The following information was written by Georgie Thomas and is posted on The Georgiana website, http://www.georgianainstitute.org
“A Memo from Georgie”
“I am officially back out on the circuit speaking at conferences, making myself available again, and selling my book: Overcoming Autism, my version of the story first told in my mother’s book, The Sound of a Miracle, a Child’s Triumph over Autism. My life before Auditory Integration Training (AIT) is gone into in great detail, as well as the dramatic affects of AIT and how it radically changed my hearing from hyper-acute to normal. It gives a full account of my sensory experiences as they related to autism, my sense of touch, vision, taste and smell as well as my hearing.
Many who have reviewed my book have told me that it is a powerful testimony, a book for general readership as well as parents and professionals familiar with autism. Overcoming Autism provides a much better understanding of the disorder, its assets and its liabilities, and its effect on the nervous system. It takes the reader on an in-depth journey through the world of autism, into the mind of an autistic child.
I plan to continue to offer The Teachers’ Guide (Pro-Ed) by Anne Fullerton, Ph.D., to which I contributed. It is an encyclopedia of learning and teaching modalities for teenagers and young adults with autism. Featured in the book is a series of comic strips I have drawn, which highlight situations autistic people face.
The lecture I have prepared tells my story in chronological order. I share my bad (and good) experiences with special education as a child, and what I feel can be done to improve teaching techniques and modalities in general. I also draw on my experience over the last eight years as a consultant for Dr. Stephen Edelson, Director of SAIT in Salem, Oregon. There is some discussion of the extra-sensory capabilities of autistic people. Telepathy, for example, a little understood but common ability in autistic individuals, is seldom mentioned or validated in the professional community. I feel I am equipped with a wealth of information on autism and special education from a unique perspective, and I am eager to continue to serve in whatever way I can, offering hope for exceptional progress and recovery through AIT.
My e-mail address is: nipponon@yahoo.com; my phone number is (541)752-7406. I hope I may look forward to hearing from you and to working with you in the future, and that you will provide me with an opportunity to spread the news on help for the autism community. I am so very proud to be part of it and will be most grateful for your support in my efforts to enlighten people not just about the disabling characteristics of the condition, but the assets as well.”