My Experiences of Growing Up With Autism

Nicky and I Play Sonic 3

2012-01-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I last posted. Nicky and I are both autistic but we have a lot in common. We love the same shows and video games plus we love Nostalgia.

A couple of nights ago Nicky and I played Sonic 3 for the first time in years. We both played it all the time when we were younger but we are now adults. We always played it on Sega Genesis but this time it was the gamecube version on the Wii.

I played as Sonic and Nicky played as Tails. We made an incredible team. We both destroyed enemies, got hits off of Dr. Robotnik and destroyed him each time. Out of instinct, Nicky as Tails would fly and pick me up to get to the hard spots that I couldn't get to by myself. I had no idea that he could or would do that but he did.

The game was a lot easier than it had to be because we worked so well as a team. We only died one time before the final level. After we beat the sixth Robotnik boss of the game in the final level I (Sonic) had to fight the final battle alone. Tails had to stay behind meaning that Nicky couldn't help me out. It's the rules of the game for some reason that I had to fight the final boss by myself. Nicky helped me so much but he wasn't going to be there this time. He said "Goodbye Sonic" when Tails departed from the game. Nicky watched me fight the final boss.

It was no coincidence that I kept losing by myself. It was hard to adjust without Nicky having my back. After about the sixth try, I finally got enough practice and beat the final boss to beat the game. We were both really happy. We hi-fived each other. Sonic (Me) couldn't have done it without Tails (Nicky). We made a great team.

The Super Autistic Brothers struck again!

Back to trying to make this Blog Active

2011-12-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! It's been over a year since I last wrote in this blog. However, I will start writing in here again. I have a lot to share with you guys so stay tuned.

Nicky and I found Aladdin and the Magic Lamp!

2010-12-26T22:07:00.000-08:00

My younger brother Nicky and I have a lot in common. The main thing we have in common is that we are both autistic. We also watch the same shows, play the same video games, and have the same sense of humor.

When Nicky and I were really young we watched an old VHS tape with the movie Aladdin and the Magic Lamp on AMC (American Movie Classics). It was an anime from Japan dubbed in English. We watched it all the time.

When we moved from Long Island to the Bronx back in the year 2000, we lost the tape (probably left it at the old house). For the past few years, Nicky and I tried searching for it all over the internet but no luck. We found videos with some scenes in it but they were in Spanish. It was hard to find because not many people in the U.S have heard of it.

Every-time I was up in college and when I talked to Nicky over the phone, he would always say to me "I miss Aladdin and the Magic Lamp 1982 on AMC with the voices Christopher Atkins, Kristy McNichol, John Carradine, June Lockhart and The Samuel Goldwyn Co. version with 'Angel's Flight' opening and ending credits." He has been saying that for a long time.

Then on December 9th, Nicky gave me a call. "AJ, I found Aladdin and the Magic Lamp Samuel Goldwyn Co. version in 1982 with Angel's Flight opening and ending credits!" I couldn't believe it. It turned out that someone posted the entire movie into five parts on YouTube. When I got home from Christmas break, Nicky and I watched the entire movie, just like old times.

It just goes to show you, no matter how old someone gets, you can never outgrow situations and memories that bring you and the people close to you together.

Article I wrote for a College Program for People with Autism and Other Disabilities

2010-09-20T07:17:00.001-07:00

College Program for Students with Disabilities by AJ O’Hagan

Utica College is now opening its doors for students with disabilities. The program called College Works helps current High School Seniors with disabilities that are looking for jobs, friends, and even social skills. It’s a program is high school seniors moving from High School to employment.

This program between Utica College and College Works started just last week here on campus. There are students participating in it, four boys and two girls. All of them have some kind of disability.

Joanne Donaruma, Director of Employment Services, the Arc explains the program in greater detail. “The students (in the program) go to class with an Art instructor. It’s a specialized class,” Donaruma said. Each Student is matched up with a (Utica) College student so our students can get to know college classes and the (Utica) College students can learn about students with disabilities.

Occupational Therapist majors at Utica College go to College Works classes with the College Works students and the College Work Students attend the Occupational Therapy classes with the Occupational Therapist Students. Donaruma explained that the reason the students attend each other’s classes is so that they can evaluate each other.

The Individuals in the program learn how to do laundry and do grocery shopping. Donaruma hopes that someday the students will be able to stay in one of the Residence Halls.

When asked how the program came about, Donaruma said she that the program first started at the Mohawk Valley Community College. “We have a partnership with MVCC and we wanted to expand our program with post-secondary schools,” Donaruma said. “We wanted students with disabilities to have college experience like their college friends with non-disabilities.” Donaruma chose Utica College as the second site. “We talked to Utica College and they were more than happy to.”

Nick Bonacci, an individual with Autism participates in the College Works Program at MVCC and describes what the experience has been like to this point. “Week 1, we had a fire drill lesson, scavenger hunt around campus, I knew where everything is because I'm familiar with the place, and we went to the Utica Brewery.” He also describes his classmates in the program. “They are okay, a little less social than me. We get along okay.” When asked if he would recommend this program to other individuals with Autism, Bonacci replied “Yes definitely.”

James Smith, an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy thinks this program at Utica College will be a success. “One of UC's strengths is our ability to customize learning experiences to the abilities of our students,” Smith said. “I predict that students in that program will thrive here because of the quality of UC's environment and our culture of inclusion.”

Erin Higgins, Graduate Student Elementary Education/Special Education, also had positive things to say about the relationship between Utica College and the College Works Program. "Any program that opens doors for people with disabilities is a positive,” Higgins said. “I think that with the growing number of autistic people reaching college age it is obvious that colleges will have to develop programs that meet their unique learning styles.”

Donaruma also had nice things to say about Utica College. “Utica College has been very welcoming to us and our students.” Donaruma hopes to expand the program even more and include a post secondary program for high school students. She is also hopeful that the College Works Program will continue at Utica College for many years to come.

Autism Awareness in Boston

2010-08-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday, I went to Boston to give a lecture to 70 Emerson College RA's about Autism. Caitlin Courtney, former Resident Director at Utica College, is now the Resident Director at Emerson College. She wanted me to come because there are a lot of students at Emerson College who have Aspergers also known as High-Functioning Autism.

I took the bus there. While riding the bus and arriving in Boston, I noticed the large Citgo sign straight ahead. I reacted by shifting my head to the right, and there was Fenway Park. I was riding behind the Green Monster. As a person with Autism, I love structure and when I was watching games at Fenway Park during the 90's, I would always notice that Citgo sign beyond the Green Monster and thought that it was awesome that you can see a Gas-Station sign in front of the ballpark.

When I saw that Citgo sign while on the bus, I knew that I was right next to Fenway Park and that's why I turned my head to the right. If I never saw the Citgo sign, I would have never been able to look at Fenway Park. I also saw Fenway on the way back home as well during the pre-game and caught a glimpse of the people sitting in the Green Monster.

You can no longer see the Citgo sign when watching the games because of the seats that have been added to Fenway during the early part of the 2000's. It was cool to see Fenway Park in person.

The lecture at Emerson College was a great success. The RA's asked great questions and everyone was really supportive. One RA asked which type of Autism occurs more often? I answered that there are less diagnosis of people with High-functioning Autism because since the symptoms are mild, they think there is nothing wrong with them so they don't get evaluated. That doesn't mean that there are more people who have lower-functioning Autism than people who have high-functioning Autism. There are just more people with lower functioning Autism that are DIAGNOSED.

It was a great experience. Deciding to give lectures about Autism during my sophomore year of college has been one of the greatest and most important decisions of my life.

The Autism Speaks Foundation......Good or bad? Have I made a Big Mistake?

2010-06-30T18:19:00.001-07:00

Throughout the year, the Autism Awareness Club at Utica College did Fundraisers at Utica College to raise money for the Autism Speaks Foundation.

We raised a lot of money towards the foundation that's determined to use the money to find the cause for Autism as well as a cure.

However, many High-Functioning Autistics do not like the Autism Speaks Foundation. They feel that the Autism Speaks Foundation is trying to get rid of the Autistics. They don't want to be cured. This YouTube Video has offended a lot of my fellow Autistics. This video is the main reason why they hate the Autism Speaks Foundation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDdcDlQVYtM

Many of the Autistics made videos counter-attacking the Autism Speaks and that they are proud of being Autistic.

Celebrities have been performing to benefit the Autism Speaks Foundation. Jerry Seinfeld was verbally questioned by an Autistic Male. Here's the Youtube Video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH2otGcEfYU&feature=related

The Autism Speaks Foundation does have some support......from the Teletubbies.

Check this video out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g5jtGqHJEw&feature=channel

I love that commercial with the Teletubbies.

Not to get off subject but when I was in the 4th grade, Nicky who at the time was in the 1st grade loved teletubbies. There were four siblings in our family. He casted the each of us as a teletubbie and he made us do our character's every move when a Teletubbie episode was on.

Fallon was Lala
Stephen was Dipsey
I was Tinkey Winkey (The Purple guy with the pocketbook, thanks Nicky!)
And he was Poe

He loved when we reenacted the characters in each episode whenever it was on, even if we didn't.

The Aspies for Freedom Organization (The Same Group Who founded Autistic Pride Day) are rivals to the Autism Speaks Foundation and vice-versa. They don't really like each other.

My Other Blog in which I display my Autistic Sports Nerd Character, I made a running gag of showing frustration over Brett Favre for constantly being in the Media Spotlight but the gag ended when I showed support for Favre since he helped out the Autism Speaks Foundation.

However, with this new development, should I dislike Favre again?

It was my idea to start raising money for the Autism Speaks Foundation. Was it a mistake? Did I make a bad decision?

The majority of the parents of Autistic Children love the Autism Speaks Foundation. While High Functioning Autistics are proud to be Autistic and wouldn't want a cure, it's a different view for the parents. Remember, not every individual is high function. They could be severe and not able to talk at all.

