What do autism assistance dogs do?

by Beth Finke

I’m blind. I use a Seeing Eye dog to guide me safely to work each day. I literally couldn’t get around without her.

I know how valuable a service dog can be. In some cases, though, I don’t understand what specific things the service dog does to help with the disability.

A recent story in K9 magazine touts a British service dog organization trying to raise £1 million to train dogs to “help children with autism.”

Support Dogs has already trained the UK’s first Autism Assistance Dog with the support of Irish Guide Dogs, which has run a successful programme in Ireland for over three years. Lacey (a yellow Labrador) has been partnered with Paula Craik and her 5-year-old son Joe (who live in Dundee) and in the last year has made a tremendous difference to their lives.

The article doesn’t specify any single thing the service dog does for Paula and Joe that an average dog couldn’t do for them:

• Improved behavior and socialization skills through acting as a constant companion and forming a unique bond.
• Expands the child’s capabilities to experience more from life.
• Calms the child thereby increasing attention span and improving aptitude for learning.
• Reduces stress for all family members.

To me, the description sounds like what average dogs have been doing for years for families with autism. To qualify as a service animal under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a dog must be partnered with a person with a disability and individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of that person.

This article leaves me wondering what special work or tasks these autism assistance dogs will provide. Maybe that would help explain why it will cost £1 million to start a program to train them.

Teaching literacy to students with autism

by Beth Finke

You might remember the blog where Patricia Wright reviewed Paula Kluth’s book You’re Going to Love this Kid. Now Kluth has paired with Kelly Chandler-Olcott to write a new book: A Land We Can Share: Teaching Literacy to Students with Autism.

The publisher sponsored a free webinar about literacy and autism last Thursday. Kluth and Chandler-Olcott discussed the literacy education of students with autism and shared ideas on ways to help students who seem to take in the words without understanding what they’ve read. If you missed their session on Thursday, you can download a copy of the slides or listen to a recording of the autism webinar at the Brookes Publishing website.

Shop at Safeway and support Easter Seals

by Beth Finke

If you’ve been shopping at a Safeway grocery store this month you’ve noticed the employees don’t just tell you to “have a nice day.” They show you how!

For the third year in a row, Safeway employees nationwide are asking customers at check-out if they’d like to make their April days nicer by contributing to Easter Seals.

Safeway Inc., one of Easter Seals’ most generous corporate partners over the past 20 years, is devoting the month of April to raising money for Easter Seals. It’s a coordinated company-wide fund raising drive that works with a tear pad promotion at check-out stands — store clerks ask customers if they’d like to make a donation to help Easter Seals provide services for people with autism and other disabilities. Last year Safeway and its customers raised over $5.5 million for Easter Seals affiliates across the country.

There are over 1,700 Safeway stores across the United States and Canada, operating under various brand names including Safeway (East Coast,
Seattle, Portland, Northern California, Phoenix and Denver), Vons and
Pavilions (Southern California and Nevada), Dominick’s (Chicago), Randalls and Tom Thumb (Texas), Genuardi’s (Philadelphia) and Carrs stores (Alaska).

Over the years, Safeway has raised more than $80 million to help Easter Seals create
life-changing solutions so that people with autism and other disabilities can live, learn, work and play. Be sure to spread the word about this promotion to benefit Easter Seals — and keep visiting your local Safeway store!

Toolkit helps identify autism early on

by Lisa Tate

Matt’s post on Tuesday reported that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends developmental surveillance and autism screenings at well-child visits before age three. It turns out AAP has developed a toolkit to support health care professionals in the identification and ongoing management of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

The toolkit is called Caring for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Resource Toolkit for Clinicians. Easter Seals Central Texas is using this toolkit to work closely with local pediatricians and primary care physicians. We want to make sure that if children are identified with a developmental concern, including autism, during the birth to three years, our early intervention program is available to them. That way we can work with pediatricians and families to be sure children’s needs are addressed promptly.

This toolkit works well for us. It’s a great resource, and it provides pediatricians and service providers a way to work together. Using the toolkit helps make sure children can receive a diagnosis and intervention for autism and other disabilities as early as possible.

And when early diagnosis and intervention occur, children can make incredible progress.

Gus & us: diagnosing autism early

by Bob Glowacki

It was great to read Matt’s post yesterday about Easter Seals Bay Area launching an Early Intervention Autism Program to serve children 18 months through 3 years old. A story about autism on the OnMilwaukee blog points out why programs like that are so necessary. The story features Gus, a client we serve at Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin.

When Christine and Eric Prigge’s son, Gus, was 18 months old, they suspected something was amiss. Gus, who has a twin brother, did not respond to his name, made very little eye contact, didn’t play with age-appropriate toys and seemed distant.

At the time, Christine expressed her concerns to Gus’ pediatrician, but was told developmental disabilities in young children could not be diagnosed until 3 years old. At Gus’ next appointment, Christine voiced her observations again and was again told that she would have to wait for a diagnosis. This time, Christine didn’t settle for the doctor’s response, and started talking to friends about her son’s behavior.

This is a story we hear far too often, the wait to get the right diagnosis. Gus’ Mom did the right thing, though — she sought help and got Gus involved with Easter Seals early on. With Autism or any learning delay, early action can mean much higher outcomes for a child.

Gus and his family will be Walk With Me Ambassadors for Easter Seals Southeast Wisconsin this year — we’re thrilled to have the Prigge family on our team.

