[ APPLAUSE ]

>> WELL IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE TODAY.

ONCE I PRESS THIS BUTTON AND MY SLIDES COME ON.

IF THEY WORK, THAT'S GOOD.

ONE OF THE THINGS CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH

WITH THE YOUNG AUTISTIC CHILDREN IS EARLY

EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION.

THAT'S JUST ABSOLUTELY SUPER IMPORTANT.

I WAS 60 JUST THIS SUMMER AND BY THE TIME I WAS TWO

AND A HALF YEARS OLD, I WAS IN A VERY GOOD PROGRAM.

I'M-- MOTHER TOOK ME INTO A, YOU KNOW, THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

IN BOSTON AND A DOCTOR NAMED BRONSON CROTHERS REFERRED HER

TO A SPEECH-- TO SPEECH THERAPIST THAT WORKED

OUT OF THEIR HOME AND THEY WERE JUST THOSE A LITTLE EXPERIENCED

TEACHERS THAT KNEW HOW TO WORK WITH KIDS.

AND THEN MY MOTHER HIRED A NANNY WHO SPENT HOURS AND HOURS

AND HOURS DOING TURN TAKING GAMES WITH ME AND MY SISTER.

WE'VE GOT TO BE TEACHING THESE KIDS TURN TAKING.

SEE ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT BEING A CHILD

IN THE '50S IS IT TURNED--

EVERYTHING YOU DID WITH ANOTHER KID

THAT WAS FUN INVOLVED TURN TAKING.

TURN TAKING IS REALLY IMPORTANT.

WE GOT TO TEACH THAT REALLY, REALLY EARLY.

AS A TEACHER, I'M KIND OF GRABBING THE KID'S CHIN.

MY TEACHER DID THAT WITH ME.

SHE SAID, COME ON, JUST PAY ATTENTION.

SOME AUTISTIC KIDS YOU CAN KIND OF PULL THEM OUT OF IT

BUT THERE'S OTHERS WHERE IF YOU DO THIS, YOU'RE GOING

TO DRIVE THEM INTO SENSORY OVERLOAD.

AND ONE OF THE BIGGEST MOST NEGLECTED AREAS IS THE

SENSORY PROBLEMS.

WHEN A LOUD-- SCHOOL BELL WENT OFF, IT HURT MY EARS.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF A YOUNG MAN SENT TO ME IT'S ACTUALLY

FROM A BOOK CALLED LITTLE RAINMAN.

IT'S-- A YOUNG AUTISTIC BOY DREW THIS

AND SHOWING HOW LOUD SOUNDS HURT HIS EARS.

NOW THE THING IS, IS THESE SENSORY PROBLEMS ARE

VERY VARIABLE.

ONE KID MIGHT LIKE THE SOUND OF RUNNING WATER,

ANOTHER KID IS GOING TO--

WILL GET AWAY FROM THE SOUND OF RUNNING WATER.

NOW, HIGH-PITCHED INTERMITTENT SOUNDS,

THINGS LIKE SMOKE ALARMS, THOSE TEND TO BE THE WORST THINGS

BUT THESE ARE REALLY REAL PROBLEMS.

YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE A CHILD AND YOU TAKE THEM

IN AT A BIG SUPERMARKET OR A WALMART OR SOME PLACE LIKE THAT,

HE JUST HAS A MELTDOWN AND START SCREAMING,

THAT IS SENSORY OVERLOAD.

SO YOU KIND OF WANT TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW,

IF YOUR CHILD GOT A LOT OF SENSORY PROBLEMS, WHAT HAPPENS

AT WALMART OR THE BIG SUPERMARKETS

OR THE SHOPPING MALL.

AND IF EVERY ONE OF THOSE TRIPS ARE SCREAMING FIT YOU'VE GOT

REALLY BIG SENSORY PROBLEMS

BECAUSE SOME KIDS CAN SEE THE FLUORESCENT LIGHTS FLICKER ON

AND OFF LIKE BEING IN A DISCOTHEQUE.

IT JUST DRIVES THEM CRAZY.

OR THEY GO DOWN THE DETERGENT AISLE AND THEY JUST WANT TO GAG

BECAUSE IT'S JUST TOO MUCH SMELLS.

TOO MUCH IS OVERWHELMING STIMULATION.

NOW THE THING IS, ONE OF THE THINGS THEY WANT

TO TEST ME BEFORE IS TO MAKE SURE THAT I WASN'T DEAF.

SO I GOT A HEARING TEST AND I WASN'T DEAF.

BUT THE PROBLEM IS AUDITORY THRESHOLD TELLS YOU NOTHING

ABOUT AUDITORY DETAIL.

