6 Benefits of Exercise for Children With ADHD and Autism

A special diet is critically important for children with autism and ADHD to promote a healthy digestive system and heal the gut. But it is only one part of the puzzle.
Exercise is just as important and the following reasons explain how it can help your child:
1. Immune System - The more active children are, the stronger their immune system. They will have fewer colds, allergies, and other diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. A stronger immune system will help our children with autism and ADHD recover more quickly from leaky gut issues and strengthen the effects of a healthy diet.
2. Stress Reduction - Regular exercise reduces the amount of stress hormones in the body. Children with autism and ADHD live with a greater amount of stress because they must constantly adapt and fit into a world not set up for their needs. Exercise will help decrease the buildup of stress hormones and their negative effects on the body.
3. Hyperactivity and Energy Release - When kids are wound up and have difficulty staying calm, a round of exercise is often the perfect solution. Before sitting to do homework or study, have your child do something physical to release any pent up energy. Request exercise or movement breaks for your child during school if your child struggles with sitting still in class. Be sure that the teacher does not take away recess time as a classroom consequence!
4. Brainpower - Exercise increases the transport of oxygen and nutrients to the brain due to increased blood flow throughout the body. This literally means you can think quicker, with increased focus and concentration. The brain functions optimally with regular exercise.
5. Sleep - The more active children are during the day, the more energy they use and the better they will sleep. It will be easier to fall asleep when they are tired out from plenty of exercise.
6. Mood - Hormones called endorphins give us a "feel good" feeling and are associated with happy, positive emotions. Exercise is known to increase the amount of endorphins in the body and contribute to better moods and emotions.
Neurotransmitters like serotonin are also increased due to exercise. These chemicals act as messengers that transmit signals between brain cells. Low serotonin levels are associated with depression and increased levels maintain calm moods and are known to aid in sleep and learning.
Interestingly, only a very small amount of serotonin is present in the brain. 90% of the serotonin in our bodies is found within the intestines! This is part of what is known as the gut-brain connection and a key to why a healthy digestive system is so important for a properly functioning neurological condition.
While diet is key for children with autism and ADHD, exercise is an important boost to your efforts and should not be overlooked.

If you're a parent of a child with ADHD, ASD and other special needs and are looking for natural methods to help your family, visit Stephani McGirr's http://www.NourishingJourney.com to receive a free twice monthly ezine full of tips, tools and recipes to help you move from struggle to success while creating a peaceful home life your family loves.

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Einstein's Learning Disability

Many organizations that promote the interests of individuals with learning disabilities claim that Albert Einstein had a learning disability, and this claim has become widely accepted.
It is interesting to note that a review of biographical sources, however, provides little or no evidence to support this assertion.
According to LD lore Einstein failed to talk until the age of four, the result of a language disability. It is also claimed that Einstein could not read until the age of nine. To strengthen their case LD proponents point to such facts that Einstein failed his first attempt at entrance into college and lost three teaching positions in two years.
While this makes a nice story, this widely believed notion is false, according to Ronald W. Clark's comprehensive biography of Einstein, and according to "Subtle is the Lord: The Science and Life of Albert Einstein," a biography by Abraham Pais (Oxford University Press, 1982).
Pais states that although his family had initial apprehensions that he might be backward because of the unusually long time before he began to talk, Einstein was speaking in whole sentences by some point between age two and three years. According to Clark, a far more plausible reason for his relatively late speech development is "the simpler situation suggested by Einstein's son Hans Albert, who says that his father was withdrawn from the world even as a boy." Whether one accepts this interpretation, other information helps us to judge Einstein's language abilities after he began to speak.
Einstein entered school at the age of six, and against popular belief did very well. When he was seven his mother wrote, "Yesterday Albert received his grades, he was again number one, his report card was brilliant." At the age of twelve Einstein was reading physics books. At thirteen, after reading the "Critique of Pure Reason" and the work of other philosophers, Einstein adopted Kant as his favorite author. About this time he also read Darwin. Pais states, "the widespread belief that he was a poor student is unfounded."
FAILING HIS COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMS
True, Einstein did not pass the college exam the first time he took it. However, aside from being only sixteen, two years below the usual age, the plain fact was he did not study for it. His father wanted his son to follow a technical occupation, a decision Einstein found difficult to confront directly. Consequently, as he later admitted, he avoided following the "unbearable" path of a "practical profession" by not preparing himself for the test.
It is also true that, after graduating from the university, Einstein had difficulty finding a post. This was mainly because his independent, intellectually rebellious nature made him, in his own words, "a pariah" in the academic community. One professor told him, "You have one fault; one can't tell you anything."
Also true is that Einstein went through three jobs in a short time, but not because of a learning disability. His first job was as a temporary research assistant, the second as temporary replacement for a professor who had to serve a two-month term in the army. Clark remarks that it is "difficult to discover but easy to imagine" why Einstein held his third job, as a teacher in a boarding school, for only a few months: "Einstein's ideas of minimum routine and minimum discipline were very different from those of his employer."
In his article "Was Einstein learning disabled? Anatomy of a myth," (published in 2004 in the "Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine," a revised version of an article that originally appeared in the March/April 2000 issue of the "Journal of Learning Disabilities") Marlin Thomas concludes: "Given the meager basis for the claim that Einstein was learning disabled, one has to wonder why it has become so accepted. Part of the reason is the encouragement it gives all of us to know that even geniuses have shortcomings. The claim also enhances the prestige of learning disabled individuals. Any marginalized group benefits from having one of its members be a stellar figure in cultural history. These may be salutary, but the consequence of claiming that Einstein was learning disabled without historical evidence is harmful. It distorts the historical record and it questions the credibility of other claims regarding the learning disabilities of prominent persons."

