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Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) provides general information of interest to the autism community. The information comes from a variety of sources and TACA does not independently verify any of it. The views expressed herein are not necessarily TACA’s. TACA does not engage in lobbying or other political activities.

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TACA E-Newsletter

June 2010 #1

Here is your update on TACA (Talk About Curing Autism). If you are new to our site... WELCOME! This newsletter is produced two to four times each month.

We are an autism education and support group. We want to make this e-newsletter informative for you. As always, contact us your thoughts and/or questions so we can improve it.

We focus on parent information and support, parent mentoring, dietary intervention, the latest in medical research, special education law, reviews of the latest treatments, and many other topics relating to autism. Our main goal is to build our community so we can connect, share and support each other.

Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) provides general information of interest to the autism community. The information comes from a variety of sources and TACA does not independently verify any of it. The views expressed herein are not necessarily TACA’s.

1. Find a TACA Meeting

Come to a TACA Meeting!

TACA holds monthly meetings in many locations throughout the United States that feature educational speakers on important topics and allow family members to connect with one another and stay on top of the latest information in the autism world. Each TACA group maintains a resource library of the latest autism books, CDs and DVDs that can be checked out by members at no charge.

Check out our group listings: each contains information on TACA meetings and special events as well as a contact form.

Are you wondering what happens at a TACA meeting? Watch our video.

2. Join Us for Coffee Talk!

Come and receive some extra support or to
chat all topics related to autism and meet
other TACA families at these informal,
monthly get-togethers.

  

3. Autism Journey Seminars

Orange County, CA

Saturday, June 26, 2010, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Saturday, September 25, 2010, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

After receiving the diagnosis of autism for a beloved child (or children), parents typically struggle as they search through various resources to locate information needed to help their child the fastest. The goal of the one-day Autism Journey Seminar is to provide parents and caretakers the “jump start” they need at the beginning of their journey from parents who have “been there, done that.” In addition to sage advice, parents who attend will receive: an overview of beginning therapies and biomedical intervention, where to go for what information, and recommended first steps. The seminar will be given by experienced parents who volunteer their time in providing the education new parents need.

Who should attend?
Our one-day seminar is geared for parents and caretakers of children affected by autism. Content will be provided in an “overview” presentation with web and book resource information for additional details. This seminar is geared to parents and caretakers new to the autism journey (less than 18 months) who have not yet started a behavioral/educational program or biomedical testing and interventions.

Register Online

4. Let's Go Ride Bikes

Sammy Carlson and Scott Rowley ride to defeat autism this July.
June 3, 2010, 2:25 PM
By: John Symms, ESPN

Oregon community members Sammy Carlson and Scott Rowley have organized a bicycle trip from Hood River, Ore., to Ogden, Utah in an effort to raise awareness for Talk About Curing Autism (TACA). The event will take place from July 8-18. Carlson and Rowley's Team Hood River 2 Ogden (H2O) will cycle over 1,000 miles and seeks to raise $25,000 to support TACA.

Sammy Carlson is a 3-time X-Games medalist in freestyle skiing. He spends his winters traveling the world in an effort to revolutionize the sport and encourage youngsters to participate in the sport that he loves. He is currently in Mt. Hood, Oregon training for H2O and the upcoming ski season.

Scott Rowley recently received his bachelor's degree in international business and entrepreneurship from Oregon State University. He learned the value of giving back to his community when he earned his Eagle Scout rank in high school. His energy is currently directed towards training for H2O, and raising awareness for TACA. Carlson and Rowley have been best friends since the age of 13 and are very excited about this new endeavor.

"This fundraiser has been motivated by a strong desire to do something positive for our community and help families affected by autism in the state of Oregon," said Rowley. Rowley and Carlson both have family friends that have been affected by autism and view this as an opportunity to help. All proceeds will benefit TACA and enable them to set up a chapter of their organization in Oregon and continue helping families affected by this neurological disorder.

Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) provides support, education, information, and resources to over 16,000 families across the United States effected by autism. One in every 91 children in the United States is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. TACA provides the largest national telephone and email response team for parents who have a child affected by autism. 95 percent of TACA's programs and services are provided at no cost to parents. They include education and support meetings, parent mentoring, and the Autism Journey Guide. TACA aims to speed up the cycle time from the autism diagnosis to effective treatments. TACA helps to strengthen the autism community by connecting families and the professionals who can help them, allowing them to share stories and information to help people with autism.

