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boy receives treatment for autism (Read 5,157 times)

apple Platinum Member Offline BA Member Posts: 686 Location: the moon Joined: 02. Aug 2003 Gender:	boy receives treatment for autism 22. Sep 2005 at 06:49	Print Post
	video online (until next monday) at link below. latest programme - top right. ---------- Eight-year-old Harry has Asperger's Syndrome - a form of autism. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) "Asperger's Syndrome is a disorder like you can't walk," explains Harry. "It's just that your brain doesn't work properly." One side-effect of this condition is that he has acutely sensitive hearing. His mum, Carrie, says: "I can't vacuum while he's in the house he just finds the noise unbearable. He clasps his ears with a pained expression. It's not just annoyance - it's pain." "What you want is for your ears to be less sensitive," explains Harry, "so high pitch or annoying sounds don't feel that annoying." Sufferers of Asperger's Syndrome can be obsessive about their routines or hobbies, but Harry's biggest problem is his co-ordination. Riding a bike and playing football are difficult for him. "He is not able to play many games such as team games or "it" as he's not as fast as everyone else," says his sister Jodie. Harry's lack of coordination has led to him being taunted in the playground, called "freak" and "weirdo". "I get reports that he's aggressive towards other children," explains his Mum. "I think it's more frustration than that he's an aggressive child, and he is unable to communicate on their level." Harry wants all the help he can get with his autism but explains he also needs help with his anger. "One minute I'm this really nice person but when people get to me, I can't control it." They've tried many conventional therapies but with limited effect. So Harry enrols on a unique course of therapy at the Sound Learning Centre in north London. People attend from all over the world. There is no scientific proof that it works, but the people running the centre are convinced they can help Harry. It's one of the few centres in the UK specializing in Auditory Integration Training or AIT for short. The treatment involves listening to specially altered music, where the noise changes in pitch and tone, and the sound is not as it would sound normally. Pauline Allen, the Principal of the Centre explains: "The movement in the music coming into the right ear and then into the left ear is actually changing the hearing pattern and making it straighter. It takes away the distortions and reduces or eliminates hypersensitivity. "Many of those coming to the clinic are not able to interpret what they hear correctly so for them their world is fragmented, this process forces the hearing pattern to relax to a more normalised hearing." The Sound Learning Centre also treats patients with severe difficulties, such as nine-year-old Helen Woods, who is highly autistic with very limited speech. "We started noticing that she would do things that she couldn't do before," explained her mother Delia. "After around five days of AIT we were able to go to a café. It was a first because she was able to sit down and not run around tipping over chairs and screaming." However, the most remarkable improvement was that Helen began to form more words. She started to get more emergent speech sounds. "I could understand more of what she's saying – she was really pleased about that." Helen isn't being cured of her autism, but she is gaining a strategy to cope with it so her life is better. She has had her ears retrained to hear sound so she's learning about sound in a different way. Some NHS primary care trusts are now starting to fund treatment, but understanding of exactly how it works is still very limited and more research is needed. "We would love to know exactly how we're getting these tremendous results," said Pauline. "There's no question that the AIT is most efficacious for those that we see." Back at the centre, Harry undertakes two half-hour sessions of AIT a day over a two week period, and is also having light-wave treatment which involves spending 20 minutes twice a day looking at different coloured lights. It makes Harry "feel like the sun is just high up in the sky and like we're up in a jet plane". At the end of Harry's treatment his mum is convinced it's worked. "Absolutely, there's no doubt in my mind. At first when I noticed changes I tried to convince myself that it wasn't real but he's not bumping into people anymore and tolerates the noise of the vacuum cleaner and can go to Tesco now." Carrie is sure that the changes are not just from developing in a normal way. "We've seen such huge changes in the last week that there's no way these could just be changes as he grows up," she says. "10 days ago I just hoped he'd be able to walk down the pavement without tripping. We've come so far and I'm thinking one day he may drive a car, which is something I have never allowed myself to dream of." (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links)


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cal-Q-L8 Platinum Member Offline Admin Posts: 8,002 Location: Australia Joined: 30. Oct 2001 Gender:	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #1 - 23. Sep 2005 at 08:44	Print Post
	Stuff like this is always such a strong reality check. Makes one realize how fortunate one is to have had a 'relatively' healthy life.


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Max_Lumpkin Ex Member	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #2 - 23. Sep 2005 at 15:42	Print Post
	I also have ASD. I've heard of Auditory Therapy but have never tried it.


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cal-Q-L8 Platinum Member Offline Admin Posts: 8,002 Location: Australia Joined: 30. Oct 2001 Gender:	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #3 - 23. Sep 2005 at 23:28	Print Post
	That would be tough. You seem to type well though. I certainly admire the courage of people that cope with such extraordinary challenges.


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Max_Lumpkin Ex Member	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #4 - 25. Sep 2005 at 21:23	Print Post
	If you're interested in ASD you might like to look at this site ----> (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links)


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cal-Q-L8 Platinum Member Offline Admin Posts: 8,002 Location: Australia Joined: 30. Oct 2001 Gender:	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #5 - 26. Sep 2005 at 02:09	Print Post
	Thanks, I'll check it out.


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gee Platinum Member Offline BA Member Posts: 1,127 Joined: 22. Oct 2003 Gender:	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #6 - 26. Sep 2005 at 10:43	Print Post
	i dont think i ever said this before but i have aspergers aslo one of the traits of aspergers is a obbsevie intrest in a certain topic guess what my topic is?


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cal-Q-L8 Platinum Member Offline Admin Posts: 8,002 Location: Australia Joined: 30. Oct 2001 Gender:	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #7 - 28. Sep 2005 at 05:09	Print Post
	I bet you are obsessed with legume veggies I'm a right-handed-challenged individual .. .. does that count for anything? Don't call me left handed or I'll sue, or is that 'sew'?


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Mediajock1 Silver Member Offline BA Member Posts: 243 Joined: 27. Apr 2005	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #8 - 23. Oct 2005 at 15:21	Print Post
	Quote: video online (until next monday) at link below. latest programme - top right. ---------- [i]Eight-year-old Harry has Asperger's Syndrome - a form of autism. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) ... "He is not able to play many games such as team games or "it" as he's not as fast as everyone else," says his sister Jodie. Harry's lack of coordination has led to him being taunted in the playground, called "freak" and "weirdo". ... I just HATE it when kids have to endure such ostracism for things that are not their fault. Sounds like we haven't made much progress in getting kids to be more accepting of others.


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cal-Q-L8 Platinum Member Offline Admin Posts: 8,002 Location: Australia Joined: 30. Oct 2001 Gender:	Re: boy receives treatment for autism Reply #9 - 24. Oct 2005 at 09:11	Print Post
	Quote: I just HATE it when kids have to endure such ostracism for things that are not their fault. Sounds like we haven't made much progress in getting kids to be more accepting of others. It's sad alright and IMO... ... it's the fault of teachers, parents and the school itself. I've seen very disadvantaged kids attend 'normal' schools where they are fully accepted and even protected by regular kids.


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