Enhancing Cognitive Skills and Building Confidence

 Inference

He strived to see what the images hid

and read the words deliberately left out

Tried to decode mood by one's body language

Deduce by reason what was not explicitly told

yet there remained blanks to be filled...

in varying situations, weren't there?

I guess he knew that he only had

to look for cues to interpret, still,

I had to prepare him in complex situations

to put him at ease when he'd face them

He's logical and applies his knowledge

Yet it's some work to create the bigger picture

for who pays attention to every small detail

And though you see a mature, confident person today

For inferring subtle happenings in a scene,

to connect the bits of hints and to build on it,

Practising situations of gradually increasing complexity

helped and made much difference

I look back and notice how

it reflects in his composure today

By, Anagha Jawalekar

In the last blog post, I had shared that year 2020 was fruitful for both Akshat and me. Akshat not only honed his typing skills but also started expressing himself.   Today, when I look back, it all seems like a dream. A dream, which I had never imagined, though, mutely shaping somewhere under our efforts.

1.    1. Building Confidence:-

The challenges of autism never ends. Once Akshat started typing on his own, I observed that while typing a word, he used to get confused while spelling a word. (He still faces that issue but it has reduced largely.) He was also conscious about his performance (autistics are much prone to performance anxiety). So, I used to tell him, whatever coming to your mind, just type it, do not bother about right or wrong. And I used to speak loudly whatever he typed to give him verbal cues. By listening, he used to correct his mistake but I never corrected his typing mistakes neither I told him that you are typing wrong. Gradually, these small strategies helped to build his confidence and I could see the change in his typing. Performance anxiety is still there and it would take time to deal with.

2.    2. Updating myself:-

We started chatting almost daily. It gave me a chance to know Akshat, as a person, better and to understand a person with autism. Moreover, I realized that I need to brush up on my autism knowledge to help Akshat.

It was a blessing in disguise that due to corona lockdown, online learning started, and I attended a series of webinars from Amaze CharitableTrust, Coimbatore. It was a great learning experience, especially, the mental well-being program (Antara - Unravelling Me) helped me a lot. Amaze CharitableTrust, was founded by Ms. Akila Vaidyanathan, a mother to an adult with autism. Amaze trust is doing incredible work by serving people with different disabilities (mainly autism) pan India.

I also did a short-term course on AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) from Vidyasagar. They are the pioneers of using AAC in India. It was once a lifetime experience to learn from the pioneers. All these and several other courses helped me organize my knowledge and skills to work with Akshat in the best possible way.

3.   3.  Working on Inferences – An important activity

I was already in Archita Basu’s whatsapp group and during those days, she was guiding parents on language development. I learned a lot from her and used to try the learnings with Akshat. Following her guidance and the resources that I had, I started doing inferencing exercises with him, and to my surprise, Akshat did a wonderful job.

One day, we were working and, just then, I checked my phone. That was an image with a message on it. I thought why not use this image for inferencing. I gave that image to Akshat and asked him to interpret it. That's how inferencing with daily life images started.

In the beginning, to make him sit even for 5 minutes was a challenge. (Now, there are other challenges). Akshat used to type one or two-letter and got up. Sometimes, he used to type a word or two and get up. It was very frustrating. I could not force him to sit because it could have negative consequences. I could see his potential but, was still trying to observe and explore his interest. That's why I had to be patient.

To make things easy, we started with routine conversations. Gradually, I added inferencing on daily life images and discussions on his favorite songs. The conversation is something we do almost daily. (Nowadays, it is not happening that much because of his online classes). Inferencing and song discussions happen occasionally. All these together helped to build his cognitive skills, especially the conversations. In addition, Archita madam guided me from time to time on how to take him to the next level.

4.    4. Challenges are part of Autism journey:-

Still, his mood swings, bodily changes, excessive eating and sleep, and stomach unrest hampers his productivity. A few days, he works the best, and most of the days, he finds himself either lethargic or not in accord. However, this is autism. Acceptance is the best way to deal with it.

 Therefore, we both are trying and trying.

 

Sharing two inferencing images Akshat did long back... 

30-4-21

  

what does this image tells us…

 the boy heading upwards with courage having his fear  on his back. this shows that one need to be courageous to beat his fear. the fear is inevitable but holistic approach can be used to beat the fear.

M. can you tell me what do you mean by holistic approach…

 A.   it means finding positive in something.

11-5-21

 this image has small dot and a big circle. the big circle shows in a person there are immense possibilities but people tend to see only temporary  things.