January 3, 2010
Convert the bane of a typical autistic behavior into therapy:
Every child’s autism is different and unique, however, there are also many common traits. One of the most frustrating and dangerous is what I call the deaf run. This is where the child will bolt from a parent’s hand for some desired object. Normal children do this as well, however, many autistic children are particularly talented at ignoring their parents. They also may be quite fixated on a particular item or object which acts as a terrible distraction when attempting a therapy session. For instance I remember seeing a four year old bolt from his chair to go push a spring loaded door open so he could watch it automatically shut. The therapist repeatedly chased him down, took him by the arm and brought him back to the desk in an attempt to get the child reengaged at the task at hand. Of course the child resisted, flopped and whined making the time spent on therapy little more than a complete waste of time. I saw this as a terribly missed opportunity.
Personally I remember my son, Emerson, bolting from my hands to run for a small creek behind our house. He loved it down there and I provided every opportunity to go. Problem was he got so excited he would simply run and leave me in the dust. I had to perpetually chase him down and try to reign him in, but nothing seemed to work. I wanted so desperately to connect, but I had no idea how to go about it.
Most any parent of an autistic child can tell a similar heartbreaking story of how their child runs off, ignores their attempts of eye contact or any acknowledgement of their voice. So why not use this object of desire to connect, incite eye contact, develop speech and get a little joy all at once? Here’s how.
Let’s take the incident of the little boy running for the spring loaded door. Imagine the therapist engaging with the boy’s desire instead of repeatedly trying to redirect him. By turning him toward the door, bending down and getting her face up into his, she asks if he wants to “go?” Depending on the child’s verbal ability this can be expanded on. If you are just inciting speech, this is a great opportunity to have their undivided attention to learn how to request for something. Teaching a child a word like “go” involves action on their part and attempting to incite speech on something that is so desired and relevant to them will typically be much easier. The child will most likely be looking right through you towards the desired object, but guess what, now you’re becoming naturally integrated into their world. If they can’t talk, perhaps you may get them to point or even partially speak. One other thing I did with Emerson was to verbally count down with my fingers in front of his face, “one, two three!” before bolting towards the creek. It took some time, but after repeated exercises, his little fingers began to move as he was attempting to count. Here’s a trick, once you say “go!” run backwards and watch the joy on their face as they bolt free towards the desired object. At three years old it was perhaps the first time I saw a wide smile and lucid glimpse from my son’s beautiful blue eyes.
For the therapist, this exercise can be repeatedly done as a game of sorts, each time bending down, counting down, getting the child to communicate in some way their desire to go toward the object. And each bolt for the door will be met with giggles and laughs instead of a firm grips and words to redirect them back.
Sometimes the best therapy involves the use of things you never imagined like the spring loaded door. But at the end of the day, developing that happy connection can be arguably the most important therapy of all. Developing that connection cracks open those ever so small windows for communication and makes way for other more formal therapies.
Contributed by Emerson B. Donnell III, Author of Dads And Autism, How To Stay In The Game. For more tips and more in-depth discussions on how to connect with your autistic child, the book is available on Amazon and www.dadsandautism.com.
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4 Responses to “Convert the bane of a typical autistic behavior into therapy:”
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I think there are so many desperate parents out who are dealing with some of these same issues . To have found a method that has been researched and proven , I’m sure gives these parents a sigh of relief and hope a sunny new day is possible .
Barbara at Nanny Mama has shed a new light on subjects like Autism and rest assured she will be bringing more topics to guide and help the parents and their Nanny’s raise children with love and knowledge.
I enjoyed this article and loved the focus on following the child’s interests. I have seen first-hand how important it is to teach a child using materials he finds interesting. The best engagement comes from pleasure.
One suggestion- instead of prompting a child to say “Go” to get to play with the door, I would prompt the word “Door” (with spoken word, or sign, PECs, etc.). I would do this because it is a concrete item the child wants- he wants to play with the door. This way you have an opportunity to teach other skills ( ‘Find the door’, ‘open door’, ‘close door’, ‘What is it?- Door). Just prompting GO before the child even reaches the door kind of ends the chance for further language.
Consider: Child is at the table with therapist. He attempts to get to the door, therapist gently blocks him and enthusiastic prompts “DOOR”. After a few attempts the child utters “Do” they run to the door together. At the door, the therapist can involve herself in the activity by being the one who controls the movement of the door. She can prompt the child to ask for OPEN, CLOSE, and even GO. As skills grow then the therapist can require more… having the child label the door, and putting words together.
I always try to teach concrete words first, because as skills emerge then you can add the extra words… down the road the child can ask for ‘go to door’
Dear Kate: Thanks for additional advice. I definitely look to label when ever given the opportunity and also agree is it’s a concrete item then label. As in my son’s case, he only loved to run. Using verbs really opened the door in his case. He responded to “run, go and his first word was “out.” as I kept repeating it as he pointed out the window.
Fine tuning each incident is omnipotent. It’s good to hear from a therapist with such good insights. As parents and therapists, I’ve seen so many incidents where they get caught up in “the program” and do not keep their own ears and eyes open to the things that would help them connect and get these children to the next level. I’m simply trying to help change a little perspective for people to realize opportunities for therapy can be fun and found in the most unexpected places, so just pull the child away when there’s something they go for. Instead, take note and use you imagination. It’s usually these times that the child and parent can get the most out it!
I agree with you completely Emerson! On the night that I wrote that I had spent the day with a little guy that was taught the word “GO” as part of the phrase ‘Ready, set….” Problem is, he now uses ‘go’ for everything. And it can be confusing for his parents and therapists when he comes up to them and says “GO!” and we have no clue what he wants. He could mean tickle, movie, food, water, hug, kiss, singing a song, getting thrown in the air because these are all things that he has been allowed to use the word ‘go’ for.
I was writing because it has been really hard to teach him after a year of only saying GO that objects/actions have other words.
I was hoping to show how important it is to be as descriptive as possible when teaching a child how to ask for something new. Creativity is important- but I always encourage people to pick words that wont be confused for something else (GO, MORE, etc). I think words like RUN and OUT are perfect because it is describing something specific, a specific action. When your son says RUN you probably dont think to yourself “hmm I wonder if he means COOKIE or TICKLE or MOVIE”
I apologize if I made it seem like parents and therapists should only teach nouns, I am totally of the belief that every kid is more than capable of learning- it is up to us to figure out what will work for that kid, what will make thinks click for a particular child.
Again, I so enjoyed your article. I love that you are promoting the message of teaching using a child’s interests! Teaching can take place anywhere, anytime- as you said, just use your imagination!