Understanding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by Beth Finke

What can a Harry Potter movie teach us about autism? Ask James Williams, a young man with autism who gives speeches about the syndrome at conferences. The transcripts to all of the speeches James gives are available at his Web site — that’s where I found out how someone with autism could relate to the characters in Harry Potter books and movies. In his cleverly-titled speech, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Autism”, James describes how Harry Potter sometimes has trouble approaching his friends. James can relate. He also relates to Hermione, who obsesses over wizardry, fixates on specifics and is often accused of being a know-it-all.

Most importantly, James says that Harry’s feelings of relief after being “diagnosed” as a wizard are similar to his own feelings of relief being diagnosed with autism. Before Hagrid told Harry that he was a wizard, Harry had no idea that wizards who are angry tend to use magic even if they do not want to.

“Kids with autism often make things happen that they can’t explain,” James says. “And if they don’t know they have autism, they don’t know why, no matter how hard they try, they are always getting in trouble.”

Harry did well when working with teachers who acknowledged and worked with his special talents and needs. James can relate. Reviews of the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 say the movie isn’t for the casual Harry Potter fan — it makes references only Harry Potter devotees will understand. James Williams is in his early 20s now. He grew up with these characters. My hunch is that he will have no problem with this new movie. He’ll understand it perfectly.

Traveling with autism –avoiding the road blocks

by Beth Finke

Our family went on some pretty great vacations with Gus when he was little. Other vacations, not so great. Take the time we drove 150 miles to go to a Prince concert. We all loved the concert, but Gus was so stimulated by the music that he couldn’t settle down afterwards in our hotel room. Gus screamed. And screamed. And screamed. The front desk called. Neighboring rooms were complaining. One caller worried that a child was being abused in our room. It was miserable. With all the wonderful vacations we took with Gus — week-long trips to the ocean, a flight to Germany to visit my sister and her family (a niece came along to help us with Gus) — the one that sticks out in my mind is that miserable overnight after Prince.

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I know a lot of families are gearing up for a road trip. So I was happy to dig up this article from the travel section of the New York Times highlighting tours and travel agencies catering to the needs of families with autism.

While most people look forward to a vacation with its new vistas, surroundings, food and routines, many families traveling with children with autism face a daunting task of providing some well-established routines to help their child feel secure. Long lines, masses of travelers, new schedules for eating and sleeping can throw off their child and make the trip less than relaxing.

The article chronicles families on trips where the destinations have made accommodations for children with autism. It also points out that Americans with all sorts of disabilities are vacationing in record numbers.

Yet for every parent who decides they’re better off staying at home with a child who might have a meltdown if someone accidentally brushes against him at a hotel breakfast buffet, there are others who are determined to hit the road, particularly if there are nonautistic siblings in the equation.

Congrats to the resorts and hotels who are wise enough to go out of their way to educate themselves and their staff about autism. Goodness knows our families need a restful vacation trip as much — or more — as any other family does!

Teaching kids with autism about death and dying

by Nilda Morales

Read Nilda Morales’ biography.

I found Crystal Ward’s Making sense of death and autism post earlier this month very interesting. Here At Easter Seals Puerto Rico, we work with young children and adolescents with different disabilities who participate either at the early intervention program, the physical restoration program or our K-12 inclusive school. As part of our orientation / counseling / psychology program, we use different strategies to explain the concept of death.

When explaining death to the kids with autism, we work on the child’s comprehension of death just as we do with every other stage or challenge they will face in life. Death is a natural process, so there is no reason to keep it far from the usual topics. We urge families to follow some “pinpoints” to help the child’s understanding:

• Introduce the concept of death naturally.
• Make all explanations objective, clear, simple and concrete.
• Keep mystical examples out so you can avoid the risk of misguiding a child to think of death as an option to “rest” or reach a blissful world.
• Be sensitive and caring, but don’t be dramatic or unnecessarily morbid (dark, gloomy or melancholic).
• Keep your own fears out of range.
• Prepare and discuss a “what if” crisis management plan with the family network so you’re always ready to cope in case a loved one dies.
• If possible, make some “rehersals” so that you might feel more comfortable counseling, and so that you can make any necessary adjustments to the plan ahead of time.

