WISHLIST ! • Apartment/House for Residence for People with Autism
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AUTISM NETWORK: VOL 10 ISSUE 2~ AUG 2015 WISHLIST ! • Apartment/House for Residence for people with Autism • Playdoh, pull along toys, AUGUST 2015 VOL 10 ISSUE 2 light and sound making toys, Lego Action For Autism is a registered, non-profit, national parent • Pretend play toys like: organisation. Autism Network is published by Action For Autism Dolls, doll house, doctor’s sets, to provide information on education, therapy, care, and to provide furniture sets, grooming sets, interaction for families and professionals across the country. kitchen sets, tea sets etc. • Indoor plastic slide, see saw Autism Network is a forum for expressing diverse opinions. Action For Autism does not hold itself responsible for opinions • Computer games, X Box Konect expressed by individual writers. Publication of any information • Computers that can support graphics does not mean support of Action For Autism. • Trampoline Autism Network does not accept advertisements. Expenses are • Music systems (CD players, met through memberships, donations and sponsorships, from our MP3 players, ipods) • Head phones readers, friends and well wishers. This journal is for free • Coffee vending machines distribution. • Volunteers: For Yoga, Art & Craft, INFORMATION Music, Respite care For information on receiving the Autism Network write to: Pocket 7&8, Jasola Vihar, Behind Sai Niketan, Opp. Gate 6 If you want to help, write to AFA or call: Sector 8, SFS Flats, New Delhi - 110025. Tel: 40540991/2 • AFA: 40540991/2 • Reeta: 9811103702 YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS Do you have any comments, suggestions to offer? Information and experience to share? We look forward to our readers' participation. Send letters, articles, illustrations to: The Editor, Autism Network at the above given address or C O N T E N T S E-mail: [email protected] Editor: Merry Barua Page One 1 Associate Editor: Indrani Basu Autism in Israel: Small Country, Big Love 2 Editorial Board: Dr Nidhi Singhal, Preeti Siwach, Sudhanshu Grover, Dr Vibha Krishnamurthy Awards!! 7 Design & Production: Bindu Badshah, Sudhir Pillai How Can Occupational Therapy In referring to the child with autism, Autism Network Help My Child 8 often uses ‘he’, ‘him’ and ‘his’, not as a prejudice against the Teaching Self Care Routines I (Hindi) 11 girl child with autism, but for reasons of simplicity and Drishaan Scores 90.4 in Class XII because the vast majority of children with autism are male. However, many articles also use ‘she’, ‘her’, and ‘hers’. Board Exams 14 Upcoming Workshops 14 From a 'runer to a sitter' 15 Cover Illustration Helpline 16 'Hot Air Balloons' by Kushagra 18 years old, from NCR, preparing for NIOS Tenth in Sriram Moulsavari School Website: http://www.autism-india.org Helpline Email: [email protected] AUTISM NETWORK: VOL 10 ISSUE 2~ AUG 2015 PAGE ONE I wanted to start this issue by wishing a ‘Happy End to Of course the situation in Israel is not perfect, and Summer’ to all our readers. But then it occurred to me there is much that can be improvedespecially in the that while that is a welcome sentiment for those living areas of early diagnosis and access to care in lesser- in sweltering parts of the country, it would be a not so served communities and for the adult and ageing eagerly anticipated by those living in high altitude populations. In India, these are concerns of great regions where summer is the best time of the year, and urgency. the end of summer heralds the advent of, for some regions, the grimmest period of the year. In a manner In the country as vast and complex and resource- this too is part of the diversity of the colourful country crunched as ours, the concern is how to get early we are proud to call home. intervention across to lesser-served communities in an affordable manner. There are certainly pockets of This issue features autism in Israel, a country whose services but little consistency in reach or in quality. tiny population reflects a diversity that is a This is true of most low and middle income countries. microcosm of that in India. Israel has modern and also To fill this gap, the WHO has taken the initiative to deeply traditional communities of different religious developa Parent Skills Training that harnesses persuasions, as well as a rural urban divide.Despite, or parental motivation in providing low cost early perhaps because of its tiny size, Israel has far intervention. We know from our own experience the outstripped many countries in the quality of life it impact of empowered of parents and caregiverson care provides its individuals with autism. Much like India interventions. The training is expected to promote child there is wide variety in educational services that are social, emotional, and cognitive development and available. Unlike India educational reach is much improve parent coping skills and psychological wellbeing. deeper, with additional access to after school therapies and recreational programs, all supported by Amongst many other concerns, adulthood and the Ministry of Education.Israel took the important employment