Zitat des Tages von Temple Grandin:
If you start using a medication in a person with autism, you should see an obvious improvement in behavior in a short period of time. If you do not see an obvious improvement, they probably should not be taking the stuff. It is that simple.
I would not be here now if I did not have anti-depressants.
Some teachers just have a knack for working with autistic children. Other teachers do not have it.
Research is starting to show that a child should be engaged at least 20 hours a week. I do not think it matters which program you choose as long as it keeps the child actively engaged with the therapist, teacher, or parent for at least 20 hours a week.
I use my mind to solve problems and invent things.
When you take a drug to treat high blood pressure or diabetes, you have an objective test to measure blood pressure and the amount of sugar in the blood. It is straight-forward. With autism, you are looking for changes in behavior.
I had people in my life who didn't give up on me: my mother, my aunt, my science teacher. I had one-on-one speech therapy. I had a nanny who spent all day playing turn-taking games with me.
Some children may need a behavioral approach, whereas other children may need a sensory approach.
Some autistic children cannot stand the sound of certain voices. I have come across cases where teachers tell me that certain children have problems with their voice or another person's voice. This problem tends to be related to high-pitched ladies' voices.
Computerized medical records will enable statistical analysis to be used to determine which treatments are most effective.
There is a tremendous range of children with a PDD label.
I am a big believer in early intervention.
And while we are on the subject of medication you always need to look at risk versus benefit.
One of my sensory problems was hearing sensitivity, where certain loud noises, such as a school bell, hurt my ears. It sounded like a dentist drill going through my ears.
My life is basically my work.
I know a number of autistic adults that are doing extremely well on Prozac.
I think sometimes parents and teachers fail to stretch kids. My mother had a very good sense of how to stretch me just slightly outside my comfort zone.
As you may know, some of the stereotyped behaviors exhibited by autistic children are also found in zoo animals who are raised in a barren environment.
My mind sort of works like a search engine. You ask me something, and I start seeing pictures.
I am also a believer in an integrated treatment approach to autism.
If I did not have my work, I would not have any life.
I like to cross the divide between the personal world and the scientific world.
I can remember the frustration of not being able to talk. I knew what I wanted to say, but I could not get the words out, so I would just scream.
I obtain great satisfaction out of using my intellect.
Let's get into talking about how autism is similar animal behavior. The thing is I don't think in a language, and animals don't think in a language. It's sensory based thinking, thinking in pictures, thinking in smells, thinking in touches. It's putting these sensory based memories into categories.
Who do you think made the first stone spears? The Asperger guy. If you were to get rid of all the autism genetics, there would be no more Silicon Valley.
Autism is an extremely variable disorder.
Normal people have an incredible lack of empathy. They have good emotional empathy, but they don't have much empathy for the autistic kid who is screaming at the baseball game because he can't stand the sensory overload. Or the autistic kid having a meltdown in the school cafeteria because there's too much stimulation.
I like to figure things out and solve problems.
People are always looking for the single magic bullet that will totally change everything. There is no single magic bullet.
Some people with autism who don't talk, all they hear are vowel sounds. Like if I said 'cup,' they might just hear 'uh.'
You have got to keep autistic children engaged with the world. You cannot let them tune out.
We have got to work on keeping these children engaged with the world.
Autism is a neurological disorder. It's not caused by bad parenting. It's caused by, you know, abnormal development in the brain. The emotional circuits in the brain are abnormal. And there also are differences in the white matter, which is the brain's computer cables that hook up the different brain departments.
Pressure is calming to the nervous system.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good teacher.