RE: Anniversary
Tink <tink_lecuyer <at> earthlink.net>
2004-08-22 20:09:21 GMT
Congratulations
on this anniversary, Janna. A very informative and so honest
post. Thank you. I read your post to Ben. Here is his song for
you:
From Stevie
Nicks - Timespace:
Written by jon
bon jovi and billy falcon.
Well I’ve run
through rainbows and castles of candy
I cried a river of tears from the
pain
I try to dance with what life has to hand me
My partner’s been
pleasure my partner’s been pain
There are days
when I swear I could fly like an eagle
And dark desperate hours that nobody
sees
My arms stretched triumphant on top of the mountain
My head in my
hands down on my knees
Sometimes it’s a
bitch sometimes it’s a breeze
Sometimes love’s blind and sometimes it
sees
Sometimes it’s roses and, sometimes it’s weeds
Sometimes it’s a bitch
sometimes it’s a breeze
I’ve reached in
darkness and come out with treasure
I’ve laid down with love and I woke up
with lies
What’s it all worth only the heart can measure
It’s not what’s
in the mirror but what’s left inside
Sometimes it’s a
bitch sometimes it’s a breeze
Sometimes love’s blind and sometimes it
sees
Sometimes it’s roses and, sometimes it’s weeds
Sometimes it’s a bitch
sometimes it’s a breeze
You gotta take
it as it comes
Sometimes it don’t come easy
I’ve run through
rainbows and castles of candy
And I’ve cried a river of tears from the
pain
I tried to dance with what life had to hand me
And if I could I’d do
it all over again
Sometimes it’s a
bitch sometimes it’s a breeze
Sometimes love’s blind and sometimes it
sees
Sometimes it’s roses and, sometimes it’s weeds
Sometimes it’s a bitch
sometimes it’s a breeze
Sometimes the picture just ain’t what it seems
You
get what you want but it’s not what you need
Sometimes it’s a bitch sometimes
it’s a breeze
Well it’s a breeze it’s a breeze it’s a
breeze
Blessings to you
and yours,
Ben &
Tink
So today, August 21, 2004, is my five-year
anniversary of beginning to work with autistic children. Then, I was
working solely within the ABA paradigm. Five years later, I've added
sensory integration and a lot more understanding to my tools. I still
love my work, and I have an attainable goal.
I’m
definitely not a ‘radical behaviourist’.
I
consider behaviourism to make the most sense out of all the theories of
psychology that I’ve read (we do things because they give us something we
like), but I recognise the variety of antecedents for our
behaviours.
A lot of my behaviours occur due to
belief. Not just my religious belief in God (I am a
Christian), but other beliefs. I have odd phobias that
doubtless could be turned around with the right application of behavioural
techniques, but they don’t impact my life to a disabling extent, and I rarely
have to even explain the things I do that help me work around these
phobias. I also have some odd behaviours that I suppose
most people consider “anal”. To me, they just make
sense. I eat everything in pairs or halves, with equal
amounts chewed on each side of my mouth. I eat all the
broth out of a soup before I eat the noodles. I take a
piece of gum out of the packet and then “fix” the clear plastic casing and
straighten the foil backing.
I have said, and I
still say, that I would appreciate having my own personal ABA therapist to
follow me around and help me with things like social skills.
When I began researching autism, at the age of seventeen, I
thoroughly believed that autism was something that hid the real person within,
and that if we could just break though that barrier, autistic people would be
able to function normally.
Give it five years,
I’ll change my mind – and I did. When I began working in
the field of ABA, at age twenty-two, I bought the behaviourist line that the
autistic behaviours needed to be eliminated at all costs, and that this was
the best way to normalize the children. Oh, I absolutely
recognized the humanity of the child I was working with then, and I loved
being with him, but his inability to communicate effectively was frustrating
(for both of us), and the assumption was still that if we could get rid of
autism, he’d be fine.
Give it another five
years, I’ll change my mind again – and, oh, look, I did!
I’ve been in the field for five years now, and researching autism for
twice that time. I am now convinced that autism is a part
of who a person is, not a separate thing that needs to be modified out of
existence. I don’t even advocate the use of ABA in programs
anymore – when parents come to me asking what they should do for their
children, I might offer some different options that include ABA, but my
personal opinion is always that they should get a speech therapist whose main
focus is communication and not simply speech, an occupational therapist who
knows how sensory processing differences can affect a person’s abilities, and
an educational consultant who can assess the child’s academic level and
learning style. If a parent is bent on doing ABA, I
strongly suggest the involvement of an SLP and an OT who does DPPT.
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->
Give it another five years, I might change
my mind again. We’ll see.
-Janna
--
Early Birds Program Facilitator (special needs 1:1 preschool)
Calgary, AB, Canada
BMus, BAPsych
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"Home is not a place. It is wherever your passion takes you." -
President John Sheridan, Babylon 5 (Objects At Rest, Production #522)
"Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfall; all of your waves
and breakers have swept over me." - Psalm 42:7
"Rolling river God, little stones are smooth, only once the water
passes through..." - Nichole Nordeman, "river god" (wide eyed, 1998)
"Nobody else is stronger than I am, today I moved a mountain! I'd like
to be your hero, I am a mighty little man!" - Steve Burns, "Mighty
Little Man" (Songs For Dustmites, 2003)
http://members.shaw.ca/treatautism
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