Monthly Archives: January 2022

How to Deal with Obsessive and Repetitive Behaviour

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Published by: Durham Region Autism Services

For many people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), obsessions, repetitive behaviours, and routines that might appear overly rigid or unhealthy to neurotypical individuals are actually a source of comfort and self regulation. Like all things, however, when used too much, these behaviours may detract from other things or cause distress to the person with ASD, so understanding these needs and knowing where to draw a line is important. To help a person with ASD learn how to manage these issues, it’s vital to understand the behaviours’ function and how to respond to them.

Why People with ASD Develop Obsessions and Repetitive Behaviour

People with an ASD may have any number of obsessions (some of them as common as certain TV shows), but often they center around a “technical”, academic, or mechanical skill-set, such as computers, trains, historical dates or events, or science. Obsessions can become quite odd and particular, however, involving specifics about numbers or certain shapes (things like car registration numbers, for example, or bus or train timetables, and the shapes of body parts or stones). People with ASD can feel quite strongly about these things, no matter how mundane they may seem to others.

Children with ASD develop obsessions as they help to give them a sense of structure, order, and predictability, which counterbalances the chaos they may feel is inherent in the world around them. They also give a solid, sure base on which to begin conversations and break the ice with others. For these reasons, it’s vital to not label these obsessions as unhealthy by default, but rather to allow the child with ASD to explore them. One should try to understand the function of the behaviour and remain observant for signs of things going too far. Such signs include the seeming distressed while partaking in their chosen hobby, signs they wish to resist engaging in it but cannot (it’s become a compulsion), or signs it is making the child withdraw socially more than he or she normally would. Similarly, it may need to be managed if it becomes seriously disruptive to others.

Repetitive behaviour (such as hand-flapping, finger-flicking, rocking, jumping, etc.) develop quite early and may likewise appear unhealthy or troubling, but serves a therapeutic role for the child with ASD. Many suffer from sensory distortions (over or under sensitive senses), so may need the stimulation or distraction this kind of activity provides.

Understanding Routines and Resistance to Change

Those with ASD often feel confused and frightened by the complexity of life around them, due to their susceptibility to sensory overload and difficulty with understanding complex social dynamics. Developing set routines, times, particular routes, and rituals to handle daily life helps the person with ASD moderate their confusion and anxiety by making the world feel like a more predictable place; as such, people with ASD develop a strong attachment to routines and sameness.

How attached the person is, and how much distress is caused by a breach in these routines, varies with the individual; he or she may be upset by minor breaks (even as small as changing activities, or the layout of a room being changed), or need a larger, more chaotic upset, such as the disruption and stress of the holiday season. As a general rule, the more unexpected the change, the more upsetting it will be; warning those with ASD about upcoming changes and keeping calendars and timetables is often helpful.

Likewise, one should expect those with ASD to rely even more heavily on their routines during times of change or stress; as with obsessive behaviours, this reliance should be allowed, but managed so it does not become unhealthy. Click here to read the rest of the story.

Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day

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Date: January 24, 2022

Moebius Awareness day brings awareness to the syndrome and to honor the birth date of Professor Paul Julius Moebius who first diagnosed the syndrome in 1888. Moebius Syndrome Awareness day was first recognized in 2011 by The Many Faces of Moebius.

What is Moebius Syndrome?

Moebius syndrome is a congenital facial paralysis. The primary cause is unknown and often occurs sporadically.

Signs and symptoms

  • Cleft Palate
  • Dental issues
  • Motor Delays
  • Difficulty with speech
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Inability to form facial expressions
  • Weakness of the facial muscles
  • Dry eyes

Resources

For more information and to download a toolkit for awareness activities, go to Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day – Moebius Syndrome Foundation Moebius Syndrome Foundation

Gym Provides Sensory-Safe Play For Kids On The Spectrum

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Published by: The Baltimore Sun
Written by: Mary Carole McCauley

Four-year-old Daniel Smith zoomed by, seated on a child-sized zip line, his dark curls bouncing. Daniel flew until he was above the cushiony crash pit. Off Daniel tumbled into the pillows, with a delighted screech.

Daniel’s mom, Jessica Smith of Bel Air, laughed with him.

“Daniel has so much energy,” she said. “I go to the gym every day, and I’ve been thinking, ‘I have to find someplace for my son.’ I love that this gym is completely kid-friendly and that it is for everybody.”

We Rock the Spectrum Gym’s Forest Hill branch opened in June 2020. The national organization includes nearly 100 sites in 25 states and eight countries and aims to provide therapeutic play for kids with disabilities.

“Everybody who comes through this door knows they will be accepted,” said Nikki Wooton, the former elementary school teacher who owns the Forest Hill franchise with her husband, Trey Wooton, a church youth minister. She estimates that about half their young customers are neurotypical, like her 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa. About half are not, including her 16-year-old son, Connor, who has been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. Click here to read the rest of the story

International Day of Acceptance

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Date: January 20, 2022

The International Day o Acceptance was founded by Stevie Hopkins in memory of his sister, Annie in 2010. Annie Hopkins along with her brother Stevie, founded 3E Love, a social entrepreneurial business that is disability owned and operated. 3E Love and the wheelchair heart has become an international brans and a symbol of love, strength, and hope.

International Day of Acceptance recognizes that people with disabilities have social rights and should be treated with respect.. Acceptance Day purpose is to focus on recognizing a disability without trying to change it. Disability acceptance is recognizing that a disability is part of the person and cannot be separated from the person.

Mapping the futures of autistic children

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Published by: Spectrum
Written by: Elizabeth Svoboda

Kimberlee McCafferty knew something was different about her son Justin when he was just a baby. He had stopped babbling around his first birthday. He rarely accepted the food she offered or interacted with others, and his favorite pastime was spinning his toys across the wood floor. Before he turned 2, Justin was diagnosed with autism.

The diagnosis sent McCafferty, of Brick, New Jersey, on the kind of medical odyssey familiar to many parents: batteries of behavioral tests, dietary changes and a menu of therapy options. A few months into this journey, an autism specialist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., examined Justin, who is now 18, and rendered a sweeping judgment about his future. “Your child will never speak or live independently,” the doctor told McCafferty flat out. His words dropped like an anvil, leaving McCafferty shaken. “I remember thinking, ‘That’s a pretty damning statement to make when the child is not yet potty trained.’”

Specialists say families are right to be skeptical of such point-blank verdicts. The business of making such forecasts in young children is fraught, especially because some children defy them in unexpected ways. “We see huge variability in how symptoms progress,” says So Hyun “Sophy” Kim, assistant professor of psychology in clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. “It’s not always easy to predict what’s going to happen down the road.”

Yet researchers have assembled a rich body of data about how autistic people do over time and can provide certain kinds of nuanced projections. The work points to several broad life trajectories for autistic children — rough sketches of how a child’s adolescence and adulthood may unfold. The data also point to subtle, early behavioral markers of future growth or difficulties in specific areas, as well as genetic variants that affect the arc of a child’s trajectory. Some of the research could help clinicians gauge an autistic child’s risk of having mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression as well. Click here to read the rest of the story