Crowe to speak at Texas State Conference on Autism

[Guest guest]

Father, Son Document Autism

By Ludwig - Southeast Missourian

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/aug/11/father_son_document_autism/

and Crowe just can't sit still. Whenever the father and son

have a spare moment, they are always doing something productive. , an

orthodontist who lives in Cape Girardeau, and , his autistic son, are

currently involved with projects aimed to educate people about autism. Not only

are they working on bringing to life The Tailor Institute, a not-for-profit

organization dedicated to autism research, but they also are

putting the finishing touches on a new DVD that will help people understand

autism. Autism is a spectrum disorder. It can range from the

low-functioning,

which can include mental retardation, all the way to genius-level intellect

with social difficulties consistent with autism, said. The Tailor

Institute, which received a $200,000 grant from the Missouri Department of

Economic Development, is attempting to advance the systems of care and services

for high-functioning autistics. The

organization has conducted interviews with parents, physicians, therapists

and educators. It is developing educational materials and will begin

conducting more research in the fall. In 2000, the Crowes finished " Growing Up

With

Autism, " a 20-minute VHS tape that shows 's development growing up and

ways to cope with the

disorder. The DVD is a new, extended version of " Growing Up With Autism " and

it runs about an hour with bonus materials. The old video showed up

to age 19. The new version incorporates now the 25-year-old lives with his

disorder as he attends the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, Calif.

" The target audience is educators, families, parents, siblings and people

that either are new to the diagnosis of autism or want to learn more about it, "

said. said the video was important because autistic people can

misinterpret things like teasing and joking. " Some of the teachers I had as

a kid would say stuff to me that made me think they wanted to kidnap me, "

said. " One said if I didn't get my work done, I'd never go home. They

were teasing. I didn't know that. " said for this and several other

reasons, educators need to be educated on autism.

He also said all autistic people should have a " circle of friends, " and

encourages them to have a variety of friends, all of whom are familiar with

autism. " Autistic people need friends, too, " said. " I have a friend with

Asperger syndrome who says I'm his chief number one friend. The reason is

because he never had a circle of friends. " The first version was produced by

Showcase Productions (now Showcase Technologies) and began being distributed in

2003 by the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Developmental

Disabilities. More than 3,000 copies of the video have been sold. Tom

Emmendorfer,

who works at Showcase Technologies, is producer and editor of the DVD

project and has spent more than 100 hours shooting footage, editing and

conceptualizing ideas. Emmendorfer said they aim to have the project finished

by early

September. " I see the potential has to offer the world, " Emmendorfer

said. " I see the gift he has and it's neat to be a part of that. "

, who is high functioning, is studying animation at CalArts and

intends to graduate in May 2007. He aspires to work at Dreamworks Animation.

When

isn't studying or painting, he gives speeches at autism conferences.

His next speech is at the 2006 Texas State Conference on Autism in September.

" I don't enjoy rehearsing and all, " said. " But I know it's something I

have to do to help other people with autism. "