I am reviewing the Go Pro Hero 3, first I did a test of its video capabilities.
The following video is my first video filmed on it and my first attempt at using IMovie.
I will be doing a test video on the Fuji X10 that I am also demoing soon as well.
I will have more detailed reviews of the Go Pro Hero 3 and Fuji X10 in the next 2 weeks as well.
I appreciate the opportunity to demo Go Pro and Fuji’s products!!
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JUNE 20-23, 2013
MISSION Our focus is on alleviating the strain that an Autism diagnosis takes not only on the affected child but the child’s family. Our primary goals are to help campers build self-esteem, develop better social skills and self-expression, make and maintain friendships, improve fine motor skills, gross motor skills and sensory integration. |
PROGRAM FEATURES A unique feature of Camp I AM is the Camper Passport. The majority of our parents are most interested in helping their child improve their social skills, learn new activities, develop a better sense of self, and to take greater responsibility for themselves. The Camper Passport is a tool that Counselors use while at camp, to keep written record in a non-intrusive way, of each camper’s personal experience while staying with us at camp. It’s nice to know that your quiet, softly spoken child was front and center on the stage during the camp talent show singing their heart out. The Camper Passport is gifted to each camper’s parents after camp allowing the parents to benefit from and enjoy their child’s personal journey through Camp I AM. Although the campers learn many new “camp” skills from participating in activities, it’s the skills that are less visible that are the most recognized when returning home. The campers feel very empowered to share new things with their family.
Our one-to-one adult counselor to camper ratio, plus activity instructors and safety staff, allows us to work closely with each camper to provide individualized attention to their special needs. Our counselors are adults who are experienced in working with children with Autism or are pursuing a degree in special education or a related field. Each child is also assigned a non-disabled Peer Buddy. Camp I AM is run by a group of highly skilled, experienced and caring professionals who work in collaboration with our community affiliates to provide the highest quality of service to each camper.
Campers attend two – three activities in the morning and two – three activities in the afternoon. Evening activities serve as opportunities for the entire camp to come together for structured entertainment such as campfires, dances, movies, and music. Picture schedules are used throughout the day to support communication between campers and staff if needed.
OUR STAFF Torino Foundation’s camp program staff consists of dozens of individuals who are experienced with our programs and facility, many of which have been working with Torino Foundation for over ten years.
Our Volunteer counselors and Activity staff undergo intensive training to ensure they are fully equipped to meet our campers’ needs and provide them with the most enriching experiences possible.
Medical Staff stay at camp during the entire duration of the program to ensure each camper has consistency in a supportive environment.
A BIT ABOUT TORINO RANCH Nestled in the Spring Valley Mountains west of Las Vegas, Torino ranch offers a supportive environment for campers of all ages to meet other peers with critical illnesses, disabilities, or life altering situations. The ranch is a pristine oasis with spring-fed streams, crystal clear lakes and waterfalls, and hundreds of organic fruit trees and organic gardens. The ranch is a sparkling jewel of natural beauty complete with camper villages, lodge, amphitheater, and many other amenities. The ranch is a playground and a sanctuary – a place of peace. Campers have the opportunity to make friends, enjoy nature, gain self-confidence, create wonderful camp memories and develop skills for increased independence. They can leave their worries behind while laughing, playing and enjoying life.
Here is a link to their Facebbook page–>
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Torino-Foundation/203601819672853?ref=hl
Our 3 kids are going to attend one of their autism camps and since I have not been rich lately they really wanted to go to camp at least once!!
Please help them in their efforts.
We also need help getting with our autism efforts as well, please donate instruments tablets, and services to help us to help autism!!
While at NAB I spoke with Fuji and Go Pro with regards to my Tech Review Site and our efforts to help people with autism. Fuji is loaning us an X10 and Go Pro is sending us a Hero 3 to evaluate and use in our efforts to help autism and to do a review.
A preview from YouTube with regards to the Fuji X10 by Fujifilm–>
A preview of the Go Pro Hero3 from Youtube as well–>
I will be doing in-depth reviews of both, and will do a 30 day test of both and will do a number of reviews of each product in the next 30 days!!!
