Autism is called the disease of the 21st century, and statistics show impressive figures: every hundredth child is born with an autism spectrum problem.
What kind of disease is this that makes people afraid of, for example, clouds, makes them repeat the same movement over and over again, and, at the same time, brilliantly solve mathematical problems and compose music? Scientists are still arguing about this.
The cause of the disease is not clear, and no definitive treatment has been found. Autism is like a book. Smart, deep, perhaps brilliant. But closed. To find the key, you must at least try to imagine how they feel.
Thin people
Autism is a permanent developmental disorder resulting from a neurological disorder. Autistic behavior is characterized by repetitive actions (from hand movements to complex rituals), and great difficulties in communication. It is difficult for them to enter society, but this does not mean that they are closed. It’s just that their sensory world, the world of feelings, is unusually subtle. Even dim light can make your eyes cry, clothes can scratch your skin, and other people’s lies can cause headache. They feel more acutely, and cannot always cope with it. The energy that an ordinary person spends on development, they spend on protection. They, unlike us, were not driven into the framework of social conventions, into this Procrustean bed of rules that do not always correspond to morality. We created our own survival technology, but they did not learn. Compared to them, we are just plastic.
Autistic people are just like us. Only others. Our world is outside. Theirs is inside. They, deep introverts, undetected talents with phenomenal memory, who do not accept any falsehood, cannot fit into our society with its external conventions. They are aliens who landed on an unfamiliar land without a survival textbook. They are here, nearby.
Honest souls
Director Dunya Smirnova, who with other people is creating a fund to help autists and their parents, says: “This is a soul that has not learned to lie, has not learned to smile at a person who is unpleasant to it, has not learned to remain modestly silent when one wants to scream and scream in pain or joy, and so on - this is what an autist is.”
Genius Kim Peek
We all watched the movie "Rain Man" with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. But not everyone knows that Hoffman’s hero, a talented autist, had a real prototype. His name was Kim Pik. Already at the age of three, the strange genius was able to instantly extract the cube root and multiply three-digit numbers with decimals. At the age of 53, he knew more than 7 thousand books by heart, and had a special weakness for reference books and statistical tables. According to the volume and depth of his knowledge in precise and natural sciences Kim Peak could outshine any professor, which American universities actively took advantage of. Over the years, many of Kim Peek's abilities have become even sharper.
Fathers and Sons
Ray Bradbury has a story about how a child was born in an ordinary family, mom and dad. A normal, healthy, cheerful child. Only in the form of a blue pyramid. At the end of the story, the parents (and this takes place in the distant future) move to another dimension. Where they see their child and each other as people, and others as cylinders, balls and cubes. In families where autistic people are born, fathers often leave both their wife and child. Many give up, others resign themselves. But there are parents who move into another dimension, like Ray Bradbury. So, the father of 12-year-old Alyosha has his whole week scheduled by day: Monday - fishing together, Tuesday - horse riding, Wednesday - drawing lessons.
The mother of 6-year-old Pashka, who is most afraid of the subway and pedestrian crossings, came up with the idea of teaching her son how to navigate there using cards. In the middle of the working day, in order to avoid traffic jams, they went to train. But Pashka got scared and screamed. People passing by first looked around, then wanted to call the police - they say, a child was kidnapped! And it was almost impossible to explain that Pashka was just a little different.
Girl Sonya
Sonya Shatalova lives in Moscow. She has autism, and doctors diagnosed her with profound mental retardation"But when she first held a pen in her hands, everything changed. Yes, she can read, write, she has absolute literacy and... a poetic gift. Here are her poems:
For some reason I really need it
Glass of burgundy sunset,
Turn into an orange morning.
Color with your joy
Houses, fences,
We cry and tears,
Wash all windows and roads.
All the trash of life
Powerful blood flow
Tear it down and burn it in your heart.
And this is not a sacrifice, no,
But simply helping a lost world.
Forward movement!
Most autistic children in our country do not go to kindergarten, they are not accepted into schools, they are considered mentally retarded and are simply afraid. The diagnosis of autism is only for children. After 18 years, the diagnosis is removed and the worst diagnosis is made - schizophrenia. This means that adults with autism, if there is no one to care for them, are awaiting IPA. In Europe and America, such people attend ordinary kindergartens and schools and become first-class specialists in many professions. Without exaggeration: 20% of Microsoft employees and half of Silicon Valley are autistic. Autistic Woody Allen makes wonderful films - “Match Point”, “Vicky Cristina Bercelona”, “Midnight in Paris”, autistic Grigory Perelman proved the mathematical Poincaré hypothesis, which was considered unprovable, autistic Iris Johansson, who did not know how to dress and eat independently, became a psychologist and devoted her activities to the problems of autism. Of course, not every autistic person is a genius. But each of them feels, wants to love, make friends, study, work, wants to start a family, they have hopes, thoughts about themselves, about the future, about the world. They are different from the norm, but this diversity is what makes the world stronger, not weaker.
