All My Readers,

As a Chicken Soup co-author I’m always looking for your stories to share with everyone else.  Not too long ago I did a “call out” to my members asking for heartwarming stories and was overwhelmed with over 2500 submissions.  I know you will enjoy hearing from others so I am going to be sharing them with you on a weekly basis.  Here is the fourth one from Cristy Bobbett!

Children Are The True Educators

By Cristy Bobbett 

I have been a special education teacher in fully inclusive classrooms for the West Genesee School District since 2003.  Prior to that, I taught at Edward Smith Elementary School in the Syracuse City School District for 12 years.  My students have Autism, Down Syndrome, CP, ED, etc.  Many of my students are/were non-verbal, and many of them are no longer non verbal.  Many were non readers, and now are reading.  I have been blessed in my job and thought I would share with you some of my thoughts. 

I have been working with and teaching children with special needs for the past 18 years.  In that time I have come to the realization that the children, my students, have actually been teaching me.  I will never be able to fully explain in words what these beautiful children and their families have done for my perspective on life as well as for the beauty that I see every day in people.  Children with special needs have so much to teach us if we allow them to.

I have learned through doing, that fully inclusive classrooms (if done right) are not only successful places for all students, but actually amazing places where everyone; students, teachers and administrators become better learners, teachers, friends, and people.

I have learned that there are no limits to what children with special needs can do.  We as educators, parents and neighbors are the ones with limits.  Limits that we put on children when we can’t see the way to make a situation work. 

I have learned that the families of children with special needs are some of the most special families this world has to offer.  I have witnessed unbelievable acts of selflessness, love, courage, perseverance and grace from the parents, grandparents and siblings of the children I have had the honor to teach.

I have learned to think deeper, analyze more critically and prioritize the true goal of a situation, job or experience is, in order to adapt or modify myself, the surroundings, materials or curriculum, so that all children can reach their full potential every day.

I have learned that sometimes the best thing you can do is back away and let children figure things out for themselves.  Young children can and will make friends everywhere they go, especially if we, the adults get out of their way.

I have learned that there is no other job in the world that would allow me to spend my time trying to help others and better other people’s lives while my life is actually being improved and bettered in ways that can not be measured.

I have learned to be thankful for everyday, no matter what it brings and to look forward to each September hoping that I can give as much to the children and families that walk into my classroom as they give to me.

Cristy Bobbett
M.S. Special Education

The Art of Autism is universal.  For so many of our kids, art is that first inspiration that lures them out, into a world of fulfilling social interactions, through their exceptional, autism-enhanced ability to connect to others through art.  That’s why Autism Today has teamed up with author Debbie Hosseini, to create Artism: The Art of Autism, a magnificent coffee table book, packed with beautiful art by artists who happen to have autism.  As you enjoy the book, Hosseini takes you on a journey into the lives of 54 artists from around the world, and how each has used art to overcome the challenges of living on the spectrum.  In the process, she dispatches, one by one, with common myths about people with autism, perceptions among neurotypicals for example that people on the spectrum lack emotion, creativity, sensitivity, and empathy.

But Artism: The Art of Autism is not just a book.  It’s a community!  Be sure to check out our website, ArtismToday.com.  Interact with Debbie Hosseini, who curates the site.  Follow Artism artists in the news.  Each artists continues to attract interest and media coverage now that Artism: The Art of Autism is now available.   Learn about Keri Bowers’ upcoming Art of Autism Tour dates and how to participate, www.normalfilms.com.  Share YOUR story or that of a friend whom art has helped to cope or to transcend the challenges of autism.  Best of all — have fun!  Our goal is for ArtismToday.com to be an online crossroads for everyone interested in art and, yes, autism too.

We look forward to seeing you, interacting with you and learning about you and your art soon, on ArtismToday.com!

Sincerely,
Karen Simmons

Can Food Sabotage Your Child’s Progress?

by Dr. Daniel Dantini, MD

In the mid 1980s, I conducted a study on food sensitivities and their effects on ADD/ADHD symptoms. After testing the patient for delayed food sensitivities, the study consisted of two phases:

The Avoidance Phase, in which the offending foods are avoided for six weeks.
The Challenge Phase, in which the excluded foods are slowly added back into the diet. The reason for the challenge phase is to prove that the foods identified by the test are actually causing specific symptoms.