Story by Spc. Adam L. Mathis
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Five minutes after sitting down, Angela Fields had tears in her eyes.
With 2-year-old Emma next to her, Fields told the other three women in the room how she had moved to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in October, her husband had left for a deployment and she was learning how to raise a special needs child.
“Emma has Down’s Syndrome. She’s 2. So, were just figuring it out, really,” said Fields, of Kankakee, Ill.
Fields was able to share at the first meeting of the Exceptional Family Member Program Coffee Group. Held beside the coffee shop in the AFC Arena on Jan. 10, the 10-11 a.m. gathering was designed to give people a chance to support one another through the challenges facing military families with members who have disabilities needing special care.
“Because military wives are proud of their husbands and the work that they do, … they don’t want to add that burden onto their spouse, but yet the burden … [falls] onto that family member,” said Timmy Milligan, an EFMP systems navigator.
And those with that burden need companionship. Milligan said people caring for disabled family members face a multiple challenges, including a host of doctor’s appointments, understanding the rights of the disabled and missed school for their children to attend special treatments. Without help such as what this coffee fellowship provides, these challenges can poison family life.
“Sometimes just even hearing someone else’s story makes your story doesn’t seem as bad as it could be, and also you can make friends,” said Milligan.
Such an outlet is very useful at JBLM. According to the National Military Family Association, more than 100,000 families have exceptional needs. With the base having one of a few Developmental Pediatrics clinics within the Army, many such families are drawn here, said Milligan.
The goal of the coffee group, which meets on the first Tuesday of every month, is to empower these families. Milligan said they work toward training and helping families reach a point where they know how to meet their needs, what resources are available and let the soldier go to work without worrying about his/her family.
But the goal of the coffee group is not only sharing information, but sharing about life. Camaraderie, as Milligan said, is something people who help the disabled need. It is why the conversations at the first meeting, while giving an opportunity to open up about life’s difficulties, also provided an opportunity to simply talk.
This is why Fields was able to share her story and tears.
“I enjoyed it,” said Fields after the group ended. “Just kind of having a forum to sound off about anything obviously, it’s not just about your kids, but about whatever came up in conversation.”
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa, Japan- More than 100 Soldiers from the 10th Regional Support Group and the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery volunteered for the annual Kadena Special Olympics 24 Hour Jog -A-Thon on Nov. 7-8th at Kadena’s Marek Park.
Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and family members participated in the run that serves as one of Kadena Special Olympics committee’s biggest events. Chip Steitz, senior advisor, Kadena Special Olympics, said that Army units donated more than $2,000.
“This year marks our fifth 24 Hour Jog-A-Thon designed to raise awareness and funds for our Special Olympics program on Okinawa. Truly an amazing out pouring of humanity as all services join together along with civilians and family members in support of this initiative.
The Special Olympics movement has a great story to tell. A story of victory and triumph that is more than forty years old and now includes over three million athletes from every corner of the world. Through their determination, their spirit, and their achievement, Special Olympics athletes have created a legacy that inspires us all.
Special Olympics deliver an important message, regardless of the country its athletes reside from. The message is that people with disabilities have talents and should be afforded the same opportunity to display their abilities and celebrate their successes”, explained Steitz.
Steitz added the athletes of the Kadena Okinawa Special Olympics Games not only demonstrate their talent and abilities, but also bring together the American and OKINAWA communities as partners.
“Together we recognize the “best of the best,” helping foster mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and citizens of Japan. This year we celebrate our 13th year as an organization recognizing the achievements and successes of over 1,300 Japanese and American special needs athletes and artists.” said Steitz.
The Special Olympics will be held at Kadena’s Risner Fitness Center Field and more than 2,500 service and family members will join together in support of the Special Olympics community outreach initiative. Last year over 300 Soldiers from the 10th Regional Support Group and the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery volunteered for the event.