Visit Susan's website Audiblox for more information on learning and learning disabilities. *** This article can be freely used as long as a link to http://www.learninginfo.org is provided.

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Temple Grandin She Is the Definition of Good in the World!

Every once in awhile someone comes along and makes a lasting contribution to society and you don't have to look any farther than Dr. Temple Grandin, as she is one of the worlds most well known adults with Autism and gives hope to families that have been affected by it. Keep in mind that not everyone with Autism will be able to achieve what she has been able to do in her life, which is pretty remarkable. She has authored several books and has had a movie made about her life called "Temple Grandin" and is a 100% must see! After watching it, you will come away with a new out look on life and will want to run out and start reading all her books, and you should as she offers so much insight for people with Autism. I would like to make a pitch that her books should be required reading for all educators and health care professionals who work with people with mental disabilities.
Temple is also the inventor of the "Squeeze Machine" a device she devised herself to help calm hypersensitive people and is in the movie and I do not want to ruin it for people who have not seen it yet, so I will leave it at that. Her work in the Animal world is just as impressive as her work in the Autism field and her efforts basically changed the Livestock Industry and how they operate. I would like to personally say thank you Temple for that as I am a big time Animal lover and know it was a hard thing to get accomplished, but the world is a better place because of it.
My wife once met Temple at an Autism Conference and when she came home, she said that Temple came up to her and was so attracted to the Border Collie purse that she had with her that day and that Temple gave her such a wonderful compliment on it. I only bring this up because the purse was a Christmas present for my wife and I still remember the day I bought it, I was at the purse store and said it to myself "it has a pretty wild pattern on it" but it also has Border Collies on it and we had two of them at the time, so it came home and went under the tree. Now when ever the purse comes out of the closet, my wife has a great memory of the day she got to have a very special moment with a very special person.
I encourage everyone to watch the movie and also visit the Temple Grandin website at http://www.templegrandin.com/ for her upcoming speaking engagements and the latest news on what she is doing to make our lives better. Temple you are a true "American Hero" If ever there was one!

The author of the story is the founder of Good Time Therapy a website that promotes ideas and stories about how to have a good time and enjoy life. http://GoodTimeTherapy.com because my belief is "A Good Time Cures All" The world needs to start having a good time or at least take a second and smell the roses as life is short and can be taken from you at anytime.

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Sensory Activities for Autistic Children

Autism, a disorder that creates behavioral, social, and communication challenges, exists within the Autism Spectrum group of disorders. Autism can affect the child's ability to integrate input coming from different senses. Sensory integration therapy can help a child by stimulating and challenging all of his or her senses. Some sensory activities for autistic children can also help a child learn to tolerate different tactile experiences. In addition, the children can learn to have fun while being creative.
Some autistic kids are overly sensitive to touch; some prefer touching and stroking soft, smooth items for hours. Many children with ASD cannot tolerate the feel of new clothes, or scratchy textiles. Still others pat and explore the faces of their caregivers.
Some sensory activities for autistic children include rubbing or stroking their skin with different textures. Use firm pressure to stimulate the deep pressure receptors and to avoid exciting the nervous system. Other ways of encouraging building tolerance to rough or scratchy textiles can include play with sandpaper shapes and letters, or plastic or wooden blocks with raised letters. Create a sensory board with clippings of all different types of fabric and other materials that are made up of different textures: sandpaper, string, smooth glass, corduroy, aluminum foil that's been crinkled up and then straightened out, and cardboard.
Another sensory activity to have the child perform is to play with colored rice. This project is both tactile and artistic; the goal is to help build tolerance to different textures while creating a work of art, which makes it a favorite of many sensory activities for autistic children. Take one cup of dry white rice, one teaspoon of rubbing alcohol, a medium-sized bowl and a spoon, aluminum foil or waxed paper, and three to four drops of food coloring. Use the rice:rubbing alcohol:food coloring ratio for each color you'd like. Put the rice in the bowl, add the rubbing alcohol, and drip on the food coloring, making sure to stir well between each drop. When the rice is the intensity you like, spread it onto the foil or waxed paper and allow it to dry. Repeat it with the other colors. To make art with the rice, have the child draw a picture or word onto card stock or bristol board, then trace the image or word with white glue, one section at a time. The child can drizzle the colored rice onto the glue. As with many sensory activities for autistic children, some kids may become overwhelmed if they have too much colored rice at once. Try placing a small amount of rice into a small paper cup and refill as necessary.

