Hyper-Visual in a Verbal World - Autism and Communication Disorders

A child or adult with Autism or a Communication disorder will have difficulties fitting into our extremely verbal world. These difficulties can create isolation from others and threatening walls of silence. However, there is a specific sub group of people diagnosed with these disorders who have a hyper-visual system. In these cases, when the visual system is harnessed, teaching communication becomes much easier.

I Rode the Train, I Want to be an Engineer

Hyper-visual people are experiencing visually when speaking. Their communications may appear to be almost nonsensical rambling but in fact they are following a very logical pattern. The difference is the pattern followed is visual rather than verbal. The exchange below illustrates this point.

I asked Mark, a college student, "How did you get here today?"

He replied, I took the train in from Long Island. My family went to the beach (Mark was seeing himself on the train but did not say this). Maybe I will be a engineer. The reason I like engineering is that there are serious problems. (Mark was thinking about being a transportation engineering and designing train tracks and freeway intersections) I have always been good in math. When teachers are difficult to understand. (Mark is seeing himself at school doing well except when the teacher is confusing and then associating to a video he watched about Einstein)Like Dr. Einstein- There was an exhibit on Einstein at the history museum did you see it?

Mark was attempting to answer my question but his picture mind took him on quite a ride as one picture blended into the next from the train- to a vacation to an engineering career to Einstein, at the museum. The expected answer was "TRAIN". This very verbal illustration demonstrates how the visual pathway can create leap-frog thinking-which to verbal people can seem like impulsivity.

Instead of negotiating the world with verbal reasoning, a visual person often negotiates with patterns. As a result the "sameness of routines" becomes the template to make sense of the chaos of everyday life. We refer to these visual learners as "Mavericks." We often ask Mavericks to adjust to changes in schedule or adjustments in plans based on how we typically explain things - by talking. These words can create more confusion and frustration as they may not be processed at the speed expected. This lag in processing time can create resistance, immature behavior, odd play, tantrums or reluctance to participate. As a result the normal teaching methods that are based on processing incoming language can fail.

Sequencing & Associating

Visual people often use the brain's Associator to form memories. They learn of a new idea and they relate that idea to their own knowledge base. The opposite of the Associator is the Sequencer from the verbal pathway.

The Sequencer is rigid and ordering, one sound following another to make a word, words produced in specific order to form grammatically correct sentences and ideas linked in order to make paragraphs.

The Associator is time-independent and the Sequencer is very time based. Understanding consequences depends on a time based understanding of cause and effect.

My son, Whitney, at age 4, wanted to jump off of the roof to fly like Superman, without understanding, from verbal reasoning, the danger involved. Whitney would sit mesmerized watching Disney's Snow White as if he were deaf. In fact, at times, I could scream in his ear and he could not hear me even though all of the parts of his ear to brain physiology were judged to be normal. At these times his visual brain powered by his associator were shutting down his verbal sensory system.

If the pictures drive the thought, children can appear to be oblivious to cause and effect. They may disregard threatened consequences. Often Mavericks feel that they must complete the pattern to finish the thought they have developed through the associator before they can transition to the next idea. If the thought is disrupted the Maverick may hit a wall and resort to talking with lines from a movie or echoing what was said or get stuck like a broken record and repeat the same thing over and over again.

With the appropriate training, Mavericks can learn effective verbal communication. The teaching methods must first then harness the visual system first before moving forward to teaching communication.

Dr. Cheri Florance is a brain scientist with training and clinical experience in how to teach the brain to replace symptoms of communication and language disorders. In her books, Maverick Mind, (www.penquinputnam.com) and A Boy Beyond Reach (www.simonschuster.com), she describes how she taught her own autistic son, Whitney to replace disability with ability and become symptom-free. To learn more about her own personal journey and successful methods visit her complimentary Learning Library at http://www.ebrainlabs.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheri_Florance,_PhD

Symptoms and Treatment For Autism and Its Communication Disorder

Children with autism syndrome have a lack of effective communication skills, therefore inhibiting lifelong social skills. Parents who know what to look for at an early age can increase the chances for their child to live a somewhat normal life

All children learn at their own pace, therefore making it difficult to diagnose at infancy. Infants a few months of age will typically start to babble, imitating the sounds it hears around him. While every baby develops speech at a different rate the following is a guide for the average child. At one year, can use negative phrases such as "No, want", can imitate animal sounds and noises, and says four to six simple words. At 18 months can say 10 to 15 words and can make two word sentences (i.e., "Daddy up") At 2 has a vocabulary of about 100 words and asks, "What is?" The autistic child on the other hand does not develop at this normal rate and has a difficult time building his/her vocabulary. There might only be a few words they understand or respond to. They might not speak at all; half of the people diagnosed with autism never learn to speak

A more comprehensible clue for an autistic child is the skewed verbal cues they might respond to. For example: Pointing at a red car and stating, "look at the red car". The autistic child will become fixated more on your finger pointing at the red car than the actual point of interest. An autistic child will have a difficult time making his/her wants and needs known and will more than likely point at something he/she wants rather than using words to describe it

The inability to verbalize his/her thoughts affects the imaginative play, making it difficult to have cooperative play with other children.

