Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Quiz did you know

Arthur Kampmann
Analytical & persuasive writing
Professor Robinson
Quiz/ Did you Know

Did you know:

Do you know that 1 in every 100 children is diagnosed with autism. Do you know that 67 children are diagnosed with autism every day. Do you now that a new case of autism is diagnosed every 20 minutes. Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability, and more children will be diagnosed with autism than pediatric AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined. Information and education are the most important weapons in the fight against this dread diagnosis. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It affects the development of the individual's social interactions and limits communication skills. Autism is usually diagnosed in the first three years of a child's life. Autism is a very complex lifelong disorder. Doctors and scientist have been doing research for over the past twenty years, and they found that over twenty-five different genes can lead autism. Research has come to show that environmental factors could be a leading factor. Environmental factors could include postnatal viruses, pesticides, and flame retardants, items likely to be found in a house. The signs of autism are delayed speech, odd patterns of behavior, unusual interests, unusual responses to surroundings, and impaired social interactions are warning signs. A pediatrician, a child psychologist, a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist or an experienced teacher, is the key to the beginning of the treatment. Autism has been on the rise since 1990, and the numbers are overwhelming, and awareness of the disorder is in the early.

Quiz:
1) In what year has autism been on the boom since?
A) 1990 B) 1867 C) 1960
2) What is the leading factor that causes Autism?
A) Soft drinks B) the environment C) cell phones
3) An child is born with Autism every 20 minutes
A) true B) false

4) What part of the body does Autism effect?
A) brain B) legs C) arms
5) How many kids are born with Autism today?
A) 20 + B) 40 + C) 65 +
6) What aspects of life will Autism effect?
A) social life B) communication skills C) or both A & B
7) If you have a child that is Autistic should you seek professional help
A) yes B) no
8) Is Autism a lifelong disorder?
A) true B) false

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Timed Writing

Arthur Kampmann
12/5/07

Timed Writing

I did my project about autism, and how it has been on the rise since 1990. Autism is a very devastating neurological disorder that mostly affects the afflicted persons ability to communicate. Ever since 1990 autisms rate has been on a rapid increase and now 1 in every 100 kids are born with autism, and that 67 kids are born autistic a day. Autism has become a very stealthy disorder, and now it is at our doorstep with more kids being diagnosed autistic than children with AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined. The numbers are shocking because this neurological disorder is becoming very apparent, and everybody needs to be aware of its seriousness.
In recent years, there have been three factors that have lead doctors and scientist to finding out really what causes autism. The first theory was discovered in the seventies, and that was that autism was a predisposed disorder, and that it all cam from the parents genetic makeup. This theory was wrong because autism is not come from genetic background. The next thought was that autism came from birth complications. This could be a doctor’s mistake or giving the child a vaccine that is either not safe or not meant for an infant baby. This theory was also busted because doctors started to be watched by other doctors to verify if this theory was true or false, but it still occasionally happens but is rare. The most recent data that might be the answer is the environment is the leading factor that causes autism. Now today’s top research shows that autism is mainly caused from poor either environmental conditions that the baby or adult are exposed to.
When I first heard that project 3 was creating your own blog I was very excited. The purpose of my blog is to inform the reader about autism. I wanted to give everybody a chance to hear why I wrote about autism. It also is a very informative paper. It gives numbers so people can relate it to other disorder or diseases, and I use facts to show the reader how autism is caused and the disorders main effects.
In creating this project I had a few areas set aside that I knew would be my strong points in my paper, and that would be the most interesting to the reader. The first part was I wanted to inform the reader about what causes autism. The next part is the effects that autism has on the brain, and show why autism is such a horrible and devastating disorder. Lastly, I wanted to talk about my sister who is autistic, and I just wanted the reader to feel my personal story with autism and how the disorder can affect a family. Those were the areas that I thought were very important to show in the essay, and I thought were the most essential for the reader to hear about.
I feel that projects 2 and 3 have been a success. I believe that my paper is very informative, and it shows how real autism can be. I used facts, quotes and a personal story to get my message across to the reader. Autism is a spreading disorder, and everybody needs to be aware of it and its effects.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Links

Three Autism Organizations- Useful
1. http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/resources/index.php- Autism Speaks Organization

2. http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/autism.html- Kids Health

3. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm- National Institute of Neurological Disorders

Letter 3

Hello Reader,


My name is Arthur Kampmann and I am currently a sophomore at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Recently my writing class took a research assignment on, and I choose the topic of autism. My main reasoning for that is that my younger sister is autistic, and my thinking was that autism would be a topic that I would enjoy researching, and writing on. I learned many new facts about autism during this project. The question that I am posing is why is it that genetics, and birth complications have taken the back seat to the environment for the main cause of autism?

