Dec 5, 2018, Metro.US: How autism break rooms can bring more inclusion to school sporting events https://www.metro.us/lifestyle/career-education/autism-break-rooms On Sunday, Dec. 2, Philly college basketball fans filled the Hagan Arena to watch the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks tip off against hometown rivals the Temple Owls. While the game was a narrow loss for the Hawks, the university had what may have been a huge victory that could change the way large sporting events on a national level. Saint Joseph’s is the only school in the country to introduce autism break rooms to their sporting events so that fans of all ages who live with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can enjoy on their own level. The first of these autism break rooms was designed and is staffed by experts at the university’s nationally recognized Kinney Center who has also trained volunteers known as “game-day leaders” on how they can best support families who need to take advantage of the room’s services. The break room has been stocked with “sensory-friendly items” such as stress balls, bean bag chairs, bounce boards, weighted blankets, noise-canceling headphones, and more. This room will be a perfect place for Hawks fans to go and take a breather all while enjoying the game up close. According to Joseph McCleery, Ph.D., executive director of academic programs at The Kinney Center for Autism, providing a space of inclusion for fans on the spectrum can be one of the most effective ways to peak the interests of sports fans with ASD and to help them have a healthier relationship with sports and physical activity.
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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