Podcasting Articles On Autism

Hello Everyone And Thanks For Reading

So today I will write about something a little different:

Once again I was at my friend's Tom's place on the weekend. Tom has a backyard pool and a little white dog. Both Luc (my son with Autism) and daughter (normally developing) really enjoy visiting his place. The pool has a fair size shallow end where Luc can reach the bottom and move about, exploring the jets, stairs, lights etc.

I don't get much of a chance to see Tom, so we talked about the various issues of life: family, travel, current events etc. It never takes too long for the conversation to drift around to autism. The reason is, Luc's condition dictates so many parts of our life. Everything from going on vacation (which we never do) to what kind of soil to buy for the garden, somehow all relates back to autism.

Tom was telling me that he read an article in the newspaper, thought of me, and decided he might clip the article. As it turns out, he forgot too, however suggested that if I go to the GlobeandMail.com, I could likely find the article he thought I would find interesting.

There are so many articles and websites about autism that I find it virtually impossible to read everything and sometimes anything. Often people will send me articles that are written for those not in the autistic community. These articles attempt to explain what autism is, how it affects families and what can be done. I don't really know why people send me such an article, but it never really bothers me. I'm sure lots of people send Tiger Woods articles on how to improve your swing, or Micheal Jordan the basketball rule book. (note:look who I compare myself too - a famous womanizer and a notorious gambler).

So - you may ask - how does one stay on top of important articles written about autism? Who weeds out info that likely those in the community already know about? Well, to find out I did what every middle age man would do - I asked my iphone. And the iphone said - go to itunes and download "Rob Sidell Weekly Autism Global News In Review". It can be found on the Autism One podcast section of Itunes.

So, this guy, Rob Sidell, reads articles that he finds relevant, interesting, educational and reads them for his podcast. For those of you less tech savvy - a podcast is a radio show. I'm sure technots are freaking out that I call a podcast a radio show, but that's what it is - a radio show that I can tape and listen when I want to on my ipod / iphone. Unless your involved with autism I don't really recommend you download this content, however, you should try and punch in your interests into the search portion of Itunes. You'd be amazed what will pop up and what you might learn.

So Rob Sidell has a boy that has recovered from autism. This alone is motivating. He starts the show by detailing what he is going to read. He then often reads the article without bias - and adds comments in between articles. When he gets annoyed or passionate he adds his comments to the material he is presenting. Good podcast. Perfect for me as I listen on my drive to work.