For more information how you can get involved with Special Olympics in your area log on to: http://www.specialolympics.org/
Our friend at Feat a local 501c3 for autism seriously needs your help!!
In the early morning on April 15th, an arsonist was arrested for setting fire to Sport Social, where the FEAT office is located. No one was hurt, but our office and parts of the warehouse are destroyed from extensive fire and water damage. The FEAT office was the home of our resource center (books, brochures and service provider info) which has all been damaged. The FEAT office is closed until further notice. She is still available to meet with families at other locations (Starbucks etc..) and she is always available on the parent hotline at 368-3328 for those needing assistance.
They are in need of donations at this time to help them get back on their “FEAT”! Please click on this direct link to go to their donation page http://featsonv.org/donations
Our friends at Sport Social need help also. For more Information on the arson, including pictures and video please click on this link if you are on your computer:https://www.facebook.com/
FEAT and Sport Social provide so much support to the local autism community all year long. During Autism Awareness Month we are now turning to you for your support and help. Thank you in advance for your assistance in our time of need, we appreciate your generosity.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Strobel
FEAT Executive Director
jennifer@featsonv.org
702-368-3328
Please help them in their time of need.
Sincerely,
David Berkowitz
Technewszone.com
Arts4autism
I ran into Breffo at CES 2012 and CES 2013.
I had the recent opportunity to test and review the Breffo Spiderpodium’s the little one for phones and the larger one for tablets. To put it mildly I was impressed by their design, ease of use, versatility and how fun they are!! It is a quick and simple user friendly stand and much more.
Description from Breffo’s Website–>
Designed with today’s portable handheld consumer electronics in mind, the ‘take it everywhere, use it anywhere’ Spiderpodium portable dock & podium is a universal, multi-purpose, gadget grip, holster, dock and display podium which is compatible with most all compact handheld devices including smartphones, portable phones, portable movie players, mp3/4 players, gaming systems, SatNav’s, camcorders, portable projectors, compact camera’s, e-readers and more!
Utility and Versatility
They are efficient, and can be used for phones, tablets, cameras, gps devices, and mp3 player. They are easy to take with you such as in a camera bag or laptop case. They are flexible and can be manipulated to work with a variety of devices and on a many surfaces as well.
Fun
The Breffo Spiderpodium tablet and smaller device holders are fun as well. They look like spiders, and since I work for Orkin in commercial sales they are fun for us to show customers. My twin almost 17 year old sons also love them. My wife however does not want them any where near the dinner table since she has a fear of spiders which can be fun in itself as well.
Design
As seen in the following image, they come in a variety of colors to suit the user’s preference.
They come in 2 basic sizes, one for smaller objects. I used that one with my old Sony Xperia ION, and my new Samsung Galaxy S3 and my daughter’s ipod touch and they worked well for all devices. The ipod touch was a bit small but the Breffo Spiderpodium worked well for it as well. I also tested the larger model for tablets and was impressed with it too. I used the larger one with my Apple Ipad Mini, and HTC View 4g and it worked well. Breffo might want to consider a larger one for the larger android tablets as well. The breffo tablet spiderpodium worked well with my Ipad Mini, and My co-workers ipad as well.
I did not review the new one that just came out for cameras specifically but it appears to be quite nice as well.
One thing that could improve the product is some type of suction cup on the end of the spiderprodium for use on shiny surfaces like glass tables but other than that they are very nicely design and fun as well.
Here are some videos of the product in action from other reviewers:
and a link from a review the that guys at Engadget did as well–>
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/08/breffo-spiderpodium-tablet-stand-hands-on/
In testing we found that the Spiderpodium Tablet was an excellent tool and it worked well for Android and Appple tablets as well as phones, after we go a handle on how to use the spiderpodium manipulate it’s arms properly it worked quite well. It could also be helpfull to hold up a book, or portable dvd player or a mirror in a beauty shop as long as it does not scare the users. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs to have hands free access to a device for watching a movie, reading a book or doing a presentation!! The Breffo Spiderpodium can also be used for holding a tablet to the back of a car’s head rest so the people in the back seat can watch movies too. There are tons of uses for the exciting Breffo Spiderpodiums!!
