Deaf with Autism
Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged. - Helen Keller
I met an autism parent yesterday who has a child who is deaf AND has autism. My heart went out to this family for the added level of complications related to having multiple issues. I can only imagine how difficult this was with diagnosing. Kids with autism are often confused with kids who have hearing issues and having both of these disorders can greatly delay an accurate diagnosis and more importantly the services which can help the child.
Like many parents of a child with autism, the parent I met yesterday was fighting with the school system. In this case, it was over some very petty issues. It for sure takes a very special teacher to help these kids.
In our own case, seizures complicated diagnosis and treatment of our child, deafness and autism looks even more complicated. This parent described taking a second mortgage out on their house to get cochlear implants and the fact that the child had no hearing during the critical years when language forms. We all know that parents will do anything and everything to help their child. It’s so heartbreaking to hear about such a financial strain on top of everything else.
Below are some resources if you suspect your child may be deaf with autism. Get a hearing test ASAP and start interventions early!
Related:
- Deaf People with Autism
- Information on Hearing Loss - Genetics and Deafness - Autism and Deafness: A Psychologist’s Perspective
- Deaf Autism Support Group
- Deaf Autism Yahoo Support Group
- Deaf Autreat Group
- The Application of PECS in a Deaf Child with Autism: A Case Study
- Odyssey on Deaf Children with Autism
- Early Intervention in Deafness and Autism (PDF)
- Co-Occurrence of Autism and Deafness
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I’m currently in that same situaution.I have an eight year old who is deaf and has Autism and I cannot tell you the struggles my husband and I face everyday with our son from behavior and sleep issues to sensory,potty training,school placement and communication,we’ve been through it all,but through it all having our son in our life is the best thing that ever happened to us and we wouldn’t change that for the world. Everyday is a struggle,but it is also a blessing!
The Learning Center for the Deaf (Framingham, MA) hosted an international autism and deafness conference in October, 2008. Several of the related links above were founded by people who were instrumental in getting this conference off the ground. Connecting with those on-line support groups can be very beneficial to families. They will be the ones to know of future get-togethers or conferences for families.
I have a 10-year old daughter who are both deaf and with autistic features. Our calender is full of her doctors’ appointment but of course everyday is a blessing and new experience for us. I pray everyday that she’ll have a normal life like any other kids. But having her is really a life change and make us more patience, tolerance and better person.
I’m in a similar situation, have a nonverbal 4 year old with hearing aids, and everyday is a struggle, but a blessing at the same time. Going to try methyl b12 treatment through dr. neubrander. Don’t lose hope, keep trying and praying.
I too have a four year old with cochlear implant. He is starting the PECS system at school, and is showing beginning signs of reciprocating the actions to his teachers. So far we have not had much luck at home. He is one of 7 kids here, and getting him to interact with any one else but me is a struggle. He is very inward with his attention. But we press on every day.
[...] http://autismparents.net/deaf-with-autism/ [...]
hello! thought i was alone in my situation - appears i am not! my 8-year old son was born profoundly deaf and was diagnosed with autisitc spectral disorder at age 4. his mother passed away around the time he was diagnosed, so i have been raising him and his older sister on my own ever since. not an easy task. however i just wanted to clarify that there ARE schools out there that specialize with this rare dual-disability. my son just started at one such school recently and he is doing GREAT. the school is 4 hours away - he is in the residential program (kinda hard cause i miss him not being around all the time). the name of the school he goes to is Pressley Ridge School for the Deaf located in Pittsburgh. DON”T GIVE UP! there ARE programs/schools out there. hound-dog your school districts until they meet your kids’ needs! my school district pays for everything. by law, THEY HAVE TO! anyway, i hope this helps out anyone who feels alone with this rare situation. stay strong!
Hi everyone!
It is so neat to find a site where there are other parents with wonderful children like my daughter Sian (31/2) Sian lost her hearing to meningitis when she was 16months old, we opted for bi lateral cochlear implants, but found they weren’t successful for her, we now attend a deaf preschool and have yet another discovery that she may have Autism and we don’t know where on the spectrum, no one does! We are attempting to implement PECS too…but at the very beginning stages….life is tough, but life wouldn’t be the same without her….so we carry on our journey….look forward to hearing more about these precious ones we have been given the honour of looking after!
