Autism Therapy: neurotypical (NT)

definition of neurotypical (NT): Term initially coined by the autism community to refer to people who are not on the autism spectrum, and whose brain functions are in a range that most people would consider normal.

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Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Hutzler, Y., and Margalit M., published in 2009, summarized Jun 22, 2010

Students with autism benefit from being included in a mainstream physical education class.

Most people believe that having children with autism in a normal classroom does not slow down neurotypical students, but few studies have looked at this issue. The main purpose of this study was to see how seven junior-high school students with autism learned field hockey skills within a normal classroom. The study also looked to see if the fact that the students with autism were in a normal classroom somehow slowed down the other students in the classroom. The authors noted that the students with autism acquired skills more slowly than neurotypical students. The students with autism did acquire skills more quickly, though, when they were in a normal classroom and their presence did not slow down the neurotypical students.


J Autism Dev Disorder, by Laushey, KM, Heflin LJ, Shippen M., Alberto PA, and Fredrick L., published in 2009, summarized Apr 13, 2010

Direct visual approaches to teach social skills may be very helpful for children with autism who are mainstreamed in elementary school.

Students with high functioning autism, in the absence of social skills training, who are placed in the classroom with neurotypical peers may have problems with normal behavior. The purpose of this study was to see if concept mastery routines could be used to enhance the social skills of children with high functioning autism. Concept mastery routines are a type of direct training of social skills that uses a visual method of teaching. The children were also given many chances to practice their social skills with their peers. All four students in this study showed improved social skills after the use of concept mastery routines.


Community Practitioner, by Brownlow, C., and O’Dell L., published in 2009, summarized Dec 11, 2009

People with autism participate in online discussions, and reveal how they think and feel about autism.

This study was designed to try to understand how people with autism, Asperger’s, or other autism spectrum disorders (ASD) view themselves and their autism. The article also discussed the language and wording that was common in the online discussions. The authors said that people in these discussion groups see themselves as a separate group from neurotypical people who don’t have autism. The authors hope that learning how people with autism communicate with each other may help other people communicate with them.


Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, by Trembath, D., Balandin S., Togher L., and Stancliffe RJ, published in 2009, summarized Nov 24, 2009

Preschool children with autism may learn social communication skills from typically developing peers in an inclusive classroom.

Children at school may be able to teach their classmates with autism many things Children can use naturalistic teaching for social, communication, or academic skills. In this study, 6 typically developing children were taught how to use naturalistic teaching to help 3 classmates with autism learn to communicate; all the children were 3-5 years old. All 3 children with autism showed improvements in communication behaviors in the classroom and in the lunch room. Over time, only 1 of the 3 children continued to use the skills. The authors think that children as young as 3 years old can help teach their peers in inclusive classrooms.


The Association for Children with Down Syndrome/Lifetime Service for Individuals with Special Needs (ACDS) knew that their work with kids with Down enabled them to help kids with other special needs. Many kids with Down syndrome also are diagnosed with autism. They have increased their programming to help kids prepare not only for kindergarten, but for the grades and life to follow. Michael Smith, executive director of ACDS, said, “The very nature of Down syndrome made it feasible for the school to serve other populations. The different kinds of challenges presented by the disorder are so vast, working with a Down syndrome population has trained the ACDS staff to deal with all sorts of issues.” ACDS focuses on early intervention and Preschool preparation. Classrooms are filled with special needs kids and neurotypical kids; the kids have learned well together. The school looks typical, but is very visual and contains a sensory gym, and iPads have been recently added to improve communication and social skills.

Read original article: ACDS Prepares Students for Kindergarten and Life Beyond


Riley Hospital in Indiana is seeking kids with autism to test a new eye tracker technology. The doctors leading the study believe that people with autism may not see what neurotypical people see. Eye Tracker is set up to display images that change from a blur of pixels into a face. The tracking portion captures what the child’s eyes spends the most time on. Is the child looking at the eyes in the image, the mouth, or the entire picture? The Eye Tracker study includes people with and without the diagnosis of autism. If you live in the area and want to participate, you can reach Riley Hospital at 317-948-9766.

