Autism Breakthrough: Girl's Writings Explain Her Behavior and Feelings

Jolie77

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Autism Breakthrough: Girl's Writings Explain Her Behavior and Feelings

Doctors Amazed by Carly Fleischmann's Ability to Describe the Disorder From the Inside

Carly Fleischmann has severe autism and is unable to speak a word. But thanks to years of expensive and intensive therapy, this 13-year-old has made a remarkable breakthrough.

Two years ago, working with pictures and symbols on a computer keyboard, she started typing and spelling out words. The computer became her voice.

"All of a sudden these words started to pour out of her, and it was an exciting moment because we didn't realize she had all these words," said speech pathologist Barbara Nash. "It was one of those moments in my career that I'll never forget."

Then Carly began opening up, describing what it was like to have autism and why she makes odd noises or why she hits herself.

"It feels like my legs are on first and a million ants are crawling up my arms," Carly said through the computer.

Carly writes about her frustrations with her siblings, how she understands their jokes and asks when can she go on a date.

"We were stunned," Carly's father Arthur Fleischmann said. "We realized inside was an articulate, intelligent, emotive person that we had never met. This was unbelievable because it opened up a whole new way of looking at her." This is what Carly wants people to know about autism.

"It is hard to be autistic because no one understands me. People look at me and assume I am dumb because I can't talk or I act differently than them. I think people get scared with things that look or seem different than them." "Laypeople would have assumed she was mentally retarded or cognitively impaired. Even professionals labeled her as moderately to severely cognitively impaired. In the old days you would say mentally retarded, which means low IQ and low promise and low potential," Arthur Fleischman said.

Therapists say the key lesson from Carly's story is for families to never give up and to be ever creative in helping children with autism find their voice.

"If we had done what so many people told us to do years ago, we wouldn't have the child we have today. We would have written her off. We would have assumed the worst. We would have never seen how she could write these things how articulate she is, how intelligent she is," the grateful father added.

"I asked Carly to come to my work to talk to speech pathologists and other therapists about autism," said Nash. "What would you like to tell them? She wrote, 'I would tell them never to give up on the children that they work with.' That kind of summed it up."

Carly had another message for people who don't understand autism.

"Autism is hard because you want to act one way, but you can't always do that. It's sad that sometimes people don't know that sometimes I can't stop myself and they get mad at me. If I could tell people one thing about autism it would be that I don't want to be this way. But I am, so don't be mad. Be understanding."
ABC News: Autism Breakthrough: Girl's Writings Provide 'Remarkable Insight' on Disorder

I wanted to share this story with you guys. I was floored when I read this story and of course, this story has hit home for me. Still, day by day, it gives all of us a hope in a way to make this better or at least broaden our minds to understand autism.
 
Wow! That is exciting and can help us educators, doctors and therapists understand it better in some ways. I will definitely keep that in mind when I work with students with autism in the future. :)

Thanks for sharing!
 
Wow!!:thumb:.. yeah Hope Something good future for them! ;) I have friends of 5 austim kids, one cousin and my sister working with austim kids too! :)
 
"Autism is hard because you want to act one way, but you can't always do that. It's sad that sometimes people don't know that sometimes I can't stop myself and they get mad at me. If I could tell people one thing about autism it would be that I don't want to be this way. But I am, so don't be mad. Be understanding."

(quoting article)

That's the problem. NT people want/demand everyone act like them and punish those who do not. They are unable or unwilling to try and understand or think differently.
 
Thanks for posting this article, Jolie. There are so many assumptions made ablout autistic individuals. The more the professionals learn about the disorder, the more they realize they don't know. I have been learning some amazing things about individuals with autism recently, and I have had to admit that I had some very distorted views until I started to come across stories such as this.

Thanks for posting this.
 
Thanks for posting this article, Jolie. There are so many assumptions made ablout autistic individuals. The more the professionals learn about the disorder, the more they realize they don't know. I have been learning some amazing things about individuals with autism recently, and I have had to admit that I had some very distorted views until I started to come across stories such as this.

Thanks for posting this.

