Autism is sometimes--though certainly not always--associated with children having Moebius Syndrome. So here are a couple of articles updating us all on some of the latest happenings with the autism condition. First, there's this:
Could The Next Miss America Have Autism?
Alexis Wineman always knew she was different.
“Socializing with my classmates, even when I wanted to, was awkward to say the least. I wouldn’t get their jokes half the time. I took everything so literally,” said the Cut Bank, Mont. resident.
When Wineman was diagnosed with autism at age 11, she finally had a name to
put to her experience. Rather than use her diagnosis as an excuse and give up,
she took the bull by the horns.
Today, Wineman, now 18, may very well be the next Miss America. She was crowned Miss Montana in June, becoming the first person on the autism spectrum to claim the sash. In January, she will travel to Las Vegas where she could become the first with the developmental disorder to capture the national title.
It’s been a long road for the self-described “oddball out” whose best friend as a girl was a Winnie the Pooh doll, which she still holds onto.
“He showed me that being different was okay and there was nothing wrong with pacing or sitting in one place for hours just thinking,” Wineman said. “I say why fit in when you were born to stand out.”
Encouraged by her family, Wineman began to break out of her shell after she was diagnosed and engage in school activities. Performing became a way for her to face her fears and learn to cope. Wineman joined the cheerleading squad, ultimately becoming team captain and appearing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Now less than four months into her term as Miss Montana, Wineman and her mother have already put 7,000 miles on their car traversing the state to present her platform — “Normal is Just a Dryer Setting‚ Living with Autism” — at schools, hospitals, conferences and parades.
“It’s amazing how people don’t accept other people just because they’re different. Being different is not something to look down on, but to be embraced,” Wineman said. “People need to understand. I want to talk to kids with autism too and share with them that it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Adjusting to the unpredictability of life as Miss Montana has been a challenge, says Wineman’s mother, Kimberley Butterworth.
“She has at times struggled,” Butterworth said. “There isn’t a set schedule, which can be very hard.”
When things get tough, Wineman relies on coping skills she’s developed through the years like listening to Celtic music on her iPod.
“With her iPod, she has been able to disengage for a minute, and plug herself into it and regroup,” Butterworth said.
When Wineman is not on the road she’s focused on preparing for the Miss America pageant by brushing up on the comedy monologue she will perform in the talent competition, exercising and eating healthy, and more often than not, walking in heels.
“I was never a girl to walk in heels, and I did not prepare. That was the hardest part,” she said.
Jan Holden, executive director of the Miss Montana Scholarship Program, thinks Wineman will have no problem at the national level."
Good for Ms. Wineman. Next: once again, the importance of pets enters the picture:
"For individuals with autism, bringing a new dog or cat into the household can lead to significant social improvements, a first-of-its-kind study finds.
Researchers reported Wednesday in the journal PLoS One that those with autism displayed improvements in two areas — “offering to share” and “offering comfort” — within a few years of welcoming a new animal into their lives.
Similar progress was not observed among study participants on the spectrum who lived with a pet since birth or those who never had a pet at all.
“This study reveals that in individuals with autism, pet arrival in the family setting may bring about changes in specific aspects of their socio-emotional development,” wrote the study’s lead author, Marine Grandgeorge of the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Brest in France, and her colleagues. “To our knowledge, this is the first study showing an association between pet arrival and changes in prosocial behaviors.”
For the study, researchers compared individuals with autism who had dogs, cats or small animals like a hamster or rabbit in their home since birth to a control group made up of people with similar characteristics but who never lived with a pet.
They also looked at those on the spectrum who got a pet after age 5 as compared to individuals with autism without pets.
The 40 study participants were assessed using a test known as the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, or ADI-R, that was conducted when they were ages 4 to 5 and then once more when the children were older.
Researchers also interviewed the individuals’ parents about the presence of any pets in their homes and, where animals were present, asked about the relationship between the person with autism and the pet.
While no change was seen for individuals without pets or those who had pets since birth, acquiring a new animal appeared to increase the likelihood of sharing and comforting parents or peers, two so-called prosocial behaviors.
The reason for the improvements is not entirely clear and more research is needed, the study authors said.
Interestingly, however, they indicated that children who acquired a new pet were much more likely to spend time petting or playing with their furry friend than those who had a pet since birth.
In about half of cases where a new pet came into the home, parents reported that they acquired the animal specifically for their child with autism, but whether or not that was the reason did not appear to influence the level of social progress that the individual achieved, researchers said."