My mom reminded me how hard Nicky was when he was younger. Some severe Autistic individuals aren't potty trained until their teenage years. Some can't speak. Some throw tantrums a lot. Some are all of the above.

I interacted with individuals on all levels of the spectrum. I know how hard it is.

Autistic Pride has been getting compared to Gay Pride That's a huge honor.

One thing that is difficult though is that the Autistic community is divided and I'm not talking about the different levels of the Spectrum. I'm talking about differences of opinion.

Some are proud to be Autistic and don't want a cure. Others want a cure. Some don't like when Autistics get picked on, others don't care and call the former "too sensitive." Some like the Autism Speaks Foundation, others don't. It's crazy!

I always feel awkward when someone tells me I am doing a great thing and that I am a great guy because I support Autism Awareness. To me though, I'm just being bias because I have high functioning Autism.

Is the Autism Speaks Foundation a good thing or are they evil? To me, I'm neutral.

In this situation, just like in many arguments about social life, sports, politics, etc...there is no black and white. There is a gray area.

I think we need a cure for Cancer and AIDS before a cure for Autism.

I still wonder though, how many parents are thinking to themselves "I hope to have a child who is Autistic?" Sadly, I don't think any parent at all is hopeful to have a child with Autism, no matter how specially-gifted he or she could be.

Autistic Pride Day

2010-06-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today is June 18th which means it is Autistic Pride Day. I didn't know about this until last week. There are 31 days of the year dedicated to Autism. World Autism Awareness Day which is April 2nd, April being Autism Awareness Month, and Autistic Pride Day which is June 18th. That's about 1/12 of a full year.

I remember actually making a blog post entitled Autism Pride back in December where I was basically showing pride in myself, my younger brother Nicky. and everyone in general with Autism. At the time, I had no idea that there was a day dedicated to showing pride in people with Autism.

As I have said before, the creator of Pokemon is Autistic. I have known this for months but a couple of weeks ago, I was on a message board and learned that the creator of Pokemon loved to collect bugs. He was really interested in insects. As a matter of fact, he got the idea of creating the show Pokemon based on his passion for collecting bugs. That's how Pokemon trainers capture the Pokemon and place it in a poke-ball. People with Autism have high interests, obsessions, and/or knowledge in one particular hobby, object, etc. The Pokemon Creator's passion was bug collecting.

My younger brother Nicky and I have the same interests. We both love Power Rangers, Dragonball Z, Super Mario Bros, the Nostalgia Critic, Batman, old Nicktoons, etc. He is a great artist. He loves to draw characters from movies, write spoofs about them, the works.

He loves movies. He knows which company produces a certain movie, the year it came out, directors, the actors, you name it. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post we both loved a movie we watched years ago when we lived in Long Island called Aladdin and the Magic Lamp which was an anime form Japan dubbed in English. That movie is really hard to find in stores. We can't even find it on youtube. The movie is on it but it's either in Spanish, Japanese, or French. He tells me he misses watching Aladdin and the Magic Lamp with me. I tell him I miss it too.

It aired on AMC. Nicky loves AMC. He has been collecting AMC Magazines for quite sometime now. They show the schedule where they aired movies in what year, month, week, day, and time slot.

For those who played the old Sonic games on SEGA Genesis, Nicky watches the videos on youtube. He plays Sonic 2 music from its official soundtrack videos and puts them over actual game play levels of either Sonic 3 or Sonic and Knuckles. He does this based on which ones are similar.

Some Examples: He plays Casino Night Zone music over Carnival Night Zone level gameplay because they are both nighttime levels with a lot of colorful objects in it.

OR

He plays Emerald Hill Zone Music over Angel Island Zone level game play because they are both grass-levels.

He doesn't just do that for Sonic games. He puts Adam West's Batman music over Power Rangers' episodes because the are both super hero show. He plays the Bulk and Skull theme music over the Joker and the Penguin scenes because he feels that they are very similar characters.

I always knew I had Autism when I was younger. I remember taking the small yellow bus and being in Special Ed. classes. Growing up, I always thought I grew out of Autism. I later found out that once you have Autism, the symptoms may become less severe over time but you will always have Autism. I discovered that I still had aspergers during the Fall Semester of my Freshman Year in college.

Being Autistic myself and also having a younger brother with severe autism made me learn so much about Autism being a spectrum. Working with Non-verbal Autistic Adults by helping them play the drums at the Kelberman Center helped me learn about the most severe kind of Autism.

Being Autistic has led me to making some social mistakes. However, being Autistic helped motivate me to start the Autism Awareness Club at Utica College. It motivated me to be a volunteer helper at Pool Pals by helping out kids with Autism and other types of disabilities swim and play games in the pool. I was able to meet a kid my game, Nick Bonacci who has autism as well.

My Compeer mentee Christopher is a young twelve year old on the spectrum as well. I met a kid with Autism named Connor. He may only be in Middle School but he has a blog of his own as well. If I weren't Autistic, I would not have been able to meet all of these people and I probbaly wouldn't have been able to relate to my younger brother Nicky as well as I do.

Autistic Pride Day may be June 18th but to me, Autistic Pride Day is everyday. Ignorant people who discriminate against people with Autism or other disabilities will just keep me that much more motivated to spread awareness.

Happy Autistic Pride Day everybody!

Autistic

2010-06-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

A ble
U nique
T ruthful
I nteresting
S killful
T alented
I ntelligent

Found on an Autism fan page.

An Educational Journey Through the Eyes of An Autistic Part 2: Regular Education and Middle School

2010-05-28T14:36:00.001-07:00

Hey guys. 4th Grade begun and I was now going to Cherokee. Cherokee was actually in my neighborhood unlike the previous schools. Another thing that was difference was the bus. Instead of a small yellow bus picking me up in front of my house, a large, regular sized, bus picked me up at the bus stop just down the block from my house which was located in front of the Long Island Expressway. The Bus felt big, and more crowded. There had to be over a hundred more people on that bus compared to the previous year on the tiny bus when it was just me and two other kids. When the buses came in front of the building, the tiny buses were located next to the big buses. They were small. I was looking down at them out the window of the big bus thinking that the people in the small ones looked like ants. My younger brother Stephen and I would ride on the same bus together. For the first time ever, I would be in the same school as one of my siblings.

Cherokee was a completely identical building to Bosti. Same color, structure as well as the cylinder looking street lamps that I loved looking at which was in front of both schools. Cherokee had an extra hallway attached to the building marking the only difference between the schools. Plus, Bosti was in an open area while Cherokee had a lot of trees surrounding the building.

In class, I noticed that my 4th grade teacher was a lot more strict than Mr. Long. She wasn't into sports and she wasn't socializing with her students. It was all about the work.

There was a social struggle in the beginning. For the first time, I had to deal with the process of getting a bathroom pass at the edge of the classroom in order to go out and use the bathroom. I took one and asked my classmates out loud how the process worked. They all started laughing at me as if I were the most dumbest person in the world. I went o the bathroom with the pass and came back. When I entered the classroom, I was asked a very important question. "Hey AJ, where's the bathroom pass?" "You're suppose to bring it back." I left to a loud chorus of laughter. I got the pass from the bathroom. When I came back WITH the pass, the laughter grew even louder.

I attempted to fit in by joining the majority of the kids in booing a kid during a speech when he proposed to make school hours longer so people can learn more. This didn't go over well with my classmates and I booed him just because others were booing him too. In other words, I was willing to change my character traits, just to be like the rest of the class. Even to this day, this still eats at me and I was am still haunted by my actions that took place in the 4th grade. The speaker had a great point. It would help that school hours would be longer. It does help for students to learn more. Luckily I changed later in the year.

Lesson Learned: Be Yourself, don't be what other people are if it goes against your character.

We did this project called New York State. We had to talk about the state of New York and advertise it. We had to try and persuade people to come and visit New York City, just for pretend of course. Unfortunately, I had the wrong idea. I didn't realize about the persuasion part. I thought we were just suppose to talk about New York City. In order to do my work, I used the advice my parents gave me over the years. This is what I said when I went up to do my presentation on New York State. AJ: New York City is very dangerous. There are a lot of bad guys on the street so you really can't go anywhere by yourself. It's also really big and you can easily get lost. I was laughed off the front of the classroom and people kept yelling to me, "Then people wouldn't want to come here!"

I took my tests in a resource room with a resource teacher while the rest of the class took it in the classroom. I would do writing assignments in a separate room by Ms. Callahan who was the same teacher I had for the second and third grade at Sycamore.

In the 5th Grade, also at Cherokee, I had another slow start. Even though my 5th grade teacher was strict, she did like sports and we had conversation about Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa who had that great record breaking Home Run Race the year before. I was really into it and predicted how many Home Runs the two would hit at the end of the year.

Two girls whispered to each other and said I was annoying, then they laughed.....

Later that year, I found out that I was moving to the Bronx. New School, new friends new scenery.

I was suppose to graduate from Cherokee in the sixth grade. I was currently in the 5th grade but schools in the Bronx went from K-5 meaning that I was graduating a year earlier than expected.

The second to last day of school in Long Island, we played Floor Hockey in our gym class. The game was tied at five. The gym teacher was counting down the closing seconds of the game.

10...
9....
8...
7...
6...

My team was trying to shove the puck in the opposing net but the goalie kept stopping it.

5....
4....
3....
2....
1...

I was able to shove the puck into the net just as the buzzer sounded. I scored the game winning goal. My teammates rushed and mobbed me. I never felt anything like it before. It was a great way to close out my educational career in Long Island.

A ot of my friends form my Special Education class also made the trip to Cherokee. They weren't in any of my classes but I always saw them in the halls and in Gym. These were people I knew since Pre-school. We always traveled to different elementary schools together. Now I was leaving and this time, they weren't coming with me. I would have to start over again. Heading to my fifth different elementary school in P.S 14 located in the Bronx.

