Our experiments with Autism - A never ending journey

Anger The weather is pleasant again at the end of the hailstorm as it's late summer bright and beautiful  everything else is the same yet the crops have suffered That fit of rage that boils the blood in your nerves and takes over your mind That drives you to aggression to achieve what you think is only freedom Builds up like a storm, pours down and abates Of that I live in constant fear for I have sowed and I have toiled and I put up a fight as I ought to Except it crushes me to you, however, the world remains unchanged. By, Anagha Jawalekar I request everyone not to be judgemental while reading this post. The purpose of writing this post is to share my experiences. Autism has taught me a new lesson every day. Be it awareness, acceptance, perseverance, resilience, patience, hope, or detachment in attachment.   No, I do not intend to become a monk, but yes, over the period, these qualities have developed while working with Akshat. I am sure other fellow parents would agree wi...

  Hello readers, In today's post, I am sharing another guest post by Akshat's counsellor, Suhasini Sundaresan. We started taking sessions from her in around April 2021 when one day, during conversation, Akshat shared with me something about friendship and I realized that he needs some friends to hang out. After searching online, I got to know about ASK and got in touch with Suhasini and our journey started. The purpose of these sessions was to give exposure to online classes to Akshat, build one to one communication and of course providing him a buddy. I admire Suhasini for being extremely patient and supportive with us. She's one of the few who is in this field by choice and not by destiny. About Suhasini Sundaresan: Hi, I’m Suhasini Sundaresan, a Mumbai based mental health counsellor and psychologist at Adult Support Kendra, Mumbai. I’ve done my graduation in psychology, masters in psychology(clinical), post graduate diploma in counselling psychology and international dip...

 Dear readers, today I am sharing Akshat's English teacher, Ms. Ami Desai's journey with him. We are grateful to her that she agreed to teach Akshat. It was a bit challenging for her because for the first time she had to teach any neurodiverse kid and she didn't know anything about autism. But she took the challenge in her stride and supported us. Thankfully, as the class was online, Akshat got use to it. Also, he was attending his one to one communication sessions already and that made him habitual of online medium . The purpose of starting this class was to strengthen his English skills and secondly he could work with another person. It's been a year and the class is going on. Akshat is much settled now. I have to sit with him during the class but small changes are there. Ms. Ami has taught him several concepts and he needs to practice them to improve his language. Ms. Ami Desai has been teaching English since 2000. Currently, she is working as an IELTS faculty in Vad...

  The Online World That day you shared something, and made me reflect... It was time you had your friends too. Clever of you to pass me the hint!  Hence with guidance, I introduced you to the world of online learning,  and I feel it's been rewarding Coz since then, I have watched you converse, sit for long and listen,  I often see you extending your comfort zone and be available at different times than you'd prefer I can sense that you are able to open up your mind there. I hope you make bonds that last long, that recharge you time and again, connections...that enrich your life. By, Anagha Jawalekar It was Akshat's 18th birthday last month. It is unsinkable that he is an adult now, and I have grey hair and wear glasses now. Time flies so fast. It seems like yesterday when we went to Mumbai and Delhi for the training and did all other therapies. He had a different childhood altogether. Nevertheless, we have come a long way. It gives me a sense of achievement when he e...

  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 typ...

  Parallax (Akshat's viewpoint) I know what I want to pick out of all the odd things arranged in front of me... and in front of you. You can see it too as clear as if it shouts out its name "Here I am, just pick me up!" 'Go for it,' you encourage so I pick it up, only except it's not the same thing and it's not even what I intended to pick On your turn though the pointer shifts back to correct place and you pick the very thing As if we are looking at the same set of things from a different space each. By, Anagha Jawlekar 1.     VISUAL PERCEPTION  When I found out that visual perception could improve Akshat's typing skills, I worked on it thoroughly for 4-5 months. I used picture cards, blocks, tangram puzzles, odd-one-out puzzles with pictures and alphabets, etc., to do different activities. Initially, I did simple ones to engage him and gradually increased the complexity. Nowadays, ample resources are available on the internet for visual perception an...