When autism research first came about in the mid seventies the doctors all believed that genetics were a leading factor to the cause of autism. The doctors were putting the blame on the parents saying that either they did not love their child enough or they were at fault for producing a autistic child. This turned out to be not the case ruling genetics out as a likely cause to autism, and birth complications took over for the main reason for autism to occur. My little sister is a case of birth complications, and that was because the doctor gave her a vaccine that was unsafe for my sister to receive at the time of her birth. I know now accidents such as this one do not occur as much, and they are linking autism to poor environment conditions. Now what I am asking you is why do you feel that the environment has taken over such a large role to producing autism? I am very confused on how that all works, and I would love to hear some form of explanation if at all possible. I thank you for your time, and am looking forward from hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Arthur Kampmann

letter 2

Hello Reader,


My name is Arthur Kampmann and I am currently a sophomore at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Recently my writing class took a research assignment on, and I choose the topic of autism. My main reasoning for that is that my younger sister is autistic, and my thinking was that autism would be a topic that I would enjoy researching, and writing on. I learned many new facts about autism during this project. My main question to you is what is your opinion or stance on how autism is now heavily linked to the environment?

Research has come a long way since the mid seventies, and now doctors, and scientist all feel that the environment is the leading factor that can bring about autism. I know from research that the baby can be born with no disabilities, but can pick up autism up to a year after being born or the baby can be born with autism, and that leads me to skepticism on how autism and the environment intertwine. Now the main question I am asking you is can you give me a detailed explanation on how the environment can effect the baby that is in the womb, and can also effect a baby that was born healthy, and they can become autistic? I am very confused on how that all works, and I would love to hear some form of explanation if at all possible. I thank you for your time, and am looking forward from hearing from you.


Sincerely,

Arthur Kampmann

Letter 1

Hello Reader,


My name is Arthur Kampmann and I am currently a sophomore at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Recently my writing class took a research assignment on, and I choose the topic of autism. My main reasoning for that is that my younger sister is autistic, and my thinking was that autism would be a topic that I would enjoy researching, and writing on. Even though my sister is autistic I still learned many new facts about autism during this research project. In order for me to fully understand autism I am going to need a little clarity on one point. That is on the topic of parenting. What or how do you feel the best way for a parent to handle an autistic child, and is one method better than another?

I know that most parents with autistic children have a much different role that other parents. From experience my little sister Elizabeth is very much attached to my mother, and Elizabeth will be poorly behaved if my mom ignores her or leaves for a short time. However, when my mom leaves for a extended absence Elizabeth oddly acts perfect, and dosent have one temper tantrum. The question that I am posing is why would that kind of behavior take place if Elizabeth can behave when my mom is gone for a few days, but if she is gone for an hour Elizabeth will freak? I know that this is a difficult question, but any answer I could receive will be very helpful, and I look forward to hearing from you.


Sincerely,

Arthur Kampmann

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Blog 1

Hello to all,

This blog is her to inform all readers about autism, and how the disorder works. Autism is a nurological disorder that effects communication skills that tehe inflicted person has. Also Autism is on the rise and has been since 1990 with an overwhelming amount of children are being diagnosed. Autism is a very confusing disorder, and it has been studied heavily for the last thirty years, but still not much is known. I hope you enjoy this site, and I hope you can take some time to read this.

Thanks ,
Arthur Kampmann

Monday, November 19, 2007

Autism and its effects

Autism and its Effects

Do you know that 1 in every 100 children is diagnosed with autism? Do you know that 67 children are diagnosed with autism every day? Do you now that a new case of autism is diagnosed every 20 minutes? Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability, and more children will be diagnosed with autism than pediatric AIDS, diabetes and cancer combined. Early diagnosis is critical. While the symptoms may improve, there is no cure. Information and education are the most important weapons in the fight against this dread diagnosis

So, what is autism? Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It affects the development of the individual's social interactions and limits communication skills. Autism is usually diagnosed in the first three years of a child's life. Autism is a very complex lifelong disorder, which has been confounding people for a long time. To make matters more complex, autism presents very differently in individuals with the disorder. The severity of autism has a very broad spectrum. Some individuals are completely debilitated by autism, while others are high functioning, and often are just considered “quirky” or a little weird.