For information regarding sponsorship and support please visit TACAH2O.com or email Scott Rowley.

5. Daily Autism Updates for Families

All news related to autism: AgeofAutism.com

6. Living With Autism: When Our Kids Become Adults

HuffingtonPost.com

As Neal celebrates his 16th birthday, I am met with the realities of parenting a child with severe autism. Neal will always need me to care for him.

Yes, he has come so far in his development. At one time too frightened to even leave the house due to sensory overload; he now loves going on adrenalin-producing amusement park rides. On the day he turned 16, he rode a roller coaster and requested going on "Soaring Over California" three times in a row (much to my weak stomach's chagrin!) For the most part, Neal has chosen to leave the isolation of his inner world of autism behind and become part of this brave new world. Much of his story and how we got there is chronicled in my soon to be released memoir, Now I See the Moon www.nowiseethemoon.com (HarperCollins)

As Neal ages, I must help to create his world. But what options are out there for him? How can this tall, lanky teen whose thoughts and feelings are the same of any teenage boy (asking "when do we eat?" and flirting with cute girls) be part of a world that doesn't completely understand autism?

This is especially true with nonverbal autistics. There are still lots of folks out there who believe that just because someone cannot speak, they do not hear or think. And Neal, bless his soul, can still go into tantrum mode if his schedule is upset or an unexpected noise startles him.

I've accepted that he will always need some kind of companion to help him navigate his adult world. But where will he live? Where will he work? Will he marry? Have children? Go on dates?

What will happen to him after I pass?

Fortunately, I am not alone with my uncertainty. I've been going to conferences, becoming part of committees like the Jewish Federation Special Needs Task Force on Housing, and the Senate Select Committee on Autism, and everyone is asking the same question: "What happens when our kids become adults?" With a ratio of 1 of 110 folks having autism, and this number growing, we must find answers.

Answers come in surprising ways. I've just been privy to a new book which gives parents a road map to help their kids with autism navigate the real world, with tips on what to do when they become adults. Sixteen of the world's most renowned autism experts united to give parents those answers and there are pearls of wisdom in every chapter. Authors include Dr. Temple Grandin, Bill Davis, Karen Simmons, Keri Bowers, Eric Chessen, Stephen Shore and Pat Wyman.

I haven't read the book yet, but I'm going to order my free copy today. As part of their marketing campaign, free copies of the new book, Autism Tomorrow: The Complete Guide To Help Your Child Thrive In The Real World are now available for giveaway as long as they last, at www.AutismTomorrow.com.

Let me know your thoughts after you get yours. And let's keep this dialogue going. I'd love to hear what you are planning for your adult child. Together we can create a more compassionate, accessible world.

In joy,
Elaine Hall "CoachE"
Author, Now I See the Moon: a mother, a son, a miracle
www.nowiseethemoon.com
Founder, The Miracle Project

7. Law enforcement braces for wave of autistic young adults

Autistic individuals seven times more likely to encounter police
Richard Moore
Investigative Reporter, The Lakeland Times

It is a horrifying circumstance to be placed in, but it is happening with increasing frequency these days: An autistic teen or young adult, who thinks he or she is doing absolutely nothing wrong, suddenly finds himself or herself in a "situation" with police.

Just last week, on Friday, May 21, it happened again, this time in Georgia.

According to the Tybee Island Police Department incident report, a police officer tasered Clifford Grevemberg, a local 18-year-old with autism and a heart condition, after observing him "staggering back and forth" outside a restaurant and failing to gain any cooperation from him.

To the police, Grevemberg appeared to be "either intoxicated or on something."

The officers approached and asked for identification. Grevemberg began to back up and trip over himself, the incident report states, and police say Grevemberg eventually began to walk away without producing any identification.

In the report, the officers say Grevemberg was repeatedly asked to produce identification, and then ignored the officer's command to stop.

One officer then grabbed the teen's arm to stop him, the report indicates, and Grevemberg began "swinging his arms wildly." The two proceeded to wrestle, or scuffle, the report states, with the officer telling Grevemberg to stop resisting. When he did not do so, the officer's partner approached and tasered him.

In the incident, Grevemberg suffered a broken tooth, was bleeding from the mouth, and had mild abrasions to his knees and hands, the report states. Police arrested him for disorderly conduct. At least one witness has disputed the police report, saying Grevemberg was not resisting officers or swinging wildly.

According to the Associated Press, Grevemberg's brother says he arrived after the tasering and told police Grevemberg was "a special needs child" and had never had alcohol in his life. He said he also reported his brother's severe heart condition.

