Autism and Asperger's

Introductions

Introductions are a difficult thing to do a lot of the time. Depending on the severity of the individual introductions can be a stressful process. They can also be awkward for the other person involved if they know nothing about people with disabilities. Introductions have to be planned out to some extent and are mandatory before leaving them alone with the person for an extended period of time in most cases. Again all of this depends on the severity of the person affected with the disabilities.

Kind Stranger

There is an article on ABC News about a stranger’s kind interaction with a child with autism. This goes to show what a simple act of kindness can do for someone, especially someone with Autism. This man could have done a number of other things, or just ignored her, instead he played with her. 

This is not generally what a stranger would do in a situation like this one. They normally ignore the child which I find a tad rude, even though they feel uncomfortable, there is no need to make the child feel uncomfortable as well. The child is innocent, and the least you can do is give them some attention to make it seem like they are recognized. He went above and beyond though, and played with her the whole plane ride. 

This man was probably not used to children with special needs, but he was so kind to Kate. This was a great act of kindness from him. I think more people need to follow his example he set. This is not a case of some person who has children with special needs or works with them interacting with this child on the plane. This was just some stranger without connections into that world. 

The mother was also very nice and wrote a nice blog post explaining the interaction in more detail. This just shows how great he was to her. He entertained her the entire plane ride, which is hard for someone to do that isn’t used to being around someone with special needs. When her mini freak out happened and he tried to help it was also shows that he was attached to her. It is hard not to get a little attached, because they makes such a strong impression on you, especially when you sit and talk to them for a while.

In the video on the website it shows him getting emotional about the thank you he received from Kate’s mother.  This is also another sign of him being a slight bit attached to her. It also shows how touching her words were for him. He thought of it as a polite gesture, but to her it meant so much more. It was so sweet of him to do this I hope other people learn from this, take it as an example, and follow it.

Group Homes

Choosing whether to put your child in a group home can be a difficult decision for many parents who have children with severe disabilities. They can be criticized with whatever choice they make, but the critics don’t know anything until they go a day in their shoes. It can be a difficult living situation, or ever dangerous for some of the people living there. It mostly depends on the child but I always back up sending a child with disabilities to a group home. It may sound harsh at first but there are logical reasons for doing it.

If the child is a danger to themself or others they should probably be put into a group home. Most parents have jobs and it is hard to keep up with a child that could be threatening another child in the home. Sometimes the children get too big and strong and the parents just cannot physically keep them out of harm’s way. This is when it is time to move the child to a group home, where they can get the necessary care to live a happy and safe life.

Another reason is what happens if the parents were to get into some kind of accident? The child would lose any consistency they had prior to the accident and be forced into a group home, which would cause a lot of unnecessary stress. If they were already in a group home they would get just have one thing change in that instance, not everything at once.

Another benefit would be having happier time with them. It might not be more time but the visits can be full of fun and happiness instead of stress of trying to take care of them 24/7. That may sound bad but it can be very stressful and it takes a toll on the whole family. Visiting them would be much less stressful than having them at home. This creates a better environment for everyone in the family because everyone can be happy and everyone can have a peaceful place to live, getting the attention they need. They also have a lot less stress in the household.

All of this being said, it is still completely based on the child, and their age. Some are ready to move out earlier than others, while others need to move out before others would ever move out. This is all based on the need and readiness of the child, or adult in some cases.

CI ruining Deaf Culture?

Is the cochlear implant ruining the deaf culture? That is a very hot debate and argument in whether people should get the cochlear implant or not. A cochlear implant makes a deaf person have something similar to hearing, which would change the way they communicate from sign to speaking. I personally think that cochlear implants have good parts and bad parts to them, but do threaten to ruin deaf culture.

At the center of every culture there is a language. The language is the heart of the culture, without it, the culture fades away. If the language begins to go away then the culture itself will begin to diminish as well. This could happen with deaf culture. As sign language is used less and less because of the cochlear implants the culture is becoming less known with deaf people.  If more deaf people get the implant then there is less people to share the language with which will lead to the downfall of the culture.

Another issue is they become accustom to hearing culture more than the deaf culture. Kids are getting the implants starting at a very young age, they can even get it before they turn two years old! If they get them this early there is a good chance they will just get involved with hearing culture and not even worry about deaf culture.

Which School?

