books"
"He licks objects"  (not in his notes windows, toys, tiles, chairs, sofas, remotes, phones, gates, TV........ the list goes on and on.)
"He does not temper tantrum"  (since then we have had a few)
"He is still in nappies" (and 2 days away from 3yrs and 1 month he still is showing no signs of wanting to potty train, we had a moment of hope for about 3 - 4 days.... then it went backwards)
"Still having difficulty settling to sleep"
"He avoided eye contact"
"He did not initiate any interactions or respond to any interactions."
"He ignored greetings and he ignored  verbal instructions from myself and his mother"
"He only made simple sounds and no words were heard"
"There was proto-imperative pointing but no shared attention or sharing of humour."
"He repetitively turned on the water tap."
"He liked crawling into enclosed spaces."
"Physically non dysmorphic and no neurocutaneous stigmata" (if someone could explain this to me that would be great)
"head circumference 48.5cm on the 60th percentile"
"Impression:
Edward clearly has a more moderate severity Autism Spectrum Disorder associated with developmental delays however at this stage it is difficult to know about his future developmental behavioural profile"..... (then it goes on about getting tests including karyotype and fragile x and getting support from MOE (ministry of education)

We have come so far, some things are still there, but we are most definately been going in the right direction.  I am not the mother in the car bawling my eyes out on the way home anymore.

Son-rise program

Has anyone here done the son-rise programme? Did it work for your child? Did you do it in NZ or did you do it overseas?
It looks very much like what I have been doing with Edward for over the last year.
If anyone is interested and if you can get past the cringy words, this looks so much better than ABA it looks all child led, I love it.

The differences between Son-rise and ABA

hyperlexic ASD children help with learning to talk

These are my favourite links for hyperlexic ASD children..... like my son.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt1mf23I6t9TGiXeBDyxROjxtVujFmJiZ

"Edward"

This was Edward at 2 1/2 years old 5 days before he wrote his first letter.  This is dated 31st December 2013  -  He continues to amaze me, he is my amazing little guy.  When studies say things like autistic people "55% had an intellectual disability (IQ '>' 70) " , I wonder who really is the slow functioning one.  My guess and in my humble opinion is the people who allowed their names to be published with that utter bollocks.  If you are a mum who has just been given a diagnosis of autism for your child, this is just the start of your amazing, sometimes scary, definitely crazy new life.  Never ever believe the studies they (the 'experts') put out there unless you can really relate.  Believe your child and your child's actions first and foremost.  And when did "splinter skill" (meaning that a child is amazing at one thing and really slow in everything else) sound right?

(ref: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21272389)

Autism out of sync

I don't know why the limited eye contact, I don't know if autistic children are born so very out of sync that it hurts for them to concentrate too much on the out of syncness like the first video shows or if autistic children just find it harder to learn earlier on and so choose to avoid eye contact.  So could the out of sync be due to the limited eye contact with people. Ummmmm YES Normally a baby learns this ability very very early on, that is all they do is look at mum and dad and other dotting people around them talking. Also we learn by watching others, it teaches us a ton of information in our world, if we could not do that because we are having trouble syncing what we see and what we hear it may make it harder to understand our world and others around us.
What people on the spectrum see and what they hear is out of sync. How do I sync my autistic child? Well I am stumped. You can look up hand eye coordination and find tons and tons of information on the subject. But I can't find one iota on sound eye coordination. I can't be the only person on this planet that has considered this theory and gone that one step further more that the books written about "out of sync" children and one 6 month old study on proving the out of syncness, oh and a little bit of Audio Processing Disorder therapy. (and regarding APD and helping with music therapy?????? Do you teach a deaf person how to sign by telling them all about it? No wonder it takes about 2 years to help) Really???????http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/

• Oop there it is. My answer, my idea in black and white sitting in this article  they have known this and not used it since 1969. 
• Audiovisual Integration in Speech Perception
• "Speech in noise is more intelligible when a concurrent visual signal is presented."
• "and visual speech can also enhance comprehension of clear auditory signals, particularly when the speech material is semantically difficult."
•   http://www.utdallas.edu/~assmann/aud6306/brancazio04.pdf

For some reason it just does not seem to be used in relation to autism???   Why not?

They use a similar way to teach deaf people to learn to speak.

"

GarageBand

GarageBand may help improve auditory comprehension among deaf and hard of hearing students — particularly those adjusting to new cochlear implants." 

• and the link below shows that many children on the spectrum naturally do this to an extent.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/24218241/


"Language Development

Repeating or echoing what other people say is a stage all children go through. It's a way of practicing speech and learning about language and communication. For blind and visually impaired children, this stage sometimes seems to last a long time.

Language is abstract. Words stand for real people, concepts, or things. Until your child understands that, he will not be able to put words together to form speech. Repeating the words of others is easier." from http://www.afb.org/info/education/early-education/language-development/235 - sound familiar?


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So again my idea of a therapy, that costs you nothing to try is this -

Download an app in either android or iPad called spectrum analyzer,(in android the other apps I know of are audio visualizer and mic visualizer).  Put it where your child can see it and if not talking put near their fav video or computer game so they can see it move with the sound (preferably speech than just any sound)

And please post how this goes for you after a few days or weeks, I am guessing that the younger the child the faster the results.  The more positive posts the more likely others will give it a go.

