On April 26th, 2012 the Higashi School of Boston held
a one day Autism Forum at the Hilton Boston / Dedham entitled “Perspectives
from the Journey.” The forum hosted four
presenters who each shared an hour-long talk on their perspective of either being
a person with autism, of researching autism, and / or researching “hot” topics
on or related to autism. Each talk at
this conference, presented itself a master class of thought provoking
information from leading experts.
The presenters
included: Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr.
Margaret Bauman, Dr. Stephen Shore, and Mr. Seth Mnookin.
After the morning registration, a welcoming breakfast buffet,
and opening remarks from the principle of the Higashi School, the first speaker Dr. Temple Grandin was graciously
introduced.
Dr. Grandin’s talk
was entitled, “Autism in My Sensory Based
World.” According to the
introduction by the principle of the Higashi School, Temple Grandin, PhD, is
known as “the most famous person with autism.”
Grandin has published several books, been a strong advocate for autism,
has been portrayed in film, and has been called upon to consult on many
occasions. In her talk Grandin shared
several stories of her life as a person with autism, the schools she attended
(Beaver Country Day School), her sensory processes (the famed Squeeze Machine),
her ability to shift attention, and tune into specific stimuli. She referenced current literature in the
field, shared images of her young life, shared images of her current MRI, and
research images on the brains of others with autism.
In the talk Grandin focused on information processing –that
information is often “coming in to fast” for the person with autism to process,
causing sensory abnormalities and difficulty with processing information. Grandin also spoke to the many uniquie
talents for individuals wit autism, and that it is important to allow these
talents to be contributed to society.
She spoke primarily of individuals with Aspergers syndrome, mainily the
verbal folks. She spoke of the importance
of getting “these folks / kids” involved in social activities - music groups,
drama groups – to encourage socialization with others while doing a pleasurable
activity. She noted the heterogeneity
of autism, which reminded me that TAKING A SENSORY PROFILE IS SOOOO IMPORTANT!
For readers interested in Grandin’s perspective, I highly
recommend Grandin’s Ted Talk http://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_needs_all_kinds_of_minds.html
The second speaker
to be introduced was pediatric neurologist Dr. Margaret Bauman. Dr.
Bauman is a leading researcher in the investigation of the neurobiology of
autism. In her talk Dr. Bauman spoke to
the forthcoming DSM-V diagnostic criteria for autism changes (slated for May
2013). These proposed changes will
include Asperger’s as part of ASD and narrow the three criteria to two criteria
(1. Communication and social limitations and 2. Restrictive and repetitive behaviors). There has been a lot of two-sided discussion
on these proposed changes on how it might impact the autistic community. Bauman spoke to genetic phenotypes and
subtypes - the role of assessing
subtypes, and the need to develop an assessment tool for such criteria to
occur. Because of the heterogeneity of
the disorder, Bauman explained, “subtypes are important to consider.”
After a lovely lunch and a performance by the Boston Higashi
School Jazz Band, the third speaker was announced.
The third speaker
was Mr.
Seth Mnookin, who presented a talk entitled “Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science and Fear.” Mr. Mnookin is an author who has written
a book on vaccines and autism called, The
Panic Virus: The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy. Mr. Mnookin, was very well spoken and well
researched in his topic. He had attended
conferences, spoken to parents, and reviewed literature on the topic of autism
and vaccines. Mnooken noted in his talk
that “biggest impact of the autism – vaccine debate has been how it has divided
the autism community.”
The fourth and final
speaker was Dr. Stephen Shore, who gave a talk entitled “Life on and
Slightly to the Right of the Autism Spectrum.”
Like Grandin, Shore is also an adult person with ASD, and also
considered high functioning. Shore told
stories of his experiences with perceptual processing, managing relationships,
the role of his parents in his early treatment, and his current life. He referenced such work as the Miller Method,
Lovaas ABA therapy, Floortime (Greenspan), Daily Life Therapy (Higashi), and
curriculum for Universal Design. Shore
in particular spoke about his experience with music. Please see my previous post on Shore’s book http://musicalecholalia.blogspot.com/2012/07/beyond-wall-by-stephen-shore.html
Shore noted that “music is good for every body” and that
“what is good for people with autism is good for everyone.”
All in all, the Higashi School hosted an incredible one-day
event that surely stirred interest in students, educators, therapists, administrators,
parents, and researchers alike. It was a
true gathering of pioneers in the field in a real master class like forum.
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