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January 4, 2002           News Morgue Search  www.feat.org/search/news.asp

 

TREATMENT

·        Computers Help The Autistic To Connect With Society

·        Therapeutic Classroom Teaches Good Behavior

 

 

Computers Help The Autistic To Connect With Society

[Another article in a Times UK series, “The Times Christmas

Appeal.” By Nigel Hawkes.]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,61-2002001179,00.html

For those who find social skills do not come naturally, the computer can be a lifesaver. Predictable, controllable, and safe, the computer screen can provide a way of breaking into the tunnel-vision world of those with autistic disorders.

To most people computers lack a human dimension, but to those with autism that can be an advantage, providing a medium of communication that matches their single-minded, perfection-seeking behaviour.

At Nottingham University, Dr Sue Cobb manages a project which aims to develop virtual reality as a technique for teaching life-skills to people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.

“We know that virtual reality systems are good for practical training, like how to make a drink, or cook a meal,” she says. “They can teach cause-and-effect relationships. So might they also be useful for teaching social skills? That is what we are trying to find out.”

Autistic people find even the simplest social situations, such as taking a seat on a bus, or ordering a drink in a café, fraught with difficulty. Because they lack appreciation of other people’s feelings, they can behave in ways that appear abrupt or rude.

The Virtual Reality Applications Research Team (VIRART) at Nottingham has modelled these two situations in virtual reality, so that teenagers can learn the social skills they need by working with a desktop PC.

The team is now 15 months into a three-year project, working with Rosehill School for Children with Autism, also in Nottingham. The project has been funded by the Shirley Foundation and the National Autistic Society, the subject of this year’s Times Christmas Appeal.

Dr Sarah Parsons, of the Psychology Department at Nottingham, is responsible for assessing the project’s effectiveness. “It looks very positive so far,” she says. “The group who are using it have few problems, and are very motivated.”

The plan is to look at whether the project helps autistic children to avoid social problems in these two environments — pushing into queues, for example, sitting at other people’s tables, or saying the wrong things.

The autistic children will be compared with two control groups, consisting of normal children and those with learning disabilities. So far, the autistic group has learnt to use the virtual reality system just as readily as the normal children, but it is too soon to know what it is teaching them.

Andy Sloan, Deputy Head of the school, says: “The children enjoy it, and hopefully it will be another way of teaching them to operate well in normal life.”

For some high-functioning autistic people, computers offer more than a training opportunity. They can provide a job, as well.

Alex Cockell, who is 30, was diagnosed as having Asperger’s syndrome when he was 16. Brought up in Exmouth, Devon, he says that life at school was “pretty much hell” until his condition was diagnosed.

He now works in computer systems at Prudential Insurance in Reading, where he is involved in the day-to-day running of a messaging network and in resolving any technical problems that arise.

Mr Cockell, who has a Higher National Diploma in computing, says that before he joined the Pru he had several short-term contracts and could always manage the work well enough. What defeated him was the subtlety of office relationships.

“Employers couldn’t fault me technically,” he said. “Once I was given a job that was supposed to take six weeks, and I finished it in two.

“There was never a problem with my ability, only with social integration. There are so many unwritten rules, and office politics. People who see things literally and respond with complete honesty just don’t fit into an office environment.”

At the Pru, he says, he has supportive colleagues: “If they hadn’t been understanding, I wouldn’t have been as successful as I have.” He also has a support worker, who comes in once a month.

“She is there as an advocate for me with the company if there are any issues that need clearing up. That means that I don’t get penalised for anything I do that is purely to do with Asperger’s.”

Mr Cockell’s success is not unique. The NAS says that many people at the highfunctioning end of the autistic spectrum have a remarkable memory for facts and figures and outstanding mathematical ability which make them extremely good at jobs involving computers.

So computers are even more vital to autistic children than they are to others. Ofsted’s targets are that normal schools provide one computer for each two pupils. The National Autistic Society’s schools need 129 computers to cover pupils’ requirements, as well as the accompanying software and printers. A donation of £50 will help to adapt a standard PC to suit a child with special education needs.

Copyright 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd.

 

 

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Therapeutic Classroom Teaches Good Behavior

[By Dawn Ziegenbalg in the Winston-Salem Journal, AP] http://www.brainconnection.com/SITEWare/2001/12/30/eng-raleigh_home/eng-rale igh_home_132823_2347811700453738868.php3 <- - address ends here.

Winston-Salem, N.C. - Seven little boys sit cross-legged on the floor, wiggling in their places and raising their hands as their teacher holds up flash cards.

“A stands for ... what?” the teacher asks, calling on one boy.

“Ac-know-ledge my an-ger,” the child sings out.

He is just 5 years old.

He’s here because he’s had a tough time behaving in kindergarten.

