Emmaus Home at the Franklin Institute

Emmaus Home recently had an exciting outing to the Franklin Institute. It is important for our adults to be in a such a fabulous learning environment with others to practice social skills and increase the thirst for knowledge.

To help our work with God's children at Emmaus Home, please donate HERE. May the Lord reward with eternal life all who do good to us in His Name.

Ben Franklin

The Franklin Institute

The Giant Heart

Technologies to Lessen the Distress of Autism

From Behavior Imaging:

While the incidence of autism has risen precipitously in the last decade, one thing hasn’t changed much. It is still enormously expensive to provide ongoing education and therapy for autistic children. One proven treatment for autism is early and intense educational intervention. However, for many parents, that intervention is cost and/or distance prohibitive. In some areas, there are few or no options for after-school care or babysitting.

The increased incidence of autism paired with an ongoing dearth of professional resources means that families often wait for weeks or months for an appointment and must travel to the nearest major medical center for care, sometimes over great distances. As they wait for meaningful care and instruction, the family faces a host of risks.

In the paper, we said:

The constant vigilance to protect one’s child, one’s family, and one’s partner as well as one’s self can leave parents irritable and on edge indefinitely. These symptoms may cause clinically significant problems in daily social and occupational functioning, both from the perspective of PTSD and other physical and mental/behavioral health perspectives

(Read more.)

Kevin at the Surrey Center

Here is Kevin of our Emmaus Home family, working at the Surrey Senior Citizen Center as a volunteer for the first time. We are so proud of him!

Finding a Sitter

From Healthline:

The first place — and, arguably, the easiest — most special needs parents look to is within their own families and friend groups. Trust them? Absolutely! And they work cheap! But as grandparents age, or aunts and uncles move away, it can be difficult for parents to tap into that existing network. Additionally, you might get the sense (whether rightly or wrongly) that you are “imposing.” But, honestly, if you had abundant resources for your child care needs, you wouldn’t be reading this post anyway. (Read more.)

Early Diagnosis of Autism

From The Herald Sun:

Researcher Dr Megan Clark said sometimes parents and the medical community were hesitant to diagnose a child as being on the autism spectrum too early in life. “Currently in Australia, only 3 per cent of children are diagnosed as early as 24 months,” Ms Clark said. “We found, of the children diagnosed early, 73 per cent continued to meet the criteria for autism from toddlerhood through to school age, so it is possible to conclude that an early diagnosis is reliable and stable.”

The study found three-quarters of children who were detected early went to a mainstream primary school, compared with 57 per cent ­diagnosed later. “Often, one of the first questions around diagnosis is: ‘Will my child be able to attend a mainstream school?’ And our findings are encouraging for parents,” Dr Clark said. “Autism is a lifelong condition, but we know early intervention improves children’s ability to communicate and their cognition.” (Read more.)

Parenting an Autistic Child

From The Mom Kind:

Often times, we find ourselves doubting our parenting skills.  There’s this automatic shame you feel for not better handling a situation. This embarrassment for feeling sad. It is so hard not be hard on yourself.  As parents, we want the best for our children.  We want them to be the best person they can be and to live a happy, fulfilling life.

All too often, this expectation overruns us parents. The constant juggling act it takes just to make a trip out of the home can be overwhelming.  When we are feeling weak, this is when we feel as though we’ve failed.

The key thing to remember, their diagnosis doesn’t define who they are.  It’s okay not to explain their diagnosis everywhere you go. It’s also okay to do so as well.   Sometimes, you will feel like a warrior. You can conquer the world single-handed. Yet other times, you feel run over.  As if nothing at all can go your way. (Read more.)

An Autistic View of the World

From Mummy Est.2014:

I have to admit that lining things up has been something J has done so long that I can't remember when it started. It definitely wasn’t one of the first signs that concerned me. My concerns were his regression in his communication to the point where crying or laughing were the only real forms his used. He didn’t react to his name, or sounds the same as others his age, and he would develop ‘obsessions’ (it started as opening and closing doors, drawers, cupboards and you couldn’t stop or face a day long meltdown). Once he spent 15 minute opening and closing the same door in church.

J’s lining up started with lining cars up. He was very specific and would put them bumper to bumper and facing the same way. He would get frustrated if any of them were knocked or removed. When out and about he would line up sugar and sauce packets in the restaurants/café. I wasn’t overly concerned, after all that’s the way cars drive isn’t it? Following each other in a row? The problem we had was that at this point cars and vehicles was the only toys he would play with. We didn’t know how he’d react to other resources. Soon after we found he would line pretty much everything up-magnets on the fridge, stones in the garden etc. (Read more.)

Autism Acceptance

From the Herald Sun:

Researchers from the University of Surrey have observed that when there is a lack of acceptance around the needs and preferences of autistic students in mainstream learning environments, they feel “limited” and “different”. They internalise the negative attitudes and reactions of others and unrealistically compare themselves with students who are neurotypical — as distinct from developing a sense of what they’re capable of.

I’m autistic, and the fear of not being accepted has shaped the person I’ve become. Wanting to seem “normal” often takes precedence over what might be better and safer for me. Rather than saying no, I’ll act like I’m enjoying brunch out at a restaurant, even if a quieter space would make it easier to connect with friends and family. If I feel besieged in a crowd, rather than slowly finding a way out or meditating to stay calm, I’ll spend most of my energy ensuring that I don’t appear to be affected. Which doesn’t mean that I’m not. It just means that I’m pretending not to be. And doctors have congratulated me for that. They have commended what they describe as my “adaptation skills” and the ability I have to not seem autistic. (Read more.)

