Autism Diagnosis – Autism Connection of Pennsylvania

Introduction to Autism

Tuesday, August 27

6:00pm – 8:00pm

Learn the basics about autism, and get some take-home tips, from people who understand and have worked in this field for 20+ years.

We will explain the details about autism and how brain differences help shape personality, likes, dislikes, fears, eating, sleeping, the senses, and communication. Please come and ask your questions, meet others with similar concerns and learn what to do at home and in the community!

This is a free online workshop, but registration is required. Register Here!

Introduction to Autism Virtual Workshop

Introduction to Autism

Wednesday, June 26

2:00pm – 4:00pm

Getting any new diagnosis comes with the need to understand it. Learn the basics about autism, and get some take-home tips, from people who understand and have worked in this field for 20+ years.

We will explain the details about autism and how brain differences help shape personality, likes, dislikes, fears, eating, sleeping, the senses, and communication. Please come and ask your questions, meet others with similar concerns and learn what to do at home and in the community!

This is a free workshop, but pre-registration is required.

Register on Zoom

Understanding The Connection Between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Cerebral Palsy

April is a time when we come together to recognize the diverse experiences of people living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, and we encourage the momentum to continue throughout the year. Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that affects how a person communicates, interacts with others, and experiences the world around them. As we delve into the intricacies of autism, it’s essential to understand its relationship with other conditions, such as cerebral palsy.

The Intersection of Autism and Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of neurological disorders that affect movement, posture, and muscle coordination. While CP primarily impacts motor function, it can also co-occur with other developmental conditions, including autism. Research suggests that approximately 6% to 15% of individuals with CP also have a diagnosis of autism, highlighting the overlapping nature of these conditions.

The co-occurrence of autism and cerebral palsy presents unique challenges for each person and their families. Understanding the relationship between these conditions is crucial for providing comprehensive care and support. While the exact mechanisms underlying their co-occurrence are not fully understood, a couple factors may contribute to their association:

Common Risk Factors – Both autism and cerebral palsy have shared risk factors, including genetic predisposition, prenatal complications, and environmental influences.

Neurological Differences – Research suggests that disruptions in brain development may contribute to the development of both conditions. Structural and functional abnormalities in the brain can manifest as diverse symptoms associated with autism and cerebral palsy.

Navigating Dual Diagnoses

Receiving dual diagnoses of autism and cerebral palsy can be overwhelming for individuals and their families. It’s essential to access comprehensive support services and resources to address the unique needs associated with each condition. Here are some steps to navigate this journey:

Seek Multidisciplinary Care — Collaborate with a team of healthcare professionals, including pediatricians, neurologists, developmental specialists, and therapists, to develop a personalized treatment plan tailored to your child’s needs.
Access Early Intervention Services — Early intervention is critical for optimizing outcomes for children with autism and cerebral palsy. Explore early intervention programs that offer therapeutic interventions, educational support, and family-centered services.
Connect with Support Networks — Joining support groups and connecting with other families facing similar challenges can provide invaluable emotional support, practical advice, and shared experiences. Organizations like Autism Connection of PA offer resources and community networks.

Autism Connection of Pennsylvania thanks Jennifer LaRocco, Editor & Coordinator at Cerebral Palsy Guidance, for sharing her expertise through this insightful guest blog post. Jennifer’s contribution sheds light on the intricate relationship between autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy. As we commemorate April’s focus on autism, let’s keep the momentum going throughout the year. Thank you, Jennifer, for your dedication to raising awareness and fostering understanding in our community.

Please visit Jennifer’s page on the Cerebral Palsy Guidance website to learn more.

Introduction to Autism

Getting any new diagnosis comes with the need to understand it. Learn the basics about autism, and get some take-home tips, from people who understand and have worked in this field for 20+ years.

We will explain the details about autism and how brain differences help shape personality, likes, dislikes, fears, eating, sleeping, the senses, and communication. Please come and ask your questions, meet others with similar concerns and learn what to do at home and in the community!

This is a free workshop, but registration is required.

Register Here

Let the Children Lead Us and Teach Us

One day a week I take myself to the office, the rest of the week I work remotely. The fluorescent lights in the office are not kind, and it takes me an hour to de-escalate myself once I get home. Sensory overload is real and it is hard. I wasn’t always aware of my sensory needs, and I still struggle with coping, but my son taught me how to identify obstacles in the environment. They were always there, and sensory overload affected me, but I am a product of the 80’s and 90’s growing up, and we certainly didn’t talk about sensory needs. You just dealt with it, or didn’t, but regardless you did it quietly.