Teachers and day-care workers can refer 3- to 5-year-olds to the

Therapeutic Classroom, run by CenterPoint Human Services, for a variety of behavioral problems. Some children throw chairs at their teachers, fight with their classmates or have frequent temper tantrums; others can’t sit still for 30 seconds and don’t listen to directions.

The children are so little that their behaviors hardly seem threatening.

“But wait until they get older,” said Chris Barger, the program’s director. “This is the prime time to catch these kids before it gets bigger and badder.”

The program started as the Preschool Enrichment Program about 20 years ago, but since then it has focused more on behavioral therapy. Now, it works to identify children’s difficulties in an effort to improve their behavior.  The program also offers education and counseling to the children and their parents.

Some of the children act out because they struggle to deal with a parent’s death, drug abuse or mental disabilities, Barger said. Others are abused, neglected or have difficulty dealing with stress. And still more have teen-age parents who are not equipped to deal with the challenges of raising them.

Over the years, as the number of children facing these kinds of problems has grown, the program has struggled to keep pace.

It doubled its capacity two years ago, with money from a federal grant administered by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, and it now serves 32 children. Teachers easily could fill another classroom with the need that exists, Barger said.

“The biggest complaint is that we can’t get kids in fast enough,” she said.

Rochester Damon Jr., one of the program’s teachers, opens his class every day with a song. Sometimes, he personalizes each verse for the children.

“Christopher, Christopher. Christopher, Christopher,” he and the children sing.

“We like you. We like you.

“You are very special. You are very special.

“Hip hooray. Hip hooray.”

The boys beam and giggle as, one by one, they enjoy their moment of

fame.

“We do a lot to build self-esteem,” Barger said. “All these kids have been screaming children in other classrooms, but here, in a small classroom, they do well.”

The program, which moved into rented space in an open wing at Cook Elementary School this year, offers two morning sessions and two afternoon sessions for eight students each—most of them boys.

Two teachers and an assistant work in each class because so many of the children need highly individualized attention.

They spend a lot of time teaching anger-management techniques. The children can recite the strategies by heart—“ignore distractions,” “stay on task,” “when you’re getting mad, walk away.” When the children get frustrated in class, the teachers help them apply the techniques.

In one activity, children use breathing exercises to blow their angry feelings into an imaginary balloon that they release into the air. In another, students jump around to “get their wiggles out.”

Teachers alternate the games with traditional class work including handwriting practice and vocabulary lessons.

“My goals are different for each individual child,” Damon said. “For some, it could be to sit in their seat for 30 seconds. For some, it’s to stay on task or to walk in class instead of run. For some, it’s to express how they feel. My goal, truly, is to plant seeds and water those seeds and have other people nurture them as time goes by.”

Some of those nurturers will be the children’s parents. The program offers counseling and classes to teach parents how to reinforce their children’s positive behavior at home.

“If we have us working, the parents working and the teachers working, the children can do well,” Barger said. “A lot of times these kids just need socialization. They’re bright kids who develop bad habits.”

But not all parents are involved, and some of those who are involved may also struggle with overwhelming family problems or poverty.

One boy came to class last week wearing pants that he couldn’t zip because they were a size too small. The boy’s teacher gave him a new pair from a closet stocked with donated clothes.

Principals say they’ve seen the program work wonders.

“It’s real cute to see the children come back and share what they’ve

learned with other children in their classes,” said Tobie Arnold, the principal of Old Town Elementary. “They’ll say, ‘You could have made another choice,’ or ‘That’s not right to say that to your teacher.”’

The children attend the program Monday through Thursday and then go to their own schools Fridays. The program’s teachers visit them there and work with them in their classes.

“It helps them deal with some issues that we can’t deal with as well here,” Arnold said. “But with a little bit of extra help in smaller classes, they can express their feelings and learn different tools on how to get along in class.

“There are so many children that could benefit from the tools they’re learning. Sometimes we just have to say, ‘Who needs this the most?”’

The program already needs more money to meet the need that exists, directors say.

This year, it has a $502,000 budget. Most of that comes from tax dollars, fees and Medicaid reimbursements for children’s mental-health treatment. More than $140,000 comes from an annual federal grant from the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, administered by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

The grant runs out after this year, and the classroom will need additional money to continue operating at its current capacity, said Ron Morton, the director of CenterPoint.

Morton says he is confident CenterPoint will find the money to keep or even expand the program because it has a unique strength—it helps children when they’re young, before their problems become more severe and harder to handle.

“There’s never been quite enough of this,” he said. “And there aren’t

so many things out there today that are so hopeful. People just turn

immediately to these kinds of things.”  © Copyright 2001, The News &

Lenny Schafer, Editor@feat.org  •  CALENDAR EVENTS@feat.org Michelle Guppy

Catherine Johnson PhD  •  Ron Sleith  •  Kay Stammers  •  Edward Decelie

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