Life is prohibited
Just recently, autistic schoolchildren and their parents were not allowed on an excursion to the Moscow Oceanarium. "The guys were waiting, getting ready, drawing fish"- wrote the mother of one of the children. At first the excursion was allowed, but when the parents called to clarify the details, they received an answer from the director: "Refused. Visitors don't like to see disabled people, it makes them feel sorry for them. This is unacceptable."
There are many similar cases with autistic adults. They are not hired, although they have the unique ability to do something for a very long time without losing concentration. And waking up and walking around the room all day like an animal in a cage is not the same as waking up and going to work (at least for three hours) and returning home.
If chance one day brings you into contact with “children of the rain,” remember the words: "Saving someone who needs help - helping someone who needs help". And then, perhaps, the most interesting book in the world, their soul.
Letter from an autistic boy
People can be kind, cheerful, sad, kind, good, grateful, big people, small. They walk, run, jump, talk, watch, listen. Funny, abusive. Beautiful. Short. Women can be kind, talking, fair, furry, hot, beautiful, icy, petty. There are also people without mustaches. People can be sitting, standing, hot, warm, cold, real, iron. People are going home. People go to the store. People play the piano. People play the piano. People play the harmonica. People are standing near the house. People are patient. People drink water and tea. People drink coffee. People drink compote. They drink milk, drink fruit drinks, drink kefir. Tea leaves. They also drink kvass, lemonade, Sprite, Fanta. They eat jam and sour cream. People think and are silent. Sick and healthy. They become water carriers, water carriers. People on a ship, on a plane, on a bus, on an electric train, on a train, on a tram, in a car, on a helicopter, on a crane, on a combine harvester.
People live in houses, in a room, in a kitchen, in an apartment, in a radiator, in a corridor, in a bath, in a shower, in a sauna. People leave, go out, run, people still ride, swim, swim, eat, eat, die, take off their socks. People listen to the radio. People don't tolerate it. People eat. They say. People are getting shaggy. They pee, they poop. People change clothes. They are reading. They are looking. They're freezing. Bathing. They are buying. They are warming themselves. They're shooting. They kill. They count and decide. Turn on, turn off. People are still in the theater. Sledding. They are worried. They smoke. They cry, they laugh. They're calling. Normal, flamboyant, mischievous. People are in a hurry. They swear. Cheerful. Serious. People drum and make noise. They don't get shaggy. They get lost. Redheads. Deep. People peel off their skin. People are renovating a house, a barn. People will be patient. People draw and write. Forest. People chop wood, saw, drown. People still say hello, talk, jump, run. People are finite. People fly.
Wrong children, wrong people. How to survive among neurotypicals. Plot: A diagnosis that doesn't exist
http://rian.ru/analytics/20120618/675783262.html#comm
Comment by L.M.: We are all autistic now
What is written here in relation to autistic people is an eternal topic for Russia and it is best reflected in the film “Scarecrow”. We all watched it. Bullying of those who are in some way different from us has been known for centuries. But it also happens the other way around.
In a superficial approach, it seems right to single out autistic people and provide them with protection.
But then it is necessary, first of all, to preserve the surviving school of Soviet correctional pedagogy and the system of special schools.
A system of inclusive education is being imposed on us. Unfortunately, this is in the same category as “caring” for sexual minorities, children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, etc.
Let's not forget that imposition comes from the same root as juvenile justice.
Tatyana Solomatina amazingly described the problem “who needs the children of Russia?” in a novel about the hunt for pedophiles. However, it is not true that YU has never been to Russia. According to Lev Levinson, this is how YuYu was real in Russia. Now they have imposed on us this eugenics for the occupied territories. The difference from the Third Reich is small and fundamental; all this is being done as sanctimoniously as democratization with bombing.
No one is going to solve the problems of children, because in fact, everything needs to be done the other way around: do not transfer state functions to NGOs with non-transparent funding, establish control over the maintenance of orphans, do not impose rejected individuals with special needs on society, etc.
In short, don’t pit people against each other globally, but help them locally, as they helped me more than once, defending against persecution simply because I’m not like everyone else.
I think Larisa Wright's novel is adequate about autism. In a sense, we are all autistic, this is a feature of the times.
What real autism is, Tatyana Stroganova told Polit.ru at a lecture. She is looking for a solution. But this is a rare option.
Of course, autism is accompanied by mental characteristics in wide range including many forms of schizophrenia. How and why diagnostics are pumped up in the USA is another matter. Gragerov explained it to me. Our domestic school approaches the problem differently and, in my opinion, adequately, as geneticist Alla Grigorievna Moskovkina says.
