Perfect Pitch

Quite by accident, I discovered that my autistic son has perfect pitch.

Perfect, or absolute pitch is when a person can sing or play a note without any external reference. For example, if I ask my son to sing a C note, he can do it exactly.

This is very rare in neurotypical people, but autistic people are 500 times more likely to have perfect pitch than the general population.

The way I understand it is that he sees musical notes similar to the way we see colours. We wouldn't confuse blue with red in the same way that he would not confuse a C with an E.

It was quite odd how I found out he had perfect pitch. We were watching a DVD of Disney's Frozen when my son remarked that the soundtrack was higher on the DVD than the cinema version. I didn't believe it, but when I played an audio recording of the Frozen soundtrack, it matched his singing exactly and when I compared it to the DVD I found that his comments were, indeed, correct.

I am interested to explore where his musical abilities will take him. He is interested in learning to read music, which is what we are doing right now. Whether this translates to the ability to play an instrument well remains to be seen, as his motor skills and coordination are quite poor.

Autism is AMAZING and my son is a musical superman.

Birkbeck Babylab

Back in January of this year, I received an email from a very nice lady called Bryony inviting me to the launch of an exciting new project at Birkbeck university: The Babylab. Although I wasn't able to attend the launch due to prior commitments, Bryony was kind enough to send me a press release about the project, as well as links to further information. It made for fascinating reading.

The Babylab project launched in January as part of a £2.5 million Autism study calles STAARS (Studying Autism and ADHD risk in siblings). The project will involve over 400 families from Europe and the UK.

The aim of the project is to study infants who have older siblings with autism and ADHD and to monitor them from birth, as they have an increased risk of developing these conditions. With earlier diagnosis come earlier intervention and improved outcomes for families.

The research team are currently looking for families with infants ages between 3-10 months old who have an older sibling with autism or ADHD to take part in the study.

Professor Mark Johnson, who is leading the study, says: "

We are very excited to be embarking on what is one the most innovative collaborative research projects into early markers of autism and ADHD to have been carried out to date.  Combining the data and expertise at the Babylab in London with that of our partners across Europe and North America will enable us to drive discoveries that will make a real impact on the lives of people with autism or ADHD and their families.”

The research will involve cognitive tests, neuroimaging and behaviour tests to study babies and toddlers as they play. The families involved in the project will participate in questionnaires and interviews in order to give the research team a fuller picture of the child's background and influences. 

For more information on the project, visit the research team blog, or view the Babylab podcast.

If you are interested in taking part in the study, you can contact Janice on 020 7079 0761 or email staars@bbk.ac.uk

Overload at School

OVERLOAD!!!!!! Too.....much...stuff....

Ok, yesterday we had to take in:

Reading bag
Reading Record
Weekly Planner
A cheque for a museum trip
PE kit
Lunchbox
Fruit containers provided by school (one for fruit, one veg and the kids have to tick a card to say they have had their fruit and veg that day).

So I gave the teacher the cheque, because I knew it would get lost otherwise and I told her to make sure my son took the homework out of his bag and handed it in with the reading record.

When my son came out of school he was carrying:

A letter (swimming starts soon, another thing to remember...)
His bag containing his homework, reading record and planner
His lunchbox and empty fruit containers.

So then I say to the teacher:

"How come he hasn't handed in his homework and reading record?" (like I asked her to check)

and she looks at me as it to say "I haven't possibly got time to do that"

and he says "I have handed it in".

and I say "No, you haven't, its in your hand"

and she says "Yes, its in your hand"

and he looks puzzled.

and I take it from him and give it to the teacher. And I also mention this weekly planner, which they gave the kids weeks ago to write in and so far, ours is blank because my son doesn't know what to do with it.

and then we trundle home, overloaded with our glut of letters, lunchboxes and bag and fruit containers...because we walk, even when it's raining, which incidentally, it is.

And sometimes, I think I look like a bag lady or a one man band with all of this stuff hanging off me.

Rewards System for Good Behaviour

I now have a reward system to encourage good behaviour  and it seems to be working quite well for us.

I have a big bag of treats that I let the kids dip into every evening if they have been good all day.

OK...its bribery basically...but it seems to work for us!

School Gate Blues...Again!

So it's been a while since I had any problems with school. Things have been remarkably smooth since he started in his new class, as his teacher is absolutely brilliant and has had experience teaching autistic children before.

When the children come out of school, she always holds my son's hand and only lets go when I arrive to collect him.

So far, so good.

EXCEPT for when she is not there...

Today, she was not there and the teaching assistant was responsible for lining the kids up at the end of the school day. When I arrived, my son was not with the other children. He was playing on a rocky area a short distance away.

When I confronted the assistant, she told my son off for wandering off. Whilst I agree that he should not have wandered off, I did point out to her, that she was responsible for keeping an eye on him, to which she replied that she has lots of children to look after. Duh? That's her job! Is she saying that a few escapees are an acceptable risk?

I told her I was not happy and that I was going to complain (my husband thinks this is hilarious because I am usually quiet but turn into a dragon if any of my kids are threatened in any way!). I stomped off to the headmistress who was very understanding and gave me yet another apology from the school to add to my growing collection.

I'm going to stop now because words fail me.

The Big Debate: Video Games in the Bedroom

I know that this is a subject that polarises people. For a long time I was strictly in the "No TV or video games in the bedroom" camp.

I didn't like the idea of the kids having games in their rooms because I thought that they would spend too much time on them and also that the screen would stop them sleeping so well.

However, after much pressure from my son, I have finally given in.

The problem was that we had one TV in the living room and the kids were rotating taking turns on the games consoles. This meant that we never got time to actually watch TV on it and there always seemed to be games running. Having 3 kids, this often led to agitation and arguments. The other problem was that we have quite a few older games consoles, so I would be constantly swapping between the Playstation, Wii and Nintendos.

Anyway, the little one was asking to have a TV in his room so that he could have one of the older consoles connected to it to play games. I asked around on freegle and someone very kindly gave me a little portable TV.

He absolutely loves it. Of course, I am going to impose time restrictions on it, but so far there have been no problems. For some reason, the kids have all been co-operating a lot better whilst crammed into his box room playing on the old console. It also gives him some control and independence.

So far, so good.

Autistic kids love video games, and like 'em or hate 'em, they are a part of life these days. The games we buy are all kiddie-friendly, usually racing games or sports games. I would never buy violent games for him.

Life is a bit more peaceful. My son has his own space and territory. His room is somewhere he can get away from things if they get stressful. I know that not everyone agrees with video games and TV's in the bedroom, but in our case, it works. and it gives us ALL some respite.

NAS Parent to Parent Service

I just thought I would post this useful information about the National Autistic Society Parent to Parent Service.

The service is a helpline run by volunteer parents who have experience with autism. They can give help, advice and a non-judgemental listening ear. Volunteers are based all over the UK, so parents don't have to share information with someone local if they do not wish to.

The service offers complete anonymity and can direct users to the appropriate services so that they can get help.

The number is 0808 800 4106

Parent to Parent is a UK-wide confidential

telephone service providing emotional support

to parents and carers of children or adults with

autism. The service is provided by trained parent

volunteers who offer telephone support from their

own homes. The Parent to Parent volunteers are

based across the UK, so parents don’t have to

share information with someone in their local area

Parent to Parent is a UK-wide confidential

telephone service providing emotional support

to parents and carers of children or adults with

autism. The service is provided by trained parent

volunteers who offer telephone support from their

own homes. The Parent to Parent volunteers are

based across the UK, so parents don’t have to

share information with someone in their local area