Today as we toured the local community college, my son (who is severely impacted by autism and has little verbal skills) turned to me and spelled out on his letter board, "Mom, you are nice to help my dreams come true."
How could I do any less than to help him reach his goals? My son has worked so hard to not be "imprisoned in darkness" as he so eloquently put it in the commencement speech he gave at his high school graduation on Friday, June 18.
Listen for yourself, and tell me, would you do any less then help his dreams come true?
WATCH:
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Autism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Autism Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders ...
Holding's irrelevant. Clever Hans wasn't touched. The science on cueing includes hundreds of studies--the ones involving touching are the less common. RPM advocates seem unaware or unconcerned that RPM does exactly what we know will reliably establish prompt dependency and unconscious cueing, touching or not.
To say, "You can't dupe a whole school" and that it's "one bad or inappropriate case," is dangerous, irresponsible naiveté--especially from an established autism author. Facilitated Communication, never once proven to work, yet endorsed by Sicile-Kira in her writing, has duped thousands of individuals, scores of schools, amateurs and academics alike. Dozens of innocent people, children to grandparents, have been falsely accused. Some jailed. RPM will be a rerun of FC--but worse. Without touching, the false credibility is enhanced.
Sicile-Kira says: "they must be properly trained and…the work should validated." What ethical, properly trained professional uses such untested methods? How could training standards even be established? I've taken RPM training. There was no clinical responsibility modeled or spoken of. And the validations? What are they? RPM specifies no objective authentication procedures. Indeed, RPM's founder, Soma Mukhopadhyay, has made her disdain for data clear in her writing and workshops. That's why we read of scam-proof schools and procedural irrelevancies instead of bona-fide evidence from sound methodology.
But I also believe that like other educational techniques, and autism therapies and treatments, there are many that do not have studies, but parents cannot wait until the studies are done to see if it would be helpful for their child - they take years. You have to try what makes sense for your child with the help and supervision of experienced professionals.
I appreciate your opinion and discussing them - that's what's great about America - we all have the right to different opinions and to discuss them. However, perhaps you could use your name when sharing your opinions - its nice to know who I am communicating with.
Enjoy the summer.
Well said. You had all of what I wanted to say, as well. Thank you for the info. I wish more people knew of this horror!
No one is holding my son's arm, no one is facilitating. Even if someone were, you can't dupe a whole school if you are validating along the way.
You can't generalize from one bad or inappropriate case (as you are doing) or incident to everyone.
I believe that when you have support staff, they must be properly trained and that the work should validated from time to time. There are ways of doing that.
It's a horrible delusion/illusion these parents believe. This was such a travesty of justice, such a scandle in NY, that the show: "Law
You can't generalize from one bad or inappropriate case (as you are doing) or incident to everyone, just like you can't say every method works for every student.
I believe that when you have support staff, they must be properly trained and that the work should validated from time to time. There are ways of doing that.
tell you how strong you are, and also you gave me strength! Thank you and may you spread
your wings and soar!
Carol3Hawks
Chantel
Your fabulous son, how proud you must be! I will visit your website as I continue to help my son.
He is 33 now, born with Downs and diagnosed Autistic before age 3.
He was labeled/Severely mentally challenged/I was told he would never do anything
and I should sign him over to an institution. Well, he has a job, an apartment,
a roommate, friends, love and laughter! He may be non-verbal,
but he does get his message across.
Love to you and Jeremy, Carol3Hawks
And congratulations on all you have done to help your son be the person where he is today!
I'm so glad to hear of his success - entering those muddy waters of the adult years now.
Moms like you have started to pave the way for all of us, and I thank you!
All my best to you and your son,
Chantal
You are such a huge inspiration to me to keep on advocating for my son (13, with autism) to see that he receives the best our local school district has to offer so that he can achieve as much as he can; just like you are doing. It must have taken tremendous courage and effort for you everyday day of your life to keep going to school, going out in the world and then to get up in front of all those people to deliver a commencement address is such an achievement. That you have been able to do all this and so graciously thank those who have helped you on your way tells me that you have a good heart. Thank you Jeremy for sharing your accomplishments with me. Enjoy yourself at college!
