Autism Advocacy...What a Community!

I posted a question on the Autism Ontario message board about navigating the IPRC process; I was astonished with how many people responded with thoughtful, passionate advice. Until today I did not feel the presence of the Toronto community, but here it is! If you're not part of this group, I recommend you search it in Yahoo Groups and join us.

It occurred to me that many parents are in the process of navigating the IPRC process and/or school board in general, so I here are some tools from me to you (some of which were shared with members of the Autism Ontario Yahoo group).

http://oacrs.com/en/asklindsayarchive: An archive of questions and answers from parents to advocate Lindsay Moir; it's absolutely full of information that every parent should know. His words are inspiring, and well founded.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/speced.html Ministry of Education Information on special needs resources, rights


http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/program/adp/adp_mn.html Information on getting assistance devices for communication, mobility and so on.

http://www.jfcy.org/  Justic for Children and Youth to speak with lawyers regarding issues of children's educational rights.

Thanks to everyone who responded :) I promise to PAY IT FORWARD!

To those who think they have seen it all...

These pictures are here because they remind me, like this article, that perspective is extremely important.

Found this post in a draft pile; I think I was hesitant to publish it because there were a lot of emotions attached to it. Now, with some perspective, I am happy to share.



To those who think they have seen it all:

You know who I mean, the teaching professionals that have been in the game "forever" and always know just what is "best". Now I realize I sound like a rebellious teenager ranting about his parents but bear with me, because I am going somewhere noble with this.

A brilliant professor once said "just because you can talk the talk, does not mean you can walk the walk".

I can't help but think that when they (the people who know it all) talk, they are speaking the right language, but the words are all mixed up. They use words like reinforcement, negative and positive behaviors and re-direction and they think they have a grasp on a very complex field of study; they make judgments based on what will and won't work without acknowledging functions of behavior, or environmental variables to say the least. Worse yet, they Google "Autism" to find suitable courses of action....as if suddenly by a stroke of genius, the answer should appear on a pop-up ad...when that doesn't happen, then what?

Now believe me I know, behaviorism as a field is fairly new; too new for it to be a topic of study when these so-called "seen it all" degrees were sought, but don't you think you owe it to your profession to get up to date? A successful professional is constantly seeking self-development; the day that a professional says "I have seen it all" is the day that professional should retire (that kind of attitude is totally out of date).

I know that behaviourism, or it's application of ABA, is a fairly new and eclectic teaching style, and I expected to face this kind of attitude...it is an uphill climb to widespread acceptance. Resisting the ABA methodology because it is new and the effects are often long-term rather than immediate, is something I can begrudgingly accept, but resisting the inclusion of a child because he can't possibly be getting anything from the way he interacts with the world, is outrageous. It is not that this child's needs cannot be met, it is that you are not capable of assessing his abilities, needs or progress. Be wise enough to admit when something it out of your range of professional expertise, no matter how much you "know" you can't "know it all".

The hardest for me is when professionals ask questions like, why won't he interact with others? Why won't she join the group or sing along? Why won't she take part in play? It is almost like they cannot fathom how they could support a child unconditionally, given his differences. There is no way to convey my teaching philosophies in one blog, but if there was, it would start with the words UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE (upon which there can be no stipulations or fine print).

Accurate Dissemination of ABA

ABA as a field is exploding and it seems that everyone has their own take on it.

Maybe it's more of a question of branding than anything else, but it seems at least to me that everyone is trying to REVOLUTIONIZE the Autism Education Field. From "experts" popping up everywhere, without the education to back up their expertise, to consultants that possess the credentials but not the practical knowledge of the application of IBI; the industry is changing. My only hope is that  the increase in professional interest in Autism is driven by a desire to make meaningful change, and not a desire to capitalize on a growing industry.

1 in 88 has Autism...talk about a growing demographic.

