I'd like to introduce myself. I am Margaret, a speech therapist from Charlotte ,NC. I have been working with children with Autism for 20 years and have worked at Child and Family Development for nearly 17 years.In future blogs I may share information about philosophy of treatments and treatment approaches but today, I just want to have fun. Which is usually what happens when I spend time with children with Autism!!
I know everyone is well into the school year, the honeymoon period is over and the challenges of everyday life are simulataneously boring and stressful. Just listening to these kids with Autism can put a smile on your face and turn the day around. Sometimes there are even things,important things! that we can learn from them.I am going to tell 2 short true stories and share the lessons learned.
Story one- Craziness
I worked with a young man diagnosed with high functioning Autism. He had a fake English accent and was mostly difficult. He would kick and scream, throw himself to the floor and in general was miserable if things didn't go exactly his way. Well one day, he discovered a computer game that he liked and I thought " FINALLY! I have found something that this boy enjoys!" We had a great session and I looked forward to our next session. Well the next session came and I presented this boy with the computer game. The screaming , kicking and crying started immediately followed by a dive onto the floor and under my desk. I was so confused so I got down on the floor with him and said "Sweet man, what is wrong?" He replied ,"Stop the craziness!!" I thought ," WOW This is my big chance to learn about the inner thinkings of a child with Autism, I may have it figured out after this. What an opportunity!!" So I asked," Tell me about the craziness" He replied, "The craziness in your own mind woman that makes you think I am going to play that computer game." Not exactly the Autism revelation that I thought I was going to have but I certainly did learn something.
Lesson Learned:
1.Assume nothing. Kids on the Autism spectrum have varying skill levels from day to day and we must meet them where they are on that day.
2.Be Flexible- "The best made schemes o' mice and men..." It never works out as planned so you better be ready for it.
Story Two- Never believe what you read on the internet
I had a very bright friend with Autism who was struggling with his new school year/teacher's. He had decided that he would change his identity so that he could be Mario from the videogame. He wanted to do this because his teacher reminded him of Bowser, the foe of Mario. So he was Mario.And he couldn't stop talking about it. I wanted to get off the topic and said, "You know, you can't be Mario because he isn't real and you are real."
BIG MISTAKE. I was then given 20 reasons why Mario really is real. How we just haven't found Mushroom Kingdom, but it does exist!! So finally I went to wikipedia and looked up Mario. I showed my friend the first line "Mario is a fictional character......" and said "fictional means pretend, not real" The boy looked at me as earnest as could be and said, "Oh, Margaret, you know you can't always believe what you read on the internet!"
Lesson learned
1. You can't always win ( Kids on the ASD spectrum are smart!!)
2. Some things are best left alone. You can't win every battle and some just don't matter( like Mario's fictional/ real status)
I hope you have enjoyed the stories...
Until next time ... Margaret
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