blake

we did a short story on new research in autism and i got to spend the morning with blake and one of his therapists stacey. blake has no relatives in his extended family with autism, which researchers say might help them isolate a genetic key to the condition.

stacey works with an Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) curriculum that seeks to keep an autistic child engaged with others and prevent self-stimulatory behavior. what struck me about their interactions were the long pauses where blake would go off into his own world for a minute.



it made me wonder what was going through his mind in those instances? where does he go?

blake also likes to roll on his bed. stacey let him roll after working on his language skills for a half hour. he asked, "right left? right left?"


he only got upset a few times when he wanted to engage in stemming behavior and stacey refused to leave him alone to do it. she tries to keep him engaged in activities and personal interactions.



blake draws the "magic house" a lot. it has an escalator that goes up and down. it also has a doorbell, which is what blake wants to tap over and over again.





blake does connect with people and shows considerable improvement since starting eibi and a glutten-free diet.


it was great to spend the morning with them. i love assignments with actual people going about their day.