The best strategy is to make the idea of death understandable before it happens. In the middle of the confusion and subsequent grief after a loved one dies (even if the death was expected) it is not easy to properly guide someone who has autism.

Our curriculum here at Easter Seals Puerto Rico includes a “Life and Death Training Strategy Module” that focuses on understanding the cycle of life and coping with the loss of a loved one. In future posts, I will give examples of strategies we have used to help children with autism understand the concept of death. We use different strategies, depending on the age of the child and the severity of autism. One thing for sure: with all our clients, we always explain death as part of the natural life process.

Employment research opportunity

by Patricia Wright

I love reading research. Yep, that makes me a big nerd but its true — sitting down with a professional journal is almost as exciting to me as sitting down with a good novel. Research informs my practice as an autism professional. I am obligated to provide those I serve with effective interventions. And the way I learn about effective interventions is through reading research.

I feel that if I want quality research published, I have to be willing to participate in research, too. I try and lend myself to appropriate research at local universities whenever I can, and I have always welcomed quality researchers into my work setting. And I really appreciate when researchers outside of the “autism community” are interested IN autism.

One of those researchers is Dr. Samuel Hunter. Dr. Hunter is in the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology — a field that doesn’t overlap very often with the autism community. Industrial and organizational psychology is typically interested in what happens in the workplace. And as I’ve stated in previous blog posts here, having autism and being in a workplace are not always synonymous.

Dr. Hunter’s research is of particular interest to me, as the goal of his research is to learn methods and strategies that leaders and supervisors can use to increase the success of individuals with ASD at work. To answer this question he is interested in recruiting adults with ASD over the age of 18 who are currently employed in a competitive work environment for a phone interview.

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Hunter’s research, or might be interested in participating, contact Alissa Parr by email at aparr(at)psu(dot)edu or by phone at 410-591-7252. We need more research about what we can do to promote employment for individuals with autism. I am hoping that Dr. Hunter’s research answers some of the questions of why individuals with autism have such a difficult time gaining and maintaining employment.

Helping adults with autism in the job search

by Bob Glowacki

If you read my most recent post, you know that Sue Russell (our VP of Community Engagement) has been helping a young man with autism hone his job interview skills. Elijah didn’t get that last job he interviewed for, but I’m happy to report that he hasn’t given up — he’ll be returning to Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin for additional support.

At the same time, Sue has been working with a quiet young woman who has autism. This young woman also has a college degree and has been unable to get a job. Her educational focus and employment goals are to work in a library, but the local Division of Vocational Rehabilitation only suggests retail jobs for her.

This young woman’s communication skills are “hesitant.” She prefers a more structured and quiet working environment. Sue and our job developers immediately found an opening for an archivist position at one library, and a second position that might work at another library. They are working with this young woman to find a job she really wants. She says that for the first time, it feels like someone is really listening to her. She is finally excited about her job possibilities.

What do these stories tell us? Adults with autism may need help even if they have a college degree. It also reminds us of the untapped potential in our communities where skilled employees are still at a premium. Finally, it points out that a personalized approach is what it takes to find the right job for the right person. That’s the kind of individual approach we are building here in Southeast Wisconsin.

Making sense of death and autism

by Crystal Ward

I was so moved by a post I read on a New York Times blog that I thought I’d link to it for our Easter Seals and autism blog readers. The post was about a mother trying to explain death to her son, who has autism. Here’s an excerpt:

Months later, as I stowed away Mickey’s summer clothes, I noticed that he had taken all his photos of his grandfather and put them in the closet, facing the back wall. I returned them to his book shelf. A day later, they were back in his closet.  I asked him why he had put them there.

“No no no. No talking,” he said.

I understood. It is all I can do, some days, to look at those pictures myself.

The concept of death is such a tough, tough subject. But somehow the way Liane Kupferberg Carter writes about it in this essay is very sweet. After forwarding this story on to our parent liaison staff at Easter Seals DuPage and the Fox Valley Region, I thought, hey, why not share it with you blog readers, too. It’s a subject I think parents would really be interested in reading about.

Easter Seals welcomes the 112th Congress

by Katy Beh Neas

The incoming 112th Congress brings many new faces to Washington, D.C. Easter Seals pledges to work with returning and new members on legislation benefiting people with autism and other disabilities.

