Autism Acceptance Month
April = Autism Acceptance Month
Since autism presents in so many ways (it’s a spectrum!) and acceptance looks different across settings and individuals, let me share some of my own autism acceptance experiences…
While working with a four-year-old who vocalized vowels, babbled consonants, and enjoyed gross motor play I rolled on the ground, pushed swings, bounced balls, and stressed my cardio system to keep up. The result? He was smiling, laughing, initiating wants, and engaging with me for the entire session. After just a few sessions he was imitating simple words, such as ‘up’, and using picture symbols to request and protest. Eventually, he’ll complete table-top tasks, but I met him where he was and through big play his expressive language skills flourished.
While working with a seven-year-old who used lots of scripts, perseverated on preferred routines, and demonstrated isolated play I presented preferred options (e.g., sound toys, finger puppets), allowed increased processing time for him to initiate, imitated his actions, and reinforced the prosody of his verbalizations. After two years of working together he shared space and objects with me, completed non-preferred tasks (e.g., writing letters), and expressed spontaneous ideas. Eventually, he’ll have friends that are the same age, but I met him where he was and through collaborative play his expressive and pragmatic language skills improved.
While working with a 12-year-old who consistently asked inappropriate questions I presented wordless videos on YouTube and single-page stories from ReadWorks, and then asked various questions regarding the characters’ feelings, problems, and solutions. We shared so many funny conversations discussing the perspectives of others. After treating him for one year he was writing his own short stories about problems / solutions / emotions, initiating conversations with communication partners with socially acceptable questions, and thriving with groups of friends in and out of school. His mom still texts me updates, and we’re all so proud of his on-going success!
What does autism acceptance look like? It’s about following the child’s lead in order to build a trusting relationship and then stretching their skills with all the cues and supports they may need. It’s about acknowledging all the little wins on the path of development. May this month bring you more acceptance for all the beautiful differences in your world!