Grevemberg himself saw everything in a far different light. He told the Savannah Morning News he was stopped by police as he waited near a restaurant for his brother, who had stepped inside to order cheeseburgers.

"I just wanted to go to sleep," the teen told the newspaper. "I sat down on the curb and put my head in my arms, and they stopped me."

In the wake of the incident and after the revelation of Grevemberg's autism, the police issued what the Savannah Morning News called a "careful apology."

Police chief James Price repeated the officers' beliefs that Grevemberg appeared intoxicated, and he cited as a factor the "rowdy, raucous" atmosphere in the town that day because of a parade.

The chief also said the police were sorry that Grevemberg "was left unattended" in such an atmosphere, the newspaper reported.

Not unique

The Tybee case turns out not to be an isolated incident, nor even a very recent manifestation.

Indeed, individuals with developmental disabilities such as autism encounter the police on less than ideal terms far more often than does the general population. They are about seven times more likely than others to have "contact" with law enforcement, autism expert Dennis Debbaudt, the author of Autism, Advocates and Law Enforcement Professionals, and Dr. Darla Rothman wrote way back in April 2001, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.

That's because autism affects the normal development of the brain relating to social and communicative interaction, the authors wrote.

"Individuals with autism have difficulty appropriately communicating with, or relating to, others," Debbaudt and Rothman wrote. An autistic individual could appear intoxicated, for example, as Grevemberg did.

In another instance, they wrote, police responding to a complaint about a shoplifter might find not a shoplifter at all but a person engaging in obsessive-compulsive behavior - rearranging items or ordering those items in some sequence that other individuals may not notice.

And, nearly 10 years ago, Debbaudt and Rothman served up the same scenario that unfolded last week when police approached Grevemberg.

"An officer's approach may cause people with this condition to flee, sometimes failing to respond to an order to stop," Debbaudt and Rothman wrote. "Other autistic individuals may react by dropping to the floor or ground and rocking back and forth, averting eye contact with the officer. Officers should not interpret an autistic individual's failure to respond to orders or questions as a lack of co-operation or as a reason for increased force."

Sometimes, individuals with autism may try to respond to an officer but cannot communicate properly. In one famous example used to demonstrate how police and individuals with autism might miscommunicate, an autistic person who is asked to waive his or her rights might just possibly wave a right hand at the officer.

While the autistic individual might be trying to comply, an untrained officer might assume the person to be uncooperative and even belligerent.

Sadly, such miscommunication has sometimes had fatal results.

In March, to cite but one instance, Los Angeles police shot and killed an unarmed autistic man after he approached two gang enforcement officers and appeared to remove something from his waistband, the Associated Press reported.

The officers reportedly encountered Stephen Eugene Washington while patrolling in their car. The 27-year-old was acting suspiciously and manipulating something in his waist area, the AP quoted police officials as saying.

When the officers tried to stop Washington to investigate, he quickly approached them and seemed to pull something from his waistband, the AP again reported police as saying.

Police shot and killed Washington. No weapon was found.

The coming wave

If chance meetings between autistic persons and police officers can spin out of deadly control in an instant, and if such contacts occur at a rate seven times higher than in the general population, the potential social, economic and legal ramifications of the autism epidemic are enormous as today's autistic children grow up.

Autism rates have skyrocketed in the past few decades from about one in 2,500 children to around one in 110, and one in 70 boys. That means there could be a flood of Grevemberg- or Washington-type encounters.

Of course, much of the medical community and mainstream media continues to insist there is no autism epidemic - the numbers reflect better recognition by doctors and expanded diagnostic categories and not any real increase, they say - but many parents, who deal with the challenges daily, see it differently.

So do some government officials. As Anne Dachel, media editor of Age of Autism, has recently reported, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Thomas Insel, is one of them, though, according to Dachel, he isn't about to call it a crisis.

Dachel recently listened and reported on a lecture given by Insel at the National Institutes of Health, and, in that talk, she reports, Insel kept referencing the number of autism cases as one in 90 rather than one in 110 (the former number was used in a Pediatrics article last year), a rate he said translated into about 700,000 cases in the U.S. today, the vast majority of them minor children.

In 1992, Dachel quotes Insel as saying, the rate was one in 1,500, and he said in his medical school days he never heard about autism.

