The internet is a wonderful invention. I owe a lot to whoever came up with the idea in the first place. A lot of knowledge was acquired, and a lot of relationships were established.
Last night, a very good friend of mine told me of a very unusual encounter she had whereby a person she knew a while back is completely offline. What that means is
He does not own a PC
He has no profiles set up anywhere on the WWW
He doesn't own a smartphone or any other device that puts him online
He does not use anyone else's pc/laptop/smartphone/whatever
He does not steal wifi/use internet cafes
He has never ever been online and
Has no virtual footprint whatsoever.
The thought of it was scary!
Nowadays, I cannot imagine myself living without the internet. It enables me to have a relationship with people all over the world. Yes, letters can achieve the same effect - I still recall the days when I had penpals. However, it always felt like a monologue. There is no real-time interaction.
Having said that, I do occasionally send and receive postcards and letters and greeting cards and gifts from friends spread all over the world whom I got to know online and still talk to regularly via technological means.
My point is this: I owe Creature's existence to the internet.
The one invention I wish they'd create is teleportation devices. As a Trekkie, I grew up amazed by the infinite possibilities such a device could provide. From time to time, I look up information to see if there has been progress in the scientific fields that will bring us a step closer to having our own teleportation devices. One can hope!
At times like these, I wish - really, REALLY wish - that one could email themselves over from one place to the other. Most of the people I would want to be around are spread all over the place. They live anywhere but here. Thankfully there is still a handful of people on the rock that I enjoy being in their company. Still, it does not makeup for those who cannot be here.
If you, like me, find yourself in this kind of situation - get a webcam and make your international loved ones invest in one as well. That way, you can still spend time with them whenever possible. I have plans in place where a friend from as far away as New Zealand would like to read stories to Creature via Skype. Even when it comes to special occasions - Baby Showers, Baptism/Saining ceremonies - Xmas, New Year's, Birthdays - it makes it a tiny bit less sad not to be in physical proximity.
In a previous blog, I have expressed my views on educating oneself on different medical conditions that may affect you, your child, or someone else's child. Today though I'd like to bring your attention to something which is way more common.
I lost count of how many people I know who happen to be, have a child, a sibling, a relative or a friend who is Autistic. It is an extremely common issue nowadays. I won't pretend that I understand what Autism is all about - because I don't. No autistic person is the same as the next, and the Autism Spectrum includes so many different disorders that you would have to be a professional who studied intensively about the topic to even begin to comprehend it all.
What I do know though is that the earlier a child is diagnosed, the better chances s/he has of getting the assistance s/he needs to have as average a life as possible. The best people to pick up signals that a child might be autistic are those who spend a lot of time regularly with him/her such as yourself, and anyone who might babysit your child regularly.
With this in mind, I spoke to a good friend of mine who is way more knowledgeable about the topic due to it affecting her sibling. She has provided me with some awesome links to check out, which I'll share with you:
Autistic individuals can range from a variety of Functional levels to a vast variety of limited functionality or non-functionality. I firmly believe that one should know what sort of tell-tale signs to look out for, as certain things may easily be overlooked as just being "quirks", so to speak.
Whilst discussing this with my friend, she told me that at first, her mother thought that her sibling was deaf as loud noises - such as a door slamming - never startled her.Back in the day, this non-reaction meant nothing. Nowadays, it is one of the most common tell-tale signs.
I will attempt to create a list of signs one should look out for - however please keep in mind that I'm no specialist, and most likely neither are you - so if you recognise some of these signs in anyone you might know, refer to a pro who will be able to issue a diagnosis.
Tell-tale signs
A child may display signs of Autism as early as 1 year of age. In clinical terms, there are a few “absolute indicators,” also known as “red flags,” which indicate that a child should be evaluated. For a parent, these are the “red flags” that your child should be screened to ensure that s/he is on the right developmental path.If your baby shows any of these signs, please ask your paediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation:
No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter
No babbling by 12 months
No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months
No words by 16 months
No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age
Here you'll find a list of milestones that are expected from a child to reach which would indicate a normal development. If there is cause for concern that these milestones are not being reached when they should do, please refer to your paediatrician.
Besides from the tell-tale signs listed above, there are also other signs one can look out for.
Limited social interaction [where the child may appear to be "a loner"]
A tendency of repetitive behaviour such as an extreme fondness of stacking or repetitive motions [not far off from what OCD might look like]
A very keen interest shown only in a limited amount of topics
No standard reactions to loud noises
One of my closest friends was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome - which is one kind of Autism. Had he not told me himself about the diagnosis, I would have never guessed it myself. He is a fully-functional adult with what I would call a few "quirks" that make him so awesome. I myself always having been somewhat anti-social would have thought nothing of this trait in him and just assumed he too doesn't like being around people most of the time. In truth, he likes being around people but cannot cope with big groups - so as much as he likes to attend a good concert, the crowd might easily become overwhelming to him and he'd have to return back home.
This is pretty much the reason why I feel it is extremely important to educate oneself. Though certain disorders that make up the Autism Spectrum allow the individual to be functional within modern day society, albeit with some minor limitations, it will still be tough to establish a relationship where there is mutual understanding between a Parent and a Child if the disorder goes by undiagnosed. The parent[s] might easily think their child is just being awkward - a "problem child", so to speak - whereas in truth, the child would just be a regular Autistic child, behaving within his norm's parameters.
A few days ago, an article about one of the most amazing Autistic children ever reappeared on Facebook - I had already come across it over a year ago. Here is a link - read it, watch
