Autism Awareness Month

Autism Awareness Month

>> autism, much more common in boys.

There's no cure for autism, but therapies and educational tools are available.

President and ceo of the autism society, she's here with more information, and thank you so much for being with us.

>> thank you for having e.

The autism society has been around for over 45 years, and we serve every county in the state.

And we provide case management services to individuals with autism and their families, and we provide partnership to help the families navigate the educational system.

And advocate for their child and assist with any needs or updates with the laws or regulations that families need to know b.

And we provide education on autism to first responders, to schoolteachers, and really anyone out there who wants to learn more about autism.

And two new things that we're going to be starting, one bringing back and one starting this year, parent education classes on autism 101, for people new to the diagnoses, and then an ongoing education system for families, and then also providing training and support groups adults on the autism spectrum.

>> you mentioned that your organization has been around for 45 years, and that's a long time.

And autism is a new term.

Was it always considered the autism society here in south carolina?

>> yes, it was, and autism has -- that diagnoses has been around for a long time.

And what has happened in recent years, they have a spectrum of disorders, so while there are three spectrums of disorders, autism spectrum, and autism, they saw similarities and create aid large of umbrella.

>> can you explain what the disorders are?

I think a lot of people have been personally touch bid autism or in passing what it is.

But maybe you can go into a brief explanation as to what being on the spectrum means.

>> so there are three commonalities across the diagnoses, under the same umbrella and the first is having trouble and difficulty with special communication.

So understanding social confuse, and understanding and reading facial expressions and having double engage with peer to peer conversations.

And the second is a restricted interest, need for saying this, routine and driven by those things, and then a third, a deficit in social relationships and being able to shift and move in different social settings.

So -- >> there are different variations on those, they consider it high functioning and others on the spectrum as well, is that correct?

>> yes, and that's why it's a spectrum of disorders.

It's really not about whether you have autism or not, but it's about how it expresses itself with each individual, so it can look a lot of different ways.

Depending on personality.

So if you're an extrovert.

How you might have difficulties, how you engage with someone, and it might be that you don't speak at all, you're non-verbal.

And there can be a range.

>> tell us how you have been personally affected by autism?

>> sure, i've really been blessed to have a wonderful son, ethan.

He turns 17 on thursday of this week -- >> happy birthday, ethan.

>> yes.

And he was diagnosed when he was nine years old and up to that point, he had been given a lot of different diagnoses, and once we hit autism, okay, that all makes sense.

It's not that he has ten different things, it's just that they all fall in this umbrella.

So i've been very active in the autism and disability community since we received that and it has been a blessing to be part.

>> tell us how you've been coping and how other parents have been coping with children who are on the spectrum in the pandemic, and having to stay at home.

>> it can be a real challenge.

There are a lot of shifts -- for a lot of families, including myself, a lot of the services and support we get come through the schools, whether it be public or private schools, specifically geared with helping children with learning differences, so that routine in the school is very helpful for children, and that's where they get their language, their speech and language therapies, some of their speech therapies, and behavioral therapies come through the school system.

So having to cope with that, and depending on how they're impacted with their cognitive abilities and processing, they might be in a special ed classroom.

And they might be getting that virtually, but parents who have not been trained in special education, that can be a real challenge.

So just the changes can be in itself an issue, and then just figuring out how to navigate with any of those services and support.

>> absolutely, and i have a few questions for you, but we need to take >> welcome back, and thank you so much for sticking with us.

We have been talking with amy mosley, the president and the ceo of the south carolina autism society.

And we're talking about april as being autism month, and there are one in 54 children affected by the spectrum disorder.

Right now, it's tough for parents because they're also having to learn with how to cope with children who have autism, or something along that spectrum, whereas normally, you were saying they get their education and other programs through school, which they have not been able to attend.

So do you provide, or where can people find out more information on how to engage their kids while they're on lock downpour?

>> down?

>> if they want to go to the website, we have a tool kit there, that has a lot of resources for how teams can cope and it gives them concrete tips on what to do.

But some of the main things to take away are establishing routine, and making sure that children know that they still have -- and adults that they still have a routine to go to, and creating any visual supports for that so they have things to follow, and whether that be a list and pictures so they can follow along with what's going on.

And i think just being as clear and honest as to what's being expected from what we know.

So at this point, we know there's no school until the end of april.

And just helping to remind them wth where they're at in the process can be very encouraging.

But there's a great tool kit that's put together by the national autism society of america, and there's a link to the website so it's easy to find.

>> do you have any events coming up, anything for the community and the parents in particular to come together to exchange information or experiences or programs that are engaging for children?

>> so there are a couple of things.

One of them is our virtual strides for autism.

We usually do a walk in april, and we're posting different activities to stay active, ideas for walking and counting their steps, because physical activity is a very important part of saying calm.

So giving them that outlet.

And then people can participate by setting up a fundraising team, but they can participate for free and follow along.

We're planning in the later spring to start some online education programs for families, so we will be doing those by video and sharing resources and information within each recently.

So we do four reems in the state.

And we'll be talking about different things in their area.

>> amy, you're doing a great job.

>> thank you, and we're excited to be part of this work in our state.

>> even in