"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 

This is Carly http://youtu.be/xMBzJleeOno - pressumed to be retarded (please excuse the word) and on the other end of the spectrum - this is Jacob - (after watching this video a few times I noticed his head nodding, I think he uses that to stim and he seems to echo quietly if you look at his lips, he also does little looking at his mother) http://youtu.be/g91IQsS2spA

As I hope you can see both are amazingly intelligent people. For Carly to get to a laptop and type, it took her a while to work out how to communicate with us but ultimately she did what the therapists around her did not. Since she has written books and is going to mainstream school and is starting to make sounds. I can't believe in this day and age after they have worked out that Stephen Hawking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hawking ( The thought was to give Stephen Hawking his voice back to see if there was some cognitive function there because he was such a brilliant mind. They were all pretty astounded when they found his cognitive function still sound.) is still amazingly bright that they can't work out that special needs does not equal slow cognitively, therefore with out very little assumptions there is the entire spectrum of iq in the special needs community. -----Sorry this is my pet hate and the sooner people understand this concept the better it will be for people with special needs, at the moment they almost may as well live in the dark ages being stuck being treated like they are not intelligence when they are is like torture.



The lady who has helped so many autistic people's lives. "Different not less"










That movie gave me so much hope as a mum. If a more severe autistic person could live and be independent so could my son. She has been an absolute inspiration.

I am sick to my stomach of poor parents basically either being told that their child is either too intelligent to be ASD or the other side that because their child is severely ASD that they have a very low cognitive child.