Interview: Charles Jones Talks About “Autistic Like Me”

Autistic Like Me (ALM) explores the unbridled and unfiltered emotions that fathers experience while raising their autistic children. It also shows the world that autism transcends race, ethnicity, social class, economics, and religion.

The making of ALM has been a labor of love for Charles “CJ” Jones. His only son Malik was diagnosed with autism when he was two and a half years old. Parenting Malik, who is now 10, has been a journey for Charles. It was intriguing to listen to Charles explain the therapeutic process he went through as he made this documentary. He remembers the days when he felt the urge to explain Malik’s diagnosis and behavior out of shame and embarrassment. Those emotions are now replaced with pride, understanding, and the need to plug in with his son to learn more about him.

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Josh Padilla, who has autism, scores touchdown for Leyden

Josh Padilla wears No. 71 on game days. He is listed as a senior kicker on Leyden’s roster. He is a team captain and walks to midfield for the pregame coin toss.

Then he’s done for the day. A player who doesn’t play. A kicker who doesn’t kick. A guy on the sidelines.

The guy with autism.

But Friday night, Josh became the guy with autism who scored a touchdown on senior night. On a set play after the opening kickoff, Josh took a shuttle pass from quarterback Tom Pajor and ran 66 yards to the end zone.

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An app to learn basic counting skills

Apps for autism have garnered a fantastic response from thousands – possibly millions – of parents, teachers and therapists from all over the world. A majority of these apps are easy to use and capable of teaching various life-skills in an interactive manner. With an increasing number of autism diagnoses and lack of resources to provide quality one-on-one support, it makes sense to utilize mobile technology that lets you create child/student profiles for easy and effective data management at home and in the classroom. Quite often, toddlers with autism require a special medium of learning and education, in order to fully grasp what is taught to them.

Now the million dollar question is: which apps for autism are effective and reliable? How would you separate the wheat from the chaff and get only the best apps available on the market? The answer is simple. Look for features such as 

1. pleasing UI,
2. highly interactive environment and
3. option to sign up.

Somerset, NJ-based app development firm WebTeam Corporation has a large number of autism apps that cover both basic and advanced learning domains. For the past eight years, WebTeam has been doing their bit to help people with learning shortcomings. They have designed and developed many wonderfully interactive iOS and Android apps for autism. These apps, geared towards education and training, fit the bill pretty well. They can be used to improve a variety of skills – whether in terms of behavior, communication, socializing or academics. WebTeam has accomplished extraordinary download counts on the App Store, sustaining the conviction of those parenting and teaching kids and adults on the autism spectrum.

Recently the company has launched a new app called “Count It Easy” to aid children in grooming their rote counting skills. To describe in brief, the app shows different animals and in a single play session, the child is asked to count one category of animal(s) only. The app is also incorporated with a timer to set the intended pace for students. So get your toddler learn elementary counting skills with “Count It Easy” and lay a solid foundation for them to grasp more complex mathematical concepts later. Visit App Store and see for yourself.

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5 best jobs for individuals with autism

Those parenting autistic individuals spend a lot of money raising their children and readying them to enter the competitive sphere of employment. Despite having the skills necessary to carry out professional duties, adults with autism often find themselves up against a brick wall when it comes to getting and retaining a job. This situation leads to despair and financial difficulties for both job seekers and their parents. Given below are 5 career options that best fit the expertise of a majority of people with autism.

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AUTISM ESSENTIALS – Pretend Play and Floortime Therapy

You may have seen your child playing with a doll, talking to it, treating it like a human being, celebrating its birthdays, etc. These actions – mostly initiated by children – are termed as Pretend Play or Imaginative Play. In Pretend Play, a child uses its imagination to put life in non-living objects. A major component of Pretend Play is the innocent assumption that every toy is a new object with unique attributes. Typical developing children mostly start Pretend Play from the age of 11 months when it begins understanding things and is able to imagine new play stories and situations.

Autistic children are known to find Pretend Play difficult. This is probably because they show less interest in such activities due to their inability to bond socially and emotionally. In 1980, Greenspan developed Floortime Therapy to help arouse social and emotional feelings in individuals with autism. This therapy is entirely child-centric in that parents, therapists and other close associates need to be in the shoes of the child by entering their world and thinking like them. The primary task for caregivers is to play with the child and let them lead the play and imitate what they do and accomplish what they want you to do. Parents’ involvement encourages children to get involved in activities that they find fun and exciting.

Pretend Play encircles the emotional growth of a child. It also boosts observation skills that are so very necessary to develop a socially congenial personality.

For a methodical approach, it is important to assess the child’s skills and behaviors, its overall activities and interests, gestures, moods, and responses to different situations. The assessment is a long and repetitive process that mandates professional consultation. To begin with though, you can try assessment apps designed for home-based environment.

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AUTISM ESSENTIALS – Set effective learning goals for your child

If you have a child with autism, you may wonder how to find a teaching method that works well and most importantly, how to set the right goals. This is obvious; all parents want to provide the best education to their children. Once your child is diagnosed with autism, it becomes essential to assess his or her strengths and weaknesses, in order to establish the most suitable learning goals for a finite period of time. It also becomes necessary to review the goals every quarter.

An Individualized Education Program, abbreviated as IEP, is a written document that defines the individualized learning objectives of a child on the autism spectrum. The IEP helps children reach the best possible educational mileposts in the least amount of time. When you are aware of your child’s IEP, you will find it easier to determine what specific training and educational services he or she needs. IEP-based training is essential to customize early intervention at home and in the classroom.

A satisfactory IEP for children leads to successful results at the end of the year. While special education is highly benefited from IEP-based training, autism assessment and intervention apps are designed and developed on the basis of IEP. Now the good news is that these apps are available on the market. For instance, iAssessNTeach Home Series is developed on the principles of IEP. With this app you can assess your child’s skills in multiple domains and set personalized learning goals for the child.

For further information on this app and other related apps, please visit http://www.colorskit.com/.

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Too much of lip-reading may be a sign of autism

Do you know how your newborn baby learns language skills or how it comprehends another person’s language? Research suggests that when a child is 4-month old, it focuses mainly on the eyes of the speaker for understanding what is spoken and after 2 more months (at the babbling stage), switches its focus to the mouth of the speaker to lip-read and understand the words and their sounds. Once they become acquainted with the native language – commonly after 10 months – their attention again shifts back from the mouth to the eyes. This is the basic process for a child to become familiar with the native language and develop speech. But an over-indulgence with lip-reading can be a sign of developmental delays. If a child continues to focus on the mouth at the age of 12 months and above, there is a fair indication of underdevelopment for its current age.

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