Journalists are easily swayed by American manipulation, although it is almost impossible to argue here - it is very well structured. But it’s also true that if you feel sorry for some, why not feel sorry for others? Why not feel sorry for the genetically healthy ones who were taken away from their parents on far-fetched pretexts and who are banging their heads against the wall in orphanages? They do not feed, leading to exhaustion. Hyperactive children are tied down and neurogenesis follows the autistic type. I haven’t seen anything about this in the media.
Courtesy of Anne Daechel
Original
Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), America's health care watchdog, released the astonishing news that 1 in 150 children in the United States have autism. This new incidence figure comes from two studies of eight-year-old children in 2000 and 2002.
This new information, didn't seem to bother the CDC officials much, and we were once again hearing the Monstrous Lie about Autism - that no matter how many children we have with autism, it doesn't mean a real rise in incidence, it just means "better diagnosis." and about “improving the quality of statistical data processing by the Center for Disease Control.”
Following the "1 in 150" revelation comes another news story on the same topic: recent discoveries confirm that autism is caused by "genetic abnormalities." The study involved 120 scientists out of 50 research institutes, united in the Autism Genome Project (AGP).
Judging by the headlines in the media, a major scientific discovery. The New York Post wrote: "Spotted genetic disorders leading to autism"; The Boston Globe published the material "Genetic abnormalities found in patients with autism"; The Baltimore Sun announced that "the cause of autism is a combination of chance and genetics." Scientists who have been unable to understand this disorder for so long , which seemed to have no definite reason, was finally on the trail.
To an inexperienced reader, it may seem that autism is a hereditary disease. After all, genes are responsible for traits that are passed on from generation to generation. But it's not that simple.
It's not just genes, but mutating genes, and not just one or a few, but perhaps hundreds of genes.
Reporter Tom Paulson wrote in a Seattle periodical:
Seattle's top geneticists have found compelling evidence that most cases of autism could be caused by errors in a person's DNA, random and spontaneous, rather than inherited from parents.
The article explicitly hinted that autism in humans develops due to “genetic errors.”
Dr. Thomas Insel, Director National Institute Mental Health, said the findings "provide the clearest evidence yet that autism is caused by many genetic abnormalities that somehow later lead to similar neurological disorders." Insel also said that "these new data make the search for genes that influence the development of autism much more difficult."
Lead researcher Dr Jonathan Sebat refers to "glitches" or errors in the human genetic code or genome that result in the loss or addition of new pieces of DNA. Sebat also noted that the new discovery
seems to refute the hypothesis that autism may be a consequence of childhood vaccinations. These genetic changes are present in every cell and thus occur immediately after conception. A vaccine given after birth would not have such a broad effect.
Dr. Sebat's statements suggest that these genetic mutations occur completely randomly, on their own. Although he didn't say a word about what might cause such mutations, he seems quite confident that the discovery of the gene disproves a connection with vaccines, especially with mercury in them.
However, let's not rush. Not all of the scientific community agrees with Dr. Sebat. Dr. Ezra Sasser, Chief. Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University School of Public Health in New York, noted that these data could help scientists understand how "environmental factors may influence the incidence of autism by causing genetic mutations."
Sasser said: "The new data means we need to think about the many environmental factors that may influence autism."
This new data on genetics and autism was covered in many media outlets, making it sound as if we were on the verge of solving the autism mystery.
Of course this is not true. Autism is not a medical mystery that has always been there, plaguing our minds, and which we simply could not solve. The autism explosion was completely ignored by much of the scientific community.
Autism is currently an epidemic in the United States. It is catastrophically affecting our schools and threatening the future of our system. social security. A disease that was once extremely rare is now so commonplace that each of us knows at least one family with an autistic child.
But in the minds of officials, autism cannot possibly be an epidemic, since until now there have been no genetic epidemics in human history. Genes do not mutate randomly and spontaneously, without any reason, on their own. There must be some external push, a reason, that causes these genes to mutate.
Dr Peter Fletcher, a former senior research officer at the UK Department of Health, agrees that autism is an epidemic and that this epidemic has external reasons. Here is his explanation of what is happening:
There is no doubt that the incidence of autism in the US and UK is growing at epidemic proportions.
It has been suggested that the observed phenomenon is not a real increase in incidence, but the result increased attention to the problem and/or changes in diagnostic criteria. If this were the case, then with increased attention and new diagnostic criteria, as many cases of previously undetected autism would be discovered as we have now. However, all efforts to find these earlier cases have failed in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
This lack of earlier cases can be explained by only two reasons. Either all the patients at some point spontaneously recovered (which in itself raises doubts that these were exactly cases of autism), or they all died. Both options do not seem likely. It remains to be concluded that cases of autism have indeed increased.