Register for your FREE webinar training with a child autistic behavioural specalist now and discover the key to unlocking childhood Autism VISIT.
autismininfants.org

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History of Autism - The Complex History of Autism Spectrum Disorder

When my two boys were first diagnosed with Autism. I read
everything I could possibly find on Autism. One story I read
has always haunted me a little.
It was the story about the first account of a young autistic boy.
A Frenchman by the name of Itard writes about a young boy
around the age of 12 who had been living in a Forest until he
was captured in January 1800. Itard named the boy Victor
who seemed to be very self-absorbed and could not verbally
communicate.
It wasn't until over a century later that the word Autism was
first used by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugene Bleuler in 1911 to
describe individuals who withdrew from social interaction with
others. Bleuler derived the word Autism from the Greek word
"Autos," which means "self."
Then not again until 1943, when Autism came to the forefront.
That is when a psychiatrist by the name of Leo Kanner observed
the behaviour of 11 children at the John Hopkins Hospital in
Baltimore, USA.
Kanner at this time invented a new category, which he called
"Early Infantile Autism", which sometimes is referred as Kanner
Syndrome.
At about the same time as Kanner was doing his study at John
Hopkins Hospital. There was a Doctor in Vienna, Austria by the
name of Dr. Hans Asperger who published a paper in 1944 who
described a disorder very much like Kanner's "early infantile autism."
This condition was later termed Asperger Syndrome.
Because of World War II Dr. Asperger's work was not available to
the public and it was not until 1997 that his findings were given
official recognition.
The 1950s and 1960s were a very dark period for parents and
(especially mothers) of children with Autism. At that time the
popular thought was that Autism was caused due to the coldness
of their mothers. This was the time that the term "refrigerator mother"
was coined.
Thankfully, in the early part of the 1960s, members of the medical
community like Dr. Bernard Rimland and Dr. Eric Schopler were
doing their own research. During this time Dr. Rimland presented
his own study showing evidence that Autism was a biological condition
rather than a psychological one.
By the 1990s, researchers were focusing on the genetic component of
Autism, focusing specifically on chromosome 15. These studies have
revealed a connection between Autism and people with irregularities
on chromosome 15.
Now and in the future there will be more and more studies focusing
on the genetic component of Autism. Right now in the beginning of
2007, there are many advancements in Autism and I predict we will
be seeing quite abit of progress in the next 10 years.
The History of Autism has been both complex and controversial.
Many people think that Autism is a modern disorder but as you
have read it has dated back to the early 1800s. In some ways it
seems that there has not been very much progress in those 200 years
but I feel that we are on the verge of a breakthrough with Autism.

To Discover Effective Actions You Can Take For Managing Autism Successfully, Go Here Now: [http://www.bz9.com/Autism] Nancy K Clyne is the mother of 2 sons with Autism. She writes on her experiences with Autism. Feel free to distribute this article in any form as long as you include this resource box.

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Benefits of Small Class Size for Students With Disabilities

One of the students referred to us spent a whole year sitting and staring before he was even referred. Another used to scream at a high pitch for hours before he was referred. Still another used to run around the room an not focus on anything. Another used to beat up his mother and get away with it before he was referred. Because we had a small classroom size and support we were able to deal with the behavioral challenges these children have with learning. It is extremely important to have a child's attention and focus to learn. Also, distractions should be kept to a minimum. This simply does not happen in the average American classroom, which is busy, noisy, bright and overwhelming to a lot of children with learning challenges.
The importance of relationship building for children with autism can not be overstressed. Social skills building needs to be a priority and children need much help in learning proper social skills and behavior. Because the behavior is challenging and difficult and learning and change does not happen rapidly, teachers without the understanding, experience and training just often give up. Believing the child can learn and will learn if one is persistent and does not give up is a necessity. The individual child has to be a priority. This simply does not happen in the mass production concept of American education.
Another difficulty in American education is that children with the same problems are dumped together but not given anymore help than if they were in the average American classroom. Thus, inappropriate behaviors are reinforced by children seeing other inappropriate behaviors. The Lord of the Flies concept happens with children leading the classroom rather than a strong adult leader. This is not a teacher's fault. If a teacher has to spend all of their day correcting behavior, it leads to very little time for learning. That is why I am against classroom sizes of fifteen to twenty for children with autism. Even eight students is too many. I as a teacher have had my greatest success with children with autism in a classroom with no more than four students and one aide.
As you can imagine, education can get very expensive when one does the right thing by a child. I have not even included the therapy and other services that autistic children can benefit from. Moreover, the special schools that autistic children need are often denied as school districts often refuse to pay for the private non-public schools that autistic children benefit most from. Thus, policy has to change and doors have to be opened for parents to be able to pick what works best for their child. Small class size is a start. And parents being allowed to pick non-public schools that work well is also a great start.