What it looks like in action with me talking near it

tags -  - Sound sight coordination, movement eye coordination, hearing vision coordination, audio vision coordination, audio visual integration.Autism Sound eye coordination, hearing vision coordination, audio vision coordination, audio visual integration, how to sync ASD Aspergers Autistic, Autism, APD, Auditory processing disorder, dyspraxia. What they see and what they hear is out of sync.How to sync autism. How do you sync autism? How do I sync my
child.

It is that easy - autism therapy

I am been trying to work out how to sum up my mad scientist thoughts - I think I have it.

The one and only difference between an autistic person and a NT person at the beginning stages is the enjoyment of looking at faces. That is it - That enjoyment leads on to learning to talk, imitate etc

Link the enjoyment factor back up to sound and watch.
This is one of many apps (And it is free that will do that)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cx.eddy.SpectrumAnalyzer

Sounds too simple doesn't it?  Well it is.  Sorry I have read all the research , I have heard some whoppers from "experts".  It all boils down to this.  This is the only constant at least for children born autistic.

Brain storming again - Yes I have turned into a mad scientist

Brain storming again - Yes I am a mum turned into a mad scientistThis is NOT a cure, my son is perfect, just needs help with speech, communication and co-ordination and the anxiety that goes with that..

I have been thinking about the titles of books on autistic people calling the issue that they are out of sync
(references: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/3/691
http://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/conference-news/2013/society-for-neuroscience-2013/vision-motor-areas-of-the-brain-out-of-sync-in-autism
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/us-autism-toddlers-idUSTRE75L4HQ20110622 )

and about people who have success with talking slowly and calmly with their children,
and about when Edward said good bye 3 times about 5 mins after I had repeated myself 3 times to a friend asking Edward to say goodbye.
and about why music and song is helping with learning communication.
Why swinging and jumping (which slows the visual senses down helps with teaching).
(references: " Vestibular stimulation can sometimes stimulate speech in autistic children. Slowly swinging a child on a swing can sometimes help initiate speech (Ray, King, & Grandin, 1988)." http://www.autism.com/advocacy_grandin
http://www.aconversationonautism.com/CopingwithAutism/SensoryIntegration.aspx)
Why some noise is so scary, maybe because it is not understood?

Lots if not all autistic people think in pictures and or movie and some even can directly integrate the word with the picture (but not so great with the sound of it).
(reference: http://www.psychcentral.com/news/2011/04/05/the-strong-autistic-brain/25023.html )

So I thought I would write down why I think my idea will and seems to be working for us even in just 2 days.

Benefits:
1) Using the child's strength which is visual and visual is the fastest way to take in information (So why has no one considered it before????)
2) Cheap - free online sound visualizers on android (one called audio visualizer, the other I have found is called sound visualizer)

3) Easy to incorporate into any house and most classrooms (if not all)
4) Can’t hurt to try (although the experience may have to be done when another autistic partner is out of the house as the extra input can be daunting for them)
5) Most children will enjoy it
6) Edward enjoys it (it appeals to his “What if” brain) so he is talking more to see what shape he can make 

Why it is working: (It has only been 2 days and I have noticed more interaction and communication)

1) PECS uses a slower similar method - the theory of teaching the child’s brain the idea of using speech as a means to get what the child wants.
(reference: http://autism.answers.com/tests/using-pecs-to-communicate-with-autistic-children )
2) Integrates the strength of sight with the weakness (and syncs the two together) - as easy as that.
3) We already use an audio version of this in class rooms you could call it audio tactile integration (Do what the teacher has just told you what to do)
4) Therapy with sound and music and dance has been helping and is a slower version of this idea.
(reference: http://youtu.be/gqJL9795ec4
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197455613001500 )
5) They use a slower version of rewards for following the teacher in ABA therapy
(reference: http://autism.about.com/od/alllaboutaba/a/abaoverview.htm )
6) We have been using a similar exercise for calming since forever what is calming other than another way of syncing back to a calmer frequency. (Rain on a tin roof, fountains, waterfalls, beach waves)
7) There are studies backing Simon Barron-Cohen's integration idea of the enjoyment factor of trains and teaching facial expressions for autistic children that has been very positive, and this is more interactive. (Called “The transporters" http://www.thetransporters.com/ )
http://youtu.be/q10BwJoIBpE

dated 10th July 2014 - ps just referencing for parents and people who like to verify and so I have future reference of my thinking processes, it is day 3 now and even though some of Edward's behaviour is more spinning and flapping he is happier (reason for spinning and flapping, he is doing more interaction and more understanding of my words faster and I am getting non verbal communication and more verbal understanding, more instructions being followed. We are still doing tons and even more of his favourite alphabet and numbers and vowels. Oh and I even got a shy away and a big smile ( this is a jump in his communication milestones) And his speech is clearing. Still I am trying not to be too hopeful but I am still very excited about all of this.

dated 11th July 2014

My little theory may not be best explained - I thought I would write it here. If anyone has any questions please ask away. If anyone has any positive results please do tell. (or any results for that matter)

1. Upload one of the free applications of either the audio visualizer or sound visualizer apps (for andriod). (If someone could please advise what free apps are similar for iPads I can then add it/ those here too)

2. Us the app in your house as often as possible where the child can see that when they talk they can see the sound waves move on the app. If they are not at that point put it near the TV when they are watching their favourite movie / computer game (anything with sound) first.

3. I believe fastest results will be noticed by a child between 1 and 3. And results will all vary.

4. Please please post your results here and share far and wide since no one will be making money from this, sharing and word of mouth may be the only way we can help lots of people with speech delays and feelings of not fitting in.

http://youtu.be/q10BwJoIBpE