My first day there, I wanted to make an impression. When I was in Cherokee, a poet came in and shared her work. That inspired me to write poems. I wrote a poem about seeing the sunset. Everyone there loved it. During our writing activity in my first class in the Bronx, I wrote the sunset poem again. Everyone was in shock when I read it outloud. They loved my writing. It felt great. I was actually making a great first impression for once.

During Recess, things were different. There was no playground equipment like slides, ladders, monkey bars or swings. Long Island had them but not the Bronx. It was just a ground surrounded by the fence. I loved going on the swings because it would let out all my anxieties and let me stimulate fantasies, hopes, daydreams, worries, etc. in moving motion.

In order for me to continue doing that, I decided to run around. I used to do that in my living room when I was four. Everyday at Recess, I would run around the area, just kept running in big and small circles. It felt great.

Three months after moving to the Bronx, I graduated from P.S 14. My long Elementary School careers was over.

That night, I finished my first writng story about the events that led to my parents seperation from my point of view called "Three Sides of the Family." Unfortunatly, I didn't save it when we moved to another location within the Bronx years later.

I was now in Middle School, I.S 192. My mom, aunts, uncles, and sister graduated from that school. In the 6th grade, I noticed something different about myself. I was doing really good in the classroom. I had a grade average of a 93 for my report card. I was constantly getting 100's on my tests. It felt great.

Although, there was controversy. Many people were speculating that my sixth grade class was a Special Education Class. I did have classmates who had reading disabilities. My classmates said that they received taunts from other people within the sixth grade that we were all in a Special Education Class. Our teachers informed us that this wasn't the case. If we were, maybe that's why the tests seemed so easy.

That year in the sixth grade, I was walking to the bathroom just down from the cafeteria. I walked past these group of kids. When I went past them in the bathroom they grabbed me and lifted me up. They were attempting to give me a wedgie. I was randomly firing punches at all four of them. It worked because they dropped me. One of them gave me a hook to the face and bolted out of the bathroom as they sensed that an adult was coming. That was a tough experience but at least I prevented them from giving me a wedgie.

In I.S 192, there were a couple of traditions. There was "Wedgie Wednesdays" and "Freshman Fridays." Freshman Fridays meant beating up the sixth graders. Oddly enough, the day they attempted to give me a wedgie was on a Monday.

In the 7th grade, I was placed in the top regular academic class in the entire grade. We no longer just had one classroom for all four subjects. This time, we alternated rooms and teachers for different subjects. My grades went from early 90's to middle 80's. I suffered my first class in which I didn't get at least an 80 in which was Social Studies and got a 75 in it during the second marking period.

In the 7th grade, I was planning on doing a skit in a show called "The Gong Show" which was I.S 192's big time traditions before Christmas Break. I wanted to sing the National Anthem as a skit but my Drama teacher felt I didn't have a good enough voice to sing it. She suggested I dress in a Pinocchio costume she had and sing "I've got no Strings." I thought it was a great idea since I couldn't come up with any of my own since my last one got shot down. I talked to my mom about it and she said I would be a laughing stock if I did that in front of the whole school.

I thought about it and agreed with her. I skipped school the day of the Gong show so I didn't have to go through with it. That decision helped by my mom may have saved my social career at I.S 192.

Towards the end of the 7th Grade, I had to deal with the toughest project of my educational career. We had to do a baby project. Partners of the opposite sex had raise a doll baby. The baby had to be treated like a real baby. We had to feed it with a fake bottle and we couldn't put it in our bags. We had to carry it at all times even outside of school. I walked to I.S 192 because it was just three blocks away from where I was living at the time.

I named my baby "Diane." I named her Diane after my Aunt who passed away a couple of years prior. I fed Diane at home while mom was giving me her real bills because the teacher wanted us to bring bills in as if the husband and wife lived together and we also had to plan a monthly budget. Thinking now, I felt this was a scam so the teacher could look at our family bills.

I was walking to school with Diane in my arms. Kids fro the moving bus laughed at me from the window. At school, a kid slammed Diane from my arms and screamed "why are you playing with dolls?" I just picked it up and walked away. I had trouble finding a babysitter when I had gym class but I was finally able to get one.

You guys are probably wondering, "What about my wife?" My wife in this project wanted to do it herself. After I bought Diane from the store, she got her own baby. She would have divorced me but the process would have been to difficult so we raised our own baby. She felt that I would have slowed her down.

Amazingly, she was suppose to be with someone else at the start of the project but he didn't want to be her partner so the teacher asked me to be her partner since I was a "nice guy" and the teacher felt I wouldn't have a problem with it. I agreed to do it, but I quickly regretted that decision.

In Math class, one of my classmates grabbed my poor daughter and started throwing her around the classroom. Poor Diane, I guess I'm not fit to be a father. I finally was able to get her back.

The project finally ended three weeks later and I received a 95 on it. I was ecstatic and relieved when it was over. A huge weight was lifted from the pit of my stomach. For those three weeks, I did not take my mind off of that project. I donated part of that 95 to Diane, haha.

In the 8th grade, I was socially getting better. I was walking home with friends. I had conversations with other friends in the schoolyard about Dragonball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc. It was a fun time.

I was always great in Math but I struggled with it starting this year because instead of basic Math like Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing which was what I was good at, I had to deal with Algebra and Equations.

The Gong Show last year, transformed into the Talent Show. It was like the Gong SHow only you wouldn't get Gong'ed if your act was terrible. As 8th graders, it was mandatory for us to do it.

My friend suggested that I do the Cha-Cha dance and he would direct me the moves on stage. I looked for a better idea. Finally, I did a dance skit with a bunch of girls from my class. We rehearsed and we rehearsed. This was my first time performing in front of a group of people.

Finally, December 20th 2002 came. The I.S 192 Auditorium was packed. An elderly teacher came up to me. His name was Mr. Kezner. He was so well-respected a local neighborhood band in Throggs Neck named their band, "The Kezners" in his honor. My sister was dating one of their members at the time. Nicky always referred to my sister's former boyfriend as "Musical Mike."

I told Mr. Kezner that I was really nervous. He told me that I would do fine and not to worry about it. I took his advice. Our act was now happening. The girls did their dance routine, then I busted in and did my solo. I noticed from the left corner of my eye, Mr. Kezner was the first person to rise. Then the whole auditorium rose in the air and cheered. I couldn't believe it. I was busting some moves and it was working.

We were all dancing to the music on stage. The first time, we got a 9 and two 8's from the judges. We did the skit again later in the day in front of a different grade of students and got a 10 and two 8's from the three judges. This was the first time I ever danced in front of a big crowd like that. It really helped me gain the confidence to dance and I still dance to this day.

I graduated I.S 192 by being in the Honor Roll. I was in the Honor Roll for every market period I was in I.S 192 except for the second to last one in my last year.

My Journey now continued in High School.

TO BE CONTINUED.......

An Educational Journey through the eyes of an Autistic Part 1: Special Education

2010-05-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hey guys. I figured that I would share my experiences through this educational process. One of the reasons I am doing this is to vent and put my past on paper. The more important reason is to let the parents who have autistic children know what to expect when your child starts school.

I was diagnosed with Autism when I was two and a half years old. As a result, I would start pre-school a year early at the age of three years old. The reason for starting pre-school so early was because I was autistic, I needed to get help as soon as I can in the hopes I could get good treatment and be able to function at a higher level when I grew up. My first elementary school was Bosti which was located in a different neighborhood where I lived, all within Long Island.

My pre-school class had all boys in it and there were only six of us. My classmates had different disabilities but at the time, I didn't notice it. We had a teacher and a couple of assistants to help the teacher.

People with Autism have physical limitations which is why I had to work with a Physical Therapist to develop basic physical skills. At the same time, I had to work with an Occupational Therapist to train me with social skills which people with Autism also lack.

When I turned four, I repeated preschool which also took place in Bosti. Same classroom, same teachers, and the majority of my classmates were the same. I was even in school during that summer.

Socially, when I was in pre-school, I had a bit of a hard time. I was fine when I was being dropped off by the school bus, which because I was in Special Ed it would be the small yellow bus. If I was late and my mom drive me and drop me off in class, I would throw a tantrum and bury my face into the rug. Everyone would call me, "Mr. Rug."

I just didn't like it when my mom dropped me off because of the atmosphere. I mean, when mom drives me in the car, it usually means we go to the store, grandma's house, etc. School bus is for school. If they got mixed up, I get angry. I guess this falls under the category that "people with Autism love their routines and hate for the routines to be disturbed."

I remember getting in trouble one time. I knocked my friend down at the playground and sat on him and the teacher assistants thought I was attacking him. I was really imitating Winnie the Pooh when Tigger bounced on Pooh. Although I was able to talk at the time, I didn't have the ability to explain it in words so I got i trouble and I had to deal with it. I sat in timeout.

I hated sharing toys with my classmates. I wanted to be alone in playing with them, not with other people.

In Kindergarten, I was placed in a new elementary school. Idle Hour located in another neighborhood. A lot of my classmates were there as well. My behavior didn't really change. Oddly enough, although my teachers and assistants were different, I had the same Occupational Therapist as I did in Bosti. One cool thing about Idle Hour...the gym was blue. Seriously, it was blue. Blue floor, blue lighting, the whole gym was BLUE!

My bus driver was really interesting. His name was Mitch. Some days he wore regular clothes and a cap type hat. Other days he would wear a suit and obviously not a hat. That was fine with me but I always preferred he wear a hat. It was those days where he wore regular clothes without a hat that bugged me. If he wore regular clothes without a hat, I would ask him "Hey, where's your hat?"

Myself in College, I always wear a hat unless I am wearing a suit or nice collared shirts. It doesn't feel right to wear regular clothes without a hat for some reason. I guess to me, hats complete the look.

The 1st grade, I was in Special Ed again, still riding the tiny bus, and still not a single girl to be found in my class. I was placed in a different school, Sycamore. I always saw the building on my way to Bosti back in preschool. When I was dropped off here I was like, "Oh, I am going to be here this year? Cool!"

