ARTICLE

8 February 2017 

 

 

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by Bill Nason from

Autism Discussion Page

Have you noticed?

I do not promote or discourage any one therapy or treatment strategy. My page presents many strategies designed to help those on the spectrum feel "safe, accepted and competent." Not to change their autism but to understand and support it.

I incorporate many treatment strategies in my tool box; sensory strategies, cognitive behavior techniques, behavioral principles, developmental approaches (RDI, DIR and Sonrise), collaborative problem solving, etc. They all have positive contributions.

However, the central ingredient to my approach is understanding the core characteristics of autism (e.g. Sensory, cognitive, social and emotional) and understanding the individual's unique profile of strengths and vulnerabilities. Only then can we pick the right strategies to help reduce the stress and challenges, accommodate for weaknesses, respect the neurological differences and develop the person's strengths and preferences.

It is not about changing the person, making them something they are not, but about understanding, respecting and supporting the person to develop his or her natural potentials. This page can be beneficial to all the different orientations, not building a case for any one.

My main request, understand the core characteristics of autism (sensory challenges, processing differences, social/emotional vulnerabilities, etc.) and how they play out for that child or adult. Many therapists of specific treatment approaches are arbitrarily applying their principles without understanding the condition that they are treating. It is dangerous to apply non-autistic strategies to autistics. Regardless of the diagnosis you are treating understand the neurology (condition) first before applying "canned" techniques. What works for one child can be dangerous for another. When the strategies match the unique vulnerabilities and profile needs of the child they will be effective, regardless of the approach. However to do that we have to understand autism and how it is expressed in that person, and then pick strategies that both respect and match their neurology, reduce their challenges and promote their strengths and preferences. Tailor the treatment to the child, not the child to the treatment.

 

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