Life After Special Ed

Are schools doing enough? From Disability Scoop:

Schools are legally obligated to create meaningful post-schooling plans for students with disabilities as part of their Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs. Under federal law, special education students must have transition plans in place by age 16 that include work, school and independent living goals that a student would like to achieve. Several states require schools to start this process at age 14. But Kate’s education failed to set her up for higher education or a career, as is often the case with special education students. Her experience after high school shows how important legally mandated transition plans and services are — and demonstrates how hard it is to do them right for all students. (Read more.)

Night to Shine

Friday, February 9th - 7:00pm
St. Malachy - Actors' Chapel
239 West 49th Street

Register HERE.

Night to Shine is an unforgettable prom night experience, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs ages 14 and older. On one night, February 9, 2018, more than 500 churches from around the world will come together to host Night to Shine for approximately 90,000 honored guests through the support of 175,000 volunteers! - Night to Shine Website

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Watch Last year's highlights here.

The Emotional Weight of Autism

From the beautifully written blog Finding Cooper's Voice:

After almost seven years I’ve learned how to ask for help when I need it. I had too. I was drowning.  I’d been called a martyr one too many times. I’d been accused of doing it all by myself. And maybe that’s true. But in my defense, I truly believed I was the only person that could help my autistic son. I used to think that no one would ever truly take the time to understand him or decipher his needs. I thought that no one could handle his screams or hums. Or that no one would take on the burden of changing his diaper. His needs were so intense I figured it was just easier if I did it all myself. When Cooper turned six I had completely burnt myself out. I wasn’t sleeping. My back was so messed up from carrying his 65 pound body. I was anxious and irritable. I was always sick. I was drinking way too much caffeine during the day and one to many glasses of wine at night. (Read more.)

Many mothers must often leave their jobs in order to take care of special needs children, which can lead to poverty. From HuffPost:

 I’ve been asking my community of moms who have children with disabilities what they do about paid work. Many moms do work when their kids are young – this is when daycare spots for kids with disabilities are more plentiful – if they can get to the top of the long wait lists. Other moms have teenagers and have been forced to opt out of paid work. And some have flexible employers – although these types of employers are sadly the exception. Yet others piece together a freelancing life, picking up work here and there, like I do now.

Many families slowly inch their way towards poverty. We bleed money every month. Ironically we need a higher income even more than we did with any of our other kids. We pay for our son’s therapies out of pocket and we need to save for his adulthood because of the abysmal government rates of disability assistance that loom in his future.

“I left my job I had for 20 years when my son started high school, too,” one mom told me last week over coffee. When he was younger, they had cobbled together care with grandparents, but their son’s needs became more pronounced when he hit adolescence and the grandparents inevitably aged – the arrangement no longer worked. So the mom had to resign. (Read more.)

Social Anxiety and Performance Fears in ASD

From Medical Research:

Approximately 40 percent of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are diagnosed with a co-occurring anxiety disorder.  Social anxiety is a common presenting problem for these youth. Youth with ASD and increased social anxiety have heightened threat sensitivity, particularly in relation to performance fears, as measured by a brain signal response called the error-related negativity (ERN), which measures response to errors. The threat sensitivity-performance fears association remained even after controlling for anxiety symptoms other than social fearfulness. (Read more.)

ADHD and Autism Diagnosis

From Health Beat:

 Like most 7-year-old boys, Darren Meeks loves to play with his monster trucks and ride his scooter, but Darren knows he's different. "I'm autistic, so I'm more sensitive," he said. Darren was diagnosed with autism at age four.

"He was diagnosed with ADHD a year later," said his mom, Myranda Meeks.

"Forty to 60 percent of children with autism also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD," explained Dr. Geraldine Dawson, the director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development. Dawson said it's unknown why the conditions tend to overlap, but she said children with both may get a delayed autism diagnosis.

"In fact, those children are 30 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism after age six," she said. So, researchers at Duke University are conducting a study that focuses on early detection.

"We're going to be following 9,000 children from the community," stated Dawson. Researchers will measure the brain's response to information to help them better understand the link. "We want to see whether treating the ADHD symptoms will allow the child with autism to better benefit from early intervention," Dawson explained.

Myranda admitted life has changed after the dual diagnosis, but Darren is thriving in school and has lots of friends. (Read more.)

Holiday Memories

Emmaus Home had a wonderful trip to Philadelphia where we visited the Christmas village at city hall. The holiday season may be over but the joy our men and women bring is something that lasts all year long!

The Loneliness of Autism

A mother speaks. From Finding Cooper's Voice:

For me autism is frustrating. And exhausting. And heartbreaking. And dreadfully hopeful. And painful. And above all a process. A slow process that crawls along with glimpses of the future. Autism is expensive. And SO unbelievably time consuming. Autism can take your time. It can suck up hours after hours of time.There are so many parts that go into parenting a special needs baby. And it’s different for everyone. But to be perfectly honest, for me, autism is mostly just lonely. It’s quiet a lot too. I pick Cooper up from school and there are no conversations about his day. No desire to show me what he made that day or to tell me what he wants to do when we get home. I’m mostly just sad because I don’t know this little boy. And I might never. I am grieving for a child I’ve never known. (Read more.)

A Death in the Emmaus Home Community

Anne's mother was called home by Our Lord on Christmas Day. Please pray for the repose of her soul and for her grieving family.