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When a family finds out that their child has a learning disability, such as autism, their world shuts down because they do not know what they are going to do. Despite the feelings of hopelessness, there is hope for the child to advance in the world. One organization that focuses on helping children with autism is the Easter Seals organization. They are then able to help the child accept the fact that they have a learning disability which then leads to also helping the family get over the shock and realize that this is not the end of the world. The Easter Seals organization is not like other organizations that want to find a cure; they want to help children become adjusted to their life while waiting for a cure. The Easter Seals organization is able to help children with learning disabilities adjust to the world in a positive way by allowing them the help that they need in the schools and by helping out the families both financially and emotionally. The Easter Seals Organization was originally created when a man, named Edgar Allen in Elyria, Ohio. He started this because his son received little to no medical services, which lead him to sell his own business and begin a fund raising promotion to build a new hospital. With the new hospital Allen then realized that children with disabilities were hidden from the public, and this then led to the first organization for disabled children called the National Society for Crippled Children. Allen’s organization has now transformed into the Easter Seals Organization. Today, the Easter Seals Organization helps over a million children and adults living with disabilities and their families. The service and support is provided by more than five hundred fifty sites within the United States and Ability First Australia, and each provides services that are individual to each person, innovative, and focused on the family. With all of the disabilities out there, Easter Seals focuses mainly on autism spectrum diseases. These include autistic disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and persuasive developmental disorder. All of these have no known causes so therefore it is the symptoms that parents and doctors notice when their child is about the first year to year and a half. The symptoms are not smiling by six months old, not babbling, pointing or waving by a year, lack of interest in surroundings, avoiding eye contact, and not wanting to cuddle. As they get older children with autism diseases rock back and forth, twirling in circles, and flapping their arms. Some even mimic what they hear and walk on their toes. They may even line up their toys in a straight line and get upset when they are not in a straight line. In order to diagnosis this the parent of the child must first answer questions that a doctor or psychiatrist asks and then since there is no medical test to prove that an autism spectrum disease is there, the child must go under clinical observations, parental interviews, reviews of development, psychological testing, and assessment of speech which helps diagnosis the disability better.  Another disease that Easter Seals helps children and families of the children is cerebral palsy, also known as CP. Someone with CP has perfect muscles and nerves they just have a problem with the development of the brain in the areas that control movement and posture. Muscles in the body do not receive the right messages from the brain due to the damage in the brain. Congenital cerebral palsy is born within the baby but it is not detected until several months into their lives. This can occur due to infection during pregnancy, jaundice in the baby, Ph incompatibility, and severe shortages of oxygen to the brain, trauma or difficult labor, a low birth weight, and/or stroke. Like the autism spectrum diseases, there are four types of CP. The most common type of CP is Spastic where the muscles are too tight and therefore the muscles of the body are permanently contracted. Athetoid CP is when the muscle tone of the body is mixed, some are tight and some are too relaxed and as a result it is uncontrolled, slow, or twisting movements of the body. Ataxic cerebral palsy is when the muscle tone is too loose and they have unsteady and shaky movements and tremors. Mixed Cp is when the muscles are too high and some are too low all at the same time. Cerebral palsy cannot be cured but it can be helped through physical therapy, occupational therapy, medicine, operations, and muscle braces.  An aspect that can affect many families is the cost to take care of a child who has one of these disabilities. One in particular that can greatly affect a family is cerebral palsy, due to the fact that some of the children with cerebral palsy have to live their life from a wheelchair, so therefore as the child grows so much the chair. The average cost for one’s lifetime with cerebral palsy is approximately $921,000 in the year 2003. These costs come from direct costs from medications, doctor visits, and hospital stays, while many of these costs are indirect and come from home and care modifications as well as special education classes to help the child adjust to school. People with cerebral palsy also lose some of their income that would come in due to the fact that they are unable to work at all professions which then means that they have to deal with lower wages. This all is helped out by the Easter Seals organization and with 23,000 staff members and thousands of volunteers, and also by those who support its mission. This heart-felt commitment to helping people with disabilities and their families is what Easter Seals is all about.  