Story by Maj. Bradley Gordon Subscribe To This Journalist
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – My son has autism. There, I said it – not easy for a Marine and a proud father. More specifically, he has Asperger Syndrome. Some call it a disease, but it’s not. Let’s make sure that is clear up front. People can’t catch it just being around him.
He is not a freak or weirdo, at least no more so than you or I. He is a young teen, working through the difficulties of puberty with the added bonus of learning, understanding, teaching and dealing with his relatively new diagnosis.
Every parent looks at his children through rose-colored glasses. We can’t always see their imperfections because we don’t want to believe they have imperfections. It is not until we remove our glasses and allow ourselves to accept the reality that our child may be “different” in some way do we let our guard down and do one of two things – deny or fight.
I’ve chosen the latter because my son has chosen to fight against what society views as different, to make them aware, in his own way, using the means he is just now learning to understand. I, on the other hand, have more resources and tools in my life toolbox.
I want to speak to the world to be his voice, his advocate, his sword and shield. One day he will be his own sword and shield. Until then he can rely on me to make sure the world knows that even though he may be a little different on the inside, he is as perfect as you are, as perfect as your children, as perfect as any person walking this Earth.
For those who do not know or understand autism, here are some startling facts.
Autism is now being diagnosed in one out of every 88 children in America, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. More specifically, boys are diagnosed at the rate of one in every 54, a number that is 10 times greater than 40 years ago. The CDC has gone on the record as declaring autism as an epidemic.
By comparison, autism affects more children in the U.S. than diabetes, AIDS, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy or Down syndrome – combined.
Part of this new found epidemic is because of better diagnosis techniques and awareness campaigns within medical professionals and through organizations such as Autism Speaks.
I am sure there are many parents who will say “no way” and that this is just because pediatricians and parents are looking to explain away a child’s behavior. Being a parent of a child with AS, I assure you, we weren’t looking for a reason, and we fought hard not to label our son.
However, after many years of working with him and with therapists and teachers and caregivers, we allowed him to have the more intense testing and understand more of the complex make-up of our often-misunderstood oldest child.
I was deployed in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when I found out my son had been officially diagnosed with AS. As a parent, I felt helpless. I don’t say hopeless because I know there is a sunny-side to all of life’s problems, you just have to get to the point you can turn the situation over and find it.
I felt helpless because I wasn’t there to hold my boy’s hand. I wasn’t there to hold my wife’s hand. I wasn’t there to be the reassurance I knew they both needed. My son needed to know that I would do anything for him, help him learn about AS, help him understand it, and help him work through everything and develop the skills to beat it.
All I could do was write an e-mail or try to talk on the phone or Skype (always a challenge when there are three boys in the house, all wanting to see me at the same time and tell me about their lives – we all know those computer cameras and screens are only so big).
I couldn’t be there to just put my hand on his shoulder, give him that little physical touch I know that helps him relax, remain calm and reassure him that it will all work out.
I felt helpless for my wife. Not only did she get this news that we probably knew deep down, just weren’t ready to accept, but she had two other boys that she needed to care for and tend to while I was half-way across the globe, nine time zones away.
Lacrosse and soccer practice, Cub Scouts, Boys Scouts, after-school friends and weekend birthday parties all still needed to be taken care of, but they couldn’t receive the attention they deserved. She and my son needed to deal with this new wrinkle in life. It was overwhelming for them both, and the stress could be felt by the younger two boys as well.
I was helpless to do anything about it. I’m a fixer and I want to fix things immediately, and by being stuck in Afghanistan, I couldn’t fix my family. I couldn’t fix the parts of my life that meant the most. There were four people in the world who needed me and needed my special ability to fix it, and the moment they needed me most, I wasn’t there – I was helpless.
What a lonely feeling it must be to receive this diagnosis, I cannot even imagine. As a young boy, to not have your father, a “tough” Marine at that, there to give you that hand on the shoulder or that smirk and silent acknowledgement that “everything is going to be alright. I’m not going to let anything hurt you.” It had to be almost devastating to my son.
