The Future's Bright - Career Choices for my Autistic Boy



When the topic of J's future used to be discussed, I never knew what to say, apart from explaining that he would not be an academic, or work in any sole responsible occupation.

Today, I give a different reply.
Since he has shown such expertise with computers/laptops/smart phones/Ipads, etcetera, I have a thought that he would be a techie whizz. Sitting in his own office, waiting for someone to walk in and hand him a broken laptop. He'd sit and work out the problem, fix it, and then put it on the side ready for the person to collect it. No conversation would occur. Cursory pleasantries would be exchanged, but J wouldn't ask questions, and wouldn't answer any either.

His class teacher told me the other day, that when he was doing computer work in class, with her sitting next to him observing, she turned her head away to address another pupil, and moments later when she returned her attention back to J, he had closed the work exercise down, opened up YouTube, and had typed in 'Fimbles'. He was most annoyed that he was directed back to his class work! He has visual prompts - 'PECS' - that he can see what is coming up after he has completed his current exercise, and this is a big motivator for him, to get him to concentrate and complete his work. The reward, which is stated on his 'PECS' board, is keenly accepted by him - YouTube!!


Another career could be a sandwich maker. He is very particular about how he makes his own, and since I have allowed him, supervised, to do this, he is quite the expert.
It can be a very drawn out process though, as he has to have the butter spread in a certain way, and he has to cover it evenly. He assesses his handiwork from differing angles, and will make adjustments until he is happy.
The downside of this career would be the time he would take! You'd have to pre-order the day before, but it would be worth the wait, unless you ordered Marmite, or Nutella spread, and then he'd end up eating each completed sandwich - not a good business practice!


He has an amazing ability to recall events or names from years ago. He also seems to be almost photographic in his memory. I was shown a video clip of him at school, where the teacher used 'numicon' in his maths session. He was shown a structure, and immediately gave the correct answer for the number it represented. The image below goes up to ten, but he was answering up into the 40's.

Numicon

 

 

Continuing on with his memory, I can remember him being around two years old, and sitting with his alphabet puzzle, and completing it with lightening speed. He was able to complete it when it was upside down, with no hesitation at all. The picture below is similar to the puzzle board he had.

 

Wooden, lift out, alphabet puzzle

Then there is his art work. The creativity inside his head is amazing. As I have mentioned before on this blog, his creations are a way for me to communicate with him.  Being cognitively impaired and verbally echolalic, his drawings pave the way for me to ask him what it is, and he usually replies with the name. I encourage this interaction as much as possible.                                

 

The Story Makers - BBC Children's Programme.

The drawing on the left was made last night. It is Jelly and Jackson from the Story Makers.

The man in the middle is Milton Wordsworth - played by Danny John-Jules.

I have put an actual photo of the characters next to it, to show his attention to detail with their hair.

 

I plan to help him as much as possible, enabling him to have chances at work, or learning new skills, as most parents of special needs children do.
As he gets older, the possibilities are becoming wider. Six years ago I would not have been as positive as I am today. I credit his school for enabling him to learn and develop so fantastically. The next six years will open up more opportunities for him, as he moves on through his secondary education, and hopefully the new special needs school will be every bit as good as the one he is leaving in just three weeks time.

Distinct Facial Characteristics in Children with Autism?

The University of Minnesota produced a report in 2011 that showed children with autism have a wider eye setting and broader mouths.

Professor Kristina Aldridge, who led the study, found children with autism have -

Have a broader face, including wider eyes

Have a shorter middle region of the face, including the cheeks and nose

Have a wider mouth and philtrum - the area between the nose and lips

'There is no clear answer about whether autism is caused by genetics or by environmental influences.
'If we can identify when these facial changes occur, we could pinpoint when autism may begin to develop in a child.
'Knowing that point in time could lead us to identify a genetic cause, a window of time when the embryo may be susceptible to an environmental factor, or both.'

The study analysed 64 boys with autism and 41 typically developing boys aged eight to 12-years-old, using a camera system that captures a 3-D image of each child’s head.
They then mapped 17 points on the face, such as the corner of the eye and the divot in the upper lip beneath the nose.
When they calculated the overall geometry of the face using these points, and compared children with autism and those without, they found statistically significant differences in face shape.
Professor Aldridge said the study also found there were two sub groups within the group of autistic children.
She said there were further distinct facial traits in children who had more severe behaviour and language problems compared to those with milder symptoms.
The scientists hope that by identifying these subgroups will reveal why autism covers such a wide range of severity of the condition.

 

Professor Kristina Aldridge mapped 17 points on the face and then calculated the distances between each of the points to determine if there were differences in the shape of the face.

 

Researchers used a camera system that simultaneously captured four images to create a 3-D model of each child's head.

 

 

Although this research has found some interesting similarities, there is still a degree of doubt from many quarters. What I do commend myself, is the continued research from people like Professor Aldridge, for whom without their keen interest, and hard work, we might not progress as rapidly in the understanding, causes, differing severity, and perhaps even cures.



Personalised Art

Created using a mixture of paint and pastel.

