Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Autism Increased My Vocabulary

When my youngest son Tate was diagnosed with autism I knew almost nothing about autism. I began to read and research desperately. I often had to stop and find a definition for many of the words I was introduced to. Some of those words became part of my daily vocabulary after that. For a while now I've had a list of words on my computer I planned to define in a blog post for those who are just entering the world I now live in. As I began to work on the post I had an idea. I could also illustrate the words. It's been a lot of fun compiling the words, defining them in my own words and then illustrating them. 

Here they are in no particular order. Thanks for reading!













If you find any errors let me know and I will edit the photos and/or text. -Lisa
If you liked this and would like to see more of my posts be sure and visit www.quirksandchaos.com

32 comments:

  1. Thank you for this post, it was informative & fun! I'm at the beginning of a new journey with my son whom we suspect has Aspbergers(sp?). I'm learning all I can & this was really helpful!

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    1. I'm so glad it was helpful Heather. Hang in there. Autism is not nearly as scary as it starts out sounding.

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    2. I'm in a similar boat as Heather. Our 4 yr old is showing signs of aspergers, but I've only been able to find books about autism. They are good reads but they don't necessarily relate to what we are going through as they are much more intense. Do you have any recommendations on books for aspergers?

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    3. Lisa, I was wondering if you also take suggestion for potential illustrations that are possibly applicable, as I find this extremely valuable not just for those in and directly dealing with those in the spectrum, such as professional and loved ones, but also those that don't and don't fully understand, aside from stereotypes, how varied we truly are. In particular, the varying levels in SPDs, Comorbid and stims I need for keeping myself focused are pretty intense. I also thought as one on the Spectrum myself, I could give you some more things to illustrate up here, as well as answer any questions you might have to give you any inside advice for personal information that could help you understand Tate better. If any of this interests you, feel free to poke me for my info :)

      Stream of Conscious Anxiety: When all the thoughts in your brain that you want to say or do swim through your brain. What you ate for dinner last night, what your doing now. Often multiple times at once. It's the inability to shut off your subconscious while also consciously thinking at the same time, causing a sensory overload without having any external stimulus occurring. External stimulus, such as music or games, can often distract this, soothing it and making it peaceful.

      Organized chaos and personal space: In addition to transition, Personal belongings and space is another thing I used to and sometimes have an issue with. Even if it looks like a disaster zone, everything I place is organized in my mind, because it's where I put it last. It's a system that works for me. So when someone touches something and moves something that's mine, I get upset. Likewise, moving something or touching something without permission of someone on the spectrum, or taking something if they aren't done, like transition, can lead to a meltdown potentially.

      Drama Therapy: This is one that for me, personally, helped a lot. Using theater, in particular Shakespeare and musical theater, has helped me, and several other of my friends with ASD, stutters, and others to improve and grow from their situations. Theater itself teaches communication, eye contact, physical communication, intonation. Shakespeare teaches diction, intent of words, and how to emote and makes teaching figurative language easier. Musical theater teaches through the difficulties of prosody, teaches to listen. And that's straight theater without the drama theater aspect. I am a big advocate of it for the ASD community.

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    4. Yes my son definitely deals with Stream of Conscious Anxiety and Organized chaos, I agree wholeheartedly.

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  2. This is one of the best posts/comics I've seen by you. Should be printed in textbooks and shared by medical doctors everywhere!

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  3. Sus posts me facinan, pues sus comics me recuerdan episodios que he vivido con mi hija.

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  4. Thank you for the post on all the definitions related to Autism. Our 3 year old was just diagnosed on the Autism spectrum. How do I save your website to follow your blog? Thanks very much for all your blogs. I am a Mom to 2 kids with challenges too. Eldest ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, and ASD Diagnosed 4 years ago (16 years old now) Our youngest is adopted and is on wait list for therapies here in Canada.

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  5. Lisa, this is spot-on! It was fun covering up the black definition bar and guessing based on your drawings. I'm an SLP of about 18 years and found your work to be great!!
    A drawing such as this may help those new to the topic: an unbrella titled Pervasive Developmental Disorders or Autisum Spectrum Disorders, with them under the umbrella such as Retts Syndrome, Autism, Asperger's Syndrome

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  6. I am raising old 5 year old twins one was diagnosed as autistic in December. I am pulling my hair out trying to figure out the next step. This was helpful

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  7. i love this! Thank you for sharing!

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  8. Thank you for the images. So sad that in the city that i lived, the schools don't provide this kind of help. I lived in Alberta. Good help for understanding the autism.

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  9. How can I get a copy of all your comics? They really opened my eyes.

    Thank You

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    1. You are welcome to print them right from this post.

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  10. This is perfect! Thank you so much! It will make it so much easier to explain to my family and friends about my daughter!

    Only one thing I noticed was SPD didn't mention the proprioception sense. My daughter has proprioceptive dysfunction, and is a major part of her SPD.

    Once again, you've done a great job, thanks!

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    1. I actually had that and much more in my original definition of SPD but the site I used limits me to words and I had to trim it way down. Thanks for the comment.

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  12. This is so helpful! I emailed it to my husband to look at. Our 11 year old was diagnosed with autism yesterday. He had a previous diagnosis of ADHD, but we knew there was something more to it. Our son does great impressions!! I had no idea he was scripting and it was a sign of autism. And we now know that what ADHDers call hyperfocus, is actually perseverate. Thank you so much!

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  13. I would really love to have this in a cute comic book form I can hand to parents! Would you consider making it? (Speech Pathologist here!)

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  14. Thanks...am printing this in the office tommorow, when I tell people in Ghana my son has autism they think am imagining it but these illustrations just summarise some of my experiences with my son...thanks

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  15. These are great. We've got an almost 7 yr old and as she grows we are learning more of these words. I would love to share some of these on facebook for my family to see.

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  16. I really love these. I. Going over all this with Easter Seals in Missouri. She teaches me how to work with my 7yr old son with Autism. He was only diagnosed a year ago so I'm learning all this information at once and just being on paper gets confusing. This helps. I'm going to print these to keep in his binder and show when trying to explain what I have been being taught to others (like my grandma). :)

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  17. I really love these. I. Going over all this with Easter Seals in Missouri. She teaches me how to work with my 7yr old son with Autism. He was only diagnosed a year ago so I'm learning all this information at once and just being on paper gets confusing. This helps. I'm going to print these to keep in his binder and show when trying to explain what I have been being taught to others (like my grandma). :)

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  18. How are you guys doing almost a year after diagnosis? I'm so glad that you were able to read this and gain some insight to help your own family! As a behavioral therapist, I often find that when parents learn words like these, they find a little bit of solace. :) I hope all is well with y'all!

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  19. This is wonderful! Thank you for taking this initiative. I have just started this journey a couple of months back with my son. I know many of my friends and family who would benefit from this if they are translated in multiple languages. Do you have more of these?

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  20. These are really great resources especially for extended family members of people with Autism. I think you should add a definition for "stereotypical behaviors"

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  21. thank you, enjoyed this. As a spectrum parent, this illustrates perfectly what we experience.

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  22. Are these under copyright, or can I bring them to my therapists office to help parents better understand autism?

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    1. Molly. You may use them. If you send me your email address then I can send you a PDF of the material and it may print easier for you.

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  23. Thank you! As a grandparent of a wonderful little boy who is autistic your illustrations have helped me understand some of the new terminology that has come into our world.

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