The 1st Grade was different. There were desks all around the room. There was no room to play with toys-wait, WHERE ARE THE TOYS? I saw something like this on Boy Meets World...wait.......nooo.....

Yes, I realized that playtime is over. We are doing work in here. A student assistant taught us reading on one table while our Main Teacher taught us Math in another. One group of students would be on one end, the other group in the other. I actually enjoyed Math a lot more. Addition was a lot of fun to do and I was really good at it.

The fact that we did a lot of work, turned me around. I started behaving better because I faced the pressure of doing work instead of playing all the time. I also saw a Speech therapist during that time which helped with my verbal and speaking ability.

I was also in Sycamore for my Second Grade but with a different twist. This year, there were two girls in my class. This was the first time I had girls in my class before. It was a change in scenery. The girls were in the Third grade. It was a combined Second and Third Grade class.

In the Third grade, I was not only in the same school, but the same teacher and class. Me and this other kid named Edward were Third Graders surrounded by Second graders. Edward was in my class the previous year. He was a GENIOUS. He had the best grades the previous year and this current one. I was jealous. I wanted to be better than he was. We would race to see who got their work done first. We compared test scores to see who got the higher scores. (he always did)

My teacher said my handwriting for my assignment was more sloppier than usual. The assistant chimed in and said "maybe because I was racing with Eddy." "Not true!" I barked. (Yeah it was) Eddy and I were still good friends though.

Eddy and I had to go to another classroom to do our reading subject which was a pure
second grade class which was odd since Eddy and I were third graders. To this day, I'm guessing it was a regular ed class. This would foreshadow next year......

I was now in the 4th grade. My three years of Sycamore were over. My next school.....Bosti! (again)

I got off to a slow start. On the bus, there was this kid named James. He was in Kindergarten. I was in the 4th grade. We were the only two students on that small yellow bus. He sat next to me. He kept pinching me. It was annoying but I didn't know how to confront him. Yeah...a kindergartener bullying a fourth grader. A perfect example of irony. We did get along better later in the year and had a new friend added to the bus ride named Brianna. She was a kindergartner as well and was in crutches. The three of us became good friends as we socialized to and from school as the only passengers on that little yellow bus.

After a month I received news from my parents that I am going to another class within the school. In other words, I am no longer in Special Ed. This class was Regular Ed and my teacher......Mr. Long who was an assistant in my first ever year in Pre-school. When I arrived in class that October, I was overwhelmed. The class size was HUGE. Instead of six people in a class, it was over twenty. Instead of none to two girls, there were about ten of them. Wow...

They were all in the third grade. I was in fourth, at least I thought I was. There was a debate. Finally, weeks later, my mom told me that I am a third-grader. I started the year in the fourth grade but since I made the move to Regular Education they thought it was wise I start the third grade over again in order for it to be easier for me. I accepted the fact that I was in the third grade again. Hey, a Kindergartner bullying a third grader wasn't as bad as a kindergartener bullying a fourth grader, right??

Big difference in this class. Everyone and Mr. Long was a Sports' fan. I loved Sports. Started watching games when I was in the first grade. None of my classmates in my Special ED classes were sports' fans so this was a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, I was a Rangers' fan while everyone including Mr. Long was an Islanders' fan. I was a Knicks' fan while everyone including Mr. Long was a Bulls' fan. I was a Giants' fan while everyone including Mr. Long was a Cowboys' fan. I was a Yankees' fan while the majority including Mr. Long was a Mets' fan.

Autistic Sports Nerd take over...

Autistic Sports Nerd: Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here! During the 1997-1998 season, the same year I was in the third grade, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls swept the Knicks. The Islanders dominated the Rangers. When those games ended, the next morning in class would be horrible. Everyone would laugh and roar in my face. Even Mr. Long would rub it in. I even faked being sick the morning after the Bulls defeated the Knicks so I wouldn't have to deal with the torture. My mom didn't fall for it and send me to school anyway.

When I arrived, everyone waited for me at the door as they laughed, roared and made fun of me for my team's short comings. I remember earlier in the year when I overheard my two classmates talking to each other about how bummed they were that the Giants beat the Cowboys the previous Sunday. I then wrote a Journal entry about the game with great detail and read it to the class, so I could rub it in their faces,

On the bright spot, we all loved wrestling and always talked about wrestling. My classmates found it cool that my cousin was Mortis/Chris Kanyon may he rest in peace. We had our great bonding moments after all.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!!

AJ: Thanks Nerd!

That year, I remember learning a new word. My friend wrote it out on his desk and he asked me what the word was. I said the word out loud, "sex." Everyone gasped. "Did you hear what AJ said?" "Wow", etc. Even Mr. Long was stunned. I was confused. I didn't know what that word meant. Another situation, my classmate was talking and said the word "gay." I had no idea what that word meant either. It would be a couple of years until I found out the true meaning of those words.

After the year was over, Mr. Long and I hugged while the class was empty. We hoped to see each other again. I left Bosti for the last time. I rode on the small yellow bus for the final time. I was going on to the next level. I was going to be in a school in my neighborhood and ride the big bus. The Journey continues in Cherokee Elementary School.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Autism Awareness Hits Yale

2010-05-19T14:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBR5NUMN7_0

This is a Youtube Video of Professor Fred Volkmar giving an overview about Autism at Yale. Yes, there is actually an Autism Course at Yale. He also talks about other disabilities like Retts Syndrome, PDD, etc. The Video lasts 31 minutes and 52 seconds so if you have time, check it out if you want.

Volkmar is one of the World's Greatest Autism Experts. He was the leading researcher in Aspergers Syndrome and he helped develop the proper definition of Autism in the early 1990's.

A few weeks ago, I e-mailed Volkmar, asking him to check out my Autism Blog. He replied and said he would but he also urged me to watch his series of lectures about Autism at Yale via youtube. I finally watched the first one which is the link above. I plan on watching more of his videos soon.

His overview lecture was amazing. I have learned so much about the different types of Autism and its history.

Last summer, I did a lot of research about Autism. This summer (so far), more Autism research plus looking up disabilities in general. Looks like this is going to be another summer of research. I'll post more of his videos in the coming weeks.

Next Week's blog will be about general Disabilities.

I end this post with a notice. Yale is THE hardest, most prestigious school in the entire country. The fact that it has a course dedicated exclusively to Autism means that Autism is getting very serious in the country and the world.

Here's a quote:

“Autism is not a puzzle, nor a disease. Autism is a challange [sic], but certainly not a devistating [sic] one.

Autism is about having a pure heart and being very sensitive… It is about finding a way to survive in an overwhelming, confusing world… It is about developing differently, in a different pace and with different leaps.

Autistic beings develop and bloom if their spirits, talents and self-esteem are not destroyed by bullies, prejudice, ‘doggie-training’, and being forced to be ‘normal’.”

-Trisha Van Berkel

Thank You George Bush!!

2010-05-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

"I congratulate President Obama for taking some time today to remember the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is no place in our society for prejudice of any kind, yet it was not that long ago when Americans with disabilities were often not given equal rights and opportunities. Whether the cause was ignorance or indifference, it was not acceptable. We can all take pride in how much the ADA has accomplished, which is evident every time you attend a sporting event, ride the subway, or go to work. Yet, there is always more to be done, which is why it’s good not only to celebrate our successes, but to look forward at what still must be done. As long as we never forget that every life is a miracle and each person has something to contribute, we will finish the job.” - Statement from Former President George H.W. Bush on the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act - July 24 2009.

An Interview about the State of Autism

2010-05-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

As part of a special feature on autism, Medscape interviewed Fred R. Volkmar, MD, one of the world's leading experts on
autism, to get his view on the current state in autism and autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Volkmar is the Irving B. Harris
Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology and Director of the Yale University Child Study Center, Yale
University School of Medicine. He is also the Chief of Child Psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut.
He was the primary author of the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-IV's (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, text
revision IV) section on autism and pervasive developmental disorders section, and the author of several hundred scientific
papers, chapters, and books. He also serves as the editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Dr.
Volkmar has been the principal investigator of several major grants for autism research.

Medscape:Let's start with big picture, the world view, of autism, ok?

Fred R. Volkmar, MD: The big picture -- which is why this is more relevant than an academic exercise -- is that there are very
strong reasons to believe that, with earlier detection and intervention, children with autism are doing better and better. One of
the happy problems we have these days is supporting kids with autism, Asperger's, and autism spectrum disorder who go to
college. It's a problem that didn't happen so much in the past, but it's happening more and more. This has its own pros and
cons because these young people have their own sets of issues, but it's a happy problem to have. It also is the case that more
and more resources are becoming available for professionals as well as parents and teachers.

Medscape: Can you give us some examples?

Dr. Volkmar: Well my wife, a pediatrician, and I co-authored a book specifically written for parents and teachers.[1] Also for
the past 25 years I've taught an undergraduate seminar at Yale College where the students have weekly supervised
experience working with children and adolescents on the autism spectrum and a seminar on a range of topics including
diagnosis, braining functioning, genetics, early development, communication problems, behavioral programs, and so forth --
lectures given by Yale faculty or occasionally invited lecturers. We have been fortunate to have support from donors, which

has allowed us to make the entire series of lectures public on the Internet.
Medscape: That is a great resource. Can you frame for us why these are important issues? For example, what are
the economic issues with autism?

Dr. Volkmar: They are not trivial. Some good data have been published both here in the United States and in the United
Kingdom about how much it costs for someone with autism to end up living in an institutional setting, with 24/7 care. We're
talking millions of dollars per person.[2,3] So, with improvement in outlook for these patients, we're seeing the difference
between somebody who's a tremendous financial drain on society as opposed to someone who is a taxpayer and is out there
working, maybe getting married, and productive. So this is not a trivial issue. Many people with developmental disorders are
now getting better -- and notice I say many, not all, because, unfortunately, not everyone gets better, even with early diagnosis,
but more and more do.