AUDITORY DETAIL IS THE ABILITY TO HEAR HARD CONSONANT SOUNDS.

LIKE IF I SAID CAT OR WAS IT RAT OR BAT, YOU KNOW,

DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN CAT, RAT AND BAT,

AND MY SPEECH TEACHER WOULD ENUNCIATE THOSE SOUNDS.

SHE'LL HOLD UP A CUP AND SAY, CUP.

IN FACT, SHE USED A LOT OF KIND OF ABA TYPE OF THINGS.

AND THE THING THAT'S MOST IMPORTANT THAT I'M GOING

TO BE ADAMANT ABOUT IS THAT REAL LITTLE KIDS THE TWO,

THREE AND FOUR YEAR OLDS, THEY NEED 20 HOURS OF ONE-TO-ONE

WITH A REALLY GREAT TEACHER.

YOU KNOW, AND WHO THAT GOOD TEACHER IS?

THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

NOW, THIS IS WORK DONE BY AMI KLIN AND HE HAD WITH ASPERGERS

AND PEOPLE WITH, YOU KNOW,

HIGH-FUNCTIONING AUTISM WATCH WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

WELL, I HAVE TO SAY THAT'S A BORING SOCIAL MOVIE

AND I WOULDN'T BE THAT INTERESTED IN.

I DON'T EVEN THINK I COULD KEEP THE HEADPHONES ON A PLANE,

YOU KNOW, FOR THIS ONE.

AND LOOK AT HOW MANY TIMES A NORMAL PERSON LOOKS AT THE EYES.

I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT PEOPLE HAD ALL THESE SECRET EYE SIGNALS

UNTIL I READ A BOOK ABOUT IT WHEN I WAS 50 YEARS OLD.

BUT THE OTHER THING IS MOST PEOPLE EXPLAIN THIS PICTURE JUST

FROM A SOCIAL STANDPOINT.

THERE'S ALSO A BIG PROBLEM WITH ATTENTION SHIFTING.

LOOK AT HOW MANY TIMES THE NORMAL PERSON LOOKS BACK

AND FORTH, HOW QUICKLY THEY CAN SHIFT ATTENTION BACK

AND FORTH COMPARED TO THE RED LINE

WHICH IS THE AUTISTIC PERSON.

AND THE AUTISTIC PERSON IS LOOKING AT THE MOUTH

BECAUSE YOU GOT TO REMEMBER,

THEY DO NOT HEAR AUDITORY DETAIL VERY WELL.

SOME OF THESE KIDS ARE LIKE A REALLY BAD CELLPHONE CONNECTION

AND WHEN THEY GET TIRED, IT'S GOING TO GET WORSE.

YOU KNOW, HOW YOU YELL ON THE PHONE, YOU'RE GOING, OH,

IT'S BREAKING UP, IT'S BREAKING UP.

THAT'S THE WAY SOME OF THESE KIDS' HEARING IS.

YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE-- AND IT'S GOING TO VARY AS TO HOW MUCH

OF THE SIGNAL GET THROUGH.

ONE OF THE PLACES WHERE THERE NEEDS TO BE A LOT

OF RESEARCH DONE IS IN THE SENSORY PROBLEMS.

I'M KIND OF REALLY [INAUDIBLE] SICK OF ALL THE THEORY

OF MIND RESEARCH BECAUSE THESE SENSORY PROBLEMS CAN BE

SO DEBILITATING.

HOW CAN YOU SOCIALIZE

IF YOU CAN'T EVEN STAND BEING IN A RESTAURANT.

YOU CAN STAND BEING AT A SORTING--

SPORTING EVENT OR OTHER PLACES,

A NOISY RESTAURANT, PLACES LIKE THAT.

NOW, SOME PEOPLE HAVE VISUAL PROBLEMS.

I DIDN'T HAVE THEM.

YOU KNOW, WHERE THE IMAGE WILL BREAK UP LIKE A MOSAIC.

DONNA WILLIAMS DESCRIBED THIS IN SOME OF HER BOOKS.

AND OFTENTIMES PEOPLE WILL HAVE THESE PROBLEMS--

THEY'LL HAVE PROBLEMS WITH DEPTH PERCEPTION.

OK. HOW CAN YOU TELL THE KID'S GOT VISUAL PROCESSING PROBLEMS?

OBVIOUSLY, IF HE'S GOT SOUND SENSITIVITY,

HE'S GOING TO COVER HIS EARS.

THEY DO A LOT OF FLICKING AROUND THE EYES.

THAT'S A TIP-OFF.