This increase in incidence means one of two things: either the cause is a congenital or “intrinsic” factor within the patient, or it is an “extrinsic” factor. An internal factor can only be a genetic failure, either congenital, received from parents, or a mutation in the child himself. Whatever the reason for this mutation, it must have occurred simultaneously around 1990 in thousands of people in the United States and United Kingdom, causing exactly the same genetic mutations in these people. As far as I know, this has never happened before in billions of years of evolution. This means that if everything is exactly as explained to us, then we are dealing with an unprecedented phenomenon on a universal scale.
Thus, the observed increase in autism over such a short time(15-20 years) is not only real, but must also have an external cause.
Currently, the only possible explanation lies in the area of exposure to vaccinations/toxic substances/immune disorders. If someone who is wise and aware of the matter to a greater extent than everyone else has other ideas about possible reasons ah, we will be very grateful if they tell us about them. Then we have a chance to compile a list of possible causes, which can then be investigated using a variety of well-tested and reliable methods. And this, in turn, will give us a chance to finally solve our problems and stop pointless disputes.
We need to organize large-scale international studies as soon as possible to look for possible causal factors.
Proponents of the genetic model of autism act as if such mutations regularly occurred in millions of children all the time, everywhere. After all, if any of them recognized the explosion of morbidity, they would have to admit the need to search for the cause.
CDC Director Julie Gerberding easily announced that autism affects one in every one hundred and fifty children. She said that while more children are being diagnosed, that doesn't necessarily mean the incidence is rising. The press doesn't seem to be at all bothered by the fact that the CDC has been counting children with autism for several years, but still can't tell us if there are more of them.
Articles with stories about autism genes did not tell us that autism affected one in 10,000 children in the 1970s, and one in 2,500 in the 1980s.
Scientists quoted in these articles about genetic research, said that “this is exciting work” or that “interesting data has been obtained.” Experts have made it clear that they may have years ahead of them research work. The tone of these articles was reminiscent of the scientific debate over the question of whether Pluto is a planet. Nothing about them hinted at the public health catastrophe affecting far more Americans today than the polio epidemic of the 1950s.
Meanwhile, in the real world, countless families live in silent despair as they struggle with the emotional and financial burden of raising children with autism. Schools bear the cost of their education, bringing them to the brink of bankruptcy.
Almost all articles about the autism gene describe autism as just a mental disorder that limits communication and social interaction. This definition has nothing in common with many real autistic children.
It does not include a teenager who cannot speak and is still in diapers, or autistic children who require constant supervision because they are aggressive or simply may suddenly jump out onto the roadway. This does not include all the other health problems associated with autism, such as epilepsy and intestinal problems.
One of the researchers, Dr. Fred Volkmar, a professor of child psychiatry, pediatrics and psychology at Yale University, told the New York Times last month that "the incidence does not appear to have changed in the last 20 years." For him, autism is not a critical health problem affecting more and more children.
In the article "Autism Is Linked to a Gene, a Chromosome Piece," published in the Washington Times on February 24, Volkmar says: "We've known for years that autism is a disorder highest degree genetic." He further explains that "over the past ten years, incidence figures have increased tenfold, reflecting growing attention to the problem, expansion diagnostic criteria and improving special education programs."
The scientific community doesn't seem concerned that more children will be diagnosed with autism this year than will be diagnosed with AIDS, diabetes, and childhood cancer combined. This new data comes after several years of research, and now that we know what we're talking about large number genes, there is no end in sight to this research.
However, the stories of real children featured in the news paint a very different picture of autism. This is not at all an abstract philosophical category, on the topic of which one can calmly philosophize and reflect until the end of time.
New York: The Tonawanda News notes that the number of autism cases in the state "jumped from just under 2,000 in 1992 to 9,500 in 2003. The problem is especially acute in Long Island, where the disorder affects one in every 85 children."
New Jersey: The Cherry Hill Courier Post reports state government is drafting legislation to address autism. MP Joseph Pinnacchio states: "Autism has reached epidemic proportions. I have no doubt that the increase in incidence is due to external factors."
On March 12, the Bridgeton News in New Jersey published an article by Jamie Marin, which stated that New Jersey ranks first in the incidence of autism in the United States, with 1 in 94 children affected. Marin writes that
The Governor's Autism Action Team is awarding a grant to create a special class for autistic children at Silver Run School. There are currently six students with autism in first grade at the school, and another nine at the local preschool.
Michigan: Psychologist Tom Brown, executive director of the Autism Support Center, part of the Maycom/Oakland Regional Center, called autism a "medical crisis" to the Oakland Press.