"Eighty percent of the people with a diagnosis of autism (in the U.S.) are under the age of 18," Dachel quotes Insel as saying, and she said he described it as "a huge wave that is moving through the system."

Despite that, Dachel reported, Insel most often used the word "interesting" to describe the staggering incidence of autism and did not actually label it an emergency.

"We have responded to this as if it's a crisis," Dachel reported Insel as saying. "We see this as an enormous public health challenge. If you look at those numbers, the increase and recognize how many of those kids will become adults, we ... also need to be thinking about how we prepare the nation for a million people who may need significant amounts of services as they are no longer cared for by their parents or as their parents are no longer around."

Are we ready?

Certainly such a wave will strain families and schools and mental health and social services agencies - the first breakers are rolling in and they already are - but, in the context of this article, just how ready and willing is law enforcement to deal with nearly a million autistic individuals as they reach their mid- and late teens and adulthood?

Willing they seem to be. One thing many parents might find reassuring is that most police officers and department officials are on the street and not in the universities and government labs, and so they see the crisis as real, and they see the need for training.

In Tybee, for example, city manager Diane Schleicher said as much after the Grevemberg affair, saying Tybee police officers would receive training to better understand how to deal with special needs persons, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Police themselves have become pro-active.

A few years ago, in North Carolina, Iredell County sheriff's deputy Tim Byrd became deeply involved in efforts to educate law enforcement about the needs of autistic individuals, and his labor has had a national reach; among other things, he helped develop a training video for California law enforcement officers.

"The educational aspect is important," Byrd told his local newspaper, the Mooresville Tribune, after picking up an award for his volunteer work. "There's an epidemic of it (autism) out there, and educating people how to identify it and deal with it is so important."

Lots of law enforcement agree with him. In the past several years, scores of police departments coast-to-coast - from El Dorado, Calif., to Calvert County, Maryland - have become involved in setting up autism programs and training protocols for their officers.

Here in Oneida County, too, local law enforcement officials will be attending a meeting in early June to discuss autism awareness within their departments.

There are no lack of resources to do so.

Chief among them, perhaps, is Dennis Debbaudt, who was the first to raise the issue of potential conflicts between police and autistic individuals back in the mid 1990s, in a report called Avoiding Unfortunate Situations.

Debbaudt writes articles and books, produces videos and trains emergency personnel around the world using multi-media presentations, not only for law enforcement but for first responders such as paramedics, fire, rescue, and hospital staff.

He and others use a variety of methods to help police and other emergency personnel deal with autistic individuals. For example, some agencies use on-scene response cards in the field.

As Debbaudt points out on his website, www.autismriskmanagement.com, the cards contain important communication and response information for first responders and "can be used by children and adults with autism, parents and care providers as an on-scene handout."

For instance, one side of the card might caution that autistic individuals "may not respond to your commands or questions" or "may laugh or giggle at your presence," while the other side advises personnel to "use simple language," "give praise and encouragement," and "allow extra time for response."

That's just one way police departments are preparing for an epidemic.

Other agencies have established voluntary registries for autistic residents. In these programs, parents and caregivers give police the names, addresses, descriptions and behavioral characteristics that police should be aware of in case of an encounter.

With an address or name in hand, police would know after a 911 call that an autistic individual might be involved, and that information would help them handle a contact with a nonverbal person or one who was behaving erratically or not responding in normal fashion.

Still other agencies have worked with local schools, taking part in mock drills to prepare for potential encounters at accident scenes or in other emergency conditions. Officials say the effort helps individuals with autism know what to expect in such a situation, and gives police officers and rescue workers a chance to see how those people might respond in chaotic or in specific nonroutine events.

While the techniques are varied, the point is that many police agencies are "getting it," and moving quickly to become prepared.

The question is whether those agencies can move quickly enough, and whether enough agencies will respond. Perhaps taking their cue from public health officials who don't see a crisis or an epidemic, some police departments still don't see the need for training programs specifically aimed at special needs and autistic individuals.

However, that seems to be a dwindling number, as the growing number of incidents such as those involving Grevemberg and Washington help to open more and more eyes.

Richard Moore can be reached at rmmoore1@verizon.net.

8. American military families give so much...it's our turn to give back!

One out of every 88 military children has a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. It is well established that with early and effective treatments, children with autism can make significant gains and greatly improve their overall quality of life. ACT Today! for Military Families is committed to providing funding and support for military families impacted by autism. Your donation will help military children achieve their full potential.