THEY'LL TEND TO TILT THEIR HEAD BECAUSE THEY CAN SEE BETTER

IF THEY LOOK OUT THE CORNER OF THEIR EYE.

OFTENTIMES, THEY HATE ESCALATORS BECAUSE THEY CAN'T TELL

WHEN TO GET ON AND OFF THE ESCALATOR.

FLUORESCENT LIGHTS CAN BE A BIG PROBLEM.

IN FACT, WHEN THEY LOOK AT THINGS, THEY MAY HAVE

TO MAKE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR IN COLLEGE GETTING AWAY

FROM FLUORESCENT LIGHTS IS PROBABLY BIG NUMBER ONE.

PROBLEMS WITH CATCHING A BALL AND YOU GO IN

AND YOU DO EYE EXAMS AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE NORMAL.

THEIR PROBLEM IS INSIDE THE BRAIN.

DON'T GET HUNG UP ON DIAGNOSTIC CATEGORIES.

THESE DIAGNOSTIC CATEGORIES ARE NOT PRECISE.

THEY ARE LABELS, JUST LIKE PROFILING A HIJACKER.

IT'S ONLY SORT OF ACCURATE.

IT'S-- AND I'M SAYING THIS REALLY, REALLY SERIOUSLY.

IT'S NOT ACCURATE LIKE TUBERCULOSIS IS ACCURATE.

I MEAN WHAT OTHER KINDS OF SYNDROMES DO PEOPLE SIT

AROUND A HOTEL ROOM AND DECIDE HAVE DIAGNOSING.

I MEAN, THAT'S THE SAME WAY BUILDING CODES ARE FIGURED

OUT AND, YOU KNOW, ENGINEERS SIT AROUND HOTEL CONFERENCE ROOMS

AND DECIDE, YOU KNOW, HOW TO CHANGE BUILDING CODE.

THEY'VE NOT DONE THAT IN ANIMAL WELFARE CODES.

NOW THE THING IS IF THE PROFILE IS USED CORRECTLY,

THERE'S A HIGH CORRELATION WITH BRAIN SCAN DATA.

BUT I FIND ONCE YOU GET OUT OF THE WAY

FROM THE BIG MEDICAL CENTERS, PROFILES ARE NOT USED CORRECTLY.

OK. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASPERGER AND AUTISM?

WELL RIGHT NOW, UNTIL THEY CHANGE IT, REAL SIMPLE.

AUTISM HAS TO BE ONSET BEFORE AGE 3.

THERE'S OBVIOUS SPEECH DELAY ALONG

WITH THE OTHER AUTISTIC SYMPTOMS.

ASPERGER'S, THERE'S NO OBVIOUS SPEECH DELAY.

SO TO PUT IT VERY, VERY SIMPLY, WHEN THE KID'S 3,

NOBODY'S RUNNING OFF TO THE DOCTOR.

SO WHAT'S PDD?

IT'S EARLY ONSET BUT NOT QUITE ENOUGH SYMPTOMS

TO CALL IT AUTISM.

NOW, A LOT OF THESE SENSORY PROBLEMS I'VE BEEN

TALKING ABOUT.

DYSLEXICS CAN HAVE THEM.

ADHD CAN HAVE THEM.

LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF THE DIFFERENT LABELS CAN HAVE THEM.

AND I CAN TELL YOU, I CAN'T WAIT

UNTIL THEY CAN GET HIGH SPEED BRAIN SCANNING

AND THAT COULD BE USED TO DIAGNOSE THE BRAIN SYSTEMS

WHERE WE HAVE PROBLEMS.

NOW SOME KIDS REALLY GOOD TO READ SOME AUTISTIC KIDS,

NOT EVERYBODY THESE SENSORY THINGS ARE VERY, VERY VARIABLE.

I DIDN'T HAVE THESE VISUAL PROBLEMS.

THEY GO TO READ WHITE-- THE WHITE PAPER WITH BLACK PRINT

ON IT AND THE WRITING WILL KIND OF JIGGLE ON THE PAGE

BECAUSE THERE'S PROBLEMS WITH THE CIRCUITS OF PROCESS MOTION

IN THE BRAIN AND THEY'RE SEEING MOTION

WHEN THEY SHOULDN'T BE SEEING MOTION.

OK. HERE ARE SOME SIMPLE, SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO

FOR VISUAL PROCESSING PROBLEMS, THINGS YOU CAN DO YOURSELF.

WHY DON'T YOU GET AN INCANDESCENT LAMP

OR AN OLD-FASHIONED ENERGY WASTER BULB,

PUT IT NEXT TO THE KID'S DESK.