West Virginia: Allen Gorrell, Director, spoke on WOWK TV primary school at Nutter Fort. He reported that "neither the county nor the state of West Virginia have enough teachers trained to work with autistic children."
Florida: On March 7, the St. Petersburg Times reported the discovery new school for autistic children in Pasco County. “The private school will offer 200 places to children from six counties when it opens, with plans to increase the number of places to 600 over time.”
Texas: State news coverage has widely covered a proposal by lawmakers to allow vouchers to be used to transfer autistic children from public schools to private schools to receive specialized care. The Sherman Denison Herald Democrat reported that
According to recent estimates, 17,000 schoolchildren in the state have autism. Experts say this number has increased by 600% in the last 20 years, reaching epidemic proportions.
Fourteen years ago, there were 200 autistic children in all Wisconsin school districts combined. Today we have at least 200 children with autism in the Green Bay school district alone. In December 2005 (latest data available), the Department of Public Information counted 5,085 schoolchildren with autism spectrum disorders in the state.
Nisan Bar-Lev, director of special education for the Joint State Education Agency, said that "based on the numbers from the Department of Public Instruction, it appears to be at least an epidemic." The article states that there are "waiting lists for Medicaid waivers to qualify for medical reimbursement" and that Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said, "We are nowhere near getting reimbursed for these expenses."
Massachusetts: The Metro West Daily News describes the devastating impact of autism on school budgets.
In one district, schools will have to find an additional $364,000 for school expenses. special education, including costs for transportation, contract services, additional personnel and additional training.
One official says:
When I first joined the district (in 1993), we had two children diagnosed with autism. Now we have 36 people. This is huge growth, and it's not just happening here.
California: On March 10, the North County Times published the article "Autism on the Rise in Our County and Nationwide." The article notes the striking dynamics of morbidity.
Southwest School District officials have seen an explosion in the number of autistic students over the past four years. In the Temecula and Lake Elsinore areas, the number of children with autism has increased by 300%. In the Murrieta area, the number of students with autism has increased by 650%, or about 100 people.
The cinema portrays a person with autism as a hero with superpowers such as photographic memory or the ability to multiply six-digit numbers. In reality, such people are almost never found, and the average person’s knowledge about autism is extremely small. However, today, April 2, on World Autism Awareness Day, it is worth finally understanding who people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are, how they see this world, and how we, ordinary people, can help them...
2. 
It is perhaps difficult to imagine a more suitable place to get acquainted with the topic of autism than the Anton Is Near Center in St. Petersburg. Today it is the most famous charitable foundation that helps people with autistic disorders. Every day, several dozen Center students, craftsmen and volunteers gather here to spend time together.
Why is this Center needed?
The fact is that people with autistic disorders see, perceive and feel the world around them differently than we ordinary people. It can be difficult for them to communicate; deviations in the course of things from the usual algorithm can cause a reaction of severe anxiety. In society, others simply won’t understand what’s going on, but at the Center they know, understand and love their students. And, most importantly, they teach you to cope with your characteristics on your own, step by step.
It is not easy for people with autism to structure the outside world; for them, the surrounding reality is a chaos of people, places and events, which can be difficult for them to understand.
It is easier for them to perceive information when it is presented clearly. Individual daily schedules, sequences of what will happen after what, visual cues that prescribe action algorithms - help people with autism make the outside world understandable and predictable, and reduce the anxiety that many of them experience when something around them changes.
At the Center, students are taught to plan their day using a visual diary, which shows the schedule - breakfast, workshop, rest, next lesson, lunch and return home. By moving your photo between the items on this list, a person understands at what point in the day he is and what should be done next.
3. 
The morning at the Center begins with a general circle: everyone greets each other, makes plans for the day and communicates. Sometimes they do exercises, sometimes they dance to their favorite music:
4. 
Or they simply pass a ball from hand to hand - for us this seems like something insignificant and elementary, but for students with problems with communication, coordination or motor skills this is a very difficult activity that allows you to get into the working rhythm of the day:
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After the morning circle, work begins in the workshops. There are five of them in total - graphic, ceramic, sewing, decorative and culinary. Some students study in different workshops every day, while others focus on one thing. Together with the children, tutors (mentors) and masters participate in the work, who help along the way:
6. 
In general, the workshops are the core of the Anton Is Near Center. This is the kind of work that allows children not only to do something useful, but also to gain skills in interacting with other people and gain new experience.
Here is a very good example - Nina. It’s not easy for her to get used to something new and unknown. For a long time she studied in a graphic workshop and did not want to hear about switching to, say, ceramics. Just the mention of it filled her with horror and panic. For long months, “washing and rolling,” with small steps and persuasion, we finally managed to help Nina switch to a different type of activity. And, as a result, she became more open to other changes not only within the Center, but also in everyday life.