are areas of singular concern. AFA is in step of moving education away from health and welfare the process of setting up ANANDA, its supported living and bringing it under the Ministry of Education, project for adults with autism. We are now in the clearlysignaling that individuals with autism can be process of soon launching an open employment educated and have a right to education. Despite a initiative. It will begin with young adults with Aspergers great deal of effort by the disability community in Syndrome and those on the more able end of the India, thischange is yet to come about here. spectrum, and then move on across the spectrum. In the meantime we are excited to be partnering with The Beyond the direct benefits to individuals with autism, Lemontree Hotels in placing a few young men in the state of Israel provides for a wide range of employment at their Red Fox Hotels. The initiative is benefits for parents or guardians of children with still at an early stage. The hospitality industry with its autism as well, such as ‘discounts on phone and high social demands is not one that would associate electric bills, disabled parking permits, discounts on with persons with autism. But with the positive housing and municipal taxes, and increased allowances environment and a can do leadership that Lemontree for leaves of absence from work, that enable them to Hotels provide,we believe strongly that this is a lasting better care for their child’. venture! Adults have a range of work and employment options, With the weather turning mellow we have some exciting from sheltered workplaces, and supported work training workshops lined up. On the downside, the opportunities, to fully inclusive employment. Salaries Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, which was stalled and work benefits are supported by the state, as are in the last session of Parliament, expectedly shows no adult living options. This wide variety of benefitsto signs of being tabled or passed. The autism community individuals with autism and their families is provided in will continue to wait for entitlements for concert by multiple governmental ministries. one knows not how long. 1 AUTISM NETWORK: VOL 10 ISSUE 2~ AUG 2015 Autism in Israel: Small Country, Big Love Rachel S. Brezis Israel is a small country of 21,000km1 (roughly the size with limited exposure to media and current scientific of Manipur), with a population of 80 lakh. Despite its knowledge. As a rapidly modernizing country rooted in small size, Israel provides a wide range of services for a religious past, with its rich, heterogeneous population, individuals with autism – following them from infancy Israel can be seen as a micro-cosmos of global trends to adulthood. Just as in India, and other countries in the that affect autism diagnosis and care. world, Israeli parents have led the fight to increase awareness and provide more services for individuals AUTISM prevalence rates in Israel are similar to those with autism. In recognition of its success, ALUT, the reported in other Western countries, with the latest Israeli National Autism Association, a parent-led report from 2010 indicating that 1 in 208 children are nongovernmental organization, was awarded status as diagnosed with autism. In line with global trends, Israel an advisory NGO to the UN on June 10, 2014. In this has seen a sharp increase in reported cases of autism, article, I will present to you a brief overview of autism with the number of cases registered in the Ministry of in Israel, highlighting some specific challenges and Welfare increasing from 1, 507 to 5,865, nearly 4-fold, solutions, such as: the integration of adults with high- between 2004 and 2009 alone. Furthermore, there are functioning autism into the army, the relation between twice as many children than adults with autism autism and Judaism, and the lingering challenge of registered with the state, though the number of increasing awareness and access to services in certain diagnosed adults is expected to grow. sub-populations.1 My hope is that we can all learn from one another in creating a better world for persons with AUTISM rates in Israel also vary widely according to autism and their families. geographic location, economic status, and cultural sub- groups. Autism diagnoses are much more common in Background and Prevalence the urban center compared to rural areas, in the Jewish Israel has a rich history that shapes the way its majority than in the Arab minority, and in the upper and individuals with autism are viewed and treated. The middle economic classes. Furthermore, while Jews of state of Israel gained independence from Britain in different descent have been well-integrated into the 1948, encompassing two main cultural groups: a society’s ‘melting pot’, it is still the case that children majority Jewish population (75%), made up largely of with autism born to parents of European or American immigrants who returned to their historical homeland origin are twice more likely to be registered with the after centuries in the diaspora; and a minority Arab Ministry of Welfare than children born to parents of population (20%), including Muslims and Christians.