Autism. What's the role of routine when remediating autism?

One of the key things that lots of autism educators will tell teachers to do is to keep a strong routine going in the classroom for their autistic students. Keeping things the same so that children on the spectrum won't get upset is acknowledged to be pretty important.  

While I agree that it's true, I think it's only true to an extent, and I think it can be too easy to rely on it as a 'prop' to keep ASD students quiet and easier to manage.

Typically, ASD people tend to seek out routines because they are predictable and safe. Changes and challenges are hard to deal with, so people on the spectrum avoid them if at all possible.

The problem is that ASD students need to be challenged by changes if their autism is going to be remediated. In other words, if they are going to learn to think flexibly, they need to be given opportunities to think flexibly.

So while a routine may be necessary to keep anxiety levels down, it's good to make small changes within the routine wherever possible. Bigger changes can come as flexible thinking grows. 

If a change is too big, Bright Eyes lets me know by using fight or flight. He either gets aggro and upset, or he avoids and runs away. Where I have to think flexibly myself is in analysing the changes I've tried to make. Too big? Too fast? Too much? Where can I break this down a bit more?

When helping an ASD child learn to think flexibly, it's so important to go small, slowly and quietly. But it's also important to do it, and not just leave them to their routine.

Autism. He finally seems to have got it!

Last week, for the very first time, Bright Eyes went to school each day without tears, protests and crying. And, for the very first time, he asked to go on Tuesday as well. Next week he tells me that he'll be going 5 days, and he's certain that in 2010 he'll be going Monday to Friday, just like the other kids in his class.

It's almost as though he's sussed it out, realised that it's not too bad, and there are good things about it, so he can make it. 

On Friday morning I sat next to him at 7am and said, "So, do you think you might have a crying morning about school, or will it be happy?"

He looked at me as if I was nuts and said, "Happy!"

Autism. Medication update

Bright Eyes was originally given two different medications by the pediatrician. One of them seemed to do better things for him than the other, so we kept it and dumped the other one. This week I took him off it on the advice of the doctor just to see what difference it would make.

For the first two days it seemed fine, but in the last two days we have noticed the rise of the anxiety levels again. 

I think it definitely makes a difference.

I am worried, however, about the fact that Bright Eyes seems to have put on weight in the last month or so. I think it may be due to the meds, so I am trying really hard to put fruit forward as the only option for snacks. 

Autism. Assembly Celebration

Today marks a milestone in the school career of my beautiful boy.

His class ran the assembly and prsented work to the rest of the school and he felt comfortable enough to sit with everyone in the front of the room on the steps for the whole time. That's a huge step forward.

As if that wasn't enough, he also read into the microphone from the worksheet he had brought. The class all shared about work on emotions they had been doing. When he could see his turn coming up he put up his hand and said, "Mrs S, can I read mine now?" and then read, "I feel happy when I have a toy called Brum."

As if that wasn't enough, he stood up with the class when they presented a song, sang along to it, and did all the actions.

He lasted right until the end and Mrs S was kind enough to give him a special certificate during her class award presentations for 'Great Assembly!' He was obviously delighted and excited and came racing out to me afterwards to show me. 

As for me? I sat up the back smiling my head off with tears misting up my eyes. What a great day.

Autism. Learning as we Grow

Our RDI consultant lent me this book, Learning as we Grow, recently. It's an easy read (apart from a few layout issues) and would be great to give teachers and helpers who work with autistic children. I plan to copy a few great practical hints for our lovely school people.

It's the work of some RDI consultants from the US and they've done a good job in helpfully explaining the difference between remediation and compensation* and then giving practical ways schools and teachers can help remediate autism rather than just compensate for it. 

If you're into RDI at all, it's a must-read. If you're looking for practical help in dealing with tantrums, obstacles, problem solving and all of the other things that go along with autism, it's essential. 

*compensation means finding ways around the problem. Remediation means actually remedying, or fixing the problem. So with autistic children, compensation might consist of having schedules, timers and on-hand helpers all day. Remediation would mean guiding them slowly to learn how to think, solve problems and take on challenges. Sometimes we need compensation at the same time as doing remediation, but as remediation progresses, compensation should decrease.