Autism: Treating the whole child

OUR GOAL IS TO TEACH SKILLS THAT MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR CHILD AND FAMILY

By Carol A. Briggs, M.S., CCC-SLP

CHILDREN WITH AUTISM, like all children, have their own personalities, preferences, emotions and desires. They belong to a family and to our society. So what makes these children different? The difference lies in how they perceive the world and how they process information. This difference creates behavioral and communication challenges for the child and his parents.

Parents and professionals who work with children with autism are challenged to discover how each individual child perceives their world. Can we think like they think? What are their unique thought processes? What are their perceptions? What are the other associated or complicating factors? What aspects of their world make them feel comfortable or uncomfortable? What facilitates interaction or engagement? What dominates their attention? What are their aversions? What are their problem-solving skills? So often we look only at the resultant behaviors, but we must look deeper. Each child is unique, and it is when we understand their uniqueness that we are successful with treatment.

Taking into account all of these differences, parents search out programs, strategies and techniques that will teach their child to learn, perceive and communicate more normally. A quick Internet search will reveal endless programs and literature on the treatment of autism, yet for most families all of this information is overwhelming. It is then that families turn to professionals to help them make sense of it all.

The right recipe

So is there a "recipe" for a successful treatment plan? At Abilities, we believe that successful treatment plans start with learning about the child from observation, interactions and parent reporting to determine the child's most prevalent behaviors, learning styles, preferences, desires, social-emotional development and processing skills.

These are not the only ingredients to the recipe. Once information has been collected, we turn to the family to discover what is most meaningful and critical to the family. What aspects of the child's life need to be impacted immediately and what aspects need to be considered in the future? The plan must meet and embrace the child's uniqueness and meet the family where they are in the understanding of their child.

The last ingredients needed to complete the plan are the techniques, programs and strategies used for treating the child. It is here where we make substitutions, omissions and additions in recipes. We use our skills in language, processing, motor skills, social emotional and child development to make practical choices in the treatment plan. At Abilities, we avoid fitting a child to a program; instead we fit the program to the child. We cannot adopt "one program fits all;" instead, we are trained and knowledgeable in many techniques that benefit children with autism.

Individualization is key

We treat children individually with lots of love, trust, understanding and respect. Our program for a child must be flexible. We know that not all children respond to the same techniques with the same level of success. It is our job to find the set of techniques that the child best responds to and deliver those to obtain the targeted skills.

Fortunately, the abundant research and development of treatment programs for children with autism offer a wide variety of treatment options. We may use behavioral techniques to achieve one set of skills and play strategies to achieve another set of skills in addition to numerous other programs or strategies. Our goal is to teach skills that make life better for the child and family. Our success is determined by how that child uses those skills "across people, across places and across time." Our therapists are committed to search for the right recipe for an individual. Treating the "whole" child means we cannot leave out an ingredient. If we do, the recipe will be compromised.

Professionals who love what they do

Children with autism, just as other children, have unique qualities that make them who they are. Each and every child that we have ever treated at Abilities has been unique. Their uniqueness drives us as therapists and teachers to create and implement an environment and experience for these children to reach their potential. With effective treatment many of the children that we have treated at Abilities are having normal childhood experiences at school being integrated with their peers. At Abilities, we simply love working with children with autism.

Abilities: Helping Kids Succeed offers treatment to children with autism and their families. Our professionals include occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, special education teachers, tutors and assistants. We provide individual and group settings for treatment as well as a preschool for children with special needs. Located on the Abilities campus is a child psychologist board certified in behavioral analysis.

Act No. 648 adopted by the State of Louisiana will assist families in accessing better insurance benefits for the treatment of their children with Autism. Do you know someone affected by autism? If you do, have them call our office for further information.

Carol A. Briggs, M.S., CCC-SLP, is the founder and administrator of Abilities. Learn more at www.abilitiesinfo.com or call 225-292-4138.