Military families shoulder tremendous responsibilities today due to multiple and lengthy deployments.Military families impacted by autism face even more extraordinary circumstances, and access to effective autism services is limited. With your donation, we can make a difference in the life of a military child today and provide hope for a better tomorrow!

Watch video

9. Reports accuse WHO of exaggerating H1N1 threat, possible ties to drug makers

By Rob Stein, Washington Post Staff Writer

European criticism of the World Health Organization's handling of the H1N1 pandemic intensified Friday with the release of two reports that accused the agency of exaggerating the threat posed by the virus and failing to disclose possible influence by the pharmaceutical industry on its recommendations for how countries should respond.

The WHO's response caused widespread, unnecessary fear and prompted countries around the world to waste millions of dollars, according to one report. At the same time, the Geneva-based arm of the United Nations relied on advice from experts with ties to drug makers in developing the guidelines it used to encourage countries to stockpile millions of doses of antiviral medications, according to the second report.

The reports outlined the drumbeat of criticism that has arisen, primarily in Europe, of how the world's leading health organization responded to the first influenza pandemic in more than four decades.

"For WHO, its credibility has been badly damaged," wrote Fiona Godlee, the editor of the BMJ, a prominent British medical journal, that published one of the reports. "WHO must act now to restore its credibility."

A spokesman for the WHO, along with several independent experts, however, strongly disputed the reports, saying they misrepresented the seriousness of the pandemic and the WHO's response, which was carefully formulated and necessary given the potential threat.

"The idea that we declared a pandemic when there wasn't a pandemic is both historically inaccurate and downright irresponsible," said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl in a telephone interview. "There is no doubt that this was a pandemic. To insinuate that this was not a pandemic is very disrespectful to the people who died from it."

The first report, released in Paris, came from the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which launched an investigation in response to allegations that the WHO's response to the pandemic was influenced by drug companies that make antiviral drugs and vaccines.

"The parliamentary assembly is alarmed about the way in which the H1N1 influenza pandemic has been handled, not only by the World Health Organization (WHO), but also by the competent health authorities at the level of the European Union and at national level," the 18-page draft report states.

"It is particularly troubled by some of the consequences of decisions taken and advice given leading to distortion of priorities of public health services across Europe, waste of large sums of public money, and also unjustified scares and fears about health risks faced by the European public at large," according to the report.

The second report, a joint investigation by the BMJ and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which is based in London, criticized 2004 guidelines the WHO developed based in part on the advice of three experts who received consulting fees from the two leading manufacturers of antiviral drugs used against the virus, Roche and GlaxoSmithKline.

"We are left wondering whether major public health organizations are able to effectively manage the conflicts of interest that are inherent in medical science," the report states.

Hartl dismissed those charges.

"WHO would say categorically that it believes that it has not been subject to undue conflict-of-interest. We know that some experts that come to our committees have contact with industry. It would be surprising if they didn't because the best experts are sought by all organizations," Hartl said. "We feel that the guidelines produced were certainly not subject to undue influence."

Several other experts also defended the agency.

"Twenty-twenty hindsight can always second guess the decisions of public health officials," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the Trust for America's Health, a private nonprofit group. "But this kind of condemnation of public health officials who made the most prudent decisions based on available knowledge could well backfire in future emergencies: I fear that public health officials will draw the lesson that they should wait for greater scientific certainty before responding in the future -- and we could pay for that overcaution with many lives lost."

In response to the criticism, the WHO has launched two investigations, including one by an independent panel of experts led by Harvey Fineberg, who heads the Institute of Medicine at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

"These reports raise questions about potential, inappropriate influences on WHO decision-making in the assessment and response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and, more generally, question practices employed by WHO to guard against conflict of interest among its expert advisers," Fineberg said in an e-mail. "These topics are among those that will be fully considered by our review committee."

10. Public Schools Challenged to Serve More Students with Autism Despite Budget Cuts

NEW YORK, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- School districts across the U.S. struggle with the combination of two harsh realities: an increasing intensity of budget cuts for 2010-11, and complying with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which guarantees "free appropriate" education to all disabled students including the growing number of students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition, parents are pressuring schools to either comply with the IDEA or face legal action.

Public school administrators and special education directors looking for innovative ways to save costs, while still providing a quality evidence-based education for students with autism, are utilizing low-cost but high-tech services that offer curriculum planning, staff training and data tracking and reporting. A company offering such a technology that is seeing rapid adoption in public school districts is Rethink Autism.

