Series Reflection, Mark

Like all new endeavors, when I joined the research team for this series, I had no idea where our phone calls, researching, weekly meetings and constant brainstorming would lead us.

I truly feel that our team's initial uncertainty as to the direction of this series made the final product that much better, that much more comprehensive. If I were to choose our motto for this series, I would have to say it was to remain open and to stay honest.

If you ask each member of this series, I am sure they would have their own motto, but I am most proud of our remaining open and honest, not necessarily because these are the foundations of journalism, but because I believe these ideals are crucial for positive public change. Being open and honest is what I expect from our journalists, our public and our audience feedback.

I thank each one of our viewer's for their support, comments and most especially their critiques, it truly makes us better. This unfiltered interaction with our audience, which we did by taping our weekly meetings, launching this blog site, and filming behind the scenes web teases, is a fairly new concept, beginning with the rise of this internet age of ours.

As a journalist, it is easy to fall back on self doubt and begin to ask, "will people really care, will they comment?" The comments we received from the viewer's for this series no longer leaves me doubting public sentiment. If we can tell the stories that tap into our humanity, people will always care.

Jeremy Airs

I started searching for an adult with autism at the end of September. I had a couple names of local adults with autism who were interested in the series but they were not interested in sharing their story with us on camera. It was a long process to find an adult with autism...but we did it!

Jeremy was willing to help us. It's now December and I'm thrilled that our viewers will finally see Ashley's interview with Jeremy. This past week, our viewers, who have followed this series from the blog's launch in September, saw all different types of families. Now you will have the opportunity to see someone on the other end of the spectrum, someone with aspergers syndrome.

Watch Jeremy

Please view links about aspergers syndrome and adults with autism at http://www.komu.com/. I also did a behind the scenes story and slide shows for Jeremy's story.

Holiday Reflection

For the past week, the production team for this series took a temporary hiatus from interviews, meetings and editing, but that does not mean our work had stopped.

The Thanksgiving holiday gave us the time to return to our own homes and reflect on the progress we have made with this series.

In addition to writing scripts and preparing the web page for this series, I spent a significant amount of time this holiday replaying the interviews from the past several weeks in my memory, piecing together the stories I've heard in order to find commonalities and differences.

My mind returns to Adam in Kansas and his mom's devotion to recovering him; Michael and his dad, Andy, in Missouri and their fight to get Michael the technology he needs to communicate; and, of course, Jeremy and his mom's struggle to find the proper diagnosis.

I spent the last several days sharing with my family and friends these unique stories. I was surprised and relieved to speak with members of my family, who I initially assumed would know little about autism, were, in fact, familiar with the vaccine debate and the continual increase of children diagnosed with autism.

The amount that my family already knew about the spectrum was eye-opening; I'm positive that this series is being aired at the perfect time - before the winter holidays, forcing people to discuss the issue among their own families, much like I did at my house this past Thanksgiving.

It seems that people not in the autism community are finally asking what the spectrum is and why is it so vast. I feel the public is ready to hear, so we, as journalists, are ready to share.

Michael-Mark

The interview with Michael and his dad, Andy, was unique on several levels. Most obvious, Andy is a single father, which is something we have not found with any of our previous interviewees; Michael is non-verbal, which means that his communication is confined to using a computer device called a "Minnie Moe," or a picture board when at his home; and the level of cooperation that we experienced with Michael's school administration was remarkably open and helpful. Our crew followed Michael from his last couple of minutes in school to the bus stop at his grandparents' house and we ended, 4 hours later, at Michael's house with his sister, Sarah, and dad, Andy.

I have read about how important it is to maintain a routine for children with autism, but to experience it first hand was a different situation. Andy was extremely open about telling us when Michael was transitioning from one part of his routine to another. For instance, we usually do our interviews in the interviewee's house, but when we were about to begin Andy's interview, Michael was ready to transition to the next part of his daily routine - playing around outside and in his dad's parked truck. This was not a problem for our crew; we simply moved our equipment from the house to the front yard. You will see that our interview with Andy is outside. Many of us find comfort in a routine, but to see how rigidly it must be followed in Michael's case in order to provide that comfort is a testament to Andy.

I couldn't help but notice the difference between Michael's after-school routine and his sister Sarah's. Michael starts his evening ritual with routine "stemming" activities like slapping a belt against the ground, while Sarah dives right in to the latest recommended reading list from her honors classes. There we were, observing two siblings doing their starkly different after-school rituals, Michael's routine intended merely to provide a sense of comfort and Sarah's geared toward scholarly advancement. Two routines, done side by side, yet completely different.

Weinmaster-Mark

This is the second family I have traveled with Ashley to interview. While I only experienced a tiny clip of the Weinmaster family life, I now understand a little bit about the daily struggles that parents and children with autism tackle.

I heard Linda share her story about moving to Kansas in order for Adam to receive better schooling; I listened to Adam's older brother talk about the difficulty he has connecting with Adam; I was struck by the variety of alternative medication Linda has sought out, but what hit me the hardest was Linda saying that she wants to see Adam have a friend. For me, that phrase captured the sense of not belonging and loneliness that comes with having autism.

