Tag: siblings
‘How to Be a Sister’: Autism and hard-won love
Oregon Live
When Margaret Garvin was 3 years old, she was diagnosed with severe autism. Her sister Eileen was about to be born.
“Throughout the course of my life, I’ve only been certain of two things: I am the youngest of five children, and I am my sister Margaret’s older sister,” Eileen Garvin writes in “How to Be a Sister: A Love Story With a Twist of Autism.” “Even though she was born three years earlier than I, I was the caretaker, the dependable one, and, as far as I can see, always will be. Instead of growing up in the protective shadow of my big sister, I often found myself dodging things she was throwing at me or chasing that shadow through a crowd of people as my big sister took off on some crazy escapade.”
via ‘How to Be a Sister’: Autism and hard-won love | OregonLive.com.
Posted on July 6, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism, Caregiving | Tags: Autism, book, children with Autism, family caregiving, siblings
Autism’s effect on siblings, a sister’s research
NorthJersey.com
Much of the research on the effect of autism on siblings is done by … adult researchers. This post is about a research project by a New Jersey 16-year-old who is the sister of a boy with autism.
When Gabby Abramowitz was younger, she was cautious about inviting new friends to the house. She wasn’t sure how they would react to her younger brother, Ben, who is autistic.
And she didn’t want a repeat of the Simpsons incident. That was the time she had a friend over for dinner, and Ben sat at the table reciting the entire “Treehouse of Horror” Simpsons Halloween special.Gabby pleaded with him to stop, but he persisted.”
My friend was like, ‘What’s going on?’ and then started laughing,” she said.
At that time, she was in elementary school and lacked the words and understanding to explain her brother’s condition. But with the help of her parents and through her own study, Gabby, now 16 and a sophomore at Tenafly High School, has grown to understand the nuances of autism and often speaks out to teach her peers while growing closer to Ben, 14.
Through her research, she found that her experiences, and those of others like her, often are overlooked. “I think the effect on siblings is underestimated. We get pushed into the background.”
via NorthJersey.com: Autism’s effect on the ‘normal siblings’.
Posted on May 19, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: Autism, children with Autism, siblings
Life with this autistic teen: Constant vigilance, unconditional love
Tri-Town (N.J.) News
Fifteen-year-old Sean Walsh paces in a robotic loop around the lower level of his family’s Camelot Drive, Howell, home.
He circles the table in the family’s great room, pauses by his sister Shannon, then punches her in the head.
“I can’t fight back,” she says later. “How are you going to punch an autistic kid in the nose?”
Only minutes later, Sean hugs his mother, Michelle, and his 17- year-old sister. He tussles with his father, Howell Mayor Robert F. Walsh, and laughs.
via Constant vigilance, unconditional love | tritown.gmnews.com | Tri-Town News.
Posted on May 13, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism, Caregiving | Tags: Autism, family caregiving, siblings, teenagers with autism
Family bike program for children with autism
MyCentralJersey.com
On April 24, Intensive Therapeutics, a non-profit organization for children with special needs, and Autism Family Tours with Briana, held their Bike Club Kickoff event with the help of the Scotch Plains and Fanwood Police Departments.
Members of the community were invited to attend the kickoff event, where the Scotch Plains Police Department provided bike riding safety tips for the children and their families.
The children participated in obstacle courses that tested their bike riding skills. Siblings of the new bike riders also participated in the event, making it a fun family experience.
The Intensive Therapeutics Bike Club was created to celebrate the joy of families riding together after Intensive Therapeutics and Autism Family Tours with Brianna collaborated in a six-week program called “Ready, Set, Ride”. The program helped provide a safe environment for children of all ages and abilities to share in the experience of biking riding.
Posted on May 12, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: activities, Autism, children with Autism, siblings, sports
Activity helps kids learn about autism
Decatur, Ill., Herald-Review
Sometimes Madison Roberson has to explain her younger brother’s behavior to her friends.