Read original article: Riley Seeks Participants for Eye Tracker Autism Study


Brady and Adin are best friends; one boy is diagnosed with autism, the other is neuro-typical. They met at the Judson Center Autism Connections in Michigan. Sarah Bretz, an autism specialist at Judson decided, after a year of working with Brady, that he needed a neuro-typical peer for interaction. She contacted Adin's mom, a teacher, and the rest is history. The boys complement and learn from each other. Brady's vocabulary and social skills are growing while Adin learns patience. Both boys enjoy a lot of the same activities such as trucks and hide and seek. The boys are friends outside the therapy session and enjoy playdates.

Read original article: Brady and Adin: The Healing Power of Having a Best Friend


Spanish Fort High School, through its Project Reach program, allows students with autism to participate in everyday classroom and sports activities. Along with academics, the students learn life skills, go on field trips, and have after-school jobs. The teens receive individualized training throughout the day and interact with neurotypical students through a high school club – Project Outreach. Teens with autism can earn a certificate of attendance and participate in graduation activities. Special education teachers report students of all abilities learn from one another.

Read original article: Autistic Students Excelling at Spanish Fort High



Please comment on this autism topic.

Hi there,

My name is Dan, and my wife Carey and I are parents to a four-year-old boy (with autism) and a two-year-old girl (neurotypical). Both of our kids are adorable and keep us laughing!

Our son is verbal, though his expressive language is weak and he struggles with sensory processing, particularly in new environments. We were turned on to picture-based communication aids by the Connecticut Birth to Three system -- laminated strips of pictures, notebooks, magnet boards, etc. 

These tools worked. They helped Evan a good deal. Unfortunately, though, they weren't the most "workable" solution. Carrying around notebooks and boards is inconvenient. We'd lose the symbols, or not have the right one on hand when needed. 

So, we invented an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that lets caregivers customize and present visual schedules, social stories, timers and choices -- all right there in the palm of your hand. It's called iPrompts -- check it out at http://www.iprompts.com. We've gotten some incredible feedback about it. Hope it helps!

 

- Dan


Cottage breeze

Apr 7, 2008 by Anonymous

            The summer season has officially begun.  I know it’s only April and snow is not completely out of the question yet, but we just got back from my mother-in-law’s cottage yesterday for the first time this season, so here we go.  Things have really changed with Thomas since last year.  All of a sudden – well, not really “sudden” because there’s been a whole winter since we were there last – Thomas is much easier to take care of in Wisconsin.  He doesn’t stay in the driveway obsessing about car doors anymore.  He doesn’t get close to the road anymore or disappear the minute we look away.  Jonathan and I were thinking about last spring, when one of us had to be camped out in the driveway and the other had to be by the shore just making sure that the kids (but especially Thomas) didn’t throw themselves into the lake or the road.

            Thomas loves to ride this very old big-wheel that we have for him at the cottage.  We told him that he couldn’t ride it into the driveway except to go in the garage to turn around and he followed that rule all weekend!  The thing that really shocked me was when he decided several times during the day on Saturday that he wanted to go inside and take a break.  This is the kid who would run outside when nobody was looking last year, and not come in until we dragged him at supper time, kicking and screaming.  He plays so nicely in the sandbox or on the neighbor’s swing set, too.  Yesterday, he was doing that when I called him to come in for lunch.  He stopped what he was doing, got up and came inside without one word of protest!  Of course, I stopped him on the way for high-fives and big hugs for being such a good boy.  But that wasn’t even the first time he did that all weekend!  He was really good the whole time!  And Hayley is easy up there!  

