Superior Visual Thinking May Be Key to Independence for High Schoolers with Autism From: Medical Design Technology - 03/12/2014 By: Dave Shaw Researchers at UNC's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) and UNC's School of Education report that teaching independence to adolescents with autism can provide a crucial boost to their chances for success after high school. According to Kara Hume, co-principal investigator of FPG's Center on Secondary Education for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (CSESA), other scientists have demonstrated that many high schoolers with ASD also possess unique skills that teachers and caregivers can emphasize in order to teach independence. "Brain imaging studies and research on visual tasks show that many people with autism have enhanced mental imagery and superior visual thinking, compared to typically developing people," Hume said. She added that people with ASD also describe their own reasoning as a series of images. Read the entire article at: http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/03/superior-visual-thinking-may-be-key-independence-high-schoolers-autism http://www.fpg.unc.edu/news/superior-visual-thinking-may-be-key-independence-high-schoolers-autism Links: Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute http://www.fpg.unc.edu/ Kara Hume http://fpg.unc.edu/node/727 Related: Blind Purdue Grad Works to Make Science Accessible http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/02/blind-purdue-grad-works-make-science-accessible