4.1.4 Explanation of Terms
Autism
According to Bernard Rimland Autism is a biological disorder, neurological and genetic. Unlike Down syndrome the cause of the disorder is not quite known. Temple Grandin who is diagnosed with Autism and is a professor at the Colorado State University explains, «Imagine that the brain is a big co-operate office building. At the top of the office building you have a big chief executive officer, that is the frontal cortex. That connects to all the other different departments inside the office building. You get the social department thats sales, the maths department the finances and the graphic design department for advertising. You have all these different departments and white matter is the brains communication wires between the different departments. It’s sort of like telephone connections, email connections and instant message connections. In Autism a lot of those connections don’t get connected.»1
This is one point of view, from Temple Grandin, there are many others. Bernard Rimland who got told, when he went to a Psychiatrist with his autistic son, that autism is created out of the mothers attitude. After that he developed his own theory. He started to look at twins and how they behave and found surprisingly out, that both twins should show symptoms of autism. But this was not the case. All the twins have grown up in the same environment. Some had autistic behavior, others not. With this he proved that autism has genetic reasons. So the disease should be studied from a biological point of view not from Psychiatry. On one hand autism is a social disability, because one can not identify feelings or emotions from other people. But on the other hand the disability of autism can turn one into a savant.
Like in the movie Rain man with Dustin Hoffmann. The real character of the film Raymond Babbitt can not even dress himself, but is able to read one page in a second. He recalls everything thats on it. In Detail. He can use his eyes separately with the left eye the left page and with the right eye the right page at the same time. And would recall 98% of what he has been reading.
Daniel Tammet, a boy from East London has the ability, to calculate in big numbers. Because he visualizes the big numbers into shapes - each shape a different color. They are the same every time. He is also able to learn the icelandic language in one week fluently. Although for a normal brain this is impossible. Daniel has the advantage. That he had learned to adapt himself to society. Therefor he is not classified as somebody who is autistic, although as a child he had many symptoms of the autistic spectrum. But he is classified as a savant. It is possible, if you start early enough to train yourself to be able to remember big numbers. Daniel is a different case. For the numbers come to him. He would see them as shapes. The numbers come intuitively to him 2
Down Syndrome
Down syndrome is the most common and readily identifiable chromosomal condition associated with intellectual disabilities. It is caused by a chromosomal abnormality: for some unknown reason, an accident in cell development results in 47 instead of the usual 46 chromosomes. This extra chromosome changes the orderly development of the body and brain. In most cases, the diagnosis of Down syndrome is made according to results from a chromosome test administered shortly after birth.
Three forms of Down Syndrome are existing.
- Free Trisomy 21:
- Comes in 95% of all cases and shows in every cell 3 Chromosomes 21.
- Translocation Trisomy 21:
- Occurs in 4% of all people with down syndrome. A part of a surplus Chromosomes 21 is linked to another Chromosome in every cell.
- Trisomy 21 Mosaic:
- Only 1% of all cases. Some cells contain a surplus Chromosome 21. Others only consist of 46 Chromosomes.3
This organization describes down syndrome in a very positive way: The National Dissemination Centre for Children with Disabilities, it gives possibilities to parents and family members to encourage the talents of a child with down syndrome. It gives support to the network of people with disability which is often forgotten. It is my aim to inspire parents with a down syndrome child to foster their qualities. I would like to create an environment where creativity can be used to give expression to those qualities and when difference can be celebrated and not hidden from society.
There is a school in Art that educates people with autism and down syndrome in different forms of art. Dancing, poetry and painting. According of some students of Danza Mobile in Spain, the school is like a birds nest, in which they can grow up and develop themselves into professional artists. I find this a good description, because you can start your .education by the age of two. Danza Mobile travels all over the world with their performances.
For more information <http://www.danzamobile.es>
Alexander Technique
«Alexander Technique is the study of how I use myself, my body. It is not a form of exercise or healing. True, people may be helped through the technique. - they come in pain and they find relief, they com in limping and they go out running. If this happens everyone is happy, but we don’t work directly to achieve these results or others. We are not "end- gainers".»
The Alexander Technique is founded by Frederick Matthias Alexander. It is a technique which allows you to study your ordinary movements, that you make in everyday life. Make them easier and conscious. It is a way to give the body directions and be a mirror for myself and recognise these same patterns in others. This is my explanation of the Alexander Technique. For me the Alexander Technique is used to play, when I exercise and when I relax. Because the power of the Alexander Technique is lying in not doing. But in our observing what happens in yourself. I found out, that when I move my head forward and up, it was easier to control and use my body. It did not need so much effort.
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8 «The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow» Horizon documentary BBC June 8th 2006 ↩
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9 «The Boy with the Incredible Brain» – TV-Docu with Daniel Tammet ↩
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10 Mark Selikowitz, «Down-Syndrom - Krankheitsbild, Ursache, Behandlung»
Title of the english original version: «Down Syndrome. The Facts» 1992. Herausgeber der deutschen Ausgabe: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag. Heidelberg, Berlin, New York. ↩