            It’s happening…it’s finally happening!  Every time we’ve been at the cottage during the past few years, we’d get in the car to come home and we were completely exhausted, mentally and physically.  Our brains were tired from the constant tag-team parenting we had to engage in, having to bring the kids inside just because one of us needed to use the toilet.  Tired from girding ourselves and preparing for Thomas’ inevitable meltdowns when it was transition time.  Physically tired, too, from chasing the kids around all weekend and trying to get Thomas to go to sleep at night.  We came home yesterday feeling much better.  We kept telling ourselves every time last year, “It’ll be better next summer.  It’s going to be better next year, when they’re a little older.”  It’s finally next year!  Next year is now!  We still can’t sit around and sun ourselves all day, but we can watch the kids from a little further away, hopefully where other adults are congregating and chatting about interesting stuff.

            Speaking of other adults, we have the most wonderful neighbors in Wisconsin.  They have a little swing set and sandbox that they are very generous in letting our children use anytime we’re there.  The folks who actually own that cottage are my mother-in-law’s age, but they have kids my age who have kids too.  They brought one of those little motorized cars for one of their kids this weekend and they were so nice to let Thomas have several turns.  I can’t believe how great Thomas is when it comes to taking turns lately.  He really listens when I tell him to stop and let someone else have a turn and I know how hard it was for him to get off that little car.  As some of you might remember, Santa debated long and hard about whether or not to bring one of those cars for Thomas this past Christmas.  Santa was right; Thomas would have loved it.  But he was very good about that car with the boy next door, and the boy next door was so nice, too.

            Last week we went to a kindergarten workshop at a nearby school.  They offered childcare so we dropped Thomas and Hayley off in a classroom and went to this little seminar.  We didn’t get much out of it, but it was nice to see some familiar faces from Thomas’ school and get to know the kindergarten transition facilitators for our district.  Apparently, the transition from preschool to kindergarten can wreak emotional havoc on the minds of some parents.  The director of the workshop kept bringing that up; that the kids will feed off of our misgivings and insecurities about the transition and that we should never let them see how concerned and scared we are.  Jonathan and I kept looking at each other like, “Huh?”  We had no idea that we were to be riddled with conflicting emotions and the constant urge to weep openly about our little baby growing up.  I suppose that if Thomas had never been to school before, we would be a little more hesitant.  He’s been in preschool for two and a half years now, and we both (well, all three of us really) feel like saying, “Yeah!  Bring it on!”  We’ve been talking to Thomas about it and he said that he’s excited to go to a new school.  He asked, “If I go to a new school, will I get to make new friends?”  Who says this boy isn’t social?  He’s excited about making new friends, and there are plenty of neuro-typical kids – even neuro-typical adults – who are apprehensive about meeting new people.  Since Thomas is excited and Jonathan and I are not grief-stricken, I’d say we’ll all be just fine.

            We got a note home from one of the staff at Thomas’ school last week about a playgroup in Naperville this summer for five year-old boys who are high-functioning autistic/Aspberger’s.  Exactly Thomas’ description!  There’s a center for autism in Naperville that wants to do this playgroup with these boys to work on social skills.  I read on that the group would consist of only four boys, and if we were accepted, a check for $300.00 would be due before the first meeting.  I laughed and I laughed!  Did I mention that this group would be meeting for five one-hour sessions only?   Ha!  We’d miss one of the sessions because of our family vacation in June, too.  So for us, it would only be four sessions!  Gee, I sure do wonder why many families with autism don’t have more access to great programs like this.  (That last bit was meant to be sarcastic, in case anyone missed it.)  Three hundred dollars would pay for half of Hayley’s preschool next year which we MUST do, whether or not Thomas’ bus schedule conflicts with it.  I don’t know what we’ll do if it doesn’t work out, but I’ve got to come up with some way of getting Hayley to class.  She shouldn’t miss out again next year and be behind all of her peers because of Thomas’ schedule; it isn’t fair.  I’m hoping that it all works out.



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  • Synonyms for neurotypical (NT) include: neuro-typical, neurotypical, NT
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