Medscape: Are you seeing more patients with autism than you did earlier in your career?

Dr. Volkmar: When I came here in 1980 to do a fellowship in child psychiatry, seeing a 4- or 5-year-old with autism was a big
deal. "Oh, this is amazing." In some ways this was paradoxical though, because, from the first description, autism has been
From Medscape Pediatrics
The Current State in Autism -- Still Tough to Treat but Encouraging
Progress
An Expert Interview with Fred R. Volkmar, MD
Carol Peckham
Posted: 05/03/2010
The Current State in Autism -- Still Tough to Treat but Encouraging Progre... http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/720802_print
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generally thought to have its onset in the first months of life -- if not from birth. Part of the reason was lack of information on the
part of the parents, but also pediatricians and healthcare providers were not realizing what the problems were and often gave
the standard advice of "wait and see." It is now very common to see children with autism who are under a year -- I think the
youngest child that we've seen and worried about was 3 months old.

Medscape: How have researchers studied young children?

Dr. Volkmar: This is an area where research has changed. In the past it was typical to rely only on parent report. The trouble is
that when you're dealing with parents they may not be very good at remembering and many different factors can color their
recollection. This gets to be even more of a problem as the child gets older. I have the same problem. You ask me, "Which
one of my kids talked first and what month? What was their first word?" Well my wife might remember. I'm not sure I could,
and the older that kids get, you have what are called telescoping effects. There are complicated issues in relying on people's
memories, particularly for things that might seem, at the time, relatively subtle.
So, what are other ways we can go? The next thing researchers tried was to look at videotapes. There was a whole body of
work looking at videos, let's say, first birthday videos, and finding some subtle deficits in many children and often by the
second birthday lots of deficits. Indeed many of the items that current checklists and screeners include rely on focus on signs
of autism from around age 18 months to 2 years. However, the videotape work had its own issues. Often you're looking at one
particular context -- birthdays, Christmas, Hanukkah. It's not like a standardized setup or package of observations, but
nevertheless, this gives us some information and helps us document some of the early features.
Leo Kanner, when he described autism, said children were born with it.[4] He thought it was congenital, and most of the time we
think that's probably true. What's happened in the past 10 years is that people have really clued into how strongly genetic
autism is, which also means that they're thinking about risk for siblings -- who have a risk probably somewhere between 2%
and 10%. This has given rise to some new and very interesting strategies. Over the past few years, there have been a number
of studies, mostly prospective, in this country, and some in Canada and other countries. These studies are following siblings
of children already diagnosed with autism from birth and observing autism as it first develops. We have recently edited an
entire book devoted to the topic of autism in infants.[5]

Medscape: What research is going on at Yale in this area?

Dr. Volkmar: Here at Yale, we have a large interdisciplinary group looking at early development by using eye contact and
listening preference. We have a series of studies using neuroimaging methods such as magnetic resonance imaging and
functional magnetic resonance imaging to study brain functioning, and another series of studies concerned with genetic
mechanisms. Still others are look at issues of treatment and the evidence base of treatments. Our Web site has descriptions
of these studies as well as links to good resources.

Medscape: What are some of the ways clinicians can learn more about early diagnosis? Are blood tests available
that will help to diagnose autism?

Dr. Volkmar: There are very promising leads in the area of genetics, with some potential candidate genes now being
identified. We also know that autism is sometimes associated with other conditions, such as Fragile X and tuberous sclerosis.
On the other hand we don't have simple genetic tests as yet and so clinician awareness and screening remains the major thing
we rely on in picking up cases early in life. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and American Academy of Pediatricians
have good resources on autism for clinicians. And the Yale series I mentioned previously has lectures on diagnosis, genetics,
and early development in autism.
One of the very active areas of research is development of better ways to detect autism early in life.

Medscape: How long would it take to be able to introduce diagnostic criteria into practice based on prospective
studies?

Dr. Volkmar: If you're doing a study that started, say, 4 or 5 years ago, only now would could you be absolutely sure of the
diagnosis of autism in those kids. There's intrinsically a bit of a time delay built in there.
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Medscape: By the way, when you say autism, are you talking about classic autism or the autism spectrum
disorder?

Dr. Volkmar: That's another very interesting question. It depends on how you want to phrase it. When I say autism, I usually
mean classical autism. Autism spectrum is very au courant, and it's probably 4 or 5 times more common than classical autism
and not unrelated to it in terms of genetics and, indeed, interventions. On the other hand, most of the research is done on
classical autism. There's been very little on the broader spectrum, comparatively speaking. There's even less agreement on
the best ways to come to a good definition of the broader spectrum. The autism spectrum is a very interesting conundrum
because that's when you here, "Oh, the chance of your kid going to Carnegie Hall is like the chance of your kid having autism."

they're not talking autism, they are talking autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Medscape: Do you think the increase in autism is mainly due to the expanded definition?

Dr. Volkmar: It's a couple of things. First of all, there's more public awareness. The fact that we're having a discussion like
this, 20 years ago nobody would have ever called me to talk about autism. It's partly the media and it's organizations like
Autism Speaks and other things for good or bad. Even on the Internet, if you type in autism into Google, you will get
15,000,000 hits. The trouble is, only about 100 of those are worth anything and of that 100, about one third are quite
problematic. There's more information, there's more media attention, there's more public awareness. We now get referrals
from daycare providers, who in the past wouldn't even know what the word meant. It's much more in the public
conscientiousness.
Back in 1994 when we revised the most recent DSM, we made a conscious effort to be sure the system worked well for more
cognitively able people. That was going to increase the numbers, not because people with ASD weren't there before, but they
weren't said to have autism because they were brighter.

Medscape: What are the public implications of the expanded definition of autism?

Dr. Volkmar: I was just having this debate with a faculty member. It's fascinating because I can tell you that when you say
we're going to move from autism to autism spectrum, the public schools are not going to magically increase their budget 5
times for special ed. They're going to be dealing with the same pool of money, only it's going to be spread out more. So one
of the questions is going to be: "What does this do for the kids with classical autism?"
It's a very interesting time to be involved in autism research, and there's a lot to be said about the earlier diagnosis business.
However, I think one problem in the field is that although there's some very interesting research done over the past decade
that is just starting to permeate out, people have not done such a great job thinking about the implications -- what does it mean
in terms of clinical interventions, clinical services. I think people are trying for the first time to really translate some of the
research knowledge into information that parents and teachers and clinicians can use.

Medscape: So is early intervention in autism and ASD making a difference?

Dr. Volkmar: There's a wonderful book if you haven't seen it called, Educating Children With Autism, it's from the National
Research Council.[6] It came out in 2001 and it answers a question that was asked by the US Department of Education, "Does
early intervention make a difference in autism?" The answer was yes. This book goes through 10 programs around the country
that have published peer-reviewed information showing their program works, but they're mostly focused on autism. It's a funny
business, because I would say to parents, "Your child isn't so much classically autistic; they're only on the spectrum." The
parent would say, "Well I can't find much about that." I would say, "Yes, it's a paradox because this is the more common
condition." Researchers who want to get grant funding have had to basically focus on autism because there's been much less
agreement about defining the broader spectrum. It's a very difficult conundrum.
There are, however, some good materials for parents now -- good books, and I think there are some good Websites. I edit the
Journal of Autism, which is the oldest one in the field, and we have 2 papers under review right now that are looking at Internet
resources and the quality of information, which is a great topic.

Medscape: Are there any medical interventions that might be useful?
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Dr. Volkmar: There are some good pharmacologic interventions. They can help with some of the behaviors -- the irritability,
the agitation, the stereotype movements and mannerisms, which can be very problematic in terms of programming. So, these
are important interventions, However, they don't seem to target the core social communication problem.

Medscape: You had done a study on citalopram.

Dr. Volkmar: It was one of my colleagues here who was involved in citalopram. I wrote a commentary for the archives. It
basically made the point that it doesn't work so well for kids. It seems to work better for adults, and again, that's one of the
problems. The drug companies have not been very interested in autism as a topic area. There's been some interest, but not
much.

Medscape: Does oxytocin have any promise?

Dr. Volkmar: This is complicated one. The thing about oxytocin, you could make a case for it around attachment, but the
interesting thing is that when people have looked at children with autism, they do develop attachments to their parents. They
also develop odd attachments to other things. So it's not like they don't develop attachments. It's an interesting discussion,
and oxytocin's one the agents, obviously, that people are interested in because it involves a direct social connection, but we
need more work in the area.

Medscape: How early can you start working with these children?

Dr. Volkmar: In this country, we mandate services in school starting at age 3. Some states have early intervention programs
before that time, but they differ dramatically. And the states vary in terms of the range and quality of programs provided in
schools. In Connecticut, for instance the kinds of service will vary a lot depending on the town you're in.
The report from the National Research Council[6] makes the suggestion -- and it's a somewhat odd number -- of 25 hours a
week, year round, for a program. It's a funny number because the actual programs range from 40 hours a week to less than
10, and the programs themselves vary so the 25 is a kind of middle-of-the-road number. For instance some programs are
center-based, where a parent comes in, gets trained, and then goes home. Other services are provided in the home. There
are all kinds of interesting different models and to complicate life further, all these programs change and evolve over time.
They may start out more center-based and then move into schools. It's very interesting, but we, as a country, try to make more
sense out of what programs work for what kids. I'm sure there are some programs that don't do as well as others. So what can
we learn from mini-experiments that are going on around the country, in terms of, what does and doesn't work or what can we
do to make programs more effective?

Medscape: Is there anything specific that you could describe as an intervention that would be effective?

Dr. Volkmar: Special education and behavior modification.

Medscape: What about interaction with a parent?

