1976--Early Intervention for Toddlers with Autism

Princeton Child Development Institute, a pioneer in the teaching of youngsters with autism, is featured in this 1976 news story about a boy whose family fought for early intervention services.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• PCDI
• early
• intervention
• autism
• krantz
• mcclannahan

[SassorMcJames]

"the behaviours aren't functional, they don't change his environment in any way." I would replace her words with "I don't understand his behaviours. I don't know what function they have but I am going to try to stop them without having any idea whatsoever whether they have a therapeutic function."

[lisacourey]

@SassorMcJames --a child who is blind, still wishing to attend and engage with others. A child with autism, whether sighted or blind, will often not attend to others. In this situation, a youngster with autism, who is able to see, needs to look in order to engage with people and to learn. Thank you for your interest in people with autism. It is only through concern and interest like yours that we can collectively make life better for people with autsim and their families.

[bigkev2084]

and before child development centers and Special Education in schools they would lock the Autistic,Mentally retarded kids in state institutions and not include them in society, thankfully now theres Community Inclusion laws

[brettipage]

OMG!! MR ROARK...MR.ROARK...DA PLANE DA PLANE!!!

SORRY..BUT IT'S HIM!!!

THANK GOD PEOPLE ARE MORE AWARE OF AUTISM TODAY, COMPARED TO 1976

[MsSourGrapes]

Why did society claim they could not provide for 3-year-old Frankie? Because humans are inherently cruel and selfish, and afraid of what they do not understand. Very sad.

@WarCookie1

I would also love to know how Frankie is doing today.

~

Meanwhile, at this time, I was an 11-year-old girl living before autism was known to be a spectrum. People assumed I was bad, encouraging their children to align against me. Society had no room then, and it has a long way to go.

[SassorMcJames]

@SassorMcJames So it is the attending and the engaging that are the worries and not the looking. Teaching a child to look when they are not attending or engaging is a waste of time. Why is the child not attending or engaging? Firstly, we place too many demands on our children with autisms so they withdraw into their own worlds. ABA with its constant demands makes this world even harder!

[SassorMcJames]

"If a child doesn't look at you, a child can't learn" so how do blind children learn then?

[WarCookie01]

I would love to know how little Frankie is doing today.

[11151968]

I am happy that terms are now changed from autistic child to child with autism. and nowadays, we are no longer comparing the mental development of each students' case like.. we don't say that children with autism function well than the children with Mental Retardation. No more name calling and discrimination. Thanks to researches and in-dept studies of the professionals. Cheers.