"The dog is man's best friend."--who knows who said it first? :+)
“Socializing with my classmates, even when I wanted to, was awkward to say the least. I wouldn’t get their jokes half the time. I took everything so literally,” said the Cut Bank, Mont. resident.
Alexis Wineman, 18, has autism and will represent
Montana in the Miss America pageant in January. (Courtesy: The Wineman
Family)
Today, Wineman, now 18, may very well be the next Miss America. She was crowned Miss Montana in June, becoming the first person on the autism spectrum to claim the sash. In January, she will travel to Las Vegas where she could become the first with the developmental disorder to capture the national title.
It’s been a long road for the self-described “oddball out” whose best friend as a girl was a Winnie the Pooh doll, which she still holds onto.
“He showed me that being different was okay and there was nothing wrong with pacing or sitting in one place for hours just thinking,” Wineman said. “I say why fit in when you were born to stand out.”
Encouraged by her family, Wineman began to break out of her shell after she was diagnosed and engage in school activities. Performing became a way for her to face her fears and learn to cope. Wineman joined the cheerleading squad, ultimately becoming team captain and appearing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Now less than four months into her term as Miss Montana, Wineman and her mother have already put 7,000 miles on their car traversing the state to present her platform — “Normal is Just a Dryer Setting‚ Living with Autism” — at schools, hospitals, conferences and parades.
“It’s amazing how people don’t accept other people just because they’re different. Being different is not something to look down on, but to be embraced,” Wineman said. “People need to understand. I want to talk to kids with autism too and share with them that it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Adjusting to the unpredictability of life as Miss Montana has been a challenge, says Wineman’s mother, Kimberley Butterworth.
“She has at times struggled,” Butterworth said. “There isn’t a set schedule, which can be very hard.”
When things get tough, Wineman relies on coping skills she’s developed through the years like listening to Celtic music on her iPod.
“With her iPod, she has been able to disengage for a minute, and plug herself into it and regroup,” Butterworth said.
When Wineman is not on the road she’s focused on preparing for the Miss America pageant by brushing up on the comedy monologue she will perform in the talent competition, exercising and eating healthy, and more often than not, walking in heels.
“I was never a girl to walk in heels, and I did not prepare. That was the hardest part,” she said.
Jan Holden, executive director of the Miss Montana Scholarship Program, thinks Wineman will have no problem at the national level."
Good for Ms. Wineman. Next: once again, the importance of pets enters the picture:
"For individuals with autism, bringing a new dog or cat into the household can lead to significant social improvements, a first-of-its-kind study finds.
Researchers reported Wednesday in the journal PLoS One that those with autism displayed improvements in two areas — “offering to share” and “offering comfort” — within a few years of welcoming a new animal into their lives.
Similar progress was not observed among study participants on the spectrum who lived with a pet since birth or those who never had a pet at all.
“This study reveals that in individuals with autism, pet arrival in the family setting may bring about changes in specific aspects of their socio-emotional development,” wrote the study’s lead author, Marine Grandgeorge of the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Brest in France, and her colleagues. “To our knowledge, this is the first study showing an association between pet arrival and changes in prosocial behaviors.”
For the study, researchers compared individuals with autism who had dogs, cats or small animals like a hamster or rabbit in their home since birth to a control group made up of people with similar characteristics but who never lived with a pet.
They also looked at those on the spectrum who got a pet after age 5 as compared to individuals with autism without pets.
The 40 study participants were assessed using a test known as the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, or ADI-R, that was conducted when they were ages 4 to 5 and then once more when the children were older.
Researchers also interviewed the individuals’ parents about the presence of any pets in their homes and, where animals were present, asked about the relationship between the person with autism and the pet.
While no change was seen for individuals without pets or those who had pets since birth, acquiring a new animal appeared to increase the likelihood of sharing and comforting parents or peers, two so-called prosocial behaviors.
The reason for the improvements is not entirely clear and more research is needed, the study authors said.
Interestingly, however, they indicated that children who acquired a new pet were much more likely to spend time petting or playing with their furry friend than those who had a pet since birth.
In about half of cases where a new pet came into the home, parents reported that they acquired the animal specifically for their child with autism, but whether or not that was the reason did not appear to influence the level of social progress that the individual achieved, researchers said."
"The dog is man's best friend."--who knows who said it first? :+)
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