The Kirton's are a family that lives in Murray and has 6 Autistic children.
They have the most biological Autistic children in one family in the USA. (They are also neighbors of David Archuleta!!) There's a family in Orem that adopted 9 children that are deaf, but this family in Murray gave birth to 6 kids who are on the Autistic spectrum. The Kirton's are LDS and I first figured it out by the names of their kids- Nephi, Ammon, Emma..... All 6 of them are labeled as Autistic but are on different levels of the spectrum. Some of their kids speak and some of them don't, some of them read and some don't, some still wear diapers at older ages but others are potty trained, and their family proves that no two Autistic kids are the same. However, they do share some of the same characteristics. Autistic children are known to become easily obsessed with an item or an action and constantly repeat it. My little guy is obsessed with turning pages. Every page over and over again, even when we're not reading a book! He'll just hold it in his lap and turn pages while I talk to him- it's so cute!! Ammon, one of the Kirton children, is obsessed with doors and one thing you should notice about him in this video is how intrigued and mesmerized he becomes as he watches the door open and close. My little boy becomes just as intrigued and mesmerized as he watches the pages turn. And then I become intrigued and mesmerized as I watch how involved he gets in his page turning!!! It is the most fascinating thing in the world to watch how stimulating these things can be for Autistic brains. So this video is of Ammon at the zoo, caring less about any animals because he found a door!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbdkstTZhOE&feature=channelI took my little guy to the gas station the other day and he ran around like he was at the circus! I then had to chase him around and around and around the store because he kept putting candy bars in his pockets and running faster!! hahaha- I love him!! In the video, the Dad had to keep calling him back and that's exactly what it's like being with Autistic children. They become so engrossed with something and then they're done, so they run. We'll be playing a computer game and he'll just get up and leave right in the middle of it. Autistic kids have a lack of focus, as well as short attention spans, so they don't know how to do just one thing and stick with it. I love watching him open and close that door! The next video is a Channel 2 news story they did on the whole family. I think the parents say mean things about their family and they have a website called Autism Bites, which I think is totally rude, but maybe you'll have a different opinion.
2 comments:
Unbelievable! I've had 2 autistic kids in my class, and I can see now I didn't appreciate them or see them like I should have; through YOUR eyes. You have a gift for loving those kids and helping them cope in our world. That's your true calling I think!
I don't think the dad was mean, nor do I think the website name is rude...it's funny. It would be like naming a site www.cancersucks.com. (I looked that up and it's a real site. Ha!)
Anyways, I have a helpful tip that you can pass along to that family. Tell them to paint their walls with chalkboard paint (you can get it in any color) and then give their kids chalk instead of crayons. Then the kids can go crazy and it can easily be cleaned!
Post a Comment