Some Finished Products

Week Two 2/25/16

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week!

Although I’ve been at SEEDs for only a week, I have witnessed so many different things and observed a plethora of different interactions. I’ve sat in the weaving, ceramics, jewelry, and sewing classes and saw how each of these students take in new information and apply their knowledge.

Yesterday was the most interesting day so far. Like any other person, the students all seemed to have an off-day. No one seemed focused and everyone seemed a bit on edge and easily irritated. It was only today that I realised last night was a full moon… Regardless of the conspiracy about full moons and weird behavior, the day proceeded forward with just a few drawbacks. The instructors had to constantly remind everyone to concentrate and stay focused.

As I sat in the sewing department, I watched three students more closely. The female student showed high-functioning skills and quick communication skills, so she took directions well. On the other hand, the two male students lacked these skills. One displayed communicating abilities, but also showed great insecurity in his work, therefore easily frustrated. The other lacked communicating skills and displayed loud repetitive behavior. Most of his vocabulary was actually in Spanish, so the instructor had a hard time understanding the student.

Although this student may be seen as “low-functioning,” he surprisingly learned how to use a sewing machine in only one day. As the instructor showed the female student how to use one, I quickly became very confused.

Then I realized I began to see an indirect relationship with focus and functioning level. We all believe high-functioning students are quite verbal and can have a steady conversation; however, these students show a lack of concentration for a long period of time. They also, ironically, talk a little too much and don’t listen to instructions thoroughly. While the low-functioning students are seen as the non-verbal, they show great level of intelligence and display very strong concentration for a long period of time. They listen to instructions very well and absorb any information you tell them, displaying a much faster learning curve. Therefore, this notion of categorizing “high-functioning” and “low-functioning” students isn’t quite accurate. Each student is a different case and has different goals. Like I’ve said in my first post, we cannot simply label each person with autism. They are just as unique as any other person in our society.

Thanks for stopping by! Talk to you guys soon!

Grace

Week One 2/17/16

Yesterday was my first day at SEEDs for Autism. Since I arrived fifteen minutes before classes started, I saw each student come through the door to see a new face. After a daily morning meeting with all of the students, Mary Ann LaRoche, my mentor, took me on a tour. I saw each station with its intricate tools and became almost intimidated; I could never figure out how to use a weaving loom or a welding machine.

As these thoughts ran through my head, Ms. LaRoche sat me down once again to tell me why she started a pilot program in her own backyard. A sister herself, she saw her brother growing up with an artistic talent and realized a need for a workplace for adults with autism. Her brother has now passed away and SEEDs was created in his memory.

I spent the day observing students in the ceramics department. In the morning class, both students were glazing clay sculptures. Simultaneously, the instructor directed a conversation about coping with change. Like most people with autism, change causes a great deal amount of stress and schedules act almost as a safe haven. However, life as we know it is a never-ending cycle of changes. Both students talked about different changes that had occurred in their lives in the past 12 months, each concluding that the change was for the better. 

The afternoon consisted of a different group of students and the artistic dynamic between these three was very interesting. All three students were very high-functioning; however, two were very verbal and one was not. Each excelled in a different area of ceramics: cutting, detail work, glazing. As the instructor directed a similar conversation from the morning class, I saw each student’s multi-tasking skills. The nonverbal student had laser focus on his art project while the instructor asked him one-answer questions to simply have him say something. 

The slow learning curve and the development of social skills is the driving force behind SEEDs. With the two, the integration of people with autism back into society can be achieved. 

Talk to you guys soon!

Grace

Some of Calvin's Artwork

What is Autism? 2/12/16

Hello everyone!

This week I took the time to research about autism: its biological definition, causes, symptoms, etc.

When one asks, “What is Autism?” a vague answer of some sort of a brain disorder might come up.  The Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that impairs social interaction, communication, and speech skills. There hasn’t been an answer to what causes autism; however, scientists have found some gene mutations related to autistic symptoms. Nevertheless, the cause is rarely because of the gene mutations, but rather the combination of these gene mutations and environmental factors that are related to the earlier stages of brain development.

These environmental factors are closely related to events happening in short time periods before and during birth. Some factors include advanced parental age for both parents, illness during pregnancy, premature birth, difficulties during birth, especially in cases where the baby brain is deprived of oxygen. Other research states that mothers exposed to pesticides and air pollution have a higher chance of having a child with ASD. Nevertheless, there is still not a definite answer to what causes autism.

Children with autism can easily become categorized: verbal, nonverbal, high-functioning, low-functioning. However, every individual on this spectrum is a unique case. Many people with autism possess a special ability in art, music, academics. About 40 percent have an intellectual disability, or an IQ less than 70. 25 percent of these individuals are nonverbal and use other means of communicating, such as Assistive Technology. When treating any person with autism, every case is different and one method of treatment might work for one, but not the other.

There are some common symptoms among these individuals, such as scripting and self-talk. Scripting is when he or she repeats lines from cartoons or movies and self-talk is when he or she talks himself or herself through a thought process out loud. In that sense, we all talk to ourselves on some level. Some symptoms shown at a younger age are lack of eye-contact and no speech.

In every case I read, each parent who received the news from a doctor saying his or her child has autism said the earlier you can get the diagnosis, the faster you can find treatment for your child. In this day and age, we are finding more answers to this mysterious brain disorder and I will keep you all posted!

Talk to you soon!

Grace