Camp counselors were arriving at Camp Royall today, which meant that they were doing mostly “get to know everyone” type of activities. Instead of driving out, my day was devoted to learning as much about Autism as I could. I went to the library and picked up these books to use as resources which I spent most of the morning reading in the CA library.

Dr. Mac also sent me a link to “Autism: The Musical” which follows the lives of 5 autistic children and their parents as they organize a musical production. This movie was available on YouTube, so I watched this to learn more about the varying types of autism each of these children has. I also found a book in the CA library titled “Born on a Blue Day: Inside of the Mind of an Autistic Savant”, which was the autobiography of Daniel Tammet a man with savant syndrome which means he is not only autistic, but has mental capabilities far beyond the norm. In Tammet’s case, he is able to perform complex mathematical problem in a matter of seconds and associates shapes and colors with numbers. He references the classic movie “Rain Main” in the book which led me to do some research on the movie. Although I was unable to watch it, I read the plot and watched the trailer to find it is a story of an autistic man and his brother. These movies and books are all great example of how the media is an amazing way to raise awareness for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

-Fiona