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And there are guys who, on the contrary, work in one direction in order to “upgrade” their skills with the prospect of finding a job in the future. In short, all students need their own individual approach:
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When Sasha (pictured on the left) first came to the Center, his mother was very afraid that he would be kicked out of school just like the last time. But instead, Sasha became downright the star of the Center - he meets all the guests, talks incessantly about business and life. At times, Sasha even gives out deep philosophical speculations, leaving guests in bewildered thought. He also constantly draws, writes and composes fairy tales - in principle, this is clearly visible from his dreamy facial expression:
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A Igor for a long time avoided people and found it difficult to make contact. However, after two years of studying in the culinary workshop, he began to open up and communicate with others:
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The masters, tutors and volunteers who work with students deserve special mention:
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These are beautiful, smart, sympathetic and bright people, looking at whom the soul truly rejoices. Being an employee of the Center means devoting a significant part of yourself to very difficult work. It requires preparation - special knowledge, calmness, mercy, and, most importantly, confidence that with some effort the results will meet all expectations.
13. 
There are also many volunteers here, their participation in the Center’s events helps people with autism socialize and expand their communication experience. For example, Zarina Valeeva and Irina Parikozha, successful young girls, employees of Gazprom Neft. Every weekend, they sign up for the volunteer schedule (the Center becomes an important part of the company's volunteer effort through its Hometowns program) and work alongside students in workshops. According to volunteers, souvenirs made together are sold at a corporate charity auction, raising an impressive amount for the development of the Center's programs. There are other corporate volunteers; only about 50 people from Hometowns help the Center. Basically, they all work here on weekends, but I managed to meet two on a weekday:
14. 
By the way, here are examples of souvenirs and products from the Anton Is Near Center. And I’ll tell you, these are very, very modern designer pieces, unusual and beautiful. They can be bought in the Center itself or at city fairs and festivals. Firstly, this is a great way to support the guys and craftsmen, and secondly, these are truly original and high-quality products. See for yourself.
15. 
By the way, all these cool things can be bought on the Internet too. For example, and! Believe me, this is a hundred times more interesting than dull corporate calendars and similar souvenirs that everyone is tired of. You can once give up boring gifts for your partners for the New Year and buy things that “Anton is right here” students make. Everyone will be happy.
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However, the guys make not only souvenirs. At the Employment Preparation Center, which opened last year, workshops are focused on serious orders. For example, for sewing aprons for restaurants and cafes.
17. 
In the carpentry workshop, students make crafts, assemble furniture, etc.:
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In the carpentry workshop, students make crafts, assemble furniture, etc.:
There is even a plant growing workshop:
20. 
In short, here students not only receive professional skills, but also prepare to enter the ordinary world and take their place in it:
21. 
At the Anton Is Near Center, the kitchen is combined with a culinary workshop. In addition to the fact that lunch is prepared here for all students, the guys at the same time learn to cook for themselves:
22. 
Dinner time. The attendants set the table and clean the Center:
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Have you noticed how many visual cues, pictures, and diagrams are used in the Center? They help provide a clear routine, flow of things, predictability - these are the main factors that help people with autism keep their thoughts and emotions in order.
Here are some tips that will come in handy if you find yourself communicating with someone who has autism spectrum disorder. Follow very simple principles:
1. Be polite and respectful. These are adults, there is no need to babysit a person like a child.
2. It’s better to remain calm and not raise your voice, especially if you new person surrounded. People with autism find it easier to interact with familiar faces, but new circumstances can be distressing at first.
3. Remember that what you say can be taken LITERALLY.
4. Therefore, provide clear and understandable information; ambiguous or abstract formulations may be incomprehensible (and often also to people without autism, right?).
5. Give the person time to respond (for example, you can count to ten silently), as they may need a little more time to process the information.
6. Communicate, ask and listen.
7. Respect personal space.
24. 
After lunch, the workshops continue for another couple of hours, then the students go home or go to other classes:
25. 
Which? For example, a 20-minute walk from the Center, rehearsals of a theater studio take place together with NDT (Lev Ehrenburg Small Drama Theater). These are very fun and unusual activities, built on constant improvisation and experimentation. Everyone is included in the game - students, masters, and actors:
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There are also music classes...
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And even a whole orchestra!
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Finally, it is worth talking about another important project of the Center - the so-called assisted living apartments or training apartments.
Unfortunately, today in Russia there are no systematic ways for people with autism (as well as for people with any mental disorders) to successfully integrate into society. Due to the lack of opportunities for socialization, the children are sent to psychoneurological boarding schools. Of course, relatives do not want such a fate for their relatives and therefore are looking for alternative possibilities for people with autism spectrum disorders.
