 Sean Owen . Age 3 . At the Beach . August 1997 |
Sean is currently 8 years old and attends Mountain Brook Elementary. He is in an inclusion program which means that he is being mainstreamed, working alongside his second grade classmates with the help of Mrs. Wright, his one-on-one aid. The primary goals for this year are to continue to develop communication and socialization skills so that he will be able to express his desires and needs effectively which reduce tantrums and disruptive behavior due to frustration. Communication and socialization are two main problems that autistic persons have. Since being diagnosed in 1998, Sean has steadily improved due to early intervention, constant exposure to speech and occupational therapy and behavior modification. Also, since being a student at Mountain Brook, Sean has revealed that he has spiked skills which means that he studies a subject to the point of obsession. For example, after taking Sean to the library each week and zoo every tuesday (free day) he began to study an animal atlas. This went on for about two months. He was given a visual dictionary and from that point on he began to study the human body, then cameras, produce (exotic fruits and veggies, cross sections, etc.), drums, united states maps. His sister, Savannah, age 9 predicts that he will move on to study the planets. |
| Sean seldom tantrums any more. If he does it isn't because he can't communicate with me. It's because he is doing the normal little boy thing... throw down when I don't get what I want sort of thing! YEA! He is talking in sentences now and is beginning to read. He is also answering my questions and carrying on small conversations. When you read further down you will see where he has been and know that his progress has been substantial. Sean had been developing normally since birth, beginning to speak and respond appropriately to questions. He played with toys appropriately, would ask for a favorite video, etc. At the age of two he begin to tantrum violently. He became non-verbal. He displayed odd behaviors. For example: He seemed to be attracted to linear objects, such as straws, raw spagetti noodles, q-tips. He trickled sand and freshly mown grass through his hand over and over again for long periods of time. He'd stare past it as it fell as if he was hypnotized by the motion. He'd also collect things that didn't relate to one another. Sean was not as affectionate as he had been prior to regression. His eating habits were peculiar (and still are.) I had to quickly become innovative to get Sean to eat a somewhat balanced diet. I discovered that if I grated the cheese it resembled grass. He'd eat it all. If I gave him a slice of cheese, he wouldn't touch it. His food choices were primarily yellow linear foods: french toast cut into strips, bacon, french fries, carrot sticks, chips, noodles. Before regression began, he ate green beans, oatmeal, grits and scrambled eggs. Texture was a problem. Today, Sean enjoys pizza, carrot sticks, jello, french fries, cheetos, watermelon, applesauce, toast and yogurt which I limit because I began to notice irritability. He is willing to try new things such as baked chicken, raw cauliflower, sunflower seeds and peanuts. At the time of diagnosis we lived in Harlingen, Texas. We had been transferred there from Chatom, Alabama. Sean was born in Mobile. I called Easter Seals for help, (by this time about 4 months of regression had taken place.) He was just about to turn three when he was evaluated by the school district. He was placed in a full time special education program at a public school. He automatically qualified for summer school. Sean was diagnosed by Dr. John Seals and immediately prescribed Tegretol and several years later, Prozac for OCD (obssessive compulsive disorder.) On our first visit to the neurologist I took a bundle of things that sean had collected. It consisted of: a tag from a garment, his sister's sock, a ribbon, q-tips, a pillow case, and a small plastic toy. I pulled them out of the backpack and gave them to Sean. He held them up way above his head and stared past all the objects as they fell to the floor. Apparently the neurologist had seen this type of behavior before and knew it was characteristic of autistic children. It is called "stimming". Stimming is a repetitive motion that seems to have a calming affect of autistic persons. They become focused on the movement and fail to connect with the "real world". After more questions, the doctor determined that Sean suffered from Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). Sean, Savannah and I moved from Texas back to Alabama, (Birmingham) in 2001. We entered a program at Glenwood, an organization that educates families in areas of stress management, anger management and behavior modification. They help with structuring the home and place an emphasis on the importance of using picture symbols in addition to other means of communication. Using picture symbols helps the autistic person to place a visual with the desire. This reduces the frustration that often occurs when there in a breakdown in communication. I owe Sean's progress to his teachers and to the program at Glenwood. Sean is going to be just fine. | |