Autism

Since we have the whole semester left to blog, I am going to pick a different disability each day for a blog topic. Today my topic is going to be about autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that effects the brain's normal development of the social and communication skills. You will know if someone has autism by the age of three. Normally parents notice something "different" about their child by the age of 18 months and seek help by the age of 2.

Honestly, no one really knows what causes autism. Some doctors say that it can be caused by genetic and environmental factors but the bottom line is there is no answer. This can cause many frustrations for people effected by autism.

Some symptoms of autism are

• child not responding to name when called
• has poor eye contact
• Seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her "own world"
• unaware of others' feelings
• Starts talking later than other children
• Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences
• Does not make eye contact when making requests
• Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping
• Develops specific routines or rituals
• Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals
• Moves constantly

"Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."

Since the Winter Olympics have taken place of the Biggest Loser (which I am not too happy about) I decided to do some research on the Special Olympics for 2010. This year they will take place in Lincoln, Nebraska. The games will start Sunday July 18. The Speical Olympics contain games that are in the Winter and Summer Olympics. They have golf, gymnastics, volleyball, track, bowling, and many many others. There are more than 3,000 athletes will compete in all the events.

If you want to read more about the Special Olympics 2010 go to http://www.specialolympics.org/

Just Stats

These are just a few interesting statistics I found when looking around.

• Approximately 20.9 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder.
• The median age of onset for mood disorders is 30 years.
• Autism and other ASDs develop in childhood and generally are diagnosed by age three.
• Autism is about four times more common in boys than girls. Girls with the disorder, however, tend to have more severe symptoms and greater cognitive impairment.
• Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults.
• The median age of onset for bipolar disorders is 25 years.
• Approximately 6 million American adults ages 18 and older, or about 2.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have panic disorder.
• There are 6,500,000 retarded, of these only 200,000 must be taken care of in an institution - all others can do some kind of work
• There are over 200 causes of mental retardation. Retardation may result because of brain damage or birth defects; however social, environmental, medical and cultural deprivation account for the most retardation and these causes can be prevented.
• About 3% of America's population suffers from mental retardation. This figure is tantamount to about 7 million people.
• 40 to 50% of children with Down Syndrome have congenital heart defects in the US.
• 80% of Down syndrome cases occur in mothers under 35.
• The risk of having a Down syndrome child is 1 in 400 if the mother is 35-40 years old.
• The risk of having a Down syndrome child is 1 in 110 if the mother is over 40.

Doing the Unexpected

Susan Boyle is a very talented singer from the show "Britain's Got Talent". She has many albums out and has had a very successful tour in Europe. There is one catch, when Susan was being born, she was deprived of oxygen which caused some learning disabilities. In school she was known as "Slow Susan" and was bullied a lot because of her disabilities. She had been singing since she was 12 and has never been married. At the age of 49, Susan has become very successful in the past few years despite the difficulties she has had and what everyone has said.


Susan Boyle Britains Got Talent 2009
Uploaded by matrix1087. - Explore more music videos.

Desperate Housewives

I was watching a rerun of one of my favorite shows (Desperate Housewives) and a mother was talking about how her son, that had mental disabilities, had killed a girl he liked. She was keeping him locked up in the basement so he wouldn't have to face the death penalty. This made me think about our assignment about something controversial.


In 2000, thirteen states had separate laws banning the death penalty for people with mental retardation. Is this right? I personally think people with severe mental disabilities should not be put to death. If they have the mental age of 2 in a 20 year-old's body, this can happen and they have no idea what they are doing. A person's mental age should over rule their physical age. Others that might oppose these laws could say that the person still killed someone and should have the same punishment as others. What do you think about the topic?

Speical Olympics

NYT article

This is a link to an article in New York Times about a few people using the wrong language in government and how offensive it was to those who heard it.

People First Language

When you look at a person with a disability do you see them as a person with a disability or do you see them as a disability that happens to be a person? Many people look at the disability first then the person second when in reality you should look at the person first then the disability. This is part of what is called People First Language. These are ways to help someone with disabilities feel more comfortable. In an article "How are your person first skills?" by Carol L. Russell there are many things you can do to be respectful.

"Refer to the person first then the disability.

Emphasize abilities not disabilities or limitations.

Use the term people with disabilities rather than label people as part of a disability group such as the disabled.

Do not patronize or give excessive praise or attention to a person with a disability.

Give people with a disability a choice and independence (e.g. having many options as appropriate including what to eat, wear, and do) and allow individuals to speak for themselves rather than have someone speak for them.

Be yourself. Treat a person with a disability as you would anyone who does not have a disability."

This is just a short part of the list but it hits some major points. When your out and about remember the People First Lanugage.