Autism is a disorder that has been around for a long time. While not called autism, there have been references to children that did not speak, that were detached and aloof, but there was no research, and, therefore, it was misunderstood and was often confused with schizophrenia. It wasn't until 1943 that Dr. Leo Kanner of Johns Hopkins University gave autism its modern identity. Modern research has really started to get a clearer idea of what might be causing these children to act the way that they were. In the 1950's and 1960's information about autism was very minimal and confused. Doctors would put the majority of the blame on the mother. These mothers were called “refrigerator mother”, and they would be excluded from many social activities because they produced a crazy child or they did not love their own child enough. The child was also blamed for wanting to withdraw from society. They said the child was rebelling from his family, and entering his own world.

There seem to be three determining factors that can lead to a child being autistic: the environment, genetics or birth trauma. Doctors and scientist have been doing research for over the past twenty years, and they found that over twenty-five different genes can lead autism. The doctors can not find the way that autism and genes relate so far, and doctors along with scientist are starting to look for other possible causes. Research has come to show that environmental factors could be a leading factor. The environmental theory came about due to the fact that autism has been on a serious incline since 1990. While scientist claimed that they have suspected the environment since the early1980s, the focus of the blame was the childhood immunizations that used a binding agent called Thimerasol which contained mercury. There was no conclusive evidence. Other environmental factors could include postnatal viruses, pesticides, and flame retardants, items likely to be found in a house. The current general consensus is that there are toxins and chemicals in the environment that a mother could be exposed to before or after birth, and because of certain gene combinations, some babies are more at risk for autism. It is a very scary thought that the environment can be such a danger for a baby.

The first and most critical thing that a family can do is being informed about what the signs of autism are. Delayed speech, odd patterns of behavior, unusual interests, unusual responses to surroundings, and impaired social interactions are warning signs. Often the pediatrician will recommend that the child's hearing be tested because the child does not respond normally to the people around them.

The next important step is finding knowledgeable professional help. Whether it is a pediatrician, a child psychologist, a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist or an experienced teacher, is the key to the beginning of the treatment. The professional or the team of professionals should be experienced in the treatment of autism. Each child will have their own “brand” of autism. A good professional can help determine the strengths and deficits, and help begin to set the course of treatment.

Scour the internet for the most current treatment options. There are excellent sites, Cure Autism Now, Autism Speaks, for example, that are full of information about autism. The treatments range from Applied Behavior Analysis to Gluten Free, Casein Free Diet to Sensory Integration Therapy. Music and Art Therapy, swimming with dolphins and Hippotherapy (riding horses) are all on the list. Knowing what the child might respond to is important. The treatment must be individualized for each child, and knowing what has worked for others is important information. Information and education are the best way for anybody to learn how to live or deal with people that suffer form autism.

Education is important for the individual with autism. While they learn in a different way, they can learn, and that is important to remember. Some individuals with autism have incredible intellectual talents. Remember Rain Man. They need to be taught very skillfully, and it is important that parents or care giver advocate for the child.

My experience with autism is an unusual one. My little sister Elizabeth was born autistic in 1990 the year when the autism boom began to happen. She is the most beautiful person on the planet, but she is autistic and that makes it difficult for her to communicate what she is thinking. She has similar intrest that my brothers, and I have. Elizabeth loves music, and her favorite is reggae which myself and my brother are most likely the ones who caused that. She also shows similar intrest to all girls because she loves going to get manicures, and playing with dolls is what she enjoys the most. The areas that her symptoms can be shown are very clear. She is attached to my mother, and what my mom does my little sister follows her, and ask her numerous questions. The next area is commonly found amongst autistic kids, and it is control or cleanliness of her things. If she sees a doll in a different place than she put it Elizabeth will know instantly, and move it back or have a mild brake down. Also Elizabeth must feel like she has some control of my mother. Even though Elizabeth knows that my mom is the one in power she still likes to think that she has some control. Elizabeth lacks communication skills, and it is sometimes very clear that she struggles with communicating what she wants to say. This often will make her react by screaming or just having a temper tantrum. It is difficult to watch her struggle with the disorder because you can tell that she has a lot to communicate, but just can not do it. Elizabeth Kampmann is a sweetheart, and lives her life dealing with the autism disorder, but she will always be autistic and that is a realization that millions of people must make.

Autism is a serious disorder that has been on the rise since 1990. The environment has been named the biggest leading factor that can cause autism. There are ways that indiviuals that are autistic can overcome the disorder, and break their diagnosis.