Dr. Volkmar: That's not a bad thing and obviously it can be very helpful. I would emphasize some programs more than others.
Some of the more developmentally based programs want to get parents on board, which turns out to be complicated for many
reasons. There are less data for those programs than there are for the behavioral programs. It's also a horrible burden for
parents if they're charged with delivering a program and then it doesn't work. Who's responsible for that? There's a big
potential for parents feeling dreadful if they're the ones bearing the burden of the program. The happy news is that there are
really good programs around the country that can serve as models.

Medscape: So how would you summarize the best approach for intervention?

Dr. Volkmar: The most relevant book, which I mentioned from the National Academy, Educating Children with Autism,
makes the point that there are several intervention programs that have some data that show that they work and that they can
work quite well. Many of them are based on aspects of behavior modification called "applied behavior analysis" interventions;
many of these have become very sophisticated. Others are more developmentally based and/or eclectic and pull bits and
pieces from other things, but the goal, basically is that autism becomes a problem for learning. If you're not socially engaged
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and you're sitting in that first-grade class, the world is equally relevant to either the world of the teacher, the world of the
wallpaper, the world of the fan spinning in the ceiling, or the world of carpet in the floor, and so it's a real problem for kids. It's a
challenge for learning. A lot of the focus of these early intervention programs has to do with mitigating the problem behaviors
of autism that interfere with learning. As a result, it looks like kids are doing, as a group, much better in terms of their learning
effectively. This sets the stage for their being able to be more able to participate actively in learning and for future success.

Social Cues

2010-05-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I feel like venting.

One of the many negative stereotypes that people with Autism face is that they lack Social Cues that other people receive on a silver platter. People with Autism often have to learn these skills....the hard way.

My friend Nick Bonacci and I shared our bad experiences about lacking Social Cues in the past at one of our lectures.

This past year, I have learned that even people who don't have Autism lack Social Cues.

One example, it's 2:00 in the morning. I am trying to sleep but all I hear is loud laughter from another room in my Residence Halls. A bunch of people were in there, and I couldn't sleep because of the loud laughter from the group. Keep in mind, this is 2:00 in the morning...ON A SCHOOL NIGHT. Why are people hanging out in other peoples' rooms so late the night before class anyway?

One time I was in the bathroom of my cluster in Tower Hall, brushing my teeth, and getting ready to go to bed. A female opened the door without knocking (she was a guest of a friend)and walked in on me. If a bathroom door is closed, chances are that someone is using it. If you're not sure, then knock. Don't just open the door blindly. Bathroom doors are always left open when it's empty. (Our door doesn't lock.) What if that girl would have walked in on me while I was in the shower or using the bathroom?

Another example, was during class. It was our Argumentation class and there was a debate going on between two students. While one of the debaters was trying to organize and concentrate on the information he was gathering, the other debater kept talking to the audience members and joking around really loudly. Not only was that unprofessional but it was rude because the other debater must have had trouble concentrating during his prep time due to the loud noises occurring from the opponent.

A third example involves Hamster Tube Racing. At a Campus outdoor event, I was waiting in line to race in a Hamster Tube. The person who was racing a few people in front of me got intentionally knocked over by my friend who was on the side of the track. My friend didn't even know this person. My friend was just kidding around but you can't do that to someone you don't know. It would be amusing if that was someone you know you did it to but not to a stranger. If I was knocked over while running in a hamster tube by a friend, I would laugh. If it was by a stranger that did that to me, I would run off the track and chase him while I was still in my hamster ball around the quad.....just kidding about the last comment but you get the point.

The last example is noise in the Library. I was planning on studying for a Final I had in less than an hour. I went up to the second floor of the library which is suppose to be the quiet floor. Only, it wasn't quiet. There were these group of individuals who were being loud and obnoxious. They were talking and laughing really loudly. The people studying around them were staring at them like they had three heads on each body.

The Second Floor of the Library sounded like the Cafeteria during peek dinner hours. I had to leave the library and move to a more quiet place to study. Tomorrow, I'm studying all day in my secret study place. Seriously though, people should be quiet in the library, especially during FINAL EXAM WEEK. It's never a good idea to study with a group unless you are studying the same subject because you'll end up talking to each other and losing your concentration.

People with Autism may have trouble picking up on Social Cues, but we aren't the only ones who do. This is a skill that many people have trouble developing. People with Autism aren't as inferior or different as people think we are or in other words, "regular functioning" people aren't that different from people with Autism.

Passing the Torch, The End of an Incredible Journey

2010-05-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a break from studying and write this. For those who don't know, I stepped down as President of the Autism Awareness Club.

I have been president of this club for a year and a half. The big reason why I formed this club was because of how many families and friends were being effected by Autism. Today, Autism occurs in one out of every 110 individuals.

I have mild autism while my younger brother Nicky has severe Autism. Those factors led me to create the Autism Awareness Club and when the idea flew off the ground, I called it "The beginning of an incredible Journey."

And what an incredible journey it was. I lectured to members of my group about what Autism was and the symptoms a young child with Autism displays. I even got nostalgic and showed my club my different "stimming" stages over the course of my life. I demonstrated to the club by taking bits of paper and stimmed with it on the table. The same thing for cereal. I even explained how I used to stim with girls' long hair when I was tiny.

I showed them my toy spider, which is something I stim with today. When I was between the ages of eight and twelve, I used to stim in the pool by frequently splashing the water.

I even had the honor of revealing my unusual interests and fascinations. It was cool that I was sharing with the group the different experiences I went through during my childhood and showing it on the projector. (A Current Affair, Pictures of High Tension Power Lines, Viacom, the Los Angeles Kings' old logo)

I was asked to give Autism lectures to classes. In the Fall and Spring Semester, I went to two Graduate Education Classes under the same professor and talked about being in Special Education classes from preschool up until the third grade. During a Q and A session in the class, a Graduate student informed me of a four year old boy with Autism who loves to wear dresses and who wants to be the wicked witch of the West for Halloween. I told her that I could relate because when I was four, I wanted to dress up as the Wicked Witch of the West for Halloween too. I was fascinated in the pointy hat just like I was interested in was Wonka's Top Hat.

Connor, a young boy with High Functioning Autism who has his own blog, came with me to a Psych Child Life class and we both lectured about Autism while his parents were there. It was a great experience and Connor did really well.

I also met Nick Bonnacci, a kid my age who also has High Functioning Autism. We played Madden at his house, he came to our meetings and played a pivotal role in our club. I also met my Compeer Mentee, Christopher who also has high functioning Autism. He's a lot of fun and we really enjoy hanging out with each other. Christopher is a great swimmer but most of all, he is a great friend.

Pool Pals, which I talked about in this blog already, was a great experience. The last one we did was a great moment. My former partner Norbert, and my current partner who loves the lane lines, both went on the adjacent tubes at the same time, slapped each other hi-five and jumped back in the pool.

Norbert used to be afraid of climbing up the tube/raft. He used to be afraid of going in the boat as well but this semester, he overcame both of his fears. At the end of the program, he and his dad went to the coordinator of the pool-Pals program and Norbert told her, "thank you for teaching me to be brave."

I went back to my High School, the Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports. I gave Autism lectures to four different 9th grade classes. Two students in the classes had family members with Autism. There was even a Special Education Teacher in the class. The students were a great audience. They knew what questions to ask like "Do you play sports, have you been in a relationship, would you date a girl who has Autism, etc." It was my first time back in High School since just after I graduated High School just under three years ago. Giving Autism lectures at my High School was a great experience.

I volunteered to be an assistant drumming instructor at the Kelberman Center building last year. We were teaching basic drumming instructions to non-verbal adults with Autism. A lot of them participated in the drumming sessions. They may not have been able to talk, but you can feel the excitement coming from them as they were playing their drums.

The Walk for Autism this year was a huge success. Everyone donated to the cause and the attendance was huge. The Field Hockey, Football, Men's/Women's Hockey, Men's/Women's Soccer, Sororities, Fraternities, Student Organizations, etc. were at the walk.

On World Autism Awareness Day, I thought I was in the ocean. Everyone was wearing blue to celebrate Autism Awareness. In fact, to this day, I see a lot of people on campus wear the Autism Awareness Club t-shirts, and the Kelberman Center's Walk for Autism Shirts.

Every issue of the Tangerine for the month of April had poems written about Autism by different writers. It felt great to read that. It's a great feeling seeing other people spreading awareness by wearing shirts, writing, and advertising.

This year, the club AND the campus raised over $500 to the Autism Speaks Foundation and $100 to the Kelberman Center to benefit people with disabilities.

As of last Tuesday Night, I am no longer the President of the Autism Awareness Club. I will still lecture about Autism in different classes if called upon and I will still lead the Team Autism Intramural teams.

Victoria Cruz Griffith will be the President of the Autism Awareness Club for the 2010-2011 School year. Victoria is the right person for the job. When our club first started, Victoria quoted to the Tangerine that "She has been waiting for this club her whole life." Reading that quote made me feel really good and increased my confidence. Victoria also showed facebook pictures of getting Autism Speaks Puzzle Pieces painted on her arm and she wore a thick blue strand in her hair everyday during Autism Awareness Month.

The Torch has been passed. Victoria will continue this Incredible Journey. Good luck Victoria!

Autism Blog Post: Power Rangers Style!

2010-04-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I am actually going to mix Power Rangers into my Autism Blog post.

Power Rangers was my favorite show for a number of years when I was younger. Many years later, I started watching it again and it is currently once again my favorite show. It's also Nicky's favorite show too.

I love all the different seasons of Power Rangers, but for this post, let's take a look back at the very first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Jason was always my favorite character. However, over the past couple of weeks, I am now leaning towards Billy as my favorite Power Rangers Character of all time.

Although Bill is not Autistic, he does display many symptoms of Autism. He is the "intelligent" one of the group and knows how to handle machinery and repair zords, the command center, communicators, alpha, etc. He has a monotone/robotic voice similar to that of an individual with Autism.