Laurie Robinson
Chantal:
As the Mom of a son on the spectrum (13, with autism) I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing Jeremy's commencement speech with me. Over the years, I have tentatively allowed myself to have the fantasy of my son attending his high school graduation and possibly college thereafter. I'm going to visit your website so that I can learn from you how you helped Jeremy meet the challenges of high school so that I can be better prepared to advocate for my son in a few years.
Blessings to you and yours;
Laurie Robinson
Thank you so much for your kind words. I will make sure Jeremy sees them.
You are right in that it has taken much energy and courage on his part. Often we see how much work the teacher/parent has put in and we forget that for students like Jeremy it takes so much effort to pull it together and focus. Thanks for acknowledging that.
Your note also encourages me to write more on my blog and keep my website up to date. If my experiences , and Jeremy's, can help others then I'm motivated to keep writing!
Best to you and your family,
Chantal
I do think that in an effort to help our loved one's support staff remain motivated and engaged we parents tend to spend a lot of time acknowledging their efforts (an important thing to do) yet sometimes forget just how hard our loved ones are working as well. Every time my son steps out of our home and into a world which often doesn't understand him and sometimes judges him harshly, I am reminded that simply choosing to engage in the neurotypical world is an act of courage on his part.
I hope he is actually the one pointing. If so, congratulations, Jeremy.
If not, then the whole school was scammed.
Did you give your son some vitamin D supplement? Supposedly, it can help a great deal. Even, it could prevent autism in the first place seeing that more and more mothers are having severe vitamin D deficiency.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/autism/
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/update-on-autism-and-vitamin-d.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/more-letters-on-autism.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/another-autism-case-report.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/new-harvard-paper-on-autism.shtml
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/2008-june.shtml
Can you remember if you spend much time outside without sunblock during your pregnancy and while you're breast feeding him? As it turns out, breast feeding mothers need around 6,000-7,000 IU of vitamin D a day (compared to 400 IU that is recommended) to be able to produce vitamin D in the breast milk. Given that our body needs 4,000-5,000 IU of vitamin D a day for 100% body function before human body release extra vitamin D elsewhere, I suppose it makes sense??? It's a shame that we relied on this extremely badly flawed study 25,30 years ago that was supposed to test for vitamin D toxicity and the person did not bother to verify the actual amount of vitamin D. It was MUCH more than what was written. As a result, vitamin D deficiency has become a catastrophic problem across the world now. Sad but true.
This is a beautiul video. The perfect proof of the need for Assisitive Technology in every school for every child.
I have sent this link to every one in our School District.
Thank you Jeremy and the whole Sicile-Kira family. Well done.
Autism 1in100 kids. Autism coming to a child near you.
There is HOPE! ~Believe~
Those who say it cannot be done should not stop those of us busy doing it.
Words simply can't justify how proud of you I am! Your determination, courage, and will is amazing! Jeremy, I'm so excited to see that you, your family, your mom, the media, and all other media avenues have shared your video, story, and success with the world. As a mother with three children diagnosed with ASD, an Autism Advocate, and facilitator, I hope that your willingness to share, will teach the world that we can no longer justify seeing individuals with an autism spectrum disorder, as utterly disabled. I have had the blessing to know and work with serval children diagnosed, and I will tell you Jeremy, I too saw potential, ability, and will. Sadly, as I have, many others did not because of their lower functioning level and inability to communicate. You keep your head down as much as you like, but never lower your will to keep chaning the world's idea of autism! You are one of the best!!!! Good Job :) Jen Donatella
Thanks for all you do for the autism community as well!
It sounds like Jeremy was fortunate in having a supportive family but also a supportive school and mentors willing to persevere at connecting with him. I hope that many are inspired by his story!
http://www.sensorysmartparent.com
We are grateful to those who have been there on this journey!