Fortunately, the world has long come up with many options for them. social adaptation: from therapeutic communities (small settlements in a village or suburb) to assisted living apartments. These are apartments equipped with a special system that makes it easy to navigate the house and feel comfortable in it. Accompanied by two to three employees, three to four people with disabilities (in the case of people with ASD, this is a minimum proportion - they need to be constantly trained in everyday and social skills that people with other disabilities may have, just like ordinary person, congenital) can live in comfortable conditions and feel part of society:
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At the moment, the Center has two such apartments where students live on weekdays. They plan their day themselves and solve everyday problems:
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Genius and madness: top 21 crazy geniuses
Tarragon - the hero of the play "Waiting for Godot" Samuel Beckett, said that “we are all born crazy. Some people remain so...” According to the World Health Organization, there are currently more than 450 million people in the world suffering from mental illness. Their growth is facilitated by excessive information flow, political and economic disasters... The harbingers of diseases are stress and depression. But this, as it turned out, is not all.The debate about the relationship between genius and madness among doctors has been going on for a long time. Stories of great people fuel interest in this. Suffice it to recall the nervous and mental disorders of the post-impressionist Vincent Van Gogh or writers Virginia Woolf.
And now scientists from the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) published an article in the Journal of Psychiatric Research in which they claim that there is definitely a connection between creative activities and deviations from the mental norm. The reason for this conclusion was the statistics of mental anomalies collected by scientists among more than a million people. The range of deviations was very extensive: schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, depression, anxiety, various addictions, starting with alcohol, anorexia, autism and much more.
The results of the analysis confirmed that people in creative professions are indeed most susceptible to mental illness, and most often to bipolar affective disorder, which was previously called manic-depressive psychosis. The risk of this disorder is especially high among dancers, photographers, scientific workers and writers.
Literature studies serve as a kind of bait for most psychoneurological deviations. It turned out that writers are twice as likely to commit suicide as other people.
An inverse pattern was also revealed: representatives of creative professions were most often found among relatives of those who suffered from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anorexia and autism.
However, the data obtained do not indicate that passion for literature, painting or photography has a bad effect on the psyche. On the contrary, unusual thoughts or fantastic visions arising from mental disorders, as well as the ability to imagine and hear the voices embodied in characters, most likely motivates a person to take up a pen, camera or brush.
Today, many psychiatrists are convinced: every creative person has more or less significant deviations in the psyche, and brilliant creators necessarily have such deviations - they only help create masterpieces. Most of the geniuses we know clearly had mental problems. Who is this?
All of my life N.V. Gogol suffered from manic-depressive psychosis. “I have been taken over by my usual periodic illness, during which I remain almost motionless in the room, sometimes for 2-3 weeks.” This is how the writer describes his condition. He eventually starved himself to death within two weeks.
Lev Tolstoy suffered from frequent and severe attacks depression accompanied by various phobias. Moreover, he struggled with melancholy and depression long years. In addition, the great writer had an affectively-aggressive psyche.
Sergei Yesenin it seemed that everyone was whispering about him, weaving intrigues around him. Some researchers of his biography say that the poet had manic-depressive psychosis, suicidal tendencies, complicated by hereditary alcoholism.
And Maxim Gorky there was a craving for vagrancy, frequent moving and pyromania. In addition, in his family, his grandfather and father had an unbalanced psyche and a tendency towards sadism. Gorky also suffered from suicidomania - he made his first attempt to commit suicide as a child.
Periods of depression and all kinds of manias for the great Russian poet are known A.S. Pushkin. WITH early youth he began to exhibit various psychopathic traits. During the lyceum period they expressed themselves in increased irritability. For Pushkin, there were only two elements: “satisfaction of carnal passions and poetry.” Biographers associate "unbridled debauchery, cynical and perverted sexuality, aggressive behavior poet" with excessive emotional excitability. It was usually followed by a long depressive period, during which creative sterility was noted. And one can clearly trace the dependence of creative productivity on the mental state of the poet.
Some biographers Mikhail Lermontov It is believed that the poet suffered from one of the forms of schizophrenia. Mental disorder Most likely, he inherited it on his mother's side - his grandfather committed suicide by taking poison, his mother suffered from neuroses and hysteria. Contemporaries noted that Lermontov was a very angry and uncommunicative person; even in his appearance something sinister could be read. According to Pyotr Vyazemsky, Lermontov was extremely nervous, his moods changed sharply and polarly. Cheerful and good-natured, in a moment he could become angry and gloomy. “And at such moments he was unsafe.”
English writer Virginia Woolf suffered from deep depression. It is also said that she wrote her works only while standing. The outcome of her life is tragic: the writer drowned herself in the river, filling her coat pockets with stones.
Edgar Allan Poe It is no coincidence that he was so interested in psychology. It is believed that he may have suffered from bipolar affective disorder. The writer drank a lot of alcohol, and in one of his letters he talked about his thoughts of suicide.