I agree. I think ignorance has played a big part on their assumptions. Perhaps it is not a tragedy itself but if you really think about it, it can be an eye opener.

Thanks for the article. It was interesting to read, so I had to find out more..:) So, I found a very interesting and in depth interview with Carly's parents.

ABC News: Autistic Girl's Parents Respond to Some of Viewers' Biggest Questions

I hope Carly continues to make progress and live her dreams of becoming a cook and a writer.

Thanks for posting the in-depth interview with Carly's parents. It was interesting to read the responses and questions that were contained. I too, hope she will make progress but I am sure she will be able to do so down the road since she is on the right path, hopefully.
 
That's really awesome and amazing that they could break through like that i wish more autistic kids had that chance.
 
Okay, I don't see how this article is great. The girl's parents managed to go thirteen years before seating her in front of a keyboard, one of the most common communication devices, despite the fact that.. she could not communicate?

How do you justify a parent living with their child for 13 years without noticing that there's more to them than their outward behaviours?
 
Okay, I don't see how this article is great. The girl's parents managed to go thirteen years before seating her in front of a keyboard, one of the most common communication devices, despite the fact that.. she could not communicate?

How do you justify a parent living with their child for 13 years without noticing that there's more to them than their outward behaviours?

Most likely, the professionals the parents were dealing with had a very limited view and never suggested that the child would ever be able to communicate. There are still a lot of misconceptions regarding autism, even in the professional and educational fields.
 
Most likely, the professionals the parents were dealing with had a very limited view and never suggested that the child would ever be able to communicate. There are still a lot of misconceptions regarding autism, even in the professional and educational fields.

Agreed. Autism may not be "new" to this society but it is still somewhat "new" to the educational/medical field. I don't mean that it is exactly new to them. It just means that a lot of these are having distorted views, facts, so and on. There are a lot of different theories that is still at-large. It will take years and years to be able to find the exact cause of Autism.
 
It's interested article.. Thanks for sharing it with us. I emailed this article to my friend who have a autism son.
 
Most likely, the professionals the parents were dealing with had a very limited view and never suggested that the child would ever be able to communicate. There are still a lot of misconceptions regarding autism, even in the professional and educational fields.

Even so.. I find it very difficult to imagine going this long... you might not be the professional, but you've spent so long around that child.

Stories like these scare the crap out of me, because I know that had my parents listened to the pros, I might've also missed out on thirteen years of the world.. which is far too long for any child, autistic or not.
 
Even so.. I find it very difficult to imagine going this long... you might not be the professional, but you've spent so long around that child.

Stories like these scare the crap out of me, because I know that had my parents listened to the pros, I might've also missed out on thirteen years of the world.. which is far too long for any child, autistic or not.

I agree..it is scary and that is why, as a teacher, I try to keep myself informed of any breakthroughs or discoveries especially with austism because it is a very complex condition.
 
If you read the article, they did not go 13 years of no-communication. They used signs, picture binders, and more recently a voice output device. They started communication when she was 2 years of age when they tried the ASL route which then they realized that realistically very few people she would come in contact with would use signs. Remember she cannot speak.

Was she this fluent from 2 years of age? I doubt it, but it is evident that she has been communicating for quite some time, its only now that they have found a truly viable communiction tool that works for them and has been working for 2-3 years now.

I think the reason this got to the media was because a doctor or therapist who did a case study on Carly was amazed and said 'hey this is news' then the media likely contacted the family and they agreed to the story.
 
Even so.. I find it very difficult to imagine going this long... you might not be the professional, but you've spent so long around that child.

Stories like these scare the crap out of me, because I know that had my parents listened to the pros, I might've also missed out on thirteen years of the world.. which is far too long for any child, autistic or not.

I agree. But also look around this board. There are still those parents out there who listen to professionals who tell them not to use sign because it will interfere with their child's ability to speak. Parents putting all encompassing faith in the word of a professional is not unheard of, and occurs all too frequently for my taste, as well. It is a shame when a less than ethical professional encourages a parent to discount their own perceptions about their child. It is an abuse of power and status.
 
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