Easter Seals schools have come about to give children with disabilities a place to go where people are able to help them so therefore they are able to start their learning process early. For children with autism spectrum diseases, Easter Seals has a service for preschool aged children. “Easter Seals provides personalized, appropriate treatment plans that use play and language to take into account the 'whole child' and the child’s family” (Easter Seals). The practice of inclusive child care -- placing children of all physical, emotional and academic abilities in the same learning environment -- benefits children of all abilities. Easter Seals' experience shows that children with autism significantly benefit from receiving appropriate care along side their typically developing peers. The preschool programs follow the National Institute of Mental Health guidelines that include build on the child's strengths, offer a predictable schedule, teach tasks as a series of simple steps, actively engage the child's attention in highly structured activities, and provide regular reinforcement of behavior. These all help out the children with autism because they get taught with children who are on the same learning level as them, and they can also keep focus by doing things that cause one to need to use higher level thinking.  Communication and socialization are two of the core challenges for children with autism. There are many different methods that one can use to help individuals who have autism gain more effective communication and social skills. One method is called the picture exchange communication system which starts with teaching a student to exchange a picture of an item wanted with a teacher who will honor the request which will eventually lead to independent communication. Another method is functional communication training that involves identifying what the individual is trying to communicate when using the challenging behavior and then teaching an appropriate behavior that will serve the same purpose for the individual. A third method of teaching is augmentative and alternative communication which uses symbols, aids, technology, strategies, and techniques to enhance communication. Another method of teaching is using electronic communication devices that produce spoken language for the person who is unable to speak, this is called speech generating devices. Finally, the use of pragmatic language is the ability to use language in social contexts, this is an area of difficulty for individuals with autism because with direct, quality instruction, individuals with autism can increase their skills in using language appropriately in social situations. Along with these ways of helping an autistic child, group and direct instruction also help children learn to recognize the social cues and to communicate and participate successfully in social situations. Like other treatments, the training needed to help the individual will vary on the child because each child is different.  Despite these ways of helping autistic children, they do not always help and therefore the family life of the child can suffer. Daily living skills can be challenging to a child with autism. Occupational therapy as well as speech and haring therapy can help a child with autism learn fine motor skills which can help with activities such as writing and house chores, self-care skills that include going to the bathroom and dressing themselves, and pre-work skills such as paying attention on one tasks in order to complete the task. As well as getting adjusted to the home and being able to live on their own, Easter Seals helps autistic children get ready to attend school. They educators in the child care centers have a specialized approach and instruction to prepare the preschoolers to enter into the school setting. The preschool setting promotes readiness for school that includes social skills, independent living skills, and personality responsibility that will help the child be successful in school. Once they are done with these preschool classes, they are then able to go into a school for school aged children.  Easter Seals provides therapy in a classroom setting at local schools and at a variety of schools that are designed especially for students with autism. The professionals at the early intervention programs and the inclusive day care centers can aid parents when it comes to figuring out what environment is best for a child with autism when they are ready to start school. Some of these programs include direct intervention, families that are actively involved in the education of the child, a learning environment that is organized, a supportive staff, planned programs that are based off of research-based teaching, and individual plans. A student with autism can learn to use symbols, aids, strategies, and techniques to enhance communication. Easter Seals can provide a treatment plan combining speech and hearing therapy with occupational therapy. School-aged children with autism can be active participants in all areas of community life, including social and recreational activities. This way they are able to make friends which is essential for adjusting to the school setting because it helps to be able to relate to someone and be able to talk to somebody when they have a problem other than their parents and/or their teachers. When students are not in school Easter Seals offers over one hundred summer camps that once again help them to develop lasting friendships and learn what they can do in the world. Participants enjoy adventures and conquer new physical challenges through inclusive camping and community-based after-school and recreation programs. All of these help students succeed in school.  In conclusion, Easter Seals schools as well as the organization help the families and the children with disabilities get used to the world so that they can succeed.