Autism Street

At the end of this past week, I was fortunate to be invited back to the USD Summer Austism Institue to participate in a presentation with other Autism-Hub bloggers. The most memorable couple of hours for me, without a doubt, were the ones spent at dinner on San Diego Harbor with fellow bloggers Steve D (One Dad’s Opinion) and Bev (Asperger Square 8).

At USD, and with some updated content, we were given the opportunity to talk about the Autism-Hub. Steve D provided some background about the hub and blogging in general, as well as opening with some excellent selected pieces (my humble opinion of course):

A Little Left Rudder (video)
The Best Story Ever (reading)
I am Joe’s Functioning Label (reading)
Dear Dr. Kartzinel (video)

Then, I was given the opportunity to talk about a few different subjects. As I’ve done in the past, I’d like to add some notes here, to several things mentioned - five minutes each, for a few different topics, just doesn’t leave sufficient time to cover the relevant original articles and referenced material. Although I did not dig into the science this time, I did mention that I’d been writing about hyperbaric oxygen as an autism treatment (Autism Street and Left Brain/Right Brain) - you can find links to those articles and recent commentary at BMC Pediatrics at the following link:

Mild HBOT For Autism - A Brief Skeptical Guide

Then, I noted that place in Arizona where it snows “special snow for autistic children” every year. The original post this is based on can be found at:

Snow! Baby

Following that, I very briefly presented some autism “epidemic” mythology. Firstly noting media mentions of one California study from earlier this year, I followed by presenting the graphs from the Autism Street original article:

California’s Invisible Autism Epidemic

As promised, source data for my graphs can be found at the following links (the USDE data is available and free to the public).

http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/1998/appnd-a.pdf (AA12)
http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/1999/apptable.pdf (AA12)
http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2000/appendix-a.pdf (AA12)
http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2001/appendix-a-pt1.pdf (AA10)
http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2002/appendix-a-pt1.pdf (AA12)
http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2003/25th-vol-2-tables-aa.pdf (AA12)
https://www.ideadata.org/tables28th/ar_1-13.xls
https://www.ideadata.org/tables29th/ar_1-13.htm
https://www.ideadata.org/tables30th/ar_1-16.htm
https://www.ideadata.org/TABLES31ST/AR_1-16.htm

If you’re one of the many educators who attended the conference, and would prefer to have a copy of my spreadsheet with the data, graphs, and relevant links included, simply send me an e-mail.

Next, I had an opportunity to discuss “Autism and Divorce” mythology with the audience. Content from this portion of my presentation was derived from the original article at Left Brain/Right Brain about the Easter Seals Living With Autism study.

Autism And Divorce

Also, as mentioned, a link to the actual study (and some additional details) are provided there.

At the end of my short presentations, we had time for a very short audience-included activity about inclusion.

Following these things, it was my pleasure to introduce Autism-Hub blogger Bev from Asperger Square 8. Bev started by providing a riveting multi-media presentation that carefully dissects misrepresentation of human beings by so-called “autism advocates” (from the use damaging words and descriptions to the prevalence of that god-damned puzzle piece). Then, she clearly illustrates the problem with the hijacking of autism conversation. She notes the relentless irrelevancy, but most importantly, the implications of missing what really needs to be discussed amongst the cacophony of bombardments focused on cause/cure and in the name of “awareness”. Just a few of the important things that are often lost in the din? Inclusion, the use of restraints, appropriate supports and accomodations, and employment for adults.

Whether you’re a parent or an educator/professional (and besides simply reading her blog), if you ever have the opportunity to catch a presentation by Bev, I highly recommend it.

At the end of the last day, we were given the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with the audience. During that segment, I mentioned the TED talk about “The Hole In The Wall Project”. You can find that video here:

One Reason Inclusion Matters

That’s it for now. I’d certainly like to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to Steve D and Bev for welcoming me as a co-presenter, and of course, our particpation at USD wouldn’t have been possible without the support and opportunity extended to us by USD’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences, Anne Donnellan, Ph.D., and Jodi Robledo, Ph.D.

Addendum

Added 6/29/2009: Personal notes on the conference from Bev and Steve, respectively.

What happens in San Diego

Way Beyond Awareness