Pulitzer Prize Winner Tennessee Williams was subject to frequent depression. In the 1940s, his sister, who suffered from schizophrenia, underwent a lobotomy. In 1961, the writer's lover died. Both events greatly influenced him mental condition, worsening his depression, which led to him turning to drugs. He could not get rid of depression and addiction for the rest of his life.
American writer Ernest Hemingway suffered from alcoholism, bipolar disorder and paranoia and eventually shot himself with a gun.
Vincent Van Gogh was prone to depression and epileptic seizures. A severed ear is an innocent experiment. He eventually shot himself in the chest with a pistol.
Artist Michelangelo supposedly suffered from autism, that is, his mild form- Asperger's syndrome. The artist was a closed, strange person, focused on his own individual world. He had practically no friends.
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven experienced manic and depressive periods of bipolar disorder and was close to suicide. His creative upsurge of energy gave way to apathy. And to switch gears and force himself to write music again, Beethoven dipped his head in a basin of ice water. The composer also tried to “treat” himself with opium and alcohol.
One of the founders of modern theoretical physics Albert Einstein He was undoubtedly a genius already during his lifetime and definitely an eccentric person. As a child, he suffered from a mild form of autism. And his mother almost considered him mentally retarded. He was withdrawn and phlegmatic. The actions of the already adult theoretical physicist were not distinguished by morality. American psychologist Ion Carlson believes that the presence of the schizophrenia gene is one of the incentives for high creative talent. In his opinion, Einstein had this gene. Therefore, doctors diagnosed the scientist’s son with schizophrenia.
Another brilliant scientist sir Isaac Newton, according to many researchers, suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It was very difficult to talk to him, he often had mood swings.
Oddities were also noticed behind the brilliant inventor Nikola Tesla. He had a mania for finishing everything. So, in college, he decided to read Voltaire, and although after the first volume he realized that he actively did not like the writer, he read all 100 volumes. During lunch, he used exactly 18 napkins, wiping down plates, cutlery and hands. He was horrified by women's hair, earrings, and pearls, and never in his life did he sit at the same table with a woman.
Prototype of the main character of the award-winning film "A Beautiful Mind", mathematician John Nash I suffered from paranoia all my life. The genius often had hallucinations, he heard strange voices and saw non-existent people. Wife Nobel laureate supported her husband, helping him hide the symptoms of the disease, since, according to American laws of that time, he could be forced to undergo treatment. What ultimately happened, however, the mathematician managed to deceive the doctors. He learned to mask the manifestations of the disease with such skill that psychiatrists believed in his healing. It must be said that Nash’s wife Lucia, in her old age, was also diagnosed with paranoid disorder.
Hollywood actress Vaiona Ryder once admitted: “There are good days and bad days, and depression is something that is always with me.” The actress abused alcohol. Then she was repeatedly caught shoplifting in Beverly Hills. It turns out that Ryder suffers from kleptomania.
Bipolar affective disorder spouse suffers Michael Douglas Catherine Zeta-Jones. Actually, it was this disease that caused discord in this star family.
Another Hollywood genius Woody Allen- autistic. Among the favorite themes of his films: psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts, sex. All this worries him and real life. Woody's first wife, Harleen Rosen, filed a million-dollar lawsuit for emotional damages during their divorce. According to her, he humiliated her, demanding sterile cleanliness in the house, creating a menu according to which Harleen had to feed him, and making sarcastic comments about everything she did. After the divorce, the second wife Louise Lasser stated that she was interested in the director as a housekeeper. One day, after returning from a psychoanalyst, Allen told her: “My doctor said that you are not suitable for me physically.” In fact, he met someone else - Diane Keaton. After 8 years, Diana was replaced by another muse, actress Mia Farrow, who adopted a child almost every year. They rented different apartments nearby, because... Allen did not want to turn his life “into kindergarten.” As a result, the couple broke up amid scandal. Mia caught her husband in the arms of her eldest adopted daughter Sun-Yu. Actually, she is now the life partner of the film genius.
The list of famous creative personalities who left a mark in art and suffered from mental illness can be continued indefinitely: Fedor Dostoevsky, Hans Christian Andersen, Franz Schubert, Alfred Schnittke, Salvador Dali, Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolo Paganini, Johann Sebastian Bach, Isaac Levitan, Sigmund Freud, Rudolf Diesel, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Claude Henri Saint-Simon, Immanuel Kant, Charles Dickens, Albrecht Durer, Sergei Rachmaninov, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lope de Vega, Nostradamus, Jean Baptiste Moliere, Francisco Goya, Honore de Balzac, Friedrich Nietzsche, Marilyn Monroe and others. Geniuses, what can you do...
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