THOSE TWIRLY KIND OF FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS,

SOME OF THOSE ARE TERRIBLE.

I NORMALLY DO NOT SEE FLICKER ON FLUORESCENT LIGHTS BUT I STAYED

AT A HOTEL WHERE I SAW FLICKER ON A LAMP THAT HAD THOSE KIND

OF BULBS AND I COULD NOT READ WITH IT.

BLOCK FLUORESCENT LIGHTS WITH A HAT, SIT OVER BY THE WINDOW.

NOW LAPTOP COMPUTER IS THE ONLY COMPUTER

THAT ABSOLUTELY DOESN'T FLICKER.

I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHERE A LAPTOP JUST SAVED THEM.

THE TVS FLICKER, THE TV TAGS FLICKER

AND THE BIG DESKTOP PANELS, A LOT OF THOSE FLICKER

BECAUSE THERE'S A FLUORESCENT LIGHT INSIDE IT.

ONLY SCREEN THAT DOESN'T FLICKER ARE REAL SKINNY ONE,

THEY'RE SO SKINNY LIKE ON A LAPTOP,

YOU CAN'T GET A FLUORESCENT LIGHT IN THERE.

TRY PUTTING A WORK ON GRAY, TAN,

OR PASTEL PAPER TO REDUCE CONTRAST.

SOME PEOPLE ARE REALLY HELPED WITH THE IRLEN COLORED LENSES

WHERE YOU TRY ON DIFFERENT COLORED GLASSES

UNTIL YOU FIND THE SHADE WHERE IT WORKS.

OK. I GET OUT IN THE LOW INCOME AREAS, I GO, OK, PEOPLE,

LET'S JUST GO DOWN TO WALMART AND WE'RE GOING TO TRY ON ALL

OF THE PALE COLORED SUNGLASSES.

AND THEN I TALKED TO ONE MOM AND HER KID COULDN'T TOLERATE--

HER 10-YEAR-OLD COULDN'T TOLERATE FIVE MINUTES

OF WALMART.

AND THEY TRIED ON SOME LITTLE PINK CHILDREN'S GLASSES

AND SHE CAN DO AN HOUR OF SHOPPING NOW

THAT SHE WAS NOT ABLE TO DO BEFORE.

BALANCING GAMES, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE OT THINGS,

A LOT OF THINGS THE OTS DO WITH PRESSURE AND SWINGING

AND BALANCING LIKE SITTING ON A BALL.

SOMEONE'S HELP TO STABILIZE PROCESSING,

THEY MAKE THAT BAD CELLPHONE CONNECTION WORK BETTER.

IF I'VE TAKEN THAT PHONE OVER BY THE--

GET IT RIGHT UP AGAINST THE WINDOW,

MAYBE IT'LL WORK ON THIS BUILDING.

AND THEN SOME PEOPLE CAN BE HELPED WITH PRISM GLASSES

BUT THOSE HAVE TO BE DONE BY A PROFESSIONAL.

BUT THE OTHER THINGS ON HERE ARE JUST SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN TRY.

I HAD A DYSLEXIC STUDENT THAT WOULD HAVE FLUNKED OUT OF SCHOOL

WITHOUT IRLEN LENSES AND A LAPTOP COMPUTER.

NOW, THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS AUTISM IS VERY, VERY VARIABLE.

SO IF YOU'VE GOT 20 PEOPLE WITH AUTISM,

IRLEN LENSES MAY ONLY WORK ON TWO OF THEM

BUT THEY REALLY WORK ON THOSE TWO.

THEY'RE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING FOR ME, I DON'T NEED THEM.

SCIENTISTS HAVE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT THE BRAIN.

I GET REALLY FED UP WHEN PEOPLE SAY, WELL,

THEY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT, THAT'S A LOT OF RUBBISH.

ACTUALLY SCIENTISTS KNOW A WHOLE LOT ABOUT THE BRAIN.

IT'S A VERY STRONG GENETIC BASIS IN AUTISM.

THE EMOTION CIRCUITS ARE ABNORMAL

AND IMMATURELY DEVELOPED.

ONE OF THE BIG THINGS ABOUT THE AUTISTIC BRAIN IS THESE PROBLEMS

WITH THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS

BETWEEN DIFFERENT BRAIN DEPARTMENTS.

I LIKE TO VISUALIZE THE BRAIN

AS THIS GREAT BIG CORPORATE OFFICE TOWER.

AND UP AT THE TOP, YOU GOT THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

AND THEN YOU GOT THE, YOU KNOW, THE MATH DEPARTMENT

AND YOU GOT THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT

WITH THE GRAPHIC DESIGNERS.