The prevalence of Autism, though intriguing, is not the subject of this post. The true issue I am taking up with, is the tendency for Autism therapy practices to show up on web pages, in consultants portfolios, or on message boards, claiming to be evidence-based and peer reviewed, but negating basic principles of science in so doing. You cannot claim to evidence-based, if you are not fully committed to the application of principles of ABA.

You cannot have your cake, and eat it too! You cannot accept the benefits of associating yourself with an evidence-based science, while also claiming to be anything other than a direct application of ABA. It's false advertising, and it's confusing for parents who aren't able to tell the different between evidence-based and not. We wear the professional hat, and with that role comes power and a (perhaps false) sense of knowledge/expertise.

I am all for finding new-age ways of engaging with your clients ( At MM we are super hands on and play based, BUT and it's a big BUT, it's all within the framework of evidence-based philosophies which we stick to VERY strictly). The principle of behaviourism are pretty much set in stone, and though we can decide how we get from A to B, we have to follow certain rules to get there.

Practitioners shouldn't be wavering on these principles even a little bit if they are claiming to be ABA; it's not a  buffet where you can pick what you want and negate the rest. ABA is evidence-based, but if you're not doing categorical ABA, it's NOT evidence-based. Now believe me if you walk into my center you are NOT going to find robotic discrete trial learning going on, and yet, we are somehow adhering strictly to principles of behaviour in every aspect.

Please require a high standard of your practitioners, your kids deserve it; the ABA industry deserves it.

Think Think Think--Notes on Think Time

Working every day with kids, specifically those with co-morbid diagnoses from SPD to PDD, I appreciate more than ever the importance of understanding each child's need for think-time. Let's start by decoding the term--think time, to me, it  is the time between issuing a demand and receiving and/or prompting a response.


Think-time varies per person and I would say it is safe to assume that kids in general, have a longer think time than adults who are essentially, better trained. Think-time is the amount of time it takes for each individual to consider a demand and act accordingly; "I say give me 5" you consider the phrase, and offer your hand.


Think of learning a new language; though you speak your native tongue fluently and can easily respond to questions in English, when someone asks you a question in French, it is natural to require a bit more think-time to decode each message. If I said "Donner moi cinque" it might take you a bit longer to figure out that I am asking for a high 5.


It brings me right back to grade 8, my friends and I used to talk so quickly at a speed faster than light; there is no way an ESL student, for example, would be able to keep up....


So what's the point of mentioning this? All too frequently I see teachers, therapists, special education professionals and so on... requiring an immediate response from their spectrum kids; it puts A LOT of pressure on the child, which when verbal behaviour is already not preferred for the child, is a recipe for performance anxiety. I am all for increasing response time, but let's do it by increasing fluency not by demanding a lesser think-time. Let's shape the behaviour and the think-time, and start by acknowledging where the child is starting from (in terms of the think-time needed for various tasks when  variables are introduced into the mix...like a class of kids, the fluorescent lights, the smell of the play doh, the colour of the bulletin board). I am frustrated by seeing therapists/teachers fail to provide a sufficient think time to account for the fact that verbal language is not the native tongue of many of our selectively verbal kids (not to mention if the child is Apraxic).


Maybe it is that teachers/therapists put too much pressure on themselves; they internalize a child not responding to their demand as a poor performance on their part and over compensate by coming down a little strong; they want to dig their heels in, and require a demand so they prompt it. Sometimes, the patience card is the best; dig your heels in by not giving up, not by prompting. When all else fails, wait it out; I cannot say enough how detrimental poor prompting procedures can be; give the kid a minute to think, and stop staring at him you're making him nervous! ;)   I have seen and intervened on meltdowns resulting from insufficient think-time and over prompting and it is soooo preventable. Make it happen :)


Don't get me wrong I am ABA-ALL-THE-WAY and I think prompting is essential for errorrless learning, however, you must be skilled and you must account for ALL the variables including THINK-TIME!


In the words of one of my students,
"Peeez Out"