He has a complex vocabulary as well as being shy. Billy also displayed the negative symptoms of an individual with Autism. During Season 1, he was the only one who couldn't fight off the putties. He would have a hard time fighting them off unmorphed and would often lose while the other Power Rangers were able to handle them no problem. Of course, midway through Season 2 Billy all of sudden learned some sick Martial Arts and Fighting Moves out of no where for some strange reason but that's another story.

Billy is no doubt the most underrated Power Ranger in History. Out of all the original five Power Rangers (Tommy who came in a little later in the 1st season had a longer run on the show but he would leave the show for many episodes then return while Billy was always consistently there)Billy lasted on the show the longest. He was on the show just three episodes short of four full seasons.

His high intelligence got the Power Rangers out of many dangerous situations. Tommy may have always gotten the credit but Billy played a big role in helping the Power Rangers always "saving the day."

Billy was the Blue Ranger. Blue is the color for Autism. You know, the fans and the media complained that Zack, and African American, was made to be the Black Ranger while Trini, an Asian American, was made to be the Yellow Ranger. People may not realize it but it's a strange coincidence that they made a character like Billy the Blue Ranger because of the Autism symptoms he displays.

Billy is now my favorite Power Ranger of all time while Blue is my favorite color of all time. Forever Blue....

The Color Blue

2010-04-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

The Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Radio City, Citi Field, Fenway Park, the Sears Tower, and many other famous buildings across North America, and Around the World either lit up or are lighting up blue this weekend to honor World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Month. It's just incredible how much publicity and recognition that Autism is getting, and rightfully so. The population of people with Autism are rapidly increasing.

We still don't know the cause of it and no, there is still no cure. Anyone of you guys could be perfectly healthy, no history of Autism in your family,and still end up having a kid with Autism.

Blue is a personal color for me. Blue is the main color for Autism Awareness. All four of my favorite professional teams are blue. My favorite Division I and Division III colleges are blue.

Blue is what people are wearing for World Autism Awareness Day. Walking around campus today, I thought I was in the ocean. A lot of people were wearing blue. Thank you guys! I am wearing my Blue Ranger Jersey and Autism Speaks Winter Hat.

Girls were on the quads tanning in their bathing suits while I was walking around sporting the Ranger Jersey, Blue Jeans and my Autism Speaks Winter Hat.

My favorite color used to be red (although red is a part of the autism colors) because of looks. From now on, picking a favorite color will be like picking a girlfriend. I will not go by looks, I will go my meaning and what it represents.

My favorite color is now blue.

Paper I did in Chemistry Class about High Tension Power Lines

2010-04-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

AJ O’Hagan

High Tension Power Lines-Chemistry Paper

04/02/01

High tension power lines can be seen all over the place. For instance, you see them while traveling on highways or busy streets. You even see them in quiet neighborhoods. High tension power lines can even be seen next to houses.
High tension power lines are towers sometimes made out of metal, sometimes wood, etc. They carry electricity through transmission lines from one nuclear power plant to another. The bigger the towers are the more high voltage it carries.
High tension power lines are inserted into the ground via helicopters. A few helicopters carry the tower portion of the high tension power lines and put them into the ground. They all carry the wires called transmission wires.

High tension power lines are shaped by how much wires they carry. They are also shaped by what role they carry the transmission lines. For example, high tension power lines that are shaped like pretzels on a pole are responsible for carrying the transmission lines in a straight direction.

High tension power lines that are shaped like butterflies are responsible for changing the direction of the transmission lines. Sometimes, the wires will shift a little bit to the right or they could go into a complete different direction. High tension power lines can move into a different direction thanks to these butterfly type towers. The reason why directions of the high tension power lines have to change is because of incoming neighborhoods and towns. They can be next to houses and stores but they cannot be positioned on top of them so there is a shift in direction.

Birds are able to stand on the transmission lines without getting electrocuted because of their webbed feet. A human is not able to touch the wires because the wires carry a huge amount of high voltage electricity. If a human were to touch the wires, he or she would get electrocuted.

For some people, having high tension power lines next to their homes is a cause for great concern. Beginning in 1979, various groups have claimed that high tension power lines can cause cancer and the chances of people getting cancer increase if they live near high tension power lines.

The difference between high tension power lines and regular utility lights in the street is that high tension power lines carry high voltage electricity through neighborhoods from nuclear power plants while utility lights just carry cable, and communications through the lines. High tension power lines are high voltage lines. They are just called high tension power lines because high tension doesn’t sound as scary as high voltage through the eyes of the public.

Scientists say that there hasn’t been any proof that links high tension power lines to cancer. Never the less, the majority of the public are still afraid to buy homes near High tension power lines. The Radiation flowing through the electrical lines have people concerned that they will get cancer or other diseases, especially if they get too close.

Another side affect of living next to High tension power lines is the eye sore and the scenery. A lot of people think that High tension power lines are not attractive and will make the scenery around their house dismal. As a result, housing next to High tension power lines are usually cheaper than the ones not next to them even if they have the same values.

People have also speculated that high tension power lines are the cause of autism. Close exposure to the high tension power lines is a possible cause for Autism. Scientists have turned that claim down. Nobody knows what causes autism but people and even scientists have speculated that autism is caused by factors in the environment. It is worth knowing that high tension power Lines are huge factors in the environment since they carry electricity and also damage the environment by trees getting cut down because of it. Perhaps with more research, there could be a connection between high tension power lines and autism.

As a matter of fact, there was a blog post on “The Advocate for Autism” about an individual with high functioning autism who had an unusual obsession with high tension power lines. He used to love looking at them. At the same time, he would always have nightmares about them. In the nightmare, he would look up at the high tension power lines from a corner angle. The high tension power line would turn towards him, laugh at him, and then attack him. This all occurred while the boy was at a young age.

Many years later, now being an adult, he had another dream of the high tension power lines. This time he told the lines that Chris (His friend with autism as well) was coming and that caused the high tension power lines to be destroyed and disappear.

Back in 2006, 150 people were protesting in Sherburne’s Gaines Park against Proposed high tension power lines coming into the area. Resident Rose Tenney was quoted as saying “the power outages of New York City were due to a lack of maintenance rather than a lack of electricity.” She believed that high tension power lines could cause blackouts in neighborhoods that have them. She also believed that high tension power lines could lead to an uprising in cancer and childhood leukemia. The rally was a success as the plans to add high tension power lines through the neighborhood fell apart.

According to Biological Effects of Electric and Magnetic Fields on Productivity of Dairy Cows by JF Burchard, farmers in Canada conducted an experiment on how much milk a cow produces under high tension power lines and compared it to the milk produced by cows away from the high tension power lines, back in 1995. According to the report, farmers concluded that cows produced more milk prior to the high tension power lines being installed which supports the theory that high tension power lines do have an effect on the health and production of organisms.

Richard Wilson, a physics professor at Harvard University, believes that the radiation from the high tension power lines affects the cells in a human body, yet it doesn’t penetrate in the body.
Other scientists feel that Wilson’s theory shouldn’t be taken too seriously unless the experiment is repeated in more laboratories.
Richard P. Liburdy of the Energy Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory believed that radiation from the high tension power lines alters the human cell membranes. However, according to the Radsafe archives, an ethics probe found that Liburdy manipulated and falsified information about high tension power lines affecting the cell membranes.

As of right now, there is no proof that high tension power lines causes cancer. People often turn away from buying homes next to the power lines, but there hasn’t been a breakthrough in the cancer claim. For right now, the only thing known about high tension power lines is that they carry high voltage electricity.

High tension power lines occur in similar locations. You rarely spot them in the city. They can usually be located in rural areas like the suburbs. A person can usually see them when they are traveling on the highway in rural areas like the New York Thruway or the Long Island Expressway.

Highways in the city however, high tension power lines are rarely found probably because there are so much lights and electricity flowing in the city that it would be too much to combine with high tension power lines. There would be power outages and blackouts.

In rural areas, there are less lights and mostly areas with a lot of trees. It is much safer to position high tension power lines in more empty areas and less populated areas.

In conclusion, high tension power lines are more sophisticating and complex than people assume. Just because something is motionless and doesn’t have a personality, doesn’t mean it isn’t rich with information, stories, and even controversy.

Lane Lines

2010-03-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

This semester, I am doing three pool-pal sessions. The main reason why I am doing three sessions this time is so I can get to know three different individuals with Autism or perhaps another disability.

I will explain the first two individuals in a later post but there is one in particular who I must explain about right away. I can't reveal his real name under Pool-Pals rules so I will just call him Michael.

Michael is only five years old. I classify him on the borderline of low-high functioning Autism. The Past couple of weeks, Michael would not like to get into the pool because he doesn't like getting wet. He doesn't like wearing wet life jackets. He doesn't like the pool being cold and just doesn't like being wet in general.

It always takes forever to get him into the pool and he usually does finally go in after about ten minutes but I have to piggy-back ride him. Michael loves lane lines. He always stares and plays (stims) with them. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine which Nicky and I can relate.

Last week, Michael jumped a few lane lines away from the rest of the group and I had to chase after him. The Main Coordinator told me after-wards that she knows I'm too nice to yell at him but urged me to call for help if I ever face a similar circumstance in the future. I took note of that. Last week, I finally got him to participate in an event when I told him the lane lines were part of the activity we were doing. He seemed pretty happy about that and I was relieved.

This week, Michael received a really dry life-jacket just for him. I put it on for him but he as usual did not want to go in the pool. He wouldn't even get on my back this time for me to piggy-back ride him. Not even the lane lines were enough to get him in. He doesn't like to be cold or wet.

Finally, the main coordinator offered him a rubber raft to ride in. He accepted. The Coordinator suggested I wet the raft so he could get used to the wetness but he refused. While everyone else was in the pool, I was pushing the raft with Michael in it.

During Simon Says, it was Michael's turn and he screamed "SIMON SAYS EVERYBODY GET OUT OF THE POOL!" It was tough. I liked it better last week when he said "Simon Says everybody act like Thomas the Tank Engine."

