Constance Joan Schneider Conte ALS Group, Inc.

At ALS Group, Inc., we have expanded our mission statement to include support for parents of children with autism.  As with ALS, Autism can leave the caregiver emotionally and physically exhausted and without hope.  We are here to help, if you have needs that are not covered here, ideas that you feel would be beneficial, please contact us.  You can find our contact information on the contact us page.

We are currently soliciting donations to assist in providing supplies for a safe home environment, health and hygiene and specialized learning tools for the child with autism.  While our current available funds are limited we will make every effort to help you upon request in the form of supplies and/or cash to be used for the purposes listed below.  As contributions grow, so will the level of support available to your child.  Below are some of the supplies typically needed by the parents of a child with autism:

·         Child Window locks to keep your child with autism from opening and falling out or running away.

·         Cabinet, drawer, refrigerator, toilet, stove and door locks to keep you child with autism from getting into unsafe areas.

·         Electric outlet, cable, and electric and other cord covers to protect your child from biting through the cord and suffering a severe shock. 

·         Plexiglas window panes to replace glass window panes to protect your child with aggressive behavior or during meltdowns.

·         Overnight underpants to help older children unable to potty train with hygiene.  A child who is over sensitive to sensory stimuli may panic at the feeling of something passing from their body causing significant delays in potty training as compared to non-autistic children.

·         Hair clippers to assist you in cutting your child’s hair at home while they sleep.   A child who is over sensitive to sensory stimuli may panic at the feeling of having his hair cut.

·         Touch screen computer monitors to help your child with autism interact with the computer without the use of a mouse or keyboard.

·         Special memory scrap book so the child will be able to identify family members, etc.

*Additionally, we are currently attempting to develop a small shower system that can be used in a kitchen for daily body washing. 

Autism: Autism is a condition affecting the processing, integrating, and organizing of information that significantly impacts communication, social interaction, functional skills, and educational performance.  There are many manifestations and degrees of severity within the autism spectrum.

Understanding the Diagnosis of Autism

As a parent of a child diagnosed with autism you must know that you are the most qualified individual to assist a physician with this diagnosis.  As you read further and probably already know, the diagnosis of autism is made primarily through observation of the child’s behaviors and interaction with the world around them.  Only you know your child and his or her behaviors that indicate the onset of autism.

Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD

ASD is a broad classification of conditions sharing similar objective symptoms.  Objective symptoms are those that can be observed by someone other than the patient.  ASD is often referred to as PDD (pervasive development disorder) which differs from PDD-NOS (pervasive development disorder-not otherwise specified).  ASD refers to a class of disorders in which there are several similar impairments.  No two children with autism display the disorder in exactly the same way.

Classic Autism

Autism was first written about in the 1940s by D. Leo Kanner, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University.  Characterized primarily by communication and socialization difficulties, classic autism is a very isolating and frustrating condition.  Classic autism is part of the ASD or PPD category.  It is one of the largest classifications within ASD, rivaled only by PDD-NOS.  ASD is a syndrome.  A syndrome is a group of symptoms that indicate a condition.  Syndromes have many characteristics and each child will display or not display those symptoms in very different ways.  Thus, each case of autism will be different.

Each child with autism typically display some degree of the following signs and symptoms:

• Problems with conceptual thinking.  For example, (a child with autism may associate leaving the house with putting on a coat and if the temperature rises they may not allow the coat to be removed as the concept of using the coat for protection is non-existent) or the inability to distinguish between shades of specific colors (blue is blue to the child so any other shade of blue such as sky blue, teal or indigo does not exist).

• Insistence on routine and resistance to change. (Children with autism typically have a limited diet not because of the taste of the food but more so its color and shape).

• Appearing to be “off in their own little world”.  (Children with autism are unable to understand that every individual has their own thoughts and perspectives on the world).

• Resistance to physical closeness such as hugging.

• Attachment to “odd” toys such as kitchen utensils.

• Parallel play (playing beside other children rather than interactively with them) and lack of imaginative play.

• Sudden and apparently unexplainable anger and tantrums.  (Although not all children with autism display aggression it is a very common symptom.  Temper outburst can range from a brief explosion to full-fledged meltdown.  They may also strike out through hitting and or biting as well as by destroying objects and possessions).

• Repetitive behaviors, obsessive-compulsive disorders and hand-flapping. (A child with autism may line toys up in a certain order and formation and be inflexible if the order or formation is changed while not using the toys appropriately at all).

• Splinter skills (excelling in a particular skill that is above the apparent IQ level).  An estimated 0.5% to 10% of individuals with ASD show unusual abilities, ranging from splinter skills such as the memorization of trivia to the extraordinarily rare talents of prodigious (autistic savants).  Many individuals with ASD show superior skills in perception and attention, relative to the general population.

• Appearing to have sensory overload in normal environments.  (Children with autism seem to have heightened sensory perceptions).

Pervasive Development Disorder or PDD-NOS

PDD-NOS means that the child’s disorder is within the PDD category or ASD, but does not neatly fit into any specific category as it is not quite Autism, Asperger’s or any other PDD.  PDD-NOS shows the same signs and symptoms as autism but to less extremes.

Asperger’s Syndrome

Dr. Hans Asperger first documented this syndrome at the same time Dr. Kanner was writing about autism.  Although Asperger’s syndrome seems very similar to autism, normal development of speech and motor skills distinguish this disorder. 

High functioning Autism or HFA

The technical standard for determining HFA and classic autism is the presence of mental retardation.  In the past, a child with autism who was retarded was considered to have classic autism and if no retardation was present, the disorder on the spectrum was high functioning.  Today, it is no longer assumed that a child with autism is retarded.  The reason is that IQ tests are not created to accurately measure intelligence.

References: The everything parents guide to children with autism / Adelle Jameson Tilton F+W Publications. Inc. 2004 

Additional Resource Links:

Autism Quiz for caregiver to be taken to your child’s

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/autism/l/bl_autism.htm?r=et

http://www.firstsigns.org/downloads/m-chat.PDF

M-CHAT scoring

http://www.firstsigns.org/downloads/m-chat_scoring.PDF

Autism Society of America

www.autism-society.org

Autism Speaks

www.autismspeaks.org

Learn the Signs, Act Early (for diagnosing autism in young children
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/default.htm