What I still need

I still need…

• to gather and sort out what pictures of the children that I want to use
• come up with exactly what I want to say in my first slide to introduce my topic and how I want to end it.
• I have everything in the middle undercontroll
• I still have to decide if i want to play music or if i dont.  I think it would be better not to because it would symbolize how kids with autism are sensitive to music and the music might take away from it.
• I also have to record some of my voice overs
• I still need to decide how i want it to flow.  If i want it to fade in and out and how fast i want it to go
• I have all my video clips done though because i did them this weekend.

#8

Part 1

By making this film I am trying to understand why autism is so hard to understand and why people give up on children with autism so easily.  The obvious topic of my film is autism.  But the less obvious topic is how autism effected me as a person and how it changed me for the better. I already know what autism is and how it can impact peoples live for the better and the worst.  But I do not know exactly how I can show that in film.  I have some ideas but they are all just jumbled.

Part 2

I used to think autism meant a child was really smart in certain subjects but just lacked the social aspects or that they were just in other words helpless.  I know realize that autism has all different levels of severity.  My film is going to focus on the sever autism.  This means that a child is very aggressive, non-verbal and needs alot of help but it does not change that they are a child and deserves to be treated well and with respect.  They need love and support.  They need everything, every other child needs but more. I  also learned that saying that child is autistic is politically incorrect.  It is disrespectful and it is labeling that child.  When speaking of a child who has a autism you say “he or she is a child with autism”.  This means that they have autism but it is not the only thing about them.

This shift caused me to change my major at the college of St. Rose.  I went from being an elementary ed major to a special ed and elementary ed major.  I also know that i do not want to teach in a class room for general ed anymore.  I feel like i know alot about disabilities and i would be usefull in a special education setting.  Preferably and autistic room.

Part 3

I am a much stronger person because of this shift.  I also am much more open minded.  I participate in autism walks every year to help raise money for reasearch and I take every moment I get to raise awarness about autism.  I am alot more considerate and patient.  Working with children with autism teaches you to be patient and that it is ok when things do not work.

I want my audience to learn not to stare at a child with autism when they see them out in the commuity.  Because that is all I used to see when I took some of the kids out and it was very frustrating.  I also want my audience to learn that autism does not mean the childs life is over.  It just means they need more help.

#7 Continued

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.methuen.k12.ma.us/autism/socialbehavior%2520puzzle2520piece.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.methuen.k12.ma.us/autism/autism_facts.htm&h=154&w=212&sz=17&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=gAlKzqbR-8uW3M:&tbnh=77&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dautism%2Bfacts%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

 

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.displaysforschools.com/autism.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.displaysforschools.com/autism.html&h=788&w=608&sz=35&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=z7brGqhB7adgSM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dautism%2B%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://logo.cafepress.com/1/8465574.3690531.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.autismapparel.com/cgi-bin/store/autismawareness.cgi/2815291455&h=151&w=182&sz=21&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=XeW72ctLvFWQIM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dautism%2Bfacts%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

 

#7

 

• Community  
•           Unusual or interesting facts
• Lack of or delay in spoken language
• Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects
• 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism
• 1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum
• 67 children are diagnosed per day
• A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

 

#6

1.  

• see- complete crazyness.  Kids running all over the place, with little to no direction.  I also see a long hallway with tons of rooms.  I dont know were anything is or what anything is.  I see a bunch of kids looking at me but saying nothing, hanging me little rectangle boxes with pictures on it.  I see restraints going on.  Kids hitting and biting themselves.  Kids going after other kids.  I am at a lost.
• Where am I- St. Colmans Autistic Boys Floor
• Smell- Cookies (they were baking chocolate chip cookies in the caeteria downsairs)
• Hear- Kids yelling, Tv playing, workers talking to each other
• Who is with me- co-workers, childern

1.  

• see- people looking at me and my co-worker, brian smilling and laughing, playing with his hands dressed as a fire fighter
• Where am i- Friendlys on an outing on halloween
• Smell- Food cooking in the kitchen
• hear- Laughing, talking, pans moving around
• who am i with- brian and my co-worker

1. I would choice the first one.  I woud focus on seeing the kids for the first time and how they are actng and what they are doing.  I would focus on my hearing and seeing manily.  Everything else is not imprortuant. I would use close up images to show what the children are doing. 

 

#5

1. The recurring theme on all my comments is that most everyone does not know or understand what server autism means.  Everyone wants to know more about how I am going to show it in film and what my main focus is truly going to be.  This is because my blog post focused manly on my experiences and then wanting o raise awarness.
2. I think they are right.  Alot of people do not know about autism and that is why i want to do this person film.  I also agree with them that I am confused about my focus.  I am unsure of how I can make this into a film because I can not use real kids and pictures that I have.  I also can not interview my cousin because he know lives in flordia and is not in New York right now.
3. I would like to say back to them that I am going to try my best to demonstrate what server autism is and why people need to know about it.  I would also like to say thank you for pointing out that I am alittle un focused because it made me really think and come up with a few good ideas.
4. I think I may kind of compare a “normal child” to a child with autism.  I am not sure exactly how yet but I think it would be a great way to show my viewers how autism is truly sever and why it ters patents apart.  I also want to put in how it changed my life and changed my major at the college of St. Rose.
5. Some concerns I have is that I can not just go out and film a severly autistic child or even a normal child.  I would have to get waviers signed and that would take to much time.  I think i could do alot of cool things based on what i have online and available already but it would still be hard.  The short amount of time also scares me
6. Why parents give up on their children?  Why auism is so scary to people who do not understand it?  

