VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Steve Stone]

April is here, and with that something very close to my heart.
It's Autism Awareness Month. Even more specific is World Autism Awareness Day on Wednesday April 2nd.
Autism has become a silent epidemic. Did you know that one in every 150 children born today will be effected by Autism?

I'm truly blessed to have a wonderful wife (Leslie) and family. We have three young children, Jacob (9), Joey (5) and Julia (4). When our first child Jacob was born, my wife and I had no idea what was waiting for us. As Jacob got older, he wasn't developing socially like other kids his age. He would throw tantrums that lasted for hours, he would obsess over the same toy, or word, he couldn't look in our eyes, and what crushed me was that when showing him affection....it wasn't reciprocal. There were many nights my wife would cry herself to sleep because of the stress, and the not knowing what was ailing him. Soon after at the age of 4, Jacob was found to have Aspeger's Syndrome (AS).

WHAT IS ASPERGER'S?

Asperger's syndrome is a developmental disorder that is part of the autism spectrum. Signs and symptoms of Asperger's syndrome include:

Engaging in one-sided, long-winded conversations, without noticing if the listener is listening or trying to change the subject
Displaying unusual nonverbal communication, such as lack of eye contact, few facial expressions, or awkward body postures and gestures
Showing an intense obsession with one or two specific, narrow subjects, such as baseball statistics, train schedules, weather or snakes
Appearing not to understand, empathize with, or be sensitive to others' feelings
Having a hard time "reading" other people or understanding humor
Speaking in a voice that is monotonous, rigid or unusually fast
Moving clumsily, with poor coordination
Having an odd posture or a rigid gait

It's an everyday struggle, Jacob has been in therapy for more than four years. The constant battle with anxiety and his paralyzing rigidity is overwhelming at times for my wife and me. To make things twice as hard our middle child Joseph has been diagnosed with Asperger's as well. Again make no mistake Autism is an epidemic. I'm not asking for your money, I'm asking for your help in raising awareness. PSA's do a world of good.

After all we are in the "media" business right?

HBO recently debuted a documentary called "Autism: The Musical", which has received great reviews for it's intimate look into the world of Autism.

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/autism/index.html?ntrack_para1=insidehbo4_image

There is also a feature film documentary that is making the rounds at film festivals, about a teenage boy with Asperger's.

http://www.billythekiddocumentary.com/

The most comprehensive information can be found at

http://www.autismspeaks.org

Thanks for your time

----

Steve Stone | Voice Actor
Stone Creative Productions, Inc.

[bobsouer]

Steve,

Thank you for your post and for your passion about this subject. As you know, my wife and I have one son with Autism, as well; our youngest Brian. He's doing great, especially since we started him on some specialized physical therapy that's really helped him to manage his emotions.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Deirdre]

Bob— do you guys also give him that "sour vitamin" stuff that Dr. Bernard Rimland recommends?

B6 and Magnesium.

http://testingtheprocess.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/vitamin-b6-and-magnesium-in-the-treatment-of-autism-bernard-rimland-phd/

It made a boatload of difference for Younger Bear— as did homeopathy, believe it or not.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[Yoda117]

Thanks for the great links.

My parents have two kids with ADD, my younger brother has ADHD and I have inattentive ADD. I can only imagine what my folks have gone through with us and sometimes still do (that my dad pointed at a Nationwide commercial where a kid built a robot that proceeds to destroy the house and tells my girlfriend that she's dating that boy gives me an indication).

//sorry to the digression, but ADD and Aspergers are often mistaken for each other to a certain degree
_________________
Voiceovers by Gregory Houser
Philadelphia based Voice Actor

Blog - A man, a martini, and a lot of microphones

[bobsouer]

[mythwoman]

This post made me want to admit something.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome at 18 years old. My elementary and teen years were the absolute worst stages of my life. I'm 28 now and things make more sense to me than ever before. I've had to keep it a secret for a while because people would panic at the very mention of syndrome or autism, as though it was a disease for me. This cost me opportunities I wanted to try in life, all because I wanted to be honest.

I tend to get VERY chatty when making posts so I won't go on. But again, I just felt I needed to tell everyone, especially since more and more are becoming aware of AS.

Thank you for mentioning it.

Mary aka mythwoman

[Lizden]

Mary,
I'm so glad that you feel comfortable enough in our little corner of the universe to "admit" that you have AS.
Really. Thanks SO much for sharing that.

Liz
_________________
Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
HireLiz.com / liz@hireliz.com

[Audiogal]

Hopefully, as the public becomes more educated about autism, fewer people will have to go through what you did, Mary. You've done your part by posting to this thread. Cool!
_________________
Mary

[bobsouer]

Mary,

Thank you for sharing a small slice of your story with us.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express