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Metro Detroit
Parents find help for kids with autism
State sees increase in cases diagnosed
August 17, 2006
From left, Ria Ramsey, 12, of Grand Blanc and Carley Vincke, 14, of Clarkston dance in a warmup Monday at an Oakland University camp. (WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press)
Signs of autism
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People with autism spectrum disorders may exhibit some of the following traits:
• Insistence on sameness; resistance to change.
• Difficulty expressing needs; using gestures or pointing instead of words.
• Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language.
• Laughing, crying or showing distress for reasons not apparent to others.
• Preference for being alone; aloof manner.
• Tantrums.
• Difficulty mixing with others.
• Not wanting to cuddle or be cuddled.
• Little or no eye contact.
• Unresponsive to normal teaching methods.
• Sustained odd play.
• Spinning objects.
• Obsessive or inappropriate attachment to objects.
• Apparent over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain.
• No real fears of danger.
• Noticeable physical over-activity or extreme under-activity.
• Uneven gross/fine motor skills.
• Non-responsiveness to verbal cues; acts as if deaf, although hearing tests in normal range.
• Aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior.
Source: Autism Society of America, www.autism
-society.org
Help by seeing film
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A premiere of the film produced by students and adults involved in Joey Travolta's film camp at Oakland University is set for 7 p.m. Saturday. The Center Stage Film Premiere Night begins with a red carpet entrance at the Oakland Center. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling 248-370-2424. There is a VIP reception at 6 p.m. at C@fe O'Bear's in the Oakland Center. VIP reception tickets are $75. Proceeds from the event will benefit Jack's Place for Autism at Oakland University.
For more information
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Parents with autistic children have far more resources available to them than ever before. Among them:
- Jack's Place for Autism at Oakland University, a program that offers
referrals, resources and recreational programs for children with autism and
their families. Among some of their upcoming events: a Girls Night Out Aug.
24, in which girls make jewelry; a career exploration program in September,
and a basketball program that begins in October. For more information, call
248-370-2424, or visit http://www.jacksplaceforautism.com/ or
www2.oakland.edu/oakland/ouportal/index.asp?site=82.
- Autism Center at Grand Valley State University, which provides resources
and training on autism. Call 616-331-6480 or visit www.gvsu.edu/autismcenter.
- Everyday Miracles, an autism support network based in Royal Oak,
248-837-2063 or visit http://www.everydaymiracles.org/.
- Judson Center, a human service provider for developmentally disabled
children and adults, and their families, based in Royal Oak. It has an Autism
Connections program. Some of its upcoming events include: a Sibshop Saturday
for siblings of children with autism and a teen night out for autistic
children on Sept. 15. For more information, call 248-549-4339 or visit http://www.judsoncenter.org/.
- Autism Society of Michigan, an advocacy group for autism. Call 517-882-2800 or visit http://www.autism-mi.org/. The national Autism Society of America, based in Maryland, can be reached at 301-657-0881 or by visiting http://www.autism-society.org/.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has information about autism online at www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/asd_common.htm.
Jake Skelly is a natural ham. Ask him what he likes best about film camp, and he'll tell you it's the moment before classes begin, when each student has a moment in the spotlight.
"I have a cool move. See, look," Jake said, demonstrating the "Macarena" groove he performed earlier in the day to "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire.
Seeing Jake so happy is gratifying for his mother, Wendy O'Connell, who hoped for years for programs like the film camp, geared toward children like Jake.
Jake, 9, is among a growing number of kids with an autism spectrum disorder -- Jake has Asperger's -- which affects function of the brain, social interaction and communication skills.
"I can't sign him up to any other camp. They're not equipped to handle him," said O'Connell of Sterling Heights.
In Michigan, the number of children identified with autism has grown from 304 in 1982 to 10,133 in 2005.
Since 2001, Macomb County schools have seen the number of autistic students grow 103%. The growth was 74% in Oakland County and 73% in Wayne County. Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that between 1 in 166 and 1 in 500 children have an autism spectrum disorder.
Though some of the increase is attributed to better identification of children with autism, doctors can't pinpoint a cause or explain why it is affecting so many kids.
This week's camp at Oakland University is one of many programs throughout the region that are popping up in the wake of the explosive growth.
"There's not one of us that does not know somebody who knows somebody whose child has autism. It's significant for all of us," said Sharon Schwartze, a supervisor of special education at Oakland Schools, the county's intermediate school district.
The increase is significant enough that in the last six years, Michigan has gone from a state where only one university offered a program for teachers to be endorsed in autistic impairment to one where six schools offer such programs.
And the growth has spawned more services and support for parents of children with autism.
Five years ago, when Jake was first diagnosed, O'Connell was lost.
"There was nothing. I prayed a lot for something like this," she said of Jack's Place for Autism at OU, which provides resources and recreational activities for children with autism.
Joey Travolta, whose Joey Travolta's Entertainment Experience offers the film camp through Jack's Place, called the increase in autism an epidemic.
Travolta, the brother of actor John Travolta, was inspired by two mothers whose children have autism.
"There were no programs for their children. They would either be kicked out or not accepted," said Travolta, is director of the camp and a former special education teacher who became an actor, musician and director.
The camp, which began Aug. 7 and continues through this week, has about 30 children with an autism spectrum disorder and about 15 siblings or friends who do not have autism.
He has done two such camps this summer in other parts of the country and will do another at the University of California Los Angeles next week.
Schools are getting better at addressing the needs of children with autism, said Kathy Golinski, executive director of special education at Oakland Schools.
Part of that involves efforts to keep children with autism learning along with those who don't have autism, instead of in separate center-based programs, Golinski said.
In Oakland County, for instance, 252 of the 1,212 children with autism served in public schools were educated in center programs in Birmingham, Clarkston, West Bloomfield and Clawson school districts. Hazel Park Community Schools is adding a center program this year.
The center programs, which pull students from multiple school districts, primarily are for children with severe autism. The remaining 960 children receive special education services in their local schools. Gina Perry of Beverly Hills signed up her son, Andrew, for the film camp because he likes acting and computer animation.
Like O'Connell, she has found that signing Andrew up for traditional summer camps doesn't work. "There really wasn't enough support," she said.
At this camp, students are doing a spoof of "The Apprentice," with Travolta playing the role of Donald Trump. In the real "Apprentice," the winner gets a job with Trump, but in this case, all the students are hired as junior apprentices. But they refuse, deciding they're better off on their own, which impresses the boss.
Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or lhiggins@freepress.com.