Sure, Adam has tried to fill that loneliness with a fascination for ninja turtles and hobbies like defeating the next level on his nintendo game, but plastic toys and television characters can only fulfill a person so much. Adam's mom wants him to have a friend.

Adam's mom, Linda, also briefly described Adam's schooling, which caught my ear because of the reading I have done concerning the transition from schooling to adulthood. She mentioned that it is not uncommon for Adam's entire class to break out in a tantrum. It is a chain affect: one student becomes upset and soon the entire class is throwing a fit. These shared tantrums may lead people to think that students with autism connect on some level, but Linda did not view it that way.

There Adam is in school, surrounded by students like himself, yet no connection, not a single friend. My hope for this portion of our series is that our viewers develop an understanding for the unique bond that a mother shares with her son; most importanly, I hope they see how fragile that bond is when the son has autism.

adults with autism - info needed

I was so fortunate to meet Jeremy Jacobi during my adults with autism research. Speaking with Jeremy and observing him at work has taught me a lot about the lifestyle and daily routine that an adult with autism leads.

I'm interested in learning more about services for adults with autism, specifically in the mid-Missouri region. Here are several specific questions I'm interested in:

Are there strong support groups for adults with autism?

Are the schools guiding students into the adult world?

What sort of jobs are out there for adults with autism etc?

I really want to hear from the mid-Missouri viewers on this subject. Thanks!

Jeremy- First View

Here is a sneak peek for our bloggers. Jeremy is an adult who has autism. Thanks to Mark and Meredith for doing this.

Jeremy- Mark

As a research assistant, I have been searching for a local adult with autism, who would speak with us on camera, for the last several weeks. When I received an email that Jeremy and his mom, Robin, were willing to speak with Ashley, I was thrilled. I was eager to hear Jeremy's story because he is at that age level and transition in life when adults with autism have the potential to be left in the dust and fail to plug in to society. Robin cares deeply for her son and they have both been proactive in connecting Jeremy to the community.

It might have taken years for Jeremy to receive the correct diagnosis, but once his condition was defined, he has utilized many community resources to ensure that his condition does not define him. When asked his favorite hobbies, Jeremy immediately knew the answer - computers. During the interview, Jeremy was curious about our video camera. To be completely honest, he knew far more about our station's equipment than I did - a testament to the knowledge that some adults with autism, especially Jeremy, possess. Jeremy knows that he wants to work with computers and technology in some capacity and that is where his energy is focused right now; Jeremy has motivation that many college students spend four years trying to develop.

Jeremy is the same age as me, which means that we share some future goals - learning a life skill, finding a job and picking that first apartment. I want to say that Jeremy is like every other 20 year old, but the fact is that he is not; Jeremy has faced a level of challenge that many 20 year olds never face. I'm certain that his perseverance will come through in the series.

Jeremy Jacobi shoot

Some pics from our shoot last night. Jeremy is an adult with autism...We interviewed him and his mom, Robin. Robin is one of our bloggers...should have first view video, more pics and blogs from Mark and Meredith in a few days....

Dr. Engley-Mark

Our interview with Dr. Engley was my first interview for this series. I was in charge of taking photographs of the shoot, which was a great task to have because it forced me to examine Dr. Engley's reactions as he answered the questions; I was able to witness up close and through the camera lens which questions he was passionate about answering and which made him uncomfortable.

Dr. Engley is an intelligent man and an invaluable, moderate source for this series. It is nice that when we are compiling a series that will air in mid-Missouri to have a local doctor, an individual who spent a significant part of his career in Columbia, as one of the scientific sources. Personally, I appreciated Dr. Engley's explanation of the history of thimerosal, because it allowed me to set some jumbled knowledge into context. Each source that we interview for this series is another voice in this debate and another piece to the puzzle. I can only hope that when all of the pieces are put together, we have a more complete picture of autism than the one we initially held.

Pictures from Dr. Engley Shoot

Our bloggers get a sneak peek of pics from the Dr. Engley shoot. Thanks to Meredith and Mark. Don't forget to check out the first view video and blogs...all labeled Dr. Engley

Dr. Engley-First View

For our bloggers, here is your video sneak-peek for Dr. Engley for the series. Blogs and slide shows will be up soon. Thanks to Meredith and Mark for putting this together.

Introduction-Mark

Hi everyone, my name is Mark Kelly and I'm a Research Assistant for the series Combating Autism from Within. The last couple weeks, I have focused on adults with autism. Our team found that previous news coverage on autism neglected to discuss the journeys and challenges of this significant adult population; we hope to change that pattern by sharing a story with you of an adult who has autism.

The most significant challenge adults with autism face is a lack of services once they leave the public school system and enter "the real world." Eventually, the 1:150 children who have autism will be adults - what opportunities will society give them?

Please feel free to share with me your experience with autism care once an individual reaches adulthood. You can comment or post.