Give children a chance to learn and enroll them in a school that insists on a small student to teacher ratio.
The way you learned is not the way your child with autism will learn. They will be lost in the shuffle in most classrooms and then be blamed for not learning or their behavior. I have seen what children can accomplish when given what they need and I hope you will veto the mass education high number classroom that is usually the American way.

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Understanding and Dealing With Angry Behavior in Young Children With Autism

If your child hits, bites, screams, pushes and destroys things and you are at a loss for what to do, don't dismay. Negative behaviors such as these are learned and they can be unlearned as well.
Keep in mind that misbehavior is simply an expression of an unmet need or an inability to cope with the circumstances in the current environment.
A child's behavior is always a signal of how he or she feels inside and a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder who has trouble communicating can become very frustrated with their environment very quickly. Just picture yourself not being able to communicate your very basic needs to the people who care for you? Close your eyes and visualize trying to tell someone you are very thirsty, or the light is hurting your eyes or the music is too loud and not being able to get them to understand. Wouldn't you be a candidate for an emotional meltdown if this were what your world was like on a daily basis?
When you think of a child's misbehavior as a need that is out of balance, your perspective can more easily shift to "my child has a problem instead of my child is being a problem". Then you can focus on discovering what the issue is and alleviate the potential for inappropriate behavior.
Also, we as adults are able to monitor our emotional state and manage the way we express our feelings but young children do not have these skills and need to be taught. This is where we need to step into our role as teacher - giving our sons and daughters words or pictures for their feelings or providing them with additional means to express them appropriately.
Here are some other strategies that will help you prevent and deal with angry behavior:
- Play detective and look for clues in determining underlying unmet needs. The need for attention and control are often the first ones that come to mind. Others might be boundaries, trust, structure, respect, and belonging. For a child with Autism, the unmet need is often the ability to clearly communicate to others what he or she wants. Providing visuals and other alternative means of communication will help keep frustration levels low and therefore avoid the potential for an angry outburst.
- Be on the lookout for stress. Acting inappropriately is often an indicator of stress. Bonnie Harris, author of Confident Parents, Remarkable Kids, states that all children want to be successful. Most children want to please and no child deliberately plans to have an outburst. Is something blocking your child from being successful in his play? Is she stressed due to insufficient sleep? Is his sensitivity to noise on overload in a chaotic environment? Has her dislike for transition been set off due to a sudden change in schedule? These and other triggers for stress can often be avoided.
- Give your child a feelings vocabulary that goes beyond happy, sad, and mad. Acknowledge your child's emotions by identifying what you see and giving the feeling a name. "I see an angry boy who wants something he can't have." or "You look frustrated with that toy because you can't get it to work." or "Are you disappointed because mommy can't play with you right now?" By labeling what you are observing and naming it, your child is learning what it means to be angry, frustrated or disappointed and the word for it.
- Remember to role model. Get in the habit of stating what you are feeling and what you can do about it. Making statements such as, "I am upset because I burnt the toast, I will have to watch the toaster more carefully next time". "Daddy is frustrated because he lost his book again, can you help him find it?" not only normalizes feelings of all sorts but it also introduces the concept of problem solving.
- Make a house rule that has no tolerance for hurtful behaviors. "Being angry is OK but hitting hurts, it is not OK to hit." Hands are for helping not hurting is also a good statement to use when hitting is involved. Focus on recognizing the times when your child uses his hands appropriately and give him specific praise for doing so. "I like the way you use your hands to pat the dog softly. He likes it too. See how happy it makes him."
- Create a "yes" environment where exploration will be safe and acceptable so you do not have to constantly use the word no. When children hear that term at every turn it can be a very frustrating experience for both of you.
As parents, it is always important to address concerning behaviors such as these as soon as they surface. First, spend time exploring your child's world from their point of view in order to help you understand what need is not being met. Second, find constructive ways to deal with behavioral issues up front before they become ingrained so they won't be even more difficult to break later on.

Connie Hammer, MSW, parent educator, consultant and coach, guides parents of young children recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder to uncover abilities and change possibilities. Visit her website http://www.parentcoachingforautism.com to get your FREE resources - a parenting e-course, Parenting a Child with Autism - 3 Secrets to Thrive and a weekly parenting tip newsletter, The Spectrum.

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