Another week has passed and I have yet another MAJOR obstacle to overcome. My slide show is currently a big question mark for me. Several weeks ago I attended a bowling event sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the Autism Society of America but I discarded the pictures because I planned to go to a better event – the “Festival of Trees” hosted by the Kennedy Krieger Institute at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. However, my flight home from a holiday trip, which took longer than anticipated, did not allow me to get many of the shots I was hoping and planning to get – namely of children. I grabbed some quick shots that I could of kids while forgetting, in my need to rush, that without parental consent I cannot show the pictures of the children! I have pictures of some of the winning trees and wreaths and ornaments from the event but I’m unsure just how I am going to turn these pictures into an interesting slide show and in to a great story. My multimedia package overall has not turned out how I imagined from the onset that it would. Looking back, there are countless other ideas that I would have been better served to explore as a semester project. My autism idea is seemingly falling apart at the end when it counts most. I am going to have to come up with something brilliant over the next 24 hours or I’m in some trouble. Throwing in the towel isn’t in my nature. I’m going to make this work one way or another.

Unfortunately, that’s not the only problem. My final text module which will cover the physician’s perspective of diagnosing and treating autism has hit a minor snag as well but it’s one I think I can overcome. The physicians I spoke with just yesterday tell me they cannot speak about particular cases. That is, they cannot speak of specific children due to privacy issues which is something I never thought to ask previously. I wanted to include this aspect to my story but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be happening. I will have to focus more on the physicians themselves and what their story is; why they have chosen the career path; what’s most rewarding about their job; etc. I heard an interesting story from a friend who got into working with autistic children because of an experience with her ailing grandmother several years ago that could make a great story but overall I’m just not happy about how this is all turning out. The unforeseen obstacles are putting me between a rock and a hard place. I don’t know exactly what to do and I’m quite frustrated but remain confident. Suggestions?

Now that the venting is out of the way I’ll turn to my research for the week. I checked out an article about sound-processing in autistic kids in the Washington Post. The new research, the findings of which were presented today, offers a greater understanding of why autistic children have listening and language issues. This article is of particular interest to me as it relates to the story angle I mentioned previously involving my friend and her grandmother and why she got into audiology and working with autistic children. Her speciality is listening and language skills so it will be interesting to get her take when I speak with her later today. The findings may have a big impact on treatment and therapy planning.