Program launched for deaf, autistic students
By JAIME CONE / Reformer Staff
BRATTLEBORO — As the number of children with autism continues to grow, so does the number of deaf young people diagnosed with the developmental brain disorder, according to Robert Carter, president of the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The center has responded by launching the nation’s first deaf-autism program, which started classes Aug. 30.
“We use a lot of the same approaches in our regular curriculum,” Carter said of the new program. “We adapted them so they are more suited for deaf autistic children.”
VCDHH is a Vermont-based, statewide non-profit organization currently serving 625 deaf and hard-of-hearing people in Vermont and southern New Hampshire.
There are currently eight students from all over the country, ages 11 to 17, enrolled in the new deaf-autism program.
“It’s very exciting,” said Carter. “It’s a great group of kids we have now, and we’ve already seen progress just because they are in an environment where they have access to communication.”
The $2 million program was funded in part by several grants, the most recent of which was a $4,000 grant from the Turrell Fund.
“We are grateful to the Turrell Fund,” said Carter. “Generous contributions like this one will enable this initiative to expand and allow us to measure outcomes, document best practices and share the results across the United States.”
In the next few years, VCDHH expects the program to grow to accommodate as many as 20 students.
http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_16087231
My Grandson is deaf and autistic he has been in all types of programs. Right now he is in the Phoenix school for the Deaf. He is the square peg trying to fit into the round hole. He is 15 years old . Does your school take out of State Students. Please send me some information about your school thanks
Ksthy Hutchison 4661 E Flower
Mesa Az. 85206
Our state is trying to create a support and education association for families, individuals and professionals impacted by hearing loss and autism spectrum disorders. Do any of you have such an association? We would love to network with you!
Relief and joy! And here I thought that my son Dominic is Unicorn among Zebras.
He was born deaf. Profound bilateral sensorineural. We tested the cochlear implant when he was a year old, but without success. I always suspected that he may have autism. Unlike many children, There was no regression. Besides natural changes and maturity, skills that come with normal growth, his “autistic traits” are pretty much the same that he has been presenting since his youngest days.
When he was three years old, I took him into a behavioral pediatrician and he was officially diagnosed with “classic autism” based on the behaviors I described.
I have been learning “ASL” on my own over the years. This is the best method for him in communication, while some schools may not agree. At school he has been introduceded to the PECS (picture exchange system). AT home he stims on the pics, chews on them, and is otherwise unresponsive to the concept of the illustrations. We like Signs!
We have bounced around in the public and state school system in Atlanta, GA since he was 3. There is no school in our area that has a program for autism and Deafness. He went to the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf and was placed out into a school for autism, because of his profound autism behavior characteristics (mainly the premiss that he couldn’t be taught to learn with ASL because of low eye contact and focus.)
Last year in in the pre-K autism program, he made zero academic progress on his IEP goals. He was in a classroom where very limited sign language was known by the staff and he continued to present very little eye contact and attention … This year he started Kindergarten. And guess what? He was put in a program for the “Severely Intellectually Delayed.” This is a very dissapointing matter, as every parent has high hopes for their children. I have been told many times that anywhere he goes, a specific program will have to be tailored to him, because there just aren’t many other children out there with this unique combination. And then there is the idea of which disability do you treat first, can you treat both at the time?
It has been so frustrating. This is why i want to do anything that I can to improve his behavior so that they will see that he is intelligent and with help, they can teach him. I have not found a doctor, teacher, or thereapist who is able to help us with both Deafness and Autism in 5 years. The professionals who help with Deafness say they cannot because of his autism behavior. The people who treat Autism say they can not help because he can not hear……. I’m so frustrated by this!!!!! Now I am a single mother. : <
If anyone else is out there searching for answers and has Facebook, please friend me!! Maybe we can share info. Tarika M. Francis
We have a deaf autistic son. You can find out info about him by searching deaf/autistic vs marion county, or deaf autistic just like other boys. He is now 13years old and his expressive language has not improved much. His receptive language is much higher. He is very attached to his family. He does hurt him self and sometimes others when frustrated. I would like to know about programs out there that don’t require the use of medicine.