What a lonely feeling it must be to be sitting with her oldest son, the one who is so much like her it causes friction at times, to be there listening to the doctor tell you, tell your son, that he is now different according to societal norms.
Wanting to be strong for her son, to have to play both mother and father and wanting to scream at the heavens “why” and cry and be vulnerable, but knowing she had to be the one to carry on and push him through it.
She had to take more time with her oldest son to learn and understand about this new diagnosis, yet balance that with the equal time for the other two very active sons whose schedule in itself is a full-time job. Add to this the loneliness that there just aren’t that many people who understand autism, let alone Asperger Syndrome.
How do you talk about it in a combat zone? Who do you talk to about it? Are there others who deal with similar issues? Does the Marine Corps even understand? Does the Marine Corps have programs in place, do they have people available, do they know what services are required and can they provide them to me in a combat zone, to my son, my wife and my other boys?
In the spectrum of epidemics and world-threatening diseases, how much do we know about autism and AS? And if the medical world is still struggling to understand it, how can I expect the Marine Corps to empathize with me and help me understand and help me help my family?
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and putting our pride aside, my wife has leaned on the entire village to help raise not one, but all three of our boys so she can focus on our oldest and help him, understand him, teach him, and develop him, for him and with him.
It takes a lot of energy, and each day I am not with my family is another day I feel more helpless and not the fixer I know I’m supposed to be.
As parents, my wife and I may have actually been part of the problem, not the solution, for many years. I think we didn’t ask all of the questions because deep down, we didn’t want the answers.
We didn’t want to allow someone else to pigeon hole our son; however, in retrospect we may have done just that. We allowed teachers, counselors and his peers to pigeon hole him and use that against him, all while we didn’t want to acknowledge it, buy into it or believe it.
I’m sure we aren’t the only parents who feel that way, so if anything, I hope other parents who read this will allow themselves to let go of their pride and be part of their child’s solution, not their problem.
My son is a complex young man, wrapped in hormones, surrounded by a judgmental society, learning to deal with the curve ball life has dealt him and only recently being able to put a name or a reason to his symptoms.
He was diagnosed less than a year ago, only after strong urging from his therapist – someone he has seen for several years, someone he trusts implicitly, and someone who has watched him grow. His therapist asked the difficult questions, and, as some of his behaviors became more prevalent, pushed us to ask more questions and seek more answers in an effort to help our son feel “normal” and be “normal.”
Once my son learned about AS, he began to understand more why he wasn’t as good at team sports and why he always wants to be the one in charge, yet doesn’t like to accept responsibility for team failure.
He knew he was a smart kid, always has been. He often didn’t really listen in class because he didn’t feel he needed to since he picked up math, science, reading and comprehension just by looking through the book. While the rest of the class was learning how to add one plus one and get two, my son was already understanding the concepts of two times two making four. In his mind, class is beneath him because he gets it. Even today, he has difficulty with doing high school homework because he knows he can ace the tests.
We struggle with getting him to understand the game of high school – that the schoolwork and homework are parts of the game and that tests are only a small portion. We constantly work to help him understand that every aspect of the game is a means to an end where he will get to move on to college where less is required, yet more is expected.
It’s a daily grind, often ending in raised voices, teenage attitude and hurt feelings. In the end the work gets done, but not without some sweat and tears.
And we haven’t even touched the tip of the iceberg of his recent life. His emotions are often on a hair-trigger, a symptom of AS. A situation that most would find to be insignificant can be a major ordeal for him.
He remembers events that upset him long in the past and at the most inopportune times. It doesn’t take much and when it does, an emotional roller-coaster ensues, not just for him, but for the entire family.
Routines, black-and-white rules, fixation, having to complete a thought no matter how long-winded, detail oriented and irrelevant to the topic at hand may be, and little ability to be flexible when events or situations do not unfold the way they were originally discussed or supposed to be in his head, all make for some difficult, emotional and mentally and physically exhausting days, not just for him, but for his brothers, his teachers, his friends, his primary care providers, his mother and, from a distance, me.