The bulk of Easter Seals work is done at the committee level, where the committee chair sets the agenda. Many House committees (such as Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Transportation, along with the Appropriations’ Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee) will have new leadership come 2011.

Our office of Public Affairs staff has a strong history of working for bipartisan support with Senate leaders on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), Finance and Transportation committees and the Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. Leadership of these Senate committees and subcommittee is not anticipated to change with the 112th Congress.

And so, like always, in 2011 Easter Seals will work to schedule meetings with returning and new members to share our mission and legislative goals.

Special toys for special kids

by Beth Finke

It’s not even December yet, and the holiday commercials are already in full force. I remember watching all those ads while my son Gus was growing up, wondering if any of the toys advertised on TV would appeal to him. We spent hours and hours searching catalogs, visiting toy stores, playing at music shops, filing through hardware stores, perusing gift shops, looking anywhere and everywhere to find a toy Gus might like, something he might want to explore.

Therapists told us it was good for Gus to be stimulated by different things. We gave him mobiles, wind chimes, tambourines — anything we could find that was colorful and made noise. By the time he turned 9 or 10, though, we just plain ran out of ideas. And as Gus grew, it was more difficult to muscle him in and out of stores on holiday shopping sprees. I still remember wishing for one place I could go for a list of toys especially good for kids with special needs. With a list like that, who knew? Maybe Mike and I might find something out of the ordinary for Gus, something we would have never thought of on our own.

Toys “R” Us to the rescue! The Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids is a free toy-selection guide for parents and friends of children with disabilities. Items featured in the Guide promote the development of specific skills, such as auditory, language, visual, fine motor, thinking and social skills.

Our son Gus is 24 years old now, living happily with three other guys in a group home in Wisconsin. I’m kind of out of the toy-buying loop now, so if any of you readers have other go-to places to find special toys for special kids, please leave a comment. I’m all ears. In the meantime … happy shopping!

Download the findings from our Living with Disabilities Study today

by Patricia Wright

Hello from the Easter Seals Annual Convention in Chicago!

We released findings from our Living with Disabilities Study today. We also aired an online press conference and webcast that features actor, advocate and star of the CBS television show Criminal Minds Joe Mantegna, the parent of an adult daughter with autism. In the video, Joe weighs in on study findings, which reflect the challenges facing adults with developmental disabilities and their parents. Jennifer Bleidistel, Easter Seals 2011 national adult representative, shared her perspective — particularly about employment issues.

Findings from the Easter Seals Living with Disabilities Study provide data which quantifies anecdotal information about the disparity of supports to allow adults with disabilities to fully participate in their communities. The findings heighten awareness of the issues faced by adults living with disabilities and the services and solutions afforded adults with disabilities by Easter Seals in communities nationwide.

If you missed the webcast this morning, you can see the video online here.

Interviewing for a job without feeling weird

by Bob Glowacki

One of the many things I like about working at Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin is the diverse array of services we provide to people of all ages. It’s rewarding to see the changes, transitions and challenges individuals with autism confront at different times of their lives.

Sue Russell, our VP of Community Engagement, recently talked with the mother of a young man who had received early intervention services from Easter Seals. Elijah is grown up now … he went to college, and earned a Master’s Degree. He has a tremendous resume and is always selected for interviews. But he never gets the job.

Is it the economy? Lack of Experience? No. It’s his autism. Elijah struggles with the social aspects of the interview, keeping his responses clear, focused and professional. He gets lost in details. The Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation couldn’t help teach Elijah interviewing skills, since he already has an advanced degree. Sue Russell to the rescue!

After asking Elijah’s mom if he would like some help, Sue had him do a practice interview for her. She noted his “over-responsiveness” and started to give him clues and ideas on how to give the best answer, an answer that would focus on his strengths.

Elijah had an interview this past week and said that for the first time, he really felt like he had a “good interview.” All because someone took the time to help him focus. He even felt comfortable telling the interview team up-front that he didn’t always interview well, asking them to please let him know if he was giving them more information than they needed. So he had them understanding and helping him, instead of, as Elijah puts it, “thinking I was weird.”

Elijah should hear this week whether or not he got the job. We’re keeping our fingers crossed! Elijah’s story is just one of many about the individual approach we are building here. Stay tuned to the Easter Seals and autism blog until next week, when I’ll publish another post about an adult job-seeker with autism we are helping here at Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin.