Our experiments with Autism - A never ending journey

  Dear readers, giving a pause to my story, I would like to post a guest post by Ms. Archita Basu. Ms. Archita Basu has been my mentor for the past three years and guiding me with Akshat's language and emotional skills. I   consider myself lucky to get connected with her and thankful to her that she accepted my request to write for my blog. With her constant support and guidance, Akshat and I have evolved as better human beings and learned that, after all, the mind matters.   About Ms. Archita Basu: Ms. Archita Basu is a parent to an adult with ASD. Besides being passionate about autism, she has done Master's in English from Calcutta University. Her core autism education has been in M.Ed in autism from Birmingham University. She has authored a chapter in the book, Lives with Autism(2014), edited by Dr. Steve Mee, Autism Programme Leader at the University of Cumbria, UK. She has worked as a parental co-trainer with the trailblazing Inclusive Solutions, UK, and has cert...

  After practicing and regularly using it, Akshat picked up well with the app. He now understood that he could communicate his needs, wants, and thoughts through the app. Every day, I try that, he can get more and more opportunities to communicate through the app. Still, he rarely gets a chance to communicate with others through the app. Therefore, I am a bit concern about generalization. However, he is now habitual of using it with me, so I make sure that most of our routine communication should happen through the app only.  Along with the app, I was also working on his cognitive and language skills and following are some basic rules that helped me on working his communication and language. In addition, my observations helped me to plan the next step, and reading Bill Nason helped me understand his condition and Autism as a whole. Give instructions as per child’s processing level : Earlier, Akshat could only process one instruction at a time, so I had to pause a...

The Medium (Akshat's viewpoint) Everyday I see you struggle  trying to reach me And you do reach me, but, how do I acknowledge that  If I could truly reach you I would tell you more  than my unsaid words ever told you about And then your questions could have those answers than vainly echo anyway a thousand times in my head. I wish I could show you how a vacuum surrounds me, stopping my voice from travelling through. My actions grab your attention but do not convey the real thing, and everything that I could if... If there was a medium to connect and to share a snapshot of my mind with you. By, Anagha Jawalekar Come, let's delve into our communication journey started in 2015. After beginning the homeschooling with Akshat, almost after a year, he started showing some behaviors like jumping, moving in the house all the time, least sitting span while doing activities, and no attention. To me, it seemed that behaviors were because of sensory issues. So, I consulted an Occupati...

Everyday you see me struggle trying to reach you Do I reach you? I think I do... but just want to be sure. If you could reach me as well, I could hear you out everything the unsaid words never told me about. And then my questions could have their answers For I am trying to solve a jigsaw without knowing the whole picture. I wish I could get rid of the  vacuum that stands in between us stopping your voice from travelling through to me. Your actions grab my attention but do not convey the real thing. and all that you could tell if ... if only there was a medium for you to connect and to share  a snapshot of your mind to me. By, Anagha Jawalekar   How I taught my son to communicate? It is the topic for which I have started this blog. A subject so close to my heart and, I got the most success in that while working with Akshat. I feel communication is the fundamental requirement to know any individual and, it becomes paramount while dealing with children/adults with Autism. Wh...

Discontinuing Akshat's school was a blessing in disguise. I started getting more time to spend with him. As I mentioned in the last posts, I made a schedule for him and myself too. With my experience, I can say that homeschooling requires a lot of planning, self-discipline, guidance and, resources.   During our homeschooling days, I did something which I am sure all the mothers do and experience - observing their child.  As I used to spend more time with him now, I could able to observe him more. How does he learn a particular thing? How much time does he take to grasp a concept? How much time does he lay hold of to process the instruction? Through which medium does he respond best? How much time does he take to respond? Why does he suddenly react towards something? Why does he humm or scream? (Even today, he humm but, now he can tell me the reason). He makes different types of sounds for different needs and, now I can identify for what he's making that sound. (Just like ...

  Don't you worry , I am there (continued...) Let us grow and learn together Be a student for each other In this journey that we share You are my strength, so I can dare No matter what obstacles come Many, too many, none or some Don't you worry 'cause I am there... Do trust me, I will take care By, Anagha Jawalekar Till now, I have realized that scheduling was a must for Akshat. It gives predictability to him, reduces his anxiety, and keeps him sorted. Also, in 2014 we bought our own flat and shifted there. In our new home, Akshat had his room with an attached washroom. On moving to our new home, I made sure that everything should be organized and visually predictable in Akshat's room. So, when the furniture work was going on, I instructed the carpenter to design his cupboard differently. It has extra closets and, each one was labeled to give him visual clarity and a physical structure. Because of the labels, it was easy for him to take out and keep his clothes properly...

  Don't you worry, I am there (continued...) Come, let's take the route those runners passed the meadows the valleys the waterfalls But taking our time to absorb it all  Not like a check-box for each milestone I know you best and want you to know Our team will make it work somehow... By, Anagha Jawalekar It won't be wrong to say that our real story began in 2014 when Akshat left the school. I had finished my M.A. in the first division, and it was such a good feeling. Now, I had a big question in front of me, how to proceed with Akshat?  AFA's training helped to sort out the problem, and as per the learnings and my experiences till now with Akshat, I decided to focus on his ADLs and life skills. Academics was not on my priority list as it was tough for both of us to handle the pressure.  I prepared a schedule for him and started following that schedule. To made him follow that schedule, I had to be with him, and for that, I used to finish my home chores before startin...