Even if an autistic child does develop speech he /she has a difficult time holding or starting a conversation due to the inability to understand facial cues, sarcasm and the use of humor and will likely understand it in the literal sense. A child with autism will repeat phrases over and over again and will often mimic others speech.

Working with autistic children's communication skills prior to the age of two will prevent the skills atrophy. Intensive therapy at an early age can decrease many of the communication problems that autistic children face and may enable them to attain a near average capability. Epilepsy and associated seizure disorders are common with autistic children that haven't been diagnosed prior to the age of two.

There are many more resources and information about autism signs, symptoms, treatments, and cutting edge medical research in, Autism: Everything Parents And Caregivers Should Know About The Disorder - http://www.mynewworldweb.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Meskill

Children Speech Disorders - What Are the Types of Speech Disorders?

Articulation is the most common type of speech disorder among children. Disorders of articulation are characterized by the omission, distortion, or substitution of speech sounds.

"Tootie" instead of "cookie," "wed" instead of "red," "thop" or "top" instead of "stop" - these are examples of common articulatory errors that can be easily overcome with a speech therapy at home.

Sometimes only one or two sounds are defective, but sometimes there are so many errors that the speech is unintelligible to everyone with the possible exception of the parents.

Voice problems are not as common as articulatory problems. They include voices that are too high or too low in pitch, too loud or not loud enough, voices that are harsh, breathy, nasal or otherwise unpleasant, and voices that are monotonous - that is, lacking in flexibility of expression.

Problems of the understanding and use of words constitute another speech or language disorder. Words, of course, are symbols; they "stand for" or represent something. What the word "cat" means to you depends upon all of the past experiences that you associate with that symbol.

A child may know that this small animal likes milk, catches mice, has soft fur, and purrs when it is petted and still be unable to associate or "connect" the word "cat" with the animal.

Children who have difficulty in understanding or using words are sometimes referred to as "aphasoid."

Stuttering is probably the speech disorder that causes parents the most anxiety. Some writers believe that it is this very anxiety that contributes to the child's problem.

This disorder is usually thought of in terms of hesitations in the flow of speech, repetitions of sounds, words, or phrases, and facial grimaces or tensions. Although there is much more involved in the problem of stuttering than a description of the symptoms, it is these observable symptoms that cause parents to become concerned.

The classification of speech disorders given above is based on symptoms, without consideration for the cause. Under this system a child with a cleft palate, or other physiological defect, would be said to have an articulation problem, a voice problem, or both, depending upon his own speech needs.

Are you worried about your child's speech problems? Do you want to know more about children speech therapy and how to improve your child's speech at home? See my website: http://www.ImproveYourChildsSpeech.com

From Jane M. Bishop

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jane_M._Bishop

Swing Therapy For Autistic Children

Most of us have no problem combining all our senses. For autistic children (and grownups) however, it's a mighty challenging task. Processing stimuli from the senses of sight, smell, sound, touch, taste, balance and body is overwhelming. Those suffering from autism will often withdraw to avoid over stimulation, or try to sort out the input from their senses with self-developed soothing mechanisms and repetitive behaviours.

A significant amount of occupational therapy for autism focuses on sensory integration through specially designed programs. Some of the greatest tools for sensory integration therapy for autism type disorders are various types of swings. People with various autism spectrum disorders such as Autism, PDD, ADHD, Asperger's, proprioceptive dysfunction and tactile defensiveness will benefit from using swings as part of their therapy.

Additionally, children and adults with Sensory Processing Disorders (also called Sensory Integration Disorders), especially those with proprioceptive or vestibular dysfunction, should definitely have swings or therapy hammocks as a crucial element of their treatment.

The benefits of the hammock can be two-fold. Children who find the smooth, swaying motion soothing, will relax and unwind while using it. However, children who have a vestibular dysfunction will feel uneasy while in the hammock and might initially protest its use. For them, hammock therapy is more about regaining equilibrium and learning to tolerate vestibular stimuli.,

The motion of swinging restores balance to the vestibular system, provides proprioceptive input (deep pressure) and generally helps autistic-spectrum children feel more "in balance". The soothing motion of swinging soothes, relaxes and increases concentration. Children who have trouble focusing on tasks such as reading or math, might find it easier to concentrate sitting in a hammock chair, their bodies engaged in a soothing motion.

Setting up a swing in the home is easy and does not require a large investment. A hammock, hammock chair, hanging bag or a therapy platform swing are all relatively inexpensive, easy to find and do not take up a lot of room. Making a platform swing out of a hammock is an easy do-it-yourself project, with instructions available in our blog. Put one in the child's room, playroom or family room for a retreat or a therapy corner for an autistic child.

Do your kids use your living room as a gym? DreamGYM™ indoor jungle gym lets them stay active all year long right in your home! They'll develop agility, flexibility, balance, coordination & strength.

Read latest news from kid's indoor gym blog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marina_Mironov