Included in this particular study, was an autistic child around 2 years old.  During the avoidance phase when the harmful foods were removed from this child’s diet, ALL of the autistic symptoms disappeared.
With such dramatic results, the parents withdrew the child from the study before the challenge phase. They not only feared that challenging the foods back into the child’s diet would cause the symptoms to return, but that they would not be able to reverse them again.

This was the first autistic child I had ever encountered.  I consulted my dad who had been a General Practitioner for 50 years, and he had never seen a single case.  As an otolaryngologist, I didn’t see many cases of autism.

However, just before I moved from Pittsburgh to Florida, I saw the son of a nurse at the hospital who had just been diagnosed with Autism. After I tested him for delayed food sensitivities, I instructed his mother to have him avoid the harmful foods.  16 years later, he and his mother stopped by my office.   He had continued the protocol and was preparing for college.  As far as I could tell, he was normal. The only unusual remnant of his autism was that he couldn’t lie.

In Florida, I started seeing more and more patients on the Autistic Spectrum.  I have been watching results in my own practice and getting feedback from DAN doctors and others who regularly treat Autism.  What I have found is that, in delayed food sensitivity, immune complex plays a vital role in the progression of autism.  And the younger the child we treat, the better the results.

Certainly there are genetic predispositions that affect the population, but since it was rare before the 1980s, there is obviously something else, which is drastically contributing to, if not causing the huge increase in cases.

Allergic load and an over-stimulated immune system seem to me to be major culprits.  Allergic load is the amount of allergens the body can successfully tolerate.  When we’re exposed to more than we can handle, the immune system reacts badly.  In the case of autism, the brain is affected during its development.  By decreasing the allergic load, the immune system is better able to handle any other onslaughts it may encounter.  Since food is such a large portion of the potential allergic load, it makes sense to test children early for both immediate AND delayed food sensitivities and eliminate the foods to which they react. This increases the chance that the brain can develop normally.

Autism is a very big continuum, from severe (nonverbal) to brilliant to (scientists). The kids growing up now can be the next great inventors.

There is a fine line between nerd and someone with Asperger’s. Many times, these ‘nerdy’ types or kids that can’t get focused on their assigned lessons in school get pushed aside because teachers just don’t know how to deal with them. They don’t know what to do with them and they don’t have the resources to help them flourish. Temple’s deep concern is expressed “…one of the things that really worries me is where is the younger version of those kids going today? They’re not ending up in Silicon Valley, where they belong!” (Grandin, 2010).

The autistic mind is a ‘specialist’ mind. Some are visual, photo realistic thinkers and are poor at algebra, They see thoughts or words just like “google for pictures”. The autistic brain picks out the details, but the ‘normal’ brain ignores a lot of details. She says if a bridge designer ignores the details, it will crumble and fall!

There are pattern thinkers, who are good at math and often have problems with reading. There are verbal thinkers, which are poor at drawing, but know every fact about everything.

Temple learned very early that she had to sell her work, not herself. Social people sell themselves in a job interview, more so than their work. Temple showed her amazing drawings! She also learned the importance of manners at an early age, through intensive mentoring as a young child.

It’s important to show kids on the spectrum interesting stuff to get them excited about learning whatever their specialty is. A mind can be social or ‘geeky’. The autism mind is less social, to the severity of being non-verbal. To take art, drafting, music out of the schools is a critical mistake, as autistic kids need to have these programs to nurture their ‘fixation’. These kids are really smart, and teachers need to know how to direct these kids.

We need to get these kids ‘turned on’. Take notice on what they fixate. If they can’t get their mind off horses, then center the [math] lesson around horses. Maybe they should skip math altogether, if they aren’t pattern thinkers! Temple cannot emphasize enough the importance of  a good mentor for helping a child develop his or her autism special talents

Autism Tomorrow is Finally Here!

At long last, Autism Tomorrow: The Complete Guide To Help Your Child Thrive In The Real World book is
finally here!

We’ve been working on it for two years and every time we thought we were finished, we found exciting new material we just HAD to include.

Though April is Autism Awareness Month, we thought our children’s future deserved an entire month by itself so we’re dedicating May to Autism Tomorrow.

We know that Autism Tomorrow is a book you need today, as you design your child’s future, so we’ve created the AutismTomorrow.com blog with new content every day, and updated author information so you can comment and add your questions for any author.

You will learn about estate planning, independent living, nutrition, fitness, employment, safety, sexuality, puberty, dating, bullying, reading, social skills, communication and more…

You can find out more about Autism Tomorrow at www.AutismTomorrow.com

P.S. Be sure to go vote May as Autism Tomorrow month and sign the petition