I attended the Annual Minnesota Autism Conference last week. I heard the keynote speaker presentation that was led by Dr. James Coplan. He was an amazing speaker who introduced a three-dimensional model of ASD that looks at the level each student is at; their IQ and their age. He explained that the combination of these three areas is what drives how people should treat autism. He had so many visuals that helped parents and educators understand the significance of what he was saying.
One thing that he mentioned that was interesting was that he believes that there has not been an explosion of diagnoses of autism over the past few years. Through studies that have been done on adults, there are just as many adults who have autism as children. However, the adults were not diagnosed until later in life. Educators and doctors just did not know how to diagnosis autism many years ago.
I sat next to a couple who are special education teachers and who have a son with autism who is 13. They both mentioned that the information presented that night was so helpful and comforting to parents of children with autism. I asked them if it was difficult to teach special needs children all day and then go home to their son who has many needs. Their answer surprised me. They said that their training has been extremely helpful in how to deal with their son's behaviors; how to communicate with the school system; and how to find the necessary resources to help them.
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