SchaferAutismReport: At UC MIND Institute, Learning Can Be Child's Play For Autistic

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TREATMENTAt UC MIND Institute, Learning Can Be Child's Play For Autistic By April Dembosky, The Sacramento Bee. is.gd/73811

Lezlie Sterling Most parents never think they'll have to learn how to play with their

own children. But if a toddler is diagnosed with autism, moms and dads can spend years with the child and a therapist, drawing with crayons and playing hide and seek. Research is proving that as parents color and stack building blocks with their kids, they are subtly teaching them to overcome cognitive, language and social delays. "When we first came in, he wasn't talking, he didn't respond to his name, he wasn't making eye contact," said Jensen of her son , who's now almost 3. After more than a year of specialized play therapy through the UC MIND Institute in Sacramento, is speaking in seven-word sentences, learning to take turns and initiating pretend play. "It's a lot of training, but it's worth it," Jensen said. Treatments for autism are geared to children between 3 and 5 years old.

Researchers said there is growing urgency – even a sense of obligation – to develop effective intervention for much younger children. New diagnostic tools can identify autism in kids as young as 12 months, and prevalence of the disorder is reaching record numbers. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports one in every 110 children has an autism spectrum disorder. Researchers at the MIND Institute are conducting a study adapting a specialized program, the Early Start Denver Model, for children to begin as young as 1 year old. The model focuses on building relationships with children and teaching skills through play: 20 hours every week with a therapist, and at least five hours a week with parents. "What the child learns is that it's more fun to do things with others, rather than alone," said Sally , professor of psychiatry

and behavioral sciences at the MIND Institute. "Kids with autism enjoy playing with others, they enjoy being tickled. They just don't know how to initiate." co-authored a previous study, recently published in the journal Pediatrics, which found that autistic children who received this therapy showed significant improvement in IQ, language, motor skills and adaptive behavior compared to a control group of autistic children who did not receive the same therapy. Some kids improved so much that they no longer met the diagnostic criteria for autism, classified instead as having a less-severe developmental disorder. "We're trying to identify these kiddos early so they can learn in a typical way," said. The coaching channels an autistic child's learning pattern toward eye contact and verbal communication, before

autistic developmental characteristics become entrenched. "This is unique in that parents learn the model," said Avila-Pons, a therapist and team leader for the early intervention study at the MIND Institute. Avila-Pons demonstrates play techniques and offers guidance while parents play with their children. During a recent session, King played with her 2-year old son Elijah. King held a plastic toy gun for a game of helicopter. "Go!" Elijah said. King pushed a button, sending a small plastic disc spinning through the air and onto the table. Elijah was delighted. After a few more times, she handed him the toy. He fiddled with it but couldn't get the same result. He looked up; King reached out her hands, palms up. "That's good she responded," said, watching from the other side of a two-way mirror.

"For these little ones, eye contact is hard. A lot of parents wait for a word." Kids don't know that eye contact and gestures are communication tools, said. By giving Elijah the toy without showing him how to work it, King forced him to ask for help. By holding out her hands, she reinforced Elijah's request for help through eye contact. King had introduced to him a new gesture that means "help" or "give me." "Push," King said, "push!" The disc flew. King opened her eyes wide and let out a "Wow!" nodded. "She's using simple one-word phrases, because that's where he's at," she said. "The use of the word 'wow,' shows kids that words are not just for labels or requests. It's an emotional word. 'Wow' is social. We want kids to know that words are used in a lot of different

ways." Elijah and King will finish their initial 12-week coaching this week, then move to the 25 hours of weekly therapy over the next two years. King said she was relieved when she enrolled Elijah in the study, soon after he was diagnosed at 18 months. "It's so great to get a diagnosis, because your life can start," she said.+ Read more: is.gd/73811

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•PEOPLEAutistic Boy Bonds With Wildlife Safari Elephants is.gd/71N2N

Winston, Ore. — Wylie Malek has liked elephants for as long as he can remember. His father, Kris Malek, said as soon as his son was able to sit up and watch TV he was fascinated with the giant creatures, whether real ones on the Discovery channel or cartoons on Disney. Wylie, 10, is autistic but has already proven himself to be a

Robin Loznak/The News-Reviewhard worker and willing to do the tough jobs — just ask the elephants at Wildlife Safari. When the Maleks discovered they lived just miles away from three elephant residents of the safari park in Winston, they became regulars, stopping in every couple of

months since Wylie was 2 years old. Eventually, park officials noticed his passion and enthusiasm for the gentle giants and worked up an arrangement that has benefited the boy and his co-workers for the last two years. “We don't do job shadows on a regular basis,†Dinah , elephant manager, said. “But he has been an inspiration to us." Wylie, a student at Green Elementary School, works with trainers about once a month to do almost every aspect of elephant care. He spreads sawdust, shovels waste and puts out food. When it is time for an elephant bath, Wylie raises a brush high above his head, spreading soap and bubbles across their thick, gray skin. “Wylie likes to outwork me, I think,†elephant keeper Timmy Hamilton said. “We were sweeping hay in the barn and we had a race and he

won." The boy constantly has a positive attitude, Hamilton said, and she hasn't found a chore her

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In This Issue:

•••• •••••••

TREATMENTAt UC MIND Institute, Learning Can Be Child's Play For AutisticPEOPLEAutistic Boy Bonds With Wildlife Safari ElephantsThe Promise of Music and a Phemoninal Young Man Video.PUBLIC HEALTHAuthor Robyn O’Brien Talks Of Dangers Lying On Our PlatesRESEARCHPsychologists Use Non-Expert Student Observers In Autism ResearchEverybody Laughs, Everybody Cries: Researchers Identify Universal

EmotionsEVENTSDear Premiere Raises More Than $100,000 for AutismThe Annual SeaverAutism Center Conference: New Insights in the Etiology, Diagnosis, Neurobiology, Genetics and Treatment of AutismCOMMENTARYAutism Clusters In California Real, Not GeneticThe Scandalous History of MMR in the UKLETTERSThank you for "Chasing the Hope" - Autism Awareness Won

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