#4

• My topic is introducing the class to the world of server autism.
• This topic interest me because autism can be so varied.  It can be almost undetectable but it can also be so sever that the child is non-verbal, aggresive, and needs help to do every day activities.  It also interest me because my cousin has autism and I grew up seeing people judging him for it.  I want to spread the awarness to others so hopefully other children will not go through what my cousin went through.  This topic also interest me because I worked at group home for children with sever autism.  I saw everything and anything you could amagine.  Every child there was non-verbal and needed help doing most everything.  They were all very agressive and self abusive.  It broke my heart to see the children hurting themselves and that is why I want to learn more about autism.
• I said some reasons above about why the topic is importuant to me.  But once again the topic is importaunt to me because I see what children with autism go through daily.  They get put down, people look at the funny, and no one understands what they are doing.  People can not understand why they may hit themselves or bash their heads into desks and walls.  But if people were more supportive it might help them.  Its also importaunt to me because of my cousin.
• Some questions I have about this topic are why do parents give up on there kids with autism so easily?  Why are parents willing to put their kids into homes so fast?  While we ever know what causes autism?  Why do more and more children keep getting diagnoised?
• As an insider I would like to tell “outsiders” not to judge these children and adults.  I would like to spread awarness about the different degrees of autism.  I would also like to share some of my experinces with children with autism.  Things that worked and things that didnt work.  I would want to share the good stories and the bad.  This way people dont just get a bad taste of sever autism becuase the kids i worked with and grew to love had their hard times but they were wonderful kids.

Blog #2

1) Some surprising things about me!

• I used to dance for 12 years.  I did tap, Jazz and hip hop.  I danced all year long and all day.  I would go to class everyday after school and would practice every spare minute I had.  It was my whole life when I was younger but I loved every minute of it.
• I just found out last night I have a 35 year old half brother, that I never knew about ( I am 20 years old).  I also have a 2 year old nephew that I never knew about.  He contacted my sister and I through facebook.
• I love camping and spend a lot of my spare time at my families camp on sacondoga lake.  We also have a boat which i enjoy.  Because of my love for camping I also work at a summer camp for 2 weeks at the end of the summer.  It is a camp for children with autism.

2) Some of my obsesssions and passions…

• The RED SOX- I love watching games on tv, going to games, watching them on teh computer, reading about the sox.  Anything that has to do with the sox I love.  My room is covered in red sox posters, plaks, etc.  I also have a red sox tattoo that i got this year.  Not many people would guess this by meeting me.
• I do not really obses over anything else… some people say I am obsessed with my cell phone because I am always text messaging or talking on it… but I am working on that.
• A passion i have is helping people.  I will go out of my way to help someone if I see someone is struggling with someone.  It may be as easy as holding a dorr and as much as spending a week and or so helping them with a project. 

3) Hobbies and pasttimes

• Dancing- tap, jazz and hip hop
• Zolunteering (key club at my school)
• Traveling- went to germany and france in high school
• Anything outdoors- In the summer its swimming, camping, hiking, biking etc. In the winter I love to go ice skating.  I got to the plaza almost every weekend to go skating (since its free).
• Spending time with family.  My family means the world to me.

4) Groups…

• Job- The center for disbaility services: Outreach Couslor and i have been there about a year
• I used to do the friday night rec program at st. rose, i stopped this semester bc working 40 hours a week and going to school and that was to much

5) Worlds I am close with…

• I am really close with the autistic community and understanding the struggles people go through raising a child with autism.  This is because my cousin has autism, i worked at a group home for kids with server autism for a year and i work with people with autim now.
• I think I also understand the world of having any disability very well.  I work with people with varous disabilities and I see what they go through every day.  I am a major advocate for them and I work hard to get others to understand that they are people to and deserve to be treated equal
• Other than that i am just part of the middle class society and have a pretty regular family.  Except for finding out last night that I have a brother my family never told me about.  But they had there reasons (bad reasons but still reasons).

#3

This video fits most all of the personal essay characteristics. This is because it gives a great image and picture of what autism is and what the families deal with everyday. It also uses multiple senses. It talks about how all they can hear is the yelling and the screaming of the child and the people that dont know about autism talking about them and their parenting. This video is full of repition every family says the same thing, just in different ways about their own child. Lastly it starts out with small moments that kind of show autism and by the end you really get to see what it is all about and how much these families are going through.

This video does not follow as many of the personal essay themes. There is no talking just music, pictures and then slides with words. But it gives a families opinion of autism and there strickt opinion on it based on specific experiences. It gives great images because of the pictures and then explains them with slides that have words on them. It has much small moments in it, in the start because it starts out when the boy was born and then goes to when hes older and becoming more sever. This is a great example of personal essay.

#1

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