2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day. I've just made this image with the youngest of my 3 sons, they all have high functioning autism.
Does anyone else have a World Autism Awareness Day photo?
@suebarni nicely done! I hope he enjoyed working on the photo. I have a very dear friend from my childhood who was later diagnosed with Autism who really breaks the myth that those who are don't have a creative side.
Carly Fleischmann has severe autism. She has discovered her voice using her computer to communicate. This young woman is articulate, smart, and a typical teenager all of which we would never know about if she had not discovered this mode of communication. Her story is a beacon of hope and inspiration to all of us.
Had grand plans for a photo to express my POV on World Autism Day but.... didn't happen. So this is the best I could come up with
I Dream A Day....when Autism doesn't exist. When it blows away like autumn leaves.
Almost 10 yrs ago I knew nothing about autism except for the stereotypical "rainman" and images of non-verbal kids banging their heads against walls. Now I know autism in much more intimate way, I live with the richness and diversity everyday. Although every day I dream a world for my beautiful boy where he fits in and is comfortable in his own skin. I would not change a single thing about him. Although the days and nights are exhausting and sometimes leave me headbutting a wall I am so pleased my boy lets me see inside his special world every now and again. Today is world autism day! So learn about how diverse autism is, show sympathy to the mums and dads holding their special kids who are having a meltdown and before you judge another parent or child consider the shoes they wear and the path they walk maybe different to yours.
I have autism myself and I did not know that today was world autism awareness day. Thanks for telling me though, as it makes me feel good about myself.
@neda thank you Neda. Yes Max likes helping me with my photography, he is the subject of a couple of my 365 shots and he helps me with photoshop too - I wouldn't be able to do it without him, I only started using it 6 months ago and still confuse myself with it all.
@cfitzgerald Thank you for showing the photo Kammy made for you Courtney, I'm touched by it too. How old is your son? My boys are 16.5, 13.5 and 12 and they all think they know more than me ;-).
@dmortega Thank you Dorrena, I have liked Carly and shared the link to her trailer.
@saranna Sarah does your son have sensory processing issues too? Max has SPD. Please don't head butt the wall, email me instead suebarnicoat@yahoo.co.uk ;-).
@sfeldphotos Hi Sam. When I looked at the info about you when you started your mouse thread I wondered if maybe you had autism. Max is 12, he likes facts too, and his dad likes maps ;-).
@suebarni Yes Sue he does! We hae our up days and our down days.
I have decided (with some coaching from a fellow 365-er) to do a series of images for April, Autism Awareness month in Australia. Hope you don't mind if I post some here?
Spectrum
Blue is the colour chosen for Autism Awareness month - not sure why as most kids with autism favour green or red. But today I wanted to take a picture about the spectrum of Autism.
Every single child with autism is different.
Some seem lost in the darkest of blues, locked away in a non-verbal world often so overwhelmed with sensory input that they can't find a way out.
Others shift through shades of blue like how the colours on a leaf change and shift.
Some are tough like denim and despite the many rough times and public disapproval manage to solider on.
Some shine like satin, excelling in one area or another.
Some are rough and spiky, as they try and cope with a world that is too loud, too bright or seems to unfair.
And then when you look closely, even at the whitest white - doesn't it seem we all have a little blue in us?
We were gifted a unique and special daughter nearly twenty five years ago although she moved away from us to a wonderful specialist accommodation nearly three years ago. She is very happy and busy there but loves coming home four times a year for holidays.
So here is my image for 2nd April 2012 - our Joy :-)
Ok day three - I'm kind of chuffed that I have actually kept this up so far.
It's called "Look At Me"
Continuing on my April Autism Awareness theme I thought I would talk about eye contact.
Lack of, or avoidance of eye contact is one of the major diagnosing features of autistic spectrum disorder or autism. Funnily enough it was probably the one I noticed the least.
Do you know that many adults with autism find it hard to keep jobs and maintain relationships due to the inability to maintain or make eye contact. Non- autistic people see it as a sign of lying or being untrustworthy.
One of the first goals on my son's IEP (individual education plan) was to increase his eye contact. His goal was to establish and maintain eye contact with his peers or teachers at least 60% of the time. When I read this I was torn. Torn because didn't these people realise how hard it is for people with autism to make eye contact! It's not that they don't want to - although sometimes it's because they don't think it is important. It's often connected to a sensory issue such as seeing too much when they look at your eyes or your mouth moving distracts them so much they can't concentrate on what you are saying. A recent study has also found that the brains of kids with autism receive a very strong emotional response which actually makes them feel fearful when they look someone in the face.
But on the other hand - I want my son to fit in and to fit in, people expect him to look at them when they are speaking. The number of times I have heard well-meaning people say, "Look at me when I'm talking to you" and then say to me that he isn't listening to them because he isn't looking. When in fact he listens better when he isn't looking at you.
