Setting up the home for a child with autism
Marcia called her son’s teacher on the second day of school. The teacher at first thought the young mother was just nervous about her son. It was Fernando’s first day of school and it was a new place for the 6-year-old.
The teacher was used to parents calling to check on their children. However, this call was different. The teacher sensed something just wasn’t right. The young mother sounded desperate on the phone. She asked the teacher if there were any way she could stop by her home to talk about Fernando. The teacher promised Marcia she would stop by right after school.
By the time the teacher arrived at Fernando’s home, Marcia was waiting at the door. As the teacher entered, she noticed a huge hole in the wall by the door.
The teacher then looked over at Marcia and noticed lots of bruises and scratch marks all along her arms. She asked Marcia what had happened. Marcia looked away in embarrassment.
"It was my son," she said. "He gets mad if I don’t get him what he wants. I can’t understand what he wants. Fernando starts kicking and screaming and I can’t stop him."
Then she whispered, "You know, my family blames me for Fernando. They say it is my fault he is the way he is."
The teacher asked Fernando’s mother to sit down. She first told Marcia how proud she was of her for being a good mother. She told Marcia that she and her husband were no longer alone in this task of taking care of Fernando. The teacher also assured Marcia that her son’s autism was absolutely not her fault.
Sadly, it was not the first time the teacher had heard a similar story and it still amazed her that people actually would cast blame in that way in this day and age.
The teacher explained to Marcia what was known about autism and what might cause the disability. She also explained that autism affects all races and ethnic and income levels. Hopefully, she explained, more information will be discovered about autism in the near future, but much still remains unknown about the disability.
Her son, Fernando, she assured Marcia, would learn very quickly to not hurt his mother or anyone in the future. He simply needed a way to communicate. The boy just needed basic boundaries to let him know what was expected of him.
As the teacher finished talking to Marcia, she asked the mother if she could walk around the home with her. The first stop was to see Fernando. He was sitting with his sister in the bedroom. Fernando was surprised to see his teacher standing at the doorway of his room. The teacher wanted the child to know that she had come to see him.
She then went to the mother to begin her first training of how to use simple icons in the home and with her son. This included labeling each person’s room with a picture of the person and their names on the door to clearly distinguish whose room it belonged to. She also began the task of creating a "wall of icons" to be introduced over time to help her son communicate.
Setting Up the Hallway
The hallway is a great place to have a picture wall, a wall full of icons, unique to your own child’s needs and interests. This wall can be very inexpensive. All you need is a 5-foot by 8-foot solid colored rug, or even a smaller one if space is limited. Place a simple wood frame around it and screw the rug into the wall.
The picture icons that you place on the rug with Velcro will be grouped together by category. For example, you might have a food section, a toy section, a family section and a bathroom section. Start small and then later you will build on the vocabulary. Ideally, though some therapists disagree, the written word will be included with the picture icons. The majority of the children classified with autism will often move on from the actual picture of an object (or even a miniature of the object for some children) to the written word during his or her developmental growth. So if you are able, include the written word on the picture icon. Next week: the kitchen
Pamela G. Downing, a special education teacher, can be contacted at downpamg@aol.com