There are different options for deaf children to go to school ranging from going to a public school to going to an all deaf school. If they go to an all deaf school they have the choice of going to an orally taught school or one where ASL is used. I think the all deaf school with the ASL teaching is the best choice for a deaf child.

The ASL method has been successful for a long time, and will give them more options than going to one of the other schools. They do not need an interpreter at this school, like they would at a mainstream school. They are dependent on learning from an interpreter, rather than learning from the teacher. They have devices now to help, but they still don’t capture every word correctly and it takes the focus off the teacher and the lesson.

Anyone who is taught orally is at a slight disadvantage in some ways. It takes a lot longer to learn how to speak when you cannot hear, which impairs how long it would take for the student to learn the material and words. They learn a lot less when they have to focus on how to make sounds they can’t hear and read lips. The oral only method actually helped with the old “deaf and dumb” term that used to be used to describe deaf people. They just couldn’t learn as much because it takes a lot longer to be able to talk and read lips. After each new word learned the student would have to go back and try to imitate it, they cannot just simply learn the alphabet and sound out words. It has improved with technology, but is still difficult to do.

Another downfall to the oral method is that lip reading can be inaccurate and lead to misunderstanding or misinterpreting. Lip reading is also difficult, for both hearing and deaf people alike. Most of the time reading lips isn’t accurate then, there is a misunderstanding between the two that are talking to each other. They also won’t be provided an interpreter in some legal cases which can be hard. Some people don’t learn how to use ASL and if they happen to be in a legal situation and don’t know what someone is saying they have less of a way to understand them.

The schools that have all ASL learning is the best case scenario. Teachers teach the students without an interpreter needed. The students can focus on the lessons and ask questions easier than in mainstream schools. They can learn a large vocabulary with their signs, because it is not limited in voice coaching. They also learn writing to be able to communicate with people who don’t know ASL. With ASL there isn’t much room for misinterpretation, because each sign has its own meaning. They will always be provided an interpreter for any reason they would need one. I think another very important reason is they are surrounded by other students with the same impairment they are, so bullying for being deaf cannot occur.

For all of the reasons stated above, I think that if there is a deaf child and they are at the age where they need to start school they should be going to one where it is ASL based and taught. I think it would be in that person’s best interest to go to that type of school. There are other options the need is definitely based on the child, and differs from child to child. I still think the ASL schools offer the best opportunity for deaf students.

CI vs Deaf

This is a hot debate in the deaf community. There is a lot of controversy between the older generation and the younger about CI or cochlear implants. Many of the people in the younger generations get the cochlear implants and live life like a hearing person. This can cause problems in the Deaf Community. The older people in the Deaf Community do not generally like the idea of the cochlear implants.

The newer generation of people who are deaf generally like the idea of the cochlear implant. It is a very helpful tool for them to communicate with other people that do not know sign language. It also can help them “fit in” better with kids in their school, if they are mainstreamed into an all hearing school. There is also more of a chance for them to make friends at a younger age. Kids are very judgmental and can shun other kids or cast them off as weird for the stupidest things. They have many good arguments for why they should get them, but a lot of the time that does not matter to the older generation of deaf people.

The older generation generally fears the cochlear implants. The people that don’t want them have a good reason. They fear their culture will be ruined. The center of every culture is a language, without the language the culture begins to fade away. A lot of the deaf culture is based around sign language, like with storytelling, art, and even their own music. It is thought of as very beautiful by many people, and the older generation fears of losing that beauty. Deaf people also tend to be very close knit in their groups.

A lot of parents that are hearing who have deaf kids tend to want them to get cochlear implants at a young age. This could be what the child wants, but also might not be. That is a very large debate going on in the Deaf Community also. They can get the procedure done with the child at about one year of age in the United States. It varies in other countries and from doctor to doctor. But this is a huge deal because they cannot tell you whether they don’t want one or do want one. The parents tend to want the child to get one for reasons similar to the new generation. The other reason is that they want to be able to talk to their child and generally don’t have an accurate perception of what it means to be deaf.

I don’t think this debate will ever be solved, mainly because it is completely based on a personal opinion. You cannot tell someone that they cannot get a new technology if they want to and are an adult. You also cannot tell someone how to raise their child. It is all a matter of opinion. Everyone has a stance on the issues if they are deaf because it is such a hot topic, but there will never be a right or wrong answer.