Justin Grider is in second grade and has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, and though he is an outstanding student academically, his social skills often are lacking, which is typical of autism. Autistic kids don’t always understand when someone is kidding or that they should respect personal space.
“I know my brother doesn’t have a lot of friends because people think he’s not nice,” said the fourth-grader at Hope Academy. “I had this friend, and I just told her that he’s the same as any of us, so just treat him nice. If she has a question, she just asks me, and she understands it better now.”
via Activity helps kids learn about autism.
Posted on May 10, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: activities, children, children with Autism, school, siblings
Holly Robinson Peete: 8 Facts About Autism the Media Is Not Covering
Huffington Post
Autism mom Holly Robinson Peete has a great post in the Huffington Post about the things that don’t always grab headlines — things like race, puberty, marital status… read on:
Over the years many parents have reached out to me for emotional support after their child was diagnosed with autism. I particularly remember getting Jenny McCarthy’s phone call shortly after her son’s diagnosis. Like most moms and dads, she needed to connect with somebody who knew first hand the swift gut-kick of this difficult diagnosis, somebody who had been in the trenches for 7 years already.
via Holly Robinson Peete: Shifting Focus: 8 Facts About Autism the Media Is Not Covering.
Posted on March 29, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: adults with autism, Autism, celebrities, children with Autism, marriage, puberty, race, siblings
Technology helps family with autistic sons
The Southtown Star
Here’s an article about three brothers with autism who have been helped by technology — one who uses computers, one who communicates via PowerPoint slides and one who communicates with an iPod Touch.
Cathy and Bob Strybel, of Orland Park, want to get their three sons out into the world.
“We want to help them find their way,” Cathy Strybel said. “If technology helps them, we’re going to support them the best we can.”
The Strybels have three autistic sons, Patrick, 15, a freshman at Andrew High School in Tinley Park; Danny, 13, a seventh-grader at Jerling Junior High in Orland Park; and Matt, 10, a fifth-grader at Liberty School in Orland Park.
All three boys followed different paths to the diagnosis of autism and Cathy Strybel said the widely accepted genetic markers of autism are not yet found in her boys. She said they would be considered high functioning on the spectrum.
Technology has certainly helped the Strybels.
via Technology helps Orland family with autistic sons :: The SouthtownStar :: News.
Posted on March 26, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: Autism, children with Autism, family caregiving, school, siblings, technology
Autistic Teen Picks First Two NCAA Rounds Perfectly
NBC Chicago
An autistic teenager from the Chicago area has done something almost impossible.
Nearly 48 games into an upset-filled NCAA tournament, 17-year-old Alex Hermann is perfect.
“It’s amazing,” he says. Truly.
The teenager predicted that Northern Iowa would beat the Kansas Jayhawks. He picked Ohio to knock off Georgetown. And Cornell to knock off Wisconsin.
via Autistic Teen Picks First Two NCAA Rounds Perfectly | NBC Chicago.
Posted on March 24, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism | Tags: athletics, Autism, siblings
A possible early glimpse of autism’s impact on older siblings
EurekAlert!
Researchers looking at families with an autistic child say they don’t yet know whether the impacts are the result of having an autistic child in the family or if they might be part of a broader genetic predisposition.
A new study suggests a trend toward developing hyperactivity among typically developing elementary-school-aged siblings of autistic preschoolers and supports the notion that mothers of young, autistic children experience more depression and stress than mothers with typically developing children.
While the impact on older siblings was not statistically significant, the trend may indicate the presence of symptoms associated with broader observable autism characteristics seen in previous studies, says Laura Lee McIntyre, a professor and director of the University of Oregon’s school psychology program.The study was published in the March issue of the journal Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities.
Previous research projects have netted mixed findings, but many suggest that families dealing with autism — especially brothers and sisters of an autistic child — also experience symptoms similar to autism: widespread abnormalities of social interactions, communication and behavior.
via A possible early glimpse of autism’s impact on older siblings.
Posted on March 9, 2010 | No Comments | Category: Autism, Caregiving | Tags: Autism, children with Autism, families, mothers, siblings