I was pushing Michael in the raft while everyone else was swimming. I kept asking but he refused to slip in the pool. The raft almost tipped over but I was able to grab it in time.

Finally it was Raft Jump time where the kids climb up a giant tube, stand on it, wave to their parents up in the bleachers above the pool, then jumped in. Michael has always loved the tube. I asked Michael if he wanted to participate and he said "Yeah!" I told him that he must be in the pool in order to climb up the tube.

A couple of minutes later, a few moments before the event was to take place, I noticed Michael requested a bucket. The coordinator gave it to him. He starts filling the bucket up with water and starts dumping it into the raft while he is still in it. He kept dumping it over and over again in the raft while he was in it. His body was shaking with excitement and kept giggling.

I knew what he was doing. he was getting himself used to being wet in small doses. Then, a moment later, he intentionally slips out of the raft and into the pool. He was now in the pool and he was happy! He was moving with great enthusiasm, I couldn't believe it. When the event took place, He climbed up the tube stood, then jumped back in the pool. Afterward, he participated in the remaining activities while in the pool. It was incredible! After we got out of the pool, the coordinator gave him a huge hi-five. What a comeback!

It was incredible! I've never seen anything like it. Michael and I exchanged goodbyes and I told him I would see him again in two weeks. I exercised in the pool for about twenty minutes. I went in my room, got my phone to call my mom and talked to her while I returned to the Pool area to better describe her what had just taken place.

After I was about to leave the pool area for a second time, I looked at the lane lines. I may never look at lane lines the same way again.

Aspergers No More

2010-03-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

It seems that doctors and psychologists are eliminating the term "aspergers". As a result, children and adults with high functioning Autism will no longer be classified as children with aspergers. Instead we will be officially called "autistic."

I like the change. I always referred to myself as being autistic anyway. People are more familiar with Autistic than they are with aspergers. Every-time I type the word "aspergers," Microsoft Word has it being spelled wrong. It's really annoying. I guess that's another reason why it's a good thing that aspergers is no more.Plus everything is wrapped up in one title rather than having different names for similar symptoms and behavior, whether mild or severe.

All kidding aside my younger brother Nicky has low functioning Autism so he is called Autistic no matter what.It's great for myself to be officially called Autistic so I can be like my younger brother.

Many people feel that Aspergers needs to stay. Mainly so the higher functioning autistic people won't be mixed up with low functioning autistic. Plus, people won't believe that a person could be autistic because he or she is so high-functioning.

The label Autistic could get you better benefits in terms of health and accommodations but Aspergers is different from low-functioning Autism.

It's tricky, both sides of this argument bring up great points. I had a meeting with Connor (a middle school student with high functioning Autism who has his own blog. I'll explain more in a later post.), his family, and Jennifer. (Chris' mom)

We discussed the issues and it left us with some questions rather than answers which is not a bad thing.

At this point, I'm officially Autistic.

One more thing about being called Autistic, I think the Autistic Sports Nerd sounds a lot better than Aspergers Sports Nerd.

Rematch with the High Tension Power Lines Over Fifteen Years in the Making

2010-03-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

As I have said many times before, I used to have nightmares of High Tension Power Lines when I was younger. In the nightmare, I would be staring at the High Tension Power Lines. (The ones next to my grandparents' backyard) The angle had me staring at it from the left. The top part, which was its head, shifted towards me, laughed, then attacked me.

I used to have the same nightmare time after time after time again when I was younger. My mentee Chris, who is a twelve year old with high functioning Autism like me, loves to look at High Tension Power Lines just like me. (For me, as long as I am not in a nightmare)

We were talking about them and I explained to Chris about my nightmares.He gave me some advice in which I will paraphrase. "AJ, if you ever see High Tension Power Lines in your nightmares again, warn them that Chris is coming." I kept that in mind. This was all said about a month ago.

Then, last Wednesday night came. Oddly enough, I didn't go to bed until 4am that night because the Hockey team and I returned from Pennsylvania for a playoff game. I went to bed sad because we lost.

AT 4am laying in bed, I heard a ringing sound which meant I was slipping into a dream. Sometimes, you know when you are dreaming and sometimes even well aware right when you enter one, usually by the eerie ringing sound. I saw the high tension power lines, the very same ones form the very same angle. I knew I was dreaming this time, and I was ready for it. The High Tension Power Line turned around and started laughing at me. I yelled out "Chris is Coming!!" All of a sudden red, yellow, blue, and purple fireworks exploded and destroyed the high tension power-lines. It didn't get a chance to attack me. (Gasp! I just discovered what the fireworks symbolize! The Colors of Autism Awareness!!)

I woke up. Oddly enough I didn't remember the triumphant dream until later that evening when I was listening to a piece from the Final Fantasy 7 soundtrack. When I finally remembered the dream, I was full of excitement.

I told Chris and his mother Jennifer all about it when I was over at their house during dinner. AT our previous meeting last month, when I was talking about the High Tension Power Lines. A picture of it was on the projector. I interrupted the lecture, turned to it,and warned the High Tension Power Lines about Chris's advice and a few weeks later it worked!

Thanks Chris!

It seems that Autism Awareness is now the High Tension Power Line's worst nightmare!

Disability Article I wrote for the Tangerine

2010-03-01T05:04:00.000-08:00

Academic Support Services Hosts Event on Accommodating Students with Disabilities by AJ O’Hagan

The Office of Academic Support Services hosted the ACSS (Adapting Curriculum for Student Success) Conventions in room 355 of the library last Thursday afternoon.

Learning Specialist Judy Borner and the Director of Learning Services Kateri Henkel hosted the event and explained how students with disabilities get help and accommodations for their academics here at Utica College.

One example is testing. Students with an updated documented disability are allowed to take their exams in a separate room by themselves with double the time limit compared to a regular exam period. They can also have note-takers take notes for them in class and use audio devices so they can hear the notes.

“We also focus on the transition from High School to college.” Borner said. These events attract faculty, staff, and students from Utica College but they aren’t the only ones. “Teachers from other schools and people from the community also attend this event.” Henkel said.

Every semester Faculty and staff host two to three events on hoe to help and accommodate students with disabilities. When asked if these events were successful, Henkel replied, “I think so. We have had good responses from the people that attended.”

The Academic Support Services will be having more ACSS Conversations in the Fall Semester of 2010. They will be listed in the Cultural Calendar and Web-Site. For any questions, contact Kateri Henkel of the Academic Support Services at 315-792-3032.

My Autistic Skills Help Me with Strong Memories Regarding Sports

2010-02-07T21:33:00.001-08:00

During the game, it was noted that the Saints only won two playoff games the previous 42 years. They didn't announce which years they were but I used my Autistic talent to instantly remember that the Saints won a Wild Card playoff game over the Rams in 2000 and a Divisional playoff game against the Eagles back in 2006, both games at home. Yeah, it pays to be Autistic.

Ego by Keeping Track of Stats in my Head

2010-02-07T21:32:00.001-08:00

I admit, I do get a bit ego-statistical because I like to keep track of my stats for each game in my head. I am notorious for doing this in whiffleball games. I was the tallest player on our team, so I played the Center position for the first time in my life.

My stats:

4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, one block, two assists, and four fouls. (Three of them were intentional)

The fact that I calculated these stats in my head is another talent of Autism. You know, with all of this talk about Autism, I minus well put this in my Autism blog. Hey Mr. Autism Awareness, consider this a gift from the Autistic Sports Nerd! P.S: I will have another post for the Autism Blog sometime this week about the last meeting we had and meeting Connor as well as Connor, Nick B, Christopher/Jennifer, and myself combining forces to pull off a heck of a meeting.

Pieces from the Autistic Sports Nerd

2010-02-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday Night, the Rangers played the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 pm eastern time. Earlier that night, I hosted an Autism Awareness Club lecture on unusual talents, interests, and knowledge. Back in the mid 1990's when I was a young kid, my secondary team was the Los Angeles Kings. The reason why I liked the Kings was because I loved their old logo and I loved the colors of their home and way jerseys which were black and silver.

In fact, during the 1994-1995 season, the Kings hosted the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on ESPN. i remember that game so well, because that game was the first non-Rangers' game I have ever watched which I guess made me like the Kings even more. My dad even got me a Wayne Gretzky poster for my room of him in a white Kings' jersey over the city of Los Angeles. It was a great poster. That is the only time I went out of my way to showcase a poster of another team. I loved Gretzky when I was younger but not because he was great, but because he played for the Kings.

Here's a story: Back in the 1995-1996 season, the Rangers were scheduled to play the Kings at 10:30 pm because of the time zone in Los Angeles. I wanted to watch that game so bad, because it was my favorite team and secondary team going at it. The game was being played on a school night. I was in the second grade at the time. I begged my parents to let me stay up and watch the game. My parents refused.

I kept begging and begging. Finally, my parents agreed to let me stay up and watch the Ranger game that night. However, there was a sacrifice that had to be made. The Rangers' next game was scheduled to be at Anaheim against the Mighty Ducks. My dad said that game was going to be played on a Saturday night. My mom said that if I watched the Rangers play the Kings that night, I wouldn't be able to watch the Rangers play the Mighty Ducks (another 10:30 pm game) even though it wouldn't be played on a school night. I agreed and accepted the deal. I was happy.

Watching that Rangers-Kings game that night, I saw a commercial that the Rangers will be playing the Mighty Duck on Friday Night. My dad must have made a mistake. He thought the game was on Saturday night but the game was really being played on Friday. I didn't think it was necessary to tell my parents that so I kept it to myself. In the end, I watched the Rangers play the Kings AND watched the Rangers play the Mighty Ducks.

I explained all of that to the audience during the Autism Awareness Meeting because I figured that my fascination in the colors and logo of the Kings were traits of Autism. Later that night, I watched the Rangers play at the Kings, on a school night at 10:30 pm, approximately fourteen years after that whole begging scenario.