Yeah, I scored a hat trick this time round!!

Johnny was awesome at clinic today. The consultant was quite satisfied with his progress this month eventhough his VI (verbal imitation) is not improving. Also, the consultant was saying that our pacing this time round is so much better compared to last month clinic. We would not rush Johnny and pace our time nicely. Basically, we were in control this time round instead of Johnny controlling us like last month. Johnny's mum seems quited pleased too about the progress. She was saying that Johnny was so much better behaved now and fuss much less. She mentioned that previously Johnny would always fuss at the zoo when he saw a tram passing but few days ago when he was in the zoo, he did not fuss and even sat on the tram. Awesome!!

Some new programs that Johnny has:
1)Operation (just like what Nick has)

2)De-structuring: This is the interesting one. His previous programs and therapy sessions were actually quite strctured but next month, we are going to make it less structured. I'm going to have therapy session in different rooms and also doing more out of chair tasks. He will also be moving around in the house doing tasks. I like this one cause this is something i've never done before. I would predict that there will most probably be more fussing as Johnny is actually quite a rigid boy.

3)Independent play:He is going to be taught more play so that he will not jump or run about in the house when he is free. I'm going to teach him how to occupy himself appropriately.

The above are the new programs that are incorporated into his therapy sessions, beside that he still has the usual 'matching, RI, RL, PVI, VI and NVI'

2 Hits, 1 more to go!!

Today's clinic with Nick went well. He was super compliance, kept wanting to come back to the chair when i asked him to play with the lego on the floor (most probably he knows that he will get his reinforcer only when he works with me on the chair). As usual, if a clinic went well, it also means that there are going to be lots more new programs for him too. And it also means that i've to prepare tons of materials for it too. I'm fine with that as long as the the kids are progressing and improving.

Some of his new programs are "Functions" whereby he has to tell me what are spoon, pillow, blanket, chair used for. There is a new program on "category" too. I think i don't have to tell you guys what category is. Basically, he is going to learn the different categories ie, transport, fruits, clothes, furniture. These are the 2 main new programs that he's going to have next month. And for next month, he will also be taught more on listening to longer receptive instruction (RI) ie Can i have the blue lego that is on the chair VS can i have the red lego under the chair? So RI is to train him to be attentive and listen to the instruction. If he's not paying attention, it's highly unlikely that he can get the thing i want.

There is a prgram on "preposition" too, teaching what is 'under', 'on','beside' and etc. Basically, i'm going to teach him to generalise, to understand and know it when there are being used at different situations or environment with different people.

So as you can see, there are really quite alot of new programs next month. I think that Nick will most probably act out quite abit cause we are starting to push him more these days as we think that he can actually do it with the right teaching methods, breaking the parts down (ABA and Discrete Trial Teaching).

Ok, 2 down, 1 more to go. Just going to keep my fingers cross and hope that Johnny's clinic tomorrow is going to be good too=)

Ivan's clinic went on well=)

Ivan's clinic session went pretty well today. He was so much better compared to last month clinic. I still can remember that he was giggling away and was so shy when he saw strangers in the clinic. Today, he did giggle a bit but definitely lesser as compared to last month and also he was so much compliance. His parents too were pretty happy about how he performed today at clinic. However, eventhough he did improve, i cant really see him passing his PSLE this year. This is actually his third attempt. I just feel that his parents have to wake up and realise that it's impossible for him to pass that unless miracle do happen (i wish it'll happen)

Anyway, after the clinic session, we have a long discussion. More new programs will be added to his current programs. Also, he is going to be taught toileting (ok, it may seem weird to regular people and some may be wondering " what, need to train people to toilet properly". Hey, they are not regular kids and sometime we often take things for granted especially all these simple things)It is going to be a challenge for both me and him but we will definitely succeed. Also, there are going to be program teaching him to be more focus, more attentive and not to get distracted easily. I'm getting so excited just by typing all these programs that i'm going to do next month. Look out for these people!! I'm going to talk more when it comes and let us all see him progress=)

A typical session

Some of you may be wondering how does a normal session with an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) kids goes. You don't have to wonder now cause i'm going to tell you now. This may be different from other therapists who use other techiniques or teaching method. For me, i'm specialise in ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) and in order for ABA to work, the most important thing is to have a strong reinforcers (something that the kids would want it so much that he's willing to listen and work with you to get it). If you do not have any good reinforcers and are not working to establish them, you might as well go home. The reason is that the kids would not be motivated to work for you. This is common sense right? In our life, we are always motivated by intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. For example, we work in a job because we know that at the end of the month we will be able to get paid. This is what motivates us. For some, it may be that they enjoys doing the task so much that it is an intrinsic motivation. So in fact, ABA can be applied in every situation not just to ASD kids, i personally feel that it will work as good or even better for regular kids.