In the end we went ahead with the goal and spoke to him about trying to do it but if it makes him uncomfortable it's OK. He has now at age 9, developed the ability to look mainly at you but if you watch his eyes they are usually darting all over the place but his head is directed at you and this serves most purposes.
Funnily enough, as my son has Aspergers, a high functioning form of autism which often leads him to be rather intense about certain subject he will often get right into peoples faces and stare intently at them when talking about things he is passionate about - all we need to do is find the happy medium :-)
@theresatrolling click on your photo. At the bottom on the right is a 'share' box. Right click in it, it'll go blue, you should then be able to copy it then come here and paste it in. It will look like a bunch of code but changes to the photo when you click post reply
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@suebarni I LOVE your light painting! Well done!
Carly Fleischmann has severe autism. She has discovered her voice using her computer to communicate. This young woman is articulate, smart, and a typical teenager all of which we would never know about if she had not discovered this mode of communication. Her story is a beacon of hope and inspiration to all of us.
I Dream A Day....when Autism doesn't exist. When it blows away like autumn leaves.
Almost 10 yrs ago I knew nothing about autism except for the stereotypical "rainman" and images of non-verbal kids banging their heads against walls. Now I know autism in much more intimate way, I live with the richness and diversity everyday. Although every day I dream a world for my beautiful boy where he fits in and is comfortable in his own skin. I would not change a single thing about him. Although the days and nights are exhausting and sometimes leave me headbutting a wall I am so pleased my boy lets me see inside his special world every now and again. Today is world autism day! So learn about how diverse autism is, show sympathy to the mums and dads holding their special kids who are having a meltdown and before you judge another parent or child consider the shoes they wear and the path they walk maybe different to yours.
@cfitzgerald Thank you for showing the photo Kammy made for you Courtney, I'm touched by it too. How old is your son? My boys are 16.5, 13.5 and 12 and they all think they know more than me ;-).
@dmortega Thank you Dorrena, I have liked Carly and shared the link to her trailer.
@saranna Sarah does your son have sensory processing issues too? Max has SPD. Please don't head butt the wall, email me instead suebarnicoat@yahoo.co.uk ;-).
@sfeldphotos Hi Sam. When I looked at the info about you when you started your mouse thread I wondered if maybe you had autism. Max is 12, he likes facts too, and his dad likes maps ;-).
here is my photo from last year
and here is my photo from today!
@brandywalker365 wow your little one sure grew a lot in one year! This years photo is great!
I have decided (with some coaching from a fellow 365-er) to do a series of images for April, Autism Awareness month in Australia. Hope you don't mind if I post some here?
Spectrum
Blue is the colour chosen for Autism Awareness month - not sure why as most kids with autism favour green or red. But today I wanted to take a picture about the spectrum of Autism.
Every single child with autism is different.
Some seem lost in the darkest of blues, locked away in a non-verbal world often so overwhelmed with sensory input that they can't find a way out.
Others shift through shades of blue like how the colours on a leaf change and shift.
Some are tough like denim and despite the many rough times and public disapproval manage to solider on.
Some shine like satin, excelling in one area or another.
Some are rough and spiky, as they try and cope with a world that is too loud, too bright or seems to unfair.
And then when you look closely, even at the whitest white - doesn't it seem we all have a little blue in us?
So here is my image for 2nd April 2012 - our Joy :-)
It's called "Look At Me"
Continuing on my April Autism Awareness theme I thought I would talk about eye contact.
Lack of, or avoidance of eye contact is one of the major diagnosing features of autistic spectrum disorder or autism. Funnily enough it was probably the one I noticed the least.
Do you know that many adults with autism find it hard to keep jobs and maintain relationships due to the inability to maintain or make eye contact. Non- autistic people see it as a sign of lying or being untrustworthy.
One of the first goals on my son's IEP (individual education plan) was to increase his eye contact. His goal was to establish and maintain eye contact with his peers or teachers at least 60% of the time. When I read this I was torn. Torn because didn't these people realise how hard it is for people with autism to make eye contact! It's not that they don't want to - although sometimes it's because they don't think it is important. It's often connected to a sensory issue such as seeing too much when they look at your eyes or your mouth moving distracts them so much they can't concentrate on what you are saying. A recent study has also found that the brains of kids with autism receive a very strong emotional response which actually makes them feel fearful when they look someone in the face.
But on the other hand - I want my son to fit in and to fit in, people expect him to look at them when they are speaking. The number of times I have heard well-meaning people say, "Look at me when I'm talking to you" and then say to me that he isn't listening to them because he isn't looking. When in fact he listens better when he isn't looking at you.
In the end we went ahead with the goal and spoke to him about trying to do it but if it makes him uncomfortable it's OK. He has now at age 9, developed the ability to look mainly at you but if you watch his eyes they are usually darting all over the place but his head is directed at you and this serves most purposes.
Funnily enough, as my son has Aspergers, a high functioning form of autism which often leads him to be rather intense about certain subject he will often get right into peoples faces and stare intently at them when talking about things he is passionate about - all we need to do is find the happy medium :-)