It has worked with more than 200 stadiums, arenas, museums and other venues across the United States, including the homes of the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Golden State Warriors and more. KultureCity has provided training to venues across the United States and in several countries around the globe. We are going to meet you in the middle.’ We felt that was the fastest way to have the biggest and most direct impact.” We want the message to be: ‘We want you here. “We want to change the mindset of our communities. “We approached it from the family and individual angle,” Kong said. Auditory sensory overload how to#The nonprofit’s Sensory Inclusive initiative trains venues on how to be welcoming to guests with sensory processing issues and their caregivers. That question led Kong and her husband, Julian Maha, who is also a physician, to found KultureCity. But as a parent of a child with autism, she has a pressing question: “How can we translate this understanding into something that we can do today?” This research is fascinating and promising, Kong says. In a review paper published in 2018, Rajesh Kana, Ph.D., Melissa Thye and other members of Kana’s Cognition, Brain and Autism Laboratory at UAB wrote that “while prior research has often focused on the sensory and social features of ASD independently of one another, new theoretical and empirical evidence suggests a stronger relationship between the two than previously thought.” (See “Social sensing: How sensory processing differences may contribute to autism symptoms.”) Researchers are making progress in understanding the mechanisms behind sensory dysfunction. This is why, for some people, weighted vests or blankets are calming, and for others, being in a corner or having their back against the wall is regulating.” Some have described feelings of floating in space, and being ungrounded. They also interfere with proprioception and vestibulation, related parts of the sensory system “that let you know where you are in space,” Kong said. These “sensory gating” difficulties affect sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. But if you have a sensory integration issue, “your brain can’t regulate all the different input coming at it,” she said. It focuses attention on a limited set of stimuli and moves redundant inputs into the background. The brain acts somewhat like a coffee filter, Kong says. “This is what it means to have sensory sensitivity or dysregulation,” as Kong explains during her public talks. She likes to illustrate the point with a YouTube video: “It’s not just children it can be a 30-year-old veteran with PTSD who may experience the same issue with sudden loud noises as a 5-year-old with autism at an NBA game.” Kong prefers the term “come-apart,” rather than meltdown, she said. These sensitivities can quickly lead to sensory overload in noisy, active environments such as restaurants, playgrounds, stores and sporting events. Individuals with ADHD, Down syndrome, PTSD, cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome and several other conditions often experience sensory integration problems as well. “And we’re realizing that it goes beyond autism,” she added. The root causes of meltdowns are the sensory processing difficulties in the brains of people with ASD, Kong says. When bystanders see someone acting out, they tend to think, or say, something like “control your child!” or “control yourself!” It may not look like it, but that’s exactly what’s happening, Kong says: a “stim” - referring to stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech - can be the brain’s way of trying to tune out sensory overload and regain control of a chaotic situation. Michele Kong with Abram (left) and Juda (right) Image courtesy Michele Kong Public meltdowns often convince parents to stay home. And that’s exactly where many parents of children with autism spectrum disorders find themselves, because anywhere from 80 to 100 percent of people with an autism diagnosis experience meltdowns. Kong is a pediatrician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children’s Hospital and a founder of KultureCity, a nonprofit that works to “create acceptance and inclusion for all individuals with unique abilities,” according to its mission statement. Or no predictable reason, anyway.Īfter Michele Kong’s son Abram was diagnosed with autism at age 4, “we realized very quickly that trivial inputs such as bright lights or a crying baby or a barking dog could result in a verbal outburst or a meltdown,” she said. Now imagine what it would be like if your child could spark into an uncontrollable meltdown at any time, often for no discernible reason. But here’s the thing: Most parents have a clear idea of what triggered the behavior (a Snickers bar, for example, or Fingerlings). The looks you get when your child is acting out in public - causing a scene over candy at the grocery store or wailing over a toy in the mall.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |