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(A
special introduction booklet given to Kibby's new regular education
classmates -- his first time ever in a regular education classroom.)
When I was a year old I could talk.
Mom says I spoke like a 4-year old.
Then all of a sudden, like many children with autism, I lost
the ability to speak. Even
though I don't talk (and I try really hard to), I am always listening.
When
I was little, I spent most of my time in a world of my own and didn't
pay any attention to anything around me.
My teacher, Ms. Rebecca MacLeod has helped me to pay more
attention to people and things and I'm hoping you will all help
me too.
My mom cried when she heard I was going to come and be in
your class because I have never been in a regular classroom before
or been around very many children who didn't have autism too.
So I have no friends to help me learn "the rules"
or how to play games like everyone else.
Even though I look like everyone else, I do many things that
are unusual, so people often stare at me and whisper about me.
Mom says they are just ignorant and rude, but it doesn't
bother me though, because I can't help but do the things I do and
these things are very normal to me.
Autism is a developmental disability that I will have to live with
for the rest of my life.
It is a neurological disorder that affects the way my brain
processes information.
It can make things really hard for me because most of the
time I see things differently and have trouble understanding the
world around me.
Autism makes me behave differently too.
For instance, sudden loud or strange noises can hurt my ears
so you will sometimes see me covering them, and I may even cry.
I also cover them when I don't want to do what you tell me
to, but that doesn't hurt J.
At times being around too many people can make me nervous
so I will do what I can to get away and be alone.
I have something called Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)
that mixes up my sense of touch.
For instance I can't stand to hold a pencil between my fingers,
but I love the way uncooked rice, sand and water feel. There was
a time when for some reason I couldn't stand the way the shower
felt or having my face touched.
The doctors said that to me it felt something like a zillion
bugs crawling around on my skin.
You can imagine how much trouble mom and dad had just trying
to wash my face. But
once my dad and
Coach Williams taught me
how much fun being in the water can be and I got used to the water
enough to learn how to float, I love water so much now that I drive
my parents crazy playing in the sink non-stop and taking baths so
long that my skin shrivels!
Just playing with rice
I
make odd noises from time to time.
Sometimes I sound like a baby chick: "peep-peep".
Mom thinks my sounds are real cute and so she has learned
to make them too.
I often clap, flap or make sounds for no apparent reason.
I have even been known to laugh or cry for long periods of
time.
This can upset everyone around me because they just have
to wait until I feel like stopping.
It can be really difficult for me sometimes to stay sitting
in one place for too long.
Ms. Rebecca usually lets me walk around a little when I am
finished my work so that I can get it out of my system.
If I walk up to you and
stand really close to look at you, don't be afraid, it's my way
of saying "hi" and if I hold you by the arm and squeeze
you, I promise I won't hurt you, it's just my way of saying "I
like you" or "I'd like to be your friend".
I may just want to touch the hair on your arms since I'm
really fascinated with that--I'm not sure why.
I
think in pictures, so I learn a lot from what I see.
No one really knows how much I have learned so far because
I have no way of telling, but most of the time what I know surprises
them.
My
little brother goes to the same school I do He
has autism just like me I
squeeze him a lot I have a hard time following directions if I am given too many of them at once. So you don't have to yell at me -- remember I can hear you just fine -- just give me one step at a time and make sure you say exactly what you mean so that I don't get confused.
I
sometimes carry a book filled with cartoon-like pictures called
PECs that I put together on a plas
I love to put puzzles together and am working with 500-1000 pieces now. I put them together a lot faster than most people and I don't need the picture on the box or an outline to do it. I just match the shape of the pieces to the gaps in the same way that you read a book -- from side to side.
My latest collection I'm happy with who I am. After all, I 'm just a regular kid who does many of the same things just in different ways. I know that I can learn a lot just from being with you, and I hope you will help me and be patient with me while I am learning.
(Written
for Kibby by his Mom -- Sylvia Miller) Sylvia is a CARD Parent Partner and can be reached at (352) 687-2257 or by email to sajm19@wmconnect.com The Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) UF/Gainesville has extended its services to include Parent Partners who are parents of children with autism living in Marion County and the other areas they serve. These parents are available to assist (through their own experience and CARD training), with the challenges associated with parenting children with autism and related disabilities. For more information about autism, CARD and the Parent Partner Program, contact Caroline Raye, Community Services Coordinator, CARD (352) 846-3701. Visit their website at http://www.card.ufl.edu
Read what Kibby's little brother has to say Learn more about autism by
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tic
strip to form a sentence and show it to people to ask for what I
want and need.
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