A Film About Autism

 

To help with raising the awareness, acceptance and understanding of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Autism Awareness Australia has created a short film titled “What are you doing?”.

This purpose of this film is to teach school age children about ASD and help them to better understand and accept their peers who may have ASD at their school or in the community.  The film is narrated by Tom Gleisner and Michael Whelan is the author who has also written “The Other Country”.

The film includes interviews with family and friends of children with ASD and features a strong message on inclusion and understanding of ASD.  Animations are also used to help explain the message as well as the use of some beautiful imagery.

Over 10,000 copies of this film have been distributed to every school across Australia including teaching materials to assist the school and the teachers as they educate their students.

You can also purchase you own copy of the DVD for $20 plus postage by clicking on the “What are you doing?” link.

Christmas Is Just Around The Corner

Christmas is now only about 6 weeks away - are you prepared?  Have you done all of your shopping?

To help you stock up with some gorgeous gifts for your family and friends we are offering lay-by which will make it a bit easier to shop and pay off in time for Christmas.

Plus we have a huge range of great gift ideas in our What’s New section that are worth looking at as you are likely to find some unique ideas.  A great example of this is the Rory’s Story Cubes that will really get the imagination going.  Story Cubes are made from nine dice that have a different icon on each side.  When you roll the cubes you can use the images to make up a story.

Also worth looking at is our On Sale section as we have a wide range of products that are for sale at a reduced price.  The Sound Machine can add some fun to any conversation as it has a range of sounds such as applause, canned laughter, drum roll, whistle and many other sounds.

If you are still not too sure what gifts to buy for your family or friends then consider purchasing a Gift Voucher.  In addition, if you prefer we can email the Gift Voucher directly to the person so they can start using it the moment they receive it.

Hopefully these suggestions are helpful and make it a bit easier to get your shopping done in time.

Savant Syndrome

 

Recently I came across a very informative article on savant syndrome that I thought was worth bringing to your attention.  The article is titled Savant Syndrome: An Extraordinary Condition – A Synopsis: Past, Present, Future.  It provides a thorough discussion on the savant syndrome and some key points have been summarised below.

Savant syndrome has a long history and some of the earliest reports go back to around the 1780’s when a fellow named Thomas Fuller was able to accurately state how many seconds a man had lived who was 70 years old, 17 days and 12 hours old.  He was able to provide the answer in 90 seconds even allowing for the 17 leaps years that were included.

In recent times the syndrome gained more prominence as a result of the film Rain Man in which Dustin Hoffman played a character with savant syndrome.  The savant syndrome condition is rare and it is estimated that one in ten autistic children show some savant skills although others believe this to be much lower such as maybe one or two in 200.  In addition, males outnumber females with the condition which is also reflected in some of the other autism spectrum disorders.

Of interest is that skills associated with the savant syndrome are usually in a very narrow range of skills.  They will often fall into the music, the artistic field, numbers or being able to memorise a lot of information or complex details.  With music it mainly relates to the ability to play the piano and with art it often relates to drawing, painting or sculpturing.  In relation to numbers, people with savant syndrome can calculate times, dates and days when events have occurred, whether it is in the past, the future or how long it may take.  Furthermore, the ability to calculate numbers at lightening speeds is another example as well as great accuracy with measuring distances.  Being able to memorise complex details such as in road maps, the contents of books or being able to accurately recall in extensive detail after only a brief look are other examples of skills associated with savant syndrome.

Research continues to take place on savant syndrome and more progress has been made in the last 15 years than in the previous 100 years.  As further studies and research continues it provides the opportunity to discover the reasons for these hidden abilities and to provide a better understanding as to why they occur that may open up other possibilities about human development and potential.

Sensory Halloween Bags

 

With Halloween not too far away it is worth having a look at our Sensory Halloween Bags.  These bags have 12 sensory type toys that are great fun and are sure to provide hours of entertainment.  They come in either an orange or green bag that makes it easy to carry and are ideal when travelling or visiting family and friends.

The mix of sensory toys included in the Halloween Bags are suitable to squeeze, stretch, bend, turn, squash while also being fun to look at with all the great designs and colours.

These are a clever way to encourage your child to participate in the Halloween experience without overloading on the noise and strange costumes that might otherwise cause problems.

