Lots to learn….lots to share….an ongoing process!
I got the opportunity to attend this workshop by a renowned Autism expert from the US. Representatives from 9 countries and 31 cities were present who were keen and inquisitive to know and learn. Though we try and do various interesting things with our children in the spectrum, such workshops are of immense help! Firstly, one revisits strategies, secondly gets to know about new findings and alternative methods….most importantly it serves as a checklist for things we are doing right! I noted down the conclusions from various case studies explaining….
*Why these children behave in these ways,
*what they suffer from…
*why they express so differently….
*How their brains are wired…that some parts of the brain are inactive and others overactive….and….
*HOW HELPLESS THEY ARE !
Certain interesting facts which I could connect to and stayed with me were:
# These children can be traumatized by open drains on the road or in the bathroom….
# small unexpected change in the environment can be devastating at times….
# Due to high pain threshold and sensory issues, they may not be aware and not realize the intensity of a discomfort in the body…
# During a meltdown it is wise not to ask or try to reason out, which may aggravate the problem. It has been concluded after a lot of research that they are unable to recall their pain and feelings during that phase of melt down.
My close association with Autism started way back in 1996, when we had no resources, very less awareness and limited case studies to refer to. Though I did gather knowledge and support from environment and knowledgeable people through the years, this kind of data was unavailable during the struggle. I had to hit and try, then try and fail, try again and take a call…
In the workshop, after seeing the slides which showed clearly the difference between a typical and Autistic brain, I realised that, there are certain areas where damage is irreversible. Some areas of brain can show progress even if negligible, after making continuous effort and some areas will show noticable changes with therapy and inputs.
The realization that…. what I have managed to do, based on my observations and experiments were 90% correct if not more….gave me a real high! Wah ji wah!
My daughter has been very fussy about drains in the bathroom; she insists on getting them wiped clean several times during the day. She is very uncomfortable if people around her have chewing gum! These things are so disturbing for her that she may lose her sleep! We have done a lot of training through the years for her to understand ‘public places’ and ‘strangers’. Again, she needed to be explained further, why we cannot clean drains of sinks in public washrooms and why we cannot tell a stranger not to have a chewing gum!
She has now learnt to make adjustments like these and thus is able to deal with the annoyance experienced, on her own.
I have been guiding her to scan her body for any discomfort/ pain from head to toe, on a regular basis. Since she is scared of injections, she agrees to take precautions to avoid illness. The lady, Autism expert shared her slides recommending regular scanning of body part by part, to identify an ailment at the earliest. It seems many adults with Autism land up in hospitals too late to survive…. missing early diagnosis and early intervention!
Eating right always is difficult for all of us….we follow healthy diet for her with small frequent meals….the best we CAN! Indulging into her favorite snack once a day cannot be avoided!
How I wish she understood and could follow intermittent fasting or stop carbohydrates completely and stick to proteins….we have been trying to do the best we can!
“Do the best you can. If it still doesn’t work out, at least you will have the peace of mind knowing you tried.”
Akiroq Brost
Nivedita's Blogs 