PDD/AUTISM
          SUCCESSFUL
                    STRATEGIES
      
        

COMMUNICATION: THE KEY TO SUCCESS

WHAT  ARE
STRATEGIES?

ABOUT ME

          First and foremost, I am the parent of a 14 year old young man who was diagnosed with Autism at age 3 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  At the time, I was offered the options of having my son live in an institution, have him attend a special school for multiple handicapped children, mostly physical, or have him attend school at a psychiatric hospital.  The other two options were, he could attend his neighborhood school if he sat quitely, and caused no trouble.  (I could just see my tazmanian devil excelling at this one!!) or move to another province.
                    
              
          After moving to Ontario, I quickly realized that there was a definite lack of information in the educational field, about what could be done to help my son and other children like him.

          The first step I took was to find out about the legalities, and programs available in the public school system.  I went to college and earned a diploma as an Educational Assistant.
    
           Step two was to work in the field of special education. As an Educational Assistant, I met many fascinating children of all sorts of exceptionalities.  They were often trying, but never dull, and each and every one of them had a great sense of humor.  I enjoyed them all!

                          
           For two years, I was the Support Person for Educational Assistants, providing them with Behaviour Strategies and Programs to use with their students.  All of these were created by me for each individual student.  I had a caseload of 70 students, and was kept hopping.
                  

          I now have registered a business: Pdd/Autism Successful Strategies. My focus is to provide behaviour and communication strategies for parents and caregivers.  My hope is to educate as many people as possible, how to develop and use these strategies without help.  (see section: My Business)

                     
           This has been a 14 year journey of trial and error; many fears and tears(mine), but my son is now a functioning independent high school student who just got "C's" in all of his subjects and did it all on his own for the first time - without an assistant, and his program is only modified in method, not content.  I never really thought I'd see this day.  I am so proud!  My life's passion has paid off for me and my son, and now I want to help others enjoy as much success as possible.

    
         Strategies are methods used by the adult to achieve the desired results in the behaviour of the child.
          The most sucessful strategies are those which provide the child with choices, foster self-directed discipline and independence.  This requires a lot more patience on the part of the adult than simply using a demand and punishment technique,  which relies on an amount of fear on the part of the child, and is usually the result of the need to control others, on the part of the adult.  Very unhealthy relationship for all, especially the child who needs a positive method to facilitate growth and independence.
          
       Being a basically "lazy"person, (actually, I'm not lazy,  I always try to imagine exactly how the future will be for my children, and provide them with strategies that will help them learn independence so that if they are ever left on their own, they will not panic, but will revert to 'training') I always believed that if I expended an enormous amount of patience and work early on, then I would be able to relax once the coping methods were internalized by my kids.  This has worked for me, because, for the past year, I have been able to crash from burn-out and become a "couch-potato"!  (and do things like write more, read books for enjoyment, and crochet, things that I haven't had time for in 10 years!!!)
             
          

       
           Autism is classified as a Communication  Disorder in the Ontario School system.  When asked by teachers how to explain a student with Autism I reply: THE STUDENT PRESENTS LIKE AN E.S.L. STUDENT (english-second-language),  in other words, you should communicate to the student in a clear, directive manner, using as few idioms as possible.  It has been stated by many people who have Autism, (especially Temple Grandin) that many of this population of persons 'think in pictures'.  Therefore, in most of the behaviour programs I produce for people, I use pictures.  (see lists for kids/kits)

SKILL 1:  LITERAL LANGUAGE
          A great many of people with Autism have normal speech but often get bogged down with directives that are not LITERAL.
EXAMPLE # 1: My son was jumping on the floor of a house undergoing construction in our neighborhood.  I called him over and asked "why are you playing in the new house when I told you not to?" his answer was "But there are no walls, I wasn't playing IN the house, I was only jumping ON it."  He was quite serious, and quite right.  I had to change the instructions to "DO NOT GO NEAR NEW HOUSES, ON NEW HOUSES OR IN NEW HOUSES."
PROBLEM: I know my son was being honest with me, but to others who do not know him, he appears at times like this, to be just another smart-mouthed teenager and is often treated that way by other adults.
EXAMPLE # 2:  My neighbor's cat got loose in the backyard.  Another neighbor told my son to "GRAB THE CAT AND PITCH HIM IN THE KITCHEN".  He did.
PROBLEM:  There really should be no problem because my son did exactly as he was asked to do.  The cat was O.K. and didn't try to run away for a while, the neighbor finally understood what I had been trying to tell him about my son, (who, incidentally, couldn't really understand why anyone would want the cat pitched in instead of put in the kitchen).  I just laughed.