Ok, so let tell you how a typical session will be like. It will consist of work and play and CT (communication temptation). I will talk about CT next time. Normally, a play will take up 60% of the session. You must be wondering why I cater such a large amount of time on play. Obviously there are reasons for this. We all know that ASD kids lack the social skills. They would rather be alone than play with others. Often, they have stimming such as flapping of hands, stim on writing, verbal stimming and even spinning. Basically, they don't know how to occupy themselves during their free time so i'm teaching them play so that they will play appropriate instead of stimming.

Also, as they lack the social skill, I'm teaching them social play too so that they can play with others. Social play like catch a tail, catching, finger games, boardgames are all good for teaching social play. The most important thing is to make them enjoy it so much that they want to play it and play with others. One must always remember that it's a play that we are teaching so the objective is always for the kids to like it. If the kids hate it, he will never play the games with others eventhough he knows how to play it.

40% will be work which includes expressive label, receptive label, receptive instruction, material imitation, non verbal imitation, verbal imitation, attributes, describing, in fact the list goes on. It all depends on the kids, no two kids have the same exact programs. The programs are specifically cater to each individual. As for older kids, I'm using teaching interaction. It is totally different from the young kids, they are taught by giving them rationale to make them think of it. Yup, that's the typical session of 3 hours=)

Compliance + No Fussing = Superb Session!! (Session 2&3)

Had Nick on Friday and Saturday, he was awesome. As you can read from the title, he was totally compliance and there was no fussing at all even at his own house on Saturday. I did alot of play programs woth him today. We played the air slammer, remote car, V-smile, dart, soccer. I can dare say that he enjoyed all of the plays.And somehow, i have this feeling that i can connect much better with him. He seems to know that i'm actually there to help him so nowadays, he didnt scratch me as much (actually no more scratching for 3 consecutive sessions)

Another thing i observed about him is that he likes to read alot, especially books with lots of picture. Books and magazines are actually his reinforcers. Behaviour wise, i'm hearing less of "i want to wee wee" these days. I still can recalled that when i first started out, he would keep saying "i want to wee wee" non stop. He would say this when he wanted to avoid the tasks or when he become stressed. However, these days when he said that, he really meant going to wee wee and not to avoid the task. I really like the feeling when these kids actually don't mind you being there for them and in fact, enjoys my accompany. Yeah=)

AS for now, i just want to enjoy my session with every kids that i have. ABA is really a good method, i can see that it really works on these kids. My only wish for them is that they will be indistinguishable from regular kids one day (this is a wish that all people who work with ASD kids have)

Ivan Session 1

Ivan was cool on Friday. He was compliance, had no difficulty listening to me. His reinforcer was actually going to the parks and playing Blokus (a cool boardgame). He got all the ticks to have both reinforcer. As he is a much older kid, I'm trying to develop his interest. He has programs on that

Reading magazine- This is one of it that i'm developing. He seems interested in reading magazine especially on friday as i brought 3 new magazines for him. He even asked me whether he could read it during the weekends. I'm really glad that he enjoys reading it.

Mazes- This is another one of the program in developing interest. He has to go through the maze without touching the boundaries. It may seems easy for regular kid but this is actually quite difficulty for him as he dont really understand that he cannot draw across them.

Word Search- I'm now teaching him to search for only horizontal words. He was pretty good at this on Friday. Keep it up!!

As for his play, i'm teaching him to play Connect4, Monopoly, Scrabble, Blokus. He just have to throw the dice and move for Monopoly. He couldnt really move according to the number on the dice. Sometimes, he may even count the number on the dice wrongly but it's ok cause i know that he will be able to do it someday. As for Connect4, i'm just teaching him to make 4 horizontally and vertically now. He is quite good at it, most probably i can move on to other soon. For now, he just has to get 7 letters for Scrabble.

As i had mentioned earlier, he is studying in a mainstream school. Because of this, i've to teach him how to do some independent work. He has to start immediately, do it quietly, nicely and give it to me when he finishes. If he is able to do all these, he can get all his stars and play his favourite game (Blokus). He was awesome today, managed to get all the stars and played Blokus

we did conversation on