Diagnosing autism before age 3

by Matt McAlear

Lisa Tate’s recent blog wondered about the myth that children can’t be diagnosed with autism before age three. In the past, doctors were hesitant to diagnose autism in children less than 2 years of age, mostly because of the relatively limited amount of research showing stability of such early diagnoses. Doctors were more likely to provide a Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) diagnosis. They’d watch the child for two years, see if the signs and symptoms were still there, then switch the diagnosis to autism.

But that’s changing. Last October, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended autism-specific screening at 18-month and 24-month doctor visits. Now more children are being diagnosed earlier on.

Here at Easter Seals Bay Area we’ve launched an Early Intervention Autism Program (EIAP) to specifically serve children 18 months through 3 years who are diagnosed on the autism spectrum. EIAP’s mission statement:

To provide empirically based interventions to young children aged 18 months to 3 years with autism and similar disabilities that will facilitate successful inclusion into the least restrictive environment.

The EIAP will provide best practices in the field of early intervention autism treatment by developing an approach that enables clinicians and families to choose from and use multiple treatment methodologies. This will be unique to a market of parents who, until now, have not been given a choice in regard to finding a treatment that will work for their child and family.

There is still much we do not know in the field of autism treatment, but we do know that through programs like the EIAP we can make many important contributions to the lives of many children and families affected by autism. As a society, we cannot afford to deliver anything but the most effective interventions to children with autism. Through programs like the EIAP, Easter Seals Bay Area is providing help, hope and answers for families living with autism today.

Increase autism awareness: Act for Autism

by Beth Finke

Easter Seals is taking advantage of Autism Awareness Month to make sure people are aware that … autism is treatable. Seems like such a simple concept, doesn’t it? But it’s surprising how many people are, well … unaware.

It’s true: autism is treatable! Just ask my friend Barbara Gaither. You might recognize Barbara’s name — she’s posted a few blogs here about her son Scottie, and today she’s sending an email message to Easter Seals friends to celebrate his progress.

Autism is treatable. Scottie is living proof of that. He has emerged from his dark world of isolation to become the engaging 2nd grader he is today, thanks in great part to Easter Seals.

Every day, Easter Seals provides personalized treatments that help people of all ages with autism lead meaningful and productive lives. We hope you’ll join in our efforts — Act for Autism and let people know about our programs and services.

Join us — Easter Seals acts for autism every day. We’re constantly finding and refining the best treatments, educating people about autism and advocating for government policies that support people with autism.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re someone who takes action. Please continue to do so! Act for Autism with Easter Seals today — start out Autism Awareness Month by making people aware that autism is treatable.

Get the word out — it’s Autism Awareness Month

by Patricia Wright

Autism Awareness Month begins today, so start looking (and listening!) for Easter Seals on TV, on radio and in the print media.

We’re committed to helping people understand that autism is treatable, early intervention improves outcomes, and funding is necessary for appropriate services and supports. These are the messages that I want to send through the media. And, lucky for me, I sometimes get a chance to do just that.

Last week CNN called to ask me about web resources for World Autism Day — autism is big news, and America’s number one cable news source wants to be prepared for all the people coming to their website this month.

My colleagues and I were also asked to do a spot for the radio show Life, Love & Health. Radio spots are fun. You know that if you say something really ridiculous — or even sneeze — it can be edited out. Thanks to editors and producers, I always end up sounding better on radio than I do on my karaoke machine at home! See if you agree — listen to my radio piece about autism.

If you can’t listen to an mp3, here’s the text of my soundbite:

Autism affects everyone differently and involves challenges in communication, social skills, and behaviors. If you’re worried your child may have autism — or feel something just isn’t right — follow your instincts. Don’t assume that your child will catch up. Share your concerns with your pediatrician. Look into your state’s early intervention program. Get a diagnosis. And seek support from community service and treatment providers like Easter Seals.

The idea that public awareness can promote effective services and supports encourages me to keep sharing the message — There Is Hope.

CNN noticed your autism stories

by Beth Finke

A huge thank you to all of you who read Lisa Tate’s blog last week and then contacted CNN. The network’s chief medical/health producer phoned Easter Seals Headquarters last week to tell us she’d been touched by several of your autism stories.

CNN plans to continue covering autism far beyond this Wednesday (when CNN Medical News will devote their entire day of coverage to autism). And now, because of your response to Lisa’s blog and your willingness to share your autism stories, CNN has decided to highlight Easter Seals on the CNN Medical news website as one of its key resources for families to get support/treatment for autism.

Be sure to watch CNN and check out its website In April — Autism Awareness Month starts tomorrow.

Working with undiagnosed autism

by Debbie Smith

The media does a fantastic job on reporting the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment of autism, but the needs of older individuals have to be addressed too.

I’ve been working with individuals with disabilities for many years. About 10 years ago we had a huge increase of children being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Many of these individuals were treated with psychotropic medications to control their behaviors. Many did not respond appropriately or learn basic academics. So then they’d get a new diagnosis: Cognitive Learning Disability.

These individuals are 18 years old and older now, and when we review their needs we see key characteristics of autism. Do they have the diagnosis of Autism? NO. But do they have the limitations/challenges of an individual with Autism? YES.

Locating long-term supports for these individuals is very challenging. They often become drop-outs, involved in the mental health or judicial systems, with no opportunity for career success that focuses on their strengths.

Our workforce is missing out on an incredible pool of individuals ready for detail, routine and process!