Tiffs Art can create wonderful, personalised pictures.

Tiffs Art on Facebook

Tiffs Art on Twitter

Tiffs Art own Website

 

I have had three pictures made by her, so far, and each one is beautifully drawn, and look fabulous framed, and on the wall.

 

 

Transitioning to Special Needs Secondary School

The transition to secondary school ( for ages 11-16 years) has begun.
J has attended three morning sessions at the new school.
Next week he will be staying for lunch there.

There is a kind of disbelief within me, that he is moving on from his primary school, and growing up. I still clearly remember my first day at secondary school, so it's surreal to be the mum this time. I don't feel old enough, despite looking it twice over!

I am always grateful that he is within the special needs school system, so I am not worrying about him struggling within a mainstream setting.
With the transition sessions, the new school are able to assess his needs, and decide what class he will enter.
I am almost certain he will be solely 'class based', the same as he is at primary school.
There is no moving around school, between classes and lessons. He will stay in one room, with the same structure.
There are children that are capable of moving around the school independently, and they are treated more like mainstream pupils, with appropriate responsibilities and expectations.
If J was allowed to move independently around school, he would end up running water from the taps in the rest room, finding his way out to the playground, sneaking into the staff room and eating all their biscuits, turning on a lone computer, and getting on to You Tube to watch The Fimbles, or Bear in the Big Blue House, and possibly even escaping from the grounds of the school - my first visit, the reception desk was unmanned, and a pupil wandering around pressed the button to open the gate for me to enter! Not a good first impression for me really, was it?!

The new school focuses a lot on art and drama. Art will be popular for J, as he enjoys using different mediums to create his pieces. I have been informed that the art teacher is incredibly inspiring and supportive to the pupils, so I am anticipating some fabulous creations coming home.
The drama side will not appeal to J so much, I think. This is mainly because of his verbal skills and communication. He would be able follow physical direction and visual prompts, but he doesn't gain enjoyment from it. It is more a motion for him. I can say this confidently, as he took part in the 'Rock Challenge' with his school, and although he participated with no qualms, he did so with an almost robotic feeling - he was doing what he had been taught, and not because he was gaining enjoyment from it. This is my post about it - Rock Challenge 2013

Around 10 weeks from now, he will become a secondary school child. I can see the time flying by already. My first born is growing up fast. It's a strange mix of emotion. He will cope with it all just fine, I am almost certain -  as long as the new school keeps the high level of routine and safety that he has become accustomed to.

Another Drawing

This is a character from the BBC1 children's programme, The Fimbles. 

He is called Roly Mo. He's a mole that rolls, and reads stories.

J loves Roly Mo. He has a giant cuddly toy of him, that sits in his bedroom.

This is a picture J drew. He didn't finish the face as he was disturbed by another child making noises, and he didn't want to complete this picture.

He has such attention to detail. This drawing, as with all of his drawings, is made with just his imagination. He doesn't have a visual prompt of which to copy from.

With most of his creations, I am able to communicate with him on some level. A basic level, but it's something, and I encourage it. 

I ask him, and point, "who/what is that J?". He nearly always replies with an almost coherent answer. 

When asked what the above drawing was of, he replied "Roly Mo", immediately.

I just have to be quick with the camera, as he's a notorious paper shredder! 

Infectious Laughter

My Boy is such a character.
Last night I could hear him giggling away, and getting really noisy.
I went to investigate, and found him in the bathroom, looking at his reflection in the mirror, wearing one of my fabric make up bags on his head.
His laughing became infectious and I too joined in with him.

I managed to take a photo of him, and his face is full of merriment, with the bag on his head.

It is lovely seeing him so happy, and finding joy in small, silly things.
I did check whether it was a full moon or not, but we have another week to go, so it was just him being a little comedian.

 

 

 

 

I have blurred the photo of him, as I take great care in protecting him, both out in the cold, hard, real world, and also in the online world.

You can still see the huge smile on his face, and the bag on his head.

J's 11th Birthday

My boy J had a fantastic 11th birthday the other day.

        Chocolate and strawberry cake

          was a big hit for all the boys

Celebrations such as birthdays and Christmas pass him by without a care.

He has no cognitive understanding of these events at all.

This fact used to be hard for me.

He has no excitement or thrill in the lead up to his birthday. 

Presents are very hard to pick for him, as he has no interest in current trends. I scour eBay for a lot of things, as he prefers programmes from the 90's, and there is always someone, somewhere, selling something to do with his passion.

This birthday, I bought him a sand pit for the garden. He took his shoes off and sat straight down inside it. 

     Shell shaped double sand pit

    has been his favourite present.

     You can see the sand is not

     just staying in the shell!

It has been a big winner with all three boys. My house has sand everywhere now though, traipsed in by foot and by paw, but that's nothing my vacuum cannot handle, and the fun they are having with the sand pit makes the thrice vacuuming a day worth it.

Eleven years ago I was not the person I am today. I believe J has been the making of me. A more confident person, with a spirit to make the world a more accepting place for special needs.