The set includes:

• Orange or Green Halloween Bag (approx 36cm x 38cm - excluding handles)
• Soft Spider Squish Ball or Puffer Spider Ball
• Pumpkin SLIME
• Wind Up Ghost or Pumpkin
• Pumpkin Touch Bubbles or Test Tube Touch Bubbles
• Wooden Spin Top
• Bendy Skeleton Keyring (black or white)
• Sticky Halloween Toy
• Hand Clapper
• Mouth Whistle
• Spikey Ball Keyring
• 2 "Happy Halloween" Balloons

These Sensory Halloween Bags are great value as they include $20 worth of goodies for only $14.95.  Ideal for age 3+ these are a great gift idea for Halloween and are sure to be popular.

Whatever Happened To Sleep

Sometimes children on the autism spectrum can have difficulty sleeping.  Every child is different – some can’t get to sleep, some can’t stay asleep and others can’t sleep at the normally accepted times of day and night.

Not every child is awake and yelling the house down.  Sometimes their sleep is restless; sometimes the child will toss and turn.  Sometimes it’s just hard to tell whether the sleep issue is associated with autism or just part of the night terrors that some children experience in their early years.

The problem affects everyone in the house, doesn’t it?  You feel like a zombie on autopilot most days.  This is what some parents have told me.

“My child didn’t sleep through the night for years.  I couldn’t work out what was wrong and he couldn’t tell me.  Finally I realised that his time clock was running differently to ours.  His body told him to sleep in the afternoons and stay awake until the early morning hours.  I gradually shortened his nap time which was difficult – he wasn’t always cooperative - but the payoff was that he went to sleep at a reasonable hour.  Even today he is what people would call a night owl but he has learnt to match his sleep pattern with the need to go to school and so on.  It is hard at the time but it does eventually work out.”

“I remember my brother driving me crazy at night.  His room was next to mine so we shared a common wall.  Every night for years and years I would hear the bed squeaking and creaking.  When I went in to see what was happening, there he was down on all fours on his bed, rocking himself backwards and forwards.  It seemed to be something he had to do before he could relax enough to sleep.  Now my son is doing exactly the same thing.”

Recent studies have suggested that melatonin supplements can solve some of the sleep problems.  It is possible that children on the autism spectrum are not able to produce enough melatonin in their bodies.  Melatonin is the hormone which regulates our sleep patterns. 

Other things that help are sticking to a regular night routine, making sure that your child has his special sleep toy or blanket with him and having quiet time for an hour before bed.

Does your child have sleep problems?  What tips can you share with other parents struggling with this issue?

My Defining Moment

It is hard enough being a teenage girl even if you have all the social skills and social savvy needed to make you part of the ‘in crowd’.  Luckily for most girls they have a bestie that they can chat with and work out the complicated issues of the day.

When you are autistic you may not have the friends to chat with or even the ability to talk at all.  That makes the world a very frustrating place to inhabit.

Carly Fleischmann is a teenage girl who was diagnosed with severe autism and an oral motor condition that prevented her from speaking.

“Doctors predicted that she would never intellectually develop beyond the abilities of a small child.  Although she made some progress after years of intensive behavioural and communication therapy, Carly remained largely unreachable.  Then, at the age of ten, she had a breakthrough.

While working with her devoted therapists Howie and Barb, Carly reached over to their laptop and typed in "HELP TEETH HURT," much to everyone's astonishment.  This was the beginning of Carly's journey toward self-realization.”

The quote comes from the blurb on Carly’s book Breaking Through Autism.

The video is by Carly and it shows life from her perspective and it also shows how she has found and used an alternative form of communication – social media.

Who would have thought that social media would be the saviour of an autistic teenager?

What’s New In Store

With school holidays upon us, your children might be looking for things to keep them occupied.  Here are some great ideas that we have in our What’s New section.

 

The Mancala Wooden Game originated in Africa and is believed to be the oldest game in the world.  This game requires a combination of strategy and a sense of fun as you try to collect the bright colourful stones from your opponent. 

 

An ideal educational toy is the ShapeSorter Cube where you need to push the brightly coloured shapes through the holes.  Great fun as it combines coordination with shape and colour recognition.

The Near and Far – Safari is a fantastic educational game of size and perspective where you build 3D scenes.  Being a 3D game, it also teaches dimensional and spatial concepts as each scene is constructed.  Also, can be used as a special needs learning aid as well as for use with speech pathology exercises.   

The Pin Art – Coloured is loads of fun as you create 3D impressions by simply pushing an object into the pins.  Let the imagination run wild as your child creates unique sculptures from the impressions made by different objects. 

There are plenty of other great toys and gift ideas in the What’s New section that are great fun as well as educational.  Have a look and hopefully you can find something suitable.