My purpose in writing this isn’t to evoke sympathy for me, my son, my wife or my family or to place blame on anyone or any organization because of my son’s autism. My purpose in writing this is to help others understand and let others know that my family isn’t unique.
This epidemic has probably impacted a family near you, and it requires our society as a whole to learn and understand and have empathy for those who must fight the fight day in and day out.
In the past, because so few people knew about or understood autism, families were often dismissed.
Even today, as more and more families are faced with this new epidemic, there is still very little our services family programs know about and understand.
We need more education, better education, not only for our senior leaders and decision makers, but throughout the Corps, the other military branches, the Department of Defense and our government.
Every leader, Marine Corps or commercial enterprise, stresses the family as essential to company success and growth, however more often than not these same leaders do not have as diverse a knowledge as they would like.
This needs to change now and our organization, as a whole, is responsible for making this change both positive and substantial. More resources are required to develop programs that help families.
Even at a base as large as Camp Lejeune, the services required to help those diagnosed with AS or autism is not as significant as it should be for an epidemic and the services to help the families are even less.
Schools, as a whole, have some programs for “special needs” children; however, even our schools are not adequately equipped for this new epidemic. For an issue that affects one in every 88 children in America, we do not have the appropriate resources to combat the growing spate.
Of course, more resources requires more funding, and in the grand funding scheme, autism receives less than 0.6 percent of the National Institute of Health funding compared to the less prevalent childhood diseases that receive a preponderance of the $30.5 billion budget.
We need to do more. We must do more.
I am determined to be my son’s sword and his shield. I am his advocate and will be the advocate for even more like him. I am my son’s voice in this world of noise and I will be their voice too.
Autism speaks and it’s time the world listened.
As an Asperger’s Dad of 3 on the spectrum and an Army Veteran I can relate to these military folk and their dealings with autism and I am helping to bring their voice as well as mine to the masses to find support to help autism!!
David
Story by Lt. Jennifer Cragg Subscribe To This Journalist
WASHINGTON – A Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences faculty member discussed Autism Awareness Month and the importance of early, proper diagnosis and treatment of children.
“Parents should feel confidence in raising questions about whether their child has autism,” Dr. Janice Hanson told “Dot Mil Docs” listeners during an, April 9, webcast on Pentagon Web Radio. “They are often the first ones to raise concerns and to raise them in a way that a pediatrician can sort out whether to be concerned, how concerned to be, and what to do about it next.”
According to Autism Speaks, a science and advocacy organization dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism, early intervention is critical to gain maximum benefit from existing therapies. While there are no effective means to prevent autism, no fully effective treatments, and no cure, current research suggests that early educational intervention for at least two years during the preschool years can result in significant improvements for many children with autism-spectrum disorders.
Hanson said children can be diagnosed with autism by age 3, but parents might notice changes in a child as young as 6 months. Three categories of characteristics describe a child with autism, she said.
“Before complete diagnosis of autism, a child would show some symptoms in … [each of] three areas: communication, social interaction, and stereotypical behavior,” Hanson explained. The three categories that go along with a diagnosis of autism include delayed speech or language; differences in social interaction, such as avoiding eye contact or misunderstanding social cues; and stereotypical behaviors such as playing with toys with a ritual behavior or rocking over and over again.
“Autism is a disorder of communication and social interaction,” the doctor said. “There is a range of disorders actually that fall within a spectrum that we call pervasive developmental disorders. The range goes from classic autism, with a fairly significant difference in communication and social interaction, to Asperger’s Syndrome, which is more mild and sometimes more difficult to diagnose.
“Also included in the spectrum is a group of children that don’t exactly fit the criteria, but have many of the characteristics,” she continued, “and they are called children with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.”
Hanson said the number of children diagnosed is hard to pin down with current data.