Fast forward to having a child who was diagnosed with autism.

As a parent of a child on the spectrum, I had a large learning curve and I needed to maneuver it quickly. One day he didn’t have autism, and the next he did. Now I know, autism was always a part of him, this is what I mean by learning curve. In the beginning, I was circumventing the curve by doing everything others told me I needed to do to “cure the autism”. The focus was on changing him, not on creating a space where he could thrive. If he wasn’t in therapy or working on targeted skills, we were wasting precious time to “fix” him. False. False. False.

Let me stop here and replace cure with cope and also say that speech, occupational, physical therapy, and skill building can happen in all the places all time. Children need space to be children and their adults need space to just be supportive adults. And while we’re replacing words in our vocabulary, let’s replace compliance with cooperation. But we can talk more about compliance vs cooperation in a future blog.

We have so much to learn from people, especially children. Once I began focusing on coping, rather than fixing, everything changed. When I learned to listen to what my son was communicating but wasn’t verbally saying, everything changed. My son changed my entire view moving forward and made me realize I needed to reflect inward. The space I was trying to create for him to thrive, I learned, I also wanted. I didn’t want to just “get through it” anymore.

Actively listening to my son smashed my rose colored glasses and showed me the beautiful world of diversity and inclusion. I learned how to identify and advocate for what I needed to be comfortable. I learned that asking questions and genuinely wanting to get to know about people and what is important to and for them, helps us all grow and create safe spaces. I learned that as I’ve shared how I feel or what I’ve experienced, many others say “me too!”, which creates a welcoming environment to share what is in their hearts and in their minds. I learned to meet people where they are. Even though I’m much older than my son, it’s been a life changing experience to learn together that neither of us needed fixing.

This is a reminder to let the children lead us and teach us.

E.R. Heffel

Is That All You Got?

We learn a lot from individual histories and situations thanks to people trusting us with their personal stories and advocacy needs. Over the years, some situations have revealed that an additional medical or psychological diagnosis, or both (often a psych diagnosis is rooted in medical issues) may be the real culprits causing someone’s suffering. Autism is not the only difference a person can have, and we need to look closely at ourselves, and the people we care about. We also need to help others see folks for the complex and interesting beings that they truly are.

Imagine someone diagnosed with Type I, or juvenile diabetes, at age 12, and for the rest of their life all issues were attributed to that. Headaches? It’s the diabetes. Vision issues? It’s the diabetes. Fatigue and nausea? – you get the picture. And what if those symptoms were coming from treatable migraines but never prevented or resolved by regular migraine treatment? A person might – and many do – suffer for decades if they are only seen as having one issue as the cause of everything wrong, while something else is going on. They have more than “one thing” and need to be treated as such.

We support three unrelated people who each have experienced: job loss, eviction, academic punishment and expulsion, legal issues, getting lost during travel, and social problems. All three have an autism diagnosis, and all three had been in car accidents from four years to decades ago! Once we started to say, “This does not seem like your autism,” and started referring them to traumatic brain injury (TBI) evaluations and treatment programs, many of their emotional burdens fell away.

They felt the same feelings of being different and not being able to move forward that many undiagnosed autistic adults feel. The additional, correct diagnosis of traumatic brain injury has resulted in feelings of relief, being finally understood, and belonging to a new support community. Are they still autistic? Yes! Can they be helped by a couple of different specialists? Also, yes. Combined therapies are doing great things!

We are all many “things” at once. Lazy, hungry, and curious, a chef, Netflix watcher, and a bookworm, a housecleaner, gamer, and a guardian, even a cat AND a dog lover! We can also be autistic and hypoglycemic, nearsighted and have tinnitus, or have anxiety and joint issues. Each of us exists in combinations of gifts, needs, strengths, interests, and biological differences. So please consider another look at yourself or someone you care about.

If things are not getting better, or they are worsening, or something has been bothering you for a long time and you keep putting off a checkup — trust your instincts! Get and go to a doctor’s appointment. Contact us to talk things over — we know cross-disability professional friends, and can sometimes help with specialist medical referrals. Hopefully we can get you to a new “right place” to meet your needs. Let’s take a clear look at ourselves in this new year, together and with the tailored support each one of us deserves.

Introduction to Autism

Getting any new diagnosis comes with the need to understand it. Learn the basics about autism, and get some take-home tips, from people who understand and have worked in this field for 20+ years.

We will explain the details about autism and how brain differences help shape personality, likes, dislikes, fears, eating, sleeping, the senses, and communication. Please come and ask your questions, meet others with similar concerns and learn what to do at home and in the community!

This is a free workshop, but registration is required.