Pursuing the puzzle of autism
نویسنده
چکیده
Autism and the related autistic spectrum disorders are now known to be widespread, affecting around 0.6% of all live births. Scientific understanding of its causes and educational provision for the children diagnosed with the condition have so far remained unsatisfactory. In the UK, an estimated number of around 26,000 children on the spectrum require specialist provision, but only 4,000 such places are currently available. Most of the existing facilities are provided by small local charities, many of which have been founded by parents exasperated by the inability of the state schools to cater for their autistic children. One such charity is TreeHouse, which was set up five years ago by a group of parents in North London. It now runs a school caring for 30 pupils aged 3 to 9 years, on a one-to-one teacher-topupil ratio (www.treehouse.org.uk). The trustees hope that in a few years time, the school will be able to accommodate 80 pupils in a new, purpose-designed building. The Wellcome Trust, Britain’s biggest biomedical charity, is now highlighting the work of such schools by hosting a photographic exhibition at its TwoTen Gallery in its London headquarters. The photographer Stefanie Hafner (www.stefaniehafner.com), who has so far worked for the advertisements of several global companies, has spent three months with the staff and children of TreeHouse. Her exhibition ‘Outside Looking In: Photographs from TreeHouse’ features a series of portraits of the children, along with photographs of the specialized environment provided by the school (October 1–31, 210 Euston Road, London). With a high-profile launch event on October 1st, the Wellcome Trust ensured the exhibition made a contribution to the current ‘Autism Awareness Year’. Guest speakers at the event included Professor Anthony Bailey, formerly of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London, who on the same day took office as the Cheryl and Reece Scott Professor of Psychiatry at Oxford, the first UK chair fully dedicated to autism research, along with the writer Charlotte Moore, who reports on her experience with two autistic sons in a newspaper column (‘Mind the Gap’ in The Guardian, every other Wednesday). Along with the government report on autism provided by the Medical Research Council earlier this year (Current Biology 12, R42), activities including this exhibition and other events hosted by local charities in many places will hopefully help to improve the awareness of the pressing need for both a better scientific understanding of autism and a more consistent educational provision for the children affected by it. Most experts agree that, short of an efficient medical cure, intensive early education on a one-to-one basis is the most efficient way to help children with autism to overcome their disability and lead at least partially independent lives when they grow up.
منابع مشابه
Comparison of Lecture and Puzzle for Teaching Medical Emergency to Anesthesiology Students: Students’ Learning and Viewpoints
Introduction: Emphasis on active learning in training leads to the development of new educational strategies for teaching theoretical and clinical courses in medical sciences. Active involvement in the teaching-learning process improves learning. The purpose of the present study is to compare two methods of lecturing and puzzle in Medical Emergency Course, regarding students’ learning & viewpoi...
متن کاملIntroducing an Invention: Puzzle Shaped Cast for Upper Limb Fractures
Upper limb fractures are prevalent injuries. An essential element of fracture healing is to maintain the bones alignment. However there are lots of complications associated with traditional ways of treatment, such as compartment syndrome and stiffness due to immobility for long time. Also evaluation and observation of the limb under the casts for potential infections and skin issues are n...
متن کاملMarket Volatility Puzzle with Regard to the Systematic Risk of Bubble in the Securities Market of Iran
Stock market volatility is evaluated by measuring the variance of the market that is evaluated through consumption growth volatility in the framework of pricing of CCAPM models. This theory is not consistent with revealed facts, in reality; because consumption growth is very smooth but stock market appears highly volatile; this is famous to stock market volatility puzzle. In this regard, the ne...
متن کاملComparison of Education with Mobile Applications and Puzzle Classroom on Memorization Pharmacology Course for Undergraduate Nursing Students
Introduction: The majority of nursing students believed that their knowledge in the field of pharmacology is far from the desired level, which can be due to the large volume of intensive one-semester content and ineffective teaching of the pharmacology course. Accordingly, this study has determined and compared education with the mobile application and puzzle classroom on memorization of pharma...
متن کاملThe Effect of Story-based, L1 Translation, and Whatsapp Emoticon Puzzle-Solving Techniques on Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners’ Proverb Learning
This study investigated the effect of story-based technique, L1 translation, and Whatsapp emoticon puzzle solving on EFL learners’ learning proverbs. From among 90 female intermediate level learners at two language institutes in Qom, Iran, 60 homogeneous students were chosen following the administration of a sample of Nelson proficiency test and a pre-test. The 60 participants were then assigne...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 12 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2002