“That is actually a subject of debate and research as we speak,” she said. “I just read a study that summarized 43 studies in the literature from the last several decades, trying to pin down what that number might be, so what we have is a range of numbers. The greatest number would be about one child out of 150, and this would be the most broad use of the diagnostic categories, which would include children with autistic diagnoses all along that spectrum from the most severe to the most mild.”
Hanson said whether the number of diagnoses is increasing is another controversial subject.
“There has been a lot of controversy for the past 10 to 15 years about whether the incidence of autism is increasing, and if so why,” she said. “Some people think yes, it is definitely increasing. Others think we have improved our ability to identify these children and we’ve changed our criteria to include broader numbers.”
The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is working toward educating and training physicians and nurses to accurately diagnosis autism early.
“We have a medical school and a graduate school of nursing that educates and trains physicians and nurse practitioners to work in the military health system, and that is where I am on the faculty,” Hanson said. “We do an intense, focused job of providing education for these students, not only about autism, how to diagnosis, and what to watch for, but also about the military environment and the special challenges for military families.
“We are trying very hard to send new doctors into our military health system with a strong awareness of when to refer, where to refer and how to get a child accurate diagnosis and effective interaction,” she added.
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Watson
USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, At Sea – Sailors aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower are joining together to form a support group for parents with children suffering from autism.
The father of two autistic children, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Chief Henry Cooper, V-1’s leading chief petty officer, said he wanted to form a group where other Sailors could share their stories and experiences dealing with autism as well as share knowledge of available resources.
“I sent out an email to the chief’s mess and crew, and I received 20 to 30 emails with from people whose children have autism,” said Cooper.
In a recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, researchers found an average of one in 110 U.S. children have been diagnosed with the Autism Spectrum Disorder. That statistic breaks down to 1-in-70 boys and 1-in-315 girls – a 60 percent increase for boys and 48 percent increase for girls from previous reports.
“It hurts, because everyone wants their child to be perfect,” said Cooper. “But, it hurts less when you have someone to talk to – people who are dealing with the same situation.”
The Autism Society defines autism as a group of developmental disabilities caused by a problem within the brain. Thought processes and learning capabilities of someone with ASD can range from gifted to severely challenged – this may impact their social, emotional, communication and behavioral skills.
While there are no definite causes for autism, common characteristics are: resistance to change, lack of or delay in spoken language, difficulty in expressing needs, repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language, laughing/crying for no apparent reason, preference of being alone, little or no eye contact, tantrums, spinning objects and non-responsiveness to verbal cues.
After a diagnosis, Cooper said many Sailors are overwhelmed and wondering what help is available. He hopes this support group will benefit them.
“Many young Sailors on IKE who have autistic children and are not aware of the programs and resources available to them through TRICARE,” said Cooper, who admits his wife struggled to find out as much information as she could on the disorder and what the available resources were to help their children receive the care they needed.
IKE’s Air Boss, Cmdr. Peter Matisoo also has two children with autism and he could clearly understand how when a family receives a diagnosis of autism, many don’t know where to turn and feel overwhelmed or confused.
“Early intervention and getting your child the skills to function on their own is a great step parents need to take,” said Matisoo. “Do not despair; do not get discouraged. Appreciate your child for the great talents and gifts they have.”
There are six different forms of autism, ranging from moderate to severe. Matisoo explained that with proper treatment many autistic children can function normally.
“How your child currently is, is not how they will grow up to be,” said Matisoo. “Work with them in the areas they struggle in to lift them up something closer to normal.”
Cooper said one of his sons has made great strides in improving his behavior skills through Applied Behavior Analysis therapy.
“He was not speaking, but after two months of therapy he started talking and holding conversations,” said Cooper, who hopes other will have success stories like his to share with the support group in an effort to encourage parents to continue seeking help.
Eisenhower is underway as part of a regularly scheduled deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Operations in the 5th Fleet AOR are focused on reassuring regional partners of the coalition’s commitment to help set conditions for security and stability. U.S. forces maintain a naval and air presence in the region that deters destabilizing activities while safeguarding the region’s vital links to the global economy.
