Children during the early years of autism: Part 3
Nelly was a child who had classic autism. She also had extreme sensory needs, which made it difficult for her to focus. In the past, Nelly’s behavior included a history of very aggressive moments including screaming and throwing tantrums. Gradually, Nelly was changing with a tight daily structure and some basic rudiments of communication. By the time the child entered first grade, the pace of Nelly’s transformation was surprising both her parents and her teacher.
Nelly’s elementary teacher knew that the girl had missed many of the milestones that normally occur in early childhood. The teacher and family were creating activities to help Nelly move back through some of those stages she lost. This included giving Nelly’s parents, Jim and Theresa, a copy of the Floortime DVD Training Series 1: The Basics Relating and Communicating and Series 2: Sensory Regulation and Social Interaction. These two DVD’s discussed the Floortime Model in depth at the various developmental levels for children with special needs. Nelly was not yet ready for the third DVD in the series, Symbolic and Logical Thinking. The time for that DVD would come soon enough.
The teacher also asked the family to watch an old movie called the "Miracle Worker" with Patty Duke and Ann Bancroft. The actress Patty Duke played Helen Keller as a little girl. This movie classic gave an excellent portrayal of the challenges that faced a young girl who was blind, deaf and mute. Before Helen’s teacher Anne Sullivan came into her life, Helen literally ran around like a wild animal. Once Ann Sullivan was able to create a tight structure for the girl, Helen began to change. She discovered how to talk with touch and the door opened wide to whole new world. Helen was a brilliant young child who had been trapped in a world without a way to communicate.
Nelly, like Helen, also had been trapped in her own world. Now, she was discovering the benefits of knowing how to communicate. For Nelly, pictures were her method of speaking. One day, Nelly sat down to an array of wonderful food choices. She loved eating goldfish, gummy bears, M&Ms, pretzels and of course, pizza. It was time for Nelly to learn how to ask for them correctly in pictures. In just two days, the little girl surprised the teacher and staff by giving them the corresponding picture icon of each item. She loved to eat goldfish and would search through over 100 pictures in her communication book for it. Then, she would walk over and hand the goldfish picture to the teacher. Nelly had noticed that the other children used more than just a single icon. To the teacher’s surprise, Nelly had placed a second icon on the sentence strip. It was the icon "I want" correctly beside the goldfish picture.
Jim and Theresa’s daughter was moving on to the Eric Carle books, which had wonderful visuals for the children including Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? This particular book was often helpful for the young children. Nelly had watched two other boys in her group placing such picture phrases as "I see brown bear" and "I see red bird." When they were done, the boys would verbally read the phrases and receive their favorite food reward, goldfish. As the Eric Carle book was read to her, Nelly initially selected from an array of three pictures, what the page was about. Before long, Nelly, after watching the boys, figured out what was expected of her. Soon, the little girl was choosing from a large array of animal picture and colors. The icon "I see" was added too because she demanded that it be included. Nelly enjoyed this "game" of books and so did the staff.
One day, the teacher had been working with some balloons as a special treat for the children. Nelly really liked balloons and walked over to the teacher with the icon balloon on the sentence strip. The teacher handed her a green balloon, which she had just finished blowing up. Nelly took the balloon and went back to her communication book. She pulled out the icon pink and placed it with balloon picture. Nelly didn’t want the green balloon. She liked pink. Nelly again handed over the sentence strip to the teacher. This time, Nelly got a pink balloon. The little girl’s behavior, not surprisingly, was also improving with her ability to communicate. Some days she still would slip into tantrums but those days were occurring less and less with play therapy and improved communication. Nelly was changing and continued to blossom into a wonderful young lady. Next week, Milestone’s to watch for.
Pamela Gross Downing, a special education teacher can be reached at downpamg@aol.com.
Also for parents and caregivers: Region One course at no cost coming up: Let’s Teach Autism Learning & Knowledge, Nov. 11-12 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Derry Elementary in Port Isabel. Register at www.esc1.net/staffdevelopment workshop No. 35917.
