So...what's new

Nothing really, going along smoothly, waiting for the next mood. I'm actually grateful when I can get along just normally. We eat well (though I'm not a fine cook like some people I know, Melba) and the house is clean. Haven't been blogging much though and I keep thinking, I must blog my teaching sessions.

I have a very cute little girl who comes to me for 2 hours a week. Though not diagnosed, she's definitely somewhere on the autism spectrum disorder, more likely towards the severe end. She's been coming to me for about a month (5 sessions). When I first met her, I saw a little girl completely entrenched in her own world. She would acknowledge her father, but any other adult is like a piece of furniture to her - that is, something to be used as a means to an end.

She doesn't communicate, make eye contact, or sit still for any significant length of time. My job is to find something that she will want to communicate about and then set up the situation so that she has to say or sign something for her to get it. I usually start by using chocolate to get their attention, because most kids like chocolate and are very motivated to get at it. Hence, they end up looking, saying or signing "I want..." to get it.

Well, this little girl is hyperactive, so chocolate's a no go. After a few sessions, I found she enjoyed playing the marble track - a track set the kids have built up where they put there marbles in at the top and watch them go down along all sorts of different tracks. One marble going down gets this girls attention - 10 marbles send her off in a flapping frenzy!! Bingo, now she will say "Yow yow" an aproximation of "wo yau" which is Mandarin for I want.

She's made progress which is wonderful, given that I wasn't really sure what to do with her in the first place. Her dad, who adores her, has high hopes, but will try anything to bring his little girl out of her world. I hope I can help her.

An older boy I'm working with, whom I worked with last year but didn't make much progress, is now responding more positively to giving me the correct photo of what he wants. He still gets confused, but he's getting there. There's so many things to teach him, like following instructions, calming himself when he laughs too much, letting his mum know when he's not feeling well and basically to stop flapping, long enough to learn these things.

I have my work cut out for me, even if it's only for the few kids I'm working with. Sometimes I am glad I'm here.

Cheers

Starting teaching

I will begin teaching come the start of March and today had my first student assessment. A mum met with me about her little boy, who she says is not talking to people. She has had him assessed by an educational therapist who diagnosed her young one with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but she didn't believe the report because the guy wasn't an MD. I gently told her that I agreed with his diagnosis and the specialist seemed to know what he was talking about, as all the right areas were covered in the report. It's a common occurrence here for parents to really have no idea of what is wrong with their children. And when doctors or specialists tell them, they don't understand because there is no follow up, no where for them to go for more information and of course, not many schools or centres for their children to attend, especially in a smallish town like this one.

I hope I can help her child. He was a bright, chatty (chatting to himself) little guy with a huge smile. He could use his imagination and he can follow instructions. A good start for someone with autism. I'm going to start his program using the principles of Floortime, a method of teaching autistic children that means you have to go down to their level and try to connect with them while playing. It's good I will have him for a few hours a week. Floor time takes time.

The saddest thing is that parents often come to me with the expectation that I can cure their child. I don't know why this is, but it means I have to tell them that I can only try my best. I hope my best is good enough for her to see some improvement. She asked is he bad (compared to other children). I told her I'd seen children who were worse and some that were better. But it doesn't really matter, because I can see his potential. I can see his personality and his abilities, not just his difficulties. I will build on his strengths and from there, hopefully get results.

I start teaching him in March and I'm looking forward to it. Wish me luck.