"Although we are in our most dismal budget time in education, I can't imagine us not spending the dollars necessary to continue with the Rethink Autism program," says Ms. Laura McGill, Program Specialist at the School District of Indian River County, Florida.

Rethink Autism's unique web-based program provides teachers with a comprehensive evidence-based curriculum through 1200+ video-based teaching steps, parent and staff training modules, an assessment tool, and progress tracking features. The curriculum, endorsed by leaders in the field of autism treatment and research, spans the entire autism spectrum and covers a broad range of skills, including academics, language, social, motor, daily living, and behavior managements.

"There may be no greater challenge facing public schools today than the staggering increase in children diagnosed with autism," writes Fran Smith(1), a contributing editor at Edutopia.org, a website published by The George Lucas Educational Foundation.

A recent study(2) by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), based on a survey of 453 school administrators conducted in March 2010, showed that school budget cuts will be noticeably more significant for 2010-11 than recent years, with the depletion of stimulus funds and continued budget strains at the state and local levels.

An estimated 637,000 children ages 3-17 in the U.S. (or 1 in 91) had a current ASD diagnosis in 2007 according to a widely accepted study(3) published in the October 5, 2010 issue of Pediatrics. That represents a 67% increase from a previous estimate from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which reported autism rates of 66 per 10,000 children (or 1 in 150) in 2002.

Shrinking budgets and serving a growing number of students with an ASD are not the only issues that U.S. public schools are facing. However, the priority and urgency of the matter is compounded by the significant financial and legal risk of not addressing the issue.

"Parents press for evidence-based educational strategies and school administrators realize that it may be cheaper to beef up autism programs than continue to fight lawsuits," writes Smith. "In fact, almost every student at almost every leading private school for autism attends at public expense."

About Rethink Autism
Rethink Autism, Inc. seeks to ensure that every child on the autism spectrum has access to effective and affordable evidence-based treatment options by providing professionals, parents, and family members with the tools and information necessary to teach children with autism in a way that is easy to understand and apply. Rethink Autism was founded in 2007 and has its headquarters at 19 West 21st Street in New York City.

(1) "Educators Deal with the Growing Problem of Autism," by Fran Smith, Edutopia (March 2008).
(2) "A Cliff Hanger: How America's Public Schools Continue to Feel the Impact of the Economic Downturn," published by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in March 2010.
(3) "The Prevalence of Parent-Reported Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children in the United States, 2007," published in the Oct. 5 issue of Pediatrics.
Contact: Jamie Pagliaro (Executive Vice President, Rethink Autism); email: Jamie@rethinkautism.com / ph: 646-257-2919 ext. 205

SOURCE Rethink Autism, Inc.

11. Young Man with Autism Uses Assistive Technology to Give Commencement Speech

AgeofAutism.com

Managing Editor's Note: Congratulations to our good friend Chantal Sicile-Kira and her family on Jeremy's success.

San Diego Ranch Coast News

Inspirational autistic TPHS student graduates, will deliver a commencement speech

From The Carmel Valley News By Karen Billing

Jeremy Sicile-Kira is autistic and cannot speak, but that does not mean he has nothing to say. After seven years at Torrey Pines High School, he has earned his high school diploma and will deliver a commencement speech to his classmates through voice-assisted technology at the June 18 graduation ceremony.

“I am nervous but very touched that I am giving a speech,” said Jeremy, using a letter board to spell out his words. “I want to tell them never give up on your dreams.”

To graduate high school Jeremy, 21, has taken units in mainstream general education classes as well as in his severely handicapped classes with Allen Gustafson, whom Jeremy said is the “best teacher.” He does all the same work as his regular education peers, he just gets more time to do it. He passed his California High School Exit Exam on the first try and will attend MiraCosta College in the fall to study communications.

Next week he will graduate on the same day as his sister, Rebecca, a senior at Canyon Crest Academy.

“I was pretty amazed,” said proud mom Chantal, who never even expected it would be possible for Jeremy to earn his diploma, let alone with a 3.5 GPA.

Along the autism spectrum, every child’s symptoms are different. Although Jeremy can say a few words, he has never been able to speak. In a speech written for an autism conference, Jeremy explained how his autism affected his vision, hearing and motor skills.

He said he had to learn how to hear, how to know which noise to pay attention to and distinguish when someone was speaking to him. He had to learn how to focus to be able to see.

“If I don’t concentrate, the world seems surreal,” Jeremy said...

Read the full article at San Diego Ranch Coast News.