My response to qestions I am often asked about Autism(pt 1).

Dear family and friends,

BACKGROUND: I have just been engaged in telephone conversation with my Dad(He lives in Ghana). We talked mainly about Jacques,my son who is also his youngest grandson so far.Jacques is very close to my dad's heart!Perhaps, even more significantly,Jacques' birth took place at a very difficult period of my Dad's life.During this period, he was experiencing a severe bout of depression.Eileen his oldest daughter(and my eldest sister) had passed away nearly three years earlier. Dad later wrote me that, whilst on holiday in Lome(He was with my sister Seli and her family), he became convinced he had been suffering from depression. One book he had been reading helped him face up to this.Needless to say, with that insight came my Dad's determination to recover. But the turning point of his recovery was in receiving the news,Ivy had given birth to Jacques. So Jacques became linked to my Dad's gradual recovery from grief related depression.

In response to my Dad's specific request,I agreed to e-mail some information about 'Autism' to my Dad. He informed me this was a new area to him.However, he was aware of a family with members who exhibited characteristic that fitted my description.My Dad wanted to begin understudying how this family fared. We agreed that this issue was not just about Jacques, but potentially an opportunity to share knowledge which would go a longway to helping others as well.Friends, the information i am about to share is a significant part of what i shall be sending to my Dad.

Question 1:What characteristics of autism have been part of Jacques of experience?

Audio Insensitivity:Jacques,on some occasions does not respond when his name is called.During a hearing assessment(in a clinic) he did not appear aware of sounds behind him or which direction sounds emerged from.
However:There appeared to be some exceptions, which made us,as parents conclude that Jacques abilities and capabilities were more than what had been observed at the clinic.
E.g.Sounds that he appeared not to hear on one occasion were acknowledged by him on other occasions.Besides from our own interraction with him on a daily basis we knew,he could clearly hear,often understand perfectly and respond intelligently to very low sounds.t appeared on a lot of occasions he was too focused on what he was doing, or lost in his own 'thoughts' to be bothered with Inattentiveness: Jacques does not often appear to be aware of some of the obvious health hazards within his environment,such as the cold weather outdoors and hot objects.When warned or cautioned of the dangers of exposure or contact with such hazards he APPEARS either indifferent or completely oblivous to danger.
However:On other occasions, in fact frequently, Jacques demonstrates a heightened awareness of danger to objects in his way when he 'dashes' across the room.He has done it is to a degree of adaptiveness which we would probably expect of someone significantly older.This characteristic is one example of the precision Jacques has developed in order to continue with his routine activities, without getting injured. A lot of his preferred activities involve some minor risk of tripping and bruising himself.He is unusually adaptive in preventing himself from being hurt. Jacques usually asks one of us parents or an adult to supervise him, whenever he is involved in certain specific activities.

Eventually I was able to identify that Jacques had probably perceived if he could have mum or dad present they would be able to assist him with his activity. This is his way of adapting , without the use of expressive language.Of course he asks an adult to be present for other reasons such as to meet his desire for social interraction , company.

Clinical Dilemmas:A thorough clinical examination to determine if an autistic child is suffering from hearing deficiency often confirms what parents usually know...that the child's hearing is normal.

Play Activity:Sometimes an autistic child has preference for solitary play over interraction with others including family and peer group.

Expressions of Affection:Often Jacques expresses dislike or discomfort with physical contact by pushing our hands away from his body. This is often the case when an attempt is made to embrace him or show him affection.Jacques REGULARLY initiates expressions of affection towards us his parents,and Sapphire his sister(especially his mum).

Daily routine:He demonstrates a preference for sameness and routine,consistently choosing one or two objects to play with and going to a special area in the house to sit by himself.