If I were planning another baby I would...

I am not planning to have any more children but if I were or if I were asked how I would prepare myself based on my 18 years of research and autism intervention implementation and experience, this is what I would do or suggest...

...Firstly, I would have my Vitamins D, B6, B12 and Magnesium and my thyroid levels checked by my GP and make sure I was as healthy and fit as possible.

I would sing the ABC and number songs and other nursery rhymes whilst I was pregnant and once the baby was born I would continue singing these and maybe introduce picture cards with the alphabet and numbers on as well as use Makaton signing http://copingwithautism.co.uk/makaton.php to prepare the child to recognise the name of people and objects. Babies later diagnosed with autism have been shown to pay more attention to objects (such as a mobile over their cot rather than human faces in some research conducted at the Cambridge Autism Research Centre so, autism can be noticed much earlier if you do have reasons for concern.

I would be watching my baby's attention to my face and their likes and dislikes to sensory input (extreme responses to  noises, light and touch). As my baby developed, I would be looking for the signs and symptoms of autism and encourage turn taking, help the baby by using their hands to sign the Makaton signs for specific and frequently requested foods such as milk, juice, biscuit, (even 'toilet' when I change their nappy)...My intention would not be for the baby to independently sign or talk any earlier or be trying to make the child  'super clever,' just ensuring any risk or potential autism related problems could be improved by this extreme early intervention. The brain has so much plasticity at this early stage of development which means it can be influenced how to develop through this kind of support.

If I had concerns about my baby, I would speak to my health visitor and GP and if I felt they were not taking me seriously, (as can often happen and you can be considerd an over anxious mother) I would ask for a referral to the community Paediatrician and give them the links , sections and page numbers to the NICE ( National Institute of Clinical Excellence) Guidelines found on this page of my website along with much more... http://copingwithautism.co.uk/diagnosis.php and quote the Children's and Families' Act 2014 where Early Support is now embedded within legislation from Birth to age 25!

This may all sound extreme to those who have never had a child with autism but I believe, it would be the best possible intervention a mother could be proud of doing, knowing she is giving her child the best possible chance in developing to become independent and reach their full potential in life...what most of us want for ALL our children...ü

The power of our mirror neurons, silence, a calm state and environment...

...I recently responded differently to a child at the school where I work and got a completely different result... The routine of time out and the sandtimer appeared to have become another way to get attention and was not getting the desired result for the peace of the classroom and emotional state of the other children. I sat with the child in the room where he was having his time out but gave no response, eye contact or feedback what so ever to his verbalisations and behaviour....gradually, after 25 minutes or so, he calmed down and sat on the floor quietly, still asking me why I was not speaking to him...I still did not respond...I went in to the classroom where another assistant helped me carry a table and chair into the room, put his work on the table for him to continue and said nothing, sat back down , still no eye contact...no repsonse or reaction from me... He stood up, sat to the table and started to finish his work...he turned round and asked if I would help him with it...That's when I looked at him and said calmly...'yes, of course I will.'

For anyone who is not familiar with mirror neurons, they help us recognise other peoples states and behaviours and relate to their experiences when we have experienced that state or experience ourselves. Our states and behaviour affect others emotionally and behaviorally and so when we are responding to a behaviour which is not useful and not creating the desired outcome, we can change it  by behaving/responding in a different way ourselves. 

From a behavioral perspective, the child was in the presence of another person but getting no feedback what so ever, not even eye contact, body language or facial expression ( I was sat very still -zoned out). He therefore, calmed down. 

Children with autism can be hyper and hypo-sensitive in all their senses and therefore experience their state at a much higher or lower intensity than others and what works for one will not necessarily help another in a similar situation...one example being on a different occasion and with a different teacher and assistants, a girl aged about 9 with autism was screaming and behaving very aggressively at a support assistant and nothing the assistant was doing was helping so I 'broke the state' by screaming as loud as the girl (something I used to do with my own daughter in the midst of a tantrum). The girl immediately stopped and screamed again in my face, so I screamed back at her and she burst out laughing and it became a game until she completely calmed down and the class resumed!...ü

With my own daughter on the way to school with my son one morning back in 1998, she was age about 3 then, decided she wasn't going to walk and threw herself on the pavement, screaming and behaving like a dying fly...so I lay besides her on the pavement and did the same! Other parents asked if they could join in but didn't! ...My daughter stood up immediately and said the only word she could back then 'NO!' So I got up and she held my hand and we carried on our way!

At home she would throw herself under my feet to scream and tantrum so I would sometimes do the same as her or deliberately turn my head away from her and walk to another room...she would come and find me and throw herself under my feet again so I would walk away again...that was when I decided to try copying her behaviour to see what she would do...sure enough the mirror neurons kicked in as she watch me mirror her actions and sounds and she would stop...it was a strategy I learned 'to get into her world' at the time and I decided to try it out as a last desperate attempt when I was struggling with her challenging behaviour...

 


Sometimes doing the same thing over and over again creates the same result and we get in a rut wondering what to do next and when you have tried everything you are aware of, as a parent, it makes you exhausted and very stressed living in this state constantly leading to other health issues. Learning to control our emotional states and diss-associating from our child is one way we can help ourselves, our child and the rest of our family. Neuro-Linguistic Programing (NLP) is one very effective way of coping with ourselves to help us cope with autism.

Changing unwanted/undesirable/unhelpful behaviours starts with YOU changing your response...try it...next time try behaving differently or saying something with different words, in a different tone or say nothing at all, do nothing at all except watch for your child's safety...see what happens...

I am an INLPTA certified Practitioner in the Art & Science of NLP and offer this as one of my services to my clients...http://copingwithautism.co.uk/nlp.php

How do we know Early Intervention makes a difference?

There is no way of proving what specific interventions worked and what difference any have made after the event and it would be impossible to pinpoint one out 'to be the specific one that made the significant difference!' Everyone is different.

This is why a tailor made personalised and holistic approach is needed for each individual child or adult. I can only know what interventions and therapies I used with my daighter and my reasons for trying them at the time and then consider how later research findings relate to what I did and how my daughter progressed. 

One problem for researching interventions in my opinion is that no one intervention is being used with a child at one particular time. Often a child is receiving a number of educational and therapeutic interventions to improve communication and behaviour. 

 

I implemented many, many interventions with my daughter very early in my daughter's life, with support where I needed it, as I am lucky enough to have a GP who practices complimentary holistic medicine as well as conventional medicines and I have a family member in the medical profession to support me too.

My daughter's development was severely impaired at age two and would tick all the boxes for 'classic autism,' - hand flapping, non-verbal, hyper and hypo-sensitive with all her senses. My hubby and I started with doing the Hanen program (The National Autistic Society (NAS) Early Bird program was later based on the Hanen). My daughter had Sensory Integration Therapy (SIT), Speech and language therapy and Makaton was her first way of communicating with us, Music therapy, Portage, specialist nursery, support at our local pre-school, horse riding, vitamin therapy and other supplements and enzymes, Eurythmy therapy and others; went to a specialist autism unit after mainstream couldn't cope with her at age 7 and she never attended mainstream full time; attended a specialist secondary school unit where they used PECS, TEACCH and other SEN support and other interventions as she grew older and became appropriate. I am currently using NLP with her to help her manage her emotional states and her current challenges related to autism....so you see how intervention evolves with the individual, depending on what they need as they progress. 

Back in the 1990s there was no support or suggestion as to what to do but I am fairly positive that if I had not intervened as early as I did, my daughter would not have attended mainstream college and passed 2 A levels, been in Team GB trampoline disability squad or a dancer of Free Style disco and Street dance.

Additionally, much research states the evidence for the effectiveness of early intervention due to the plasticity and early development of the brain at this time and the research I did for my MA Autism had to be from scientific peer reviewed journals to be considered credible. I researched my ideas/theories based on my work with my daughter, my understanding of autism from many autistic adults. 

The first autistic adult I heard speak about her experiences of being autistic in the 1990s, was Donna Williams and having read her book Nobody Nowhere, I remember thinking, if Donna can stand on that stage in this hotel with dazzling chandeliers and be able enough to describe what it is like to have autism, having had no help from her mother, there is hope for my daughter!...I am still in touch with Donna after all these years as she was my hope for my daughter at the very beginning. I have since met Temple Grandin and spoken to her about her mother and childhood and seen her film which resonates so much with me. Temple's mothers ignored advice to institutionalise her daughter and taught her with flash cards to speak and read and from my conversation with Temple, her mothers principles on behaviour and 'discipline' were very similar to mine and this is shown in the film. Her mother faced the same challenges back then as I and other parents did in the 1990s and sadly as parents still are facing now with the education system and many peoples' understanding of autism!

ALL children develop naturally to different levels of functioning and ability and autism is described in the literature as a neuro-developmental disorder but as with ALL children it is how we nurture them, play, stimulate and encourage them that makes the difference. If you leave a seed in a dry soil it will not grow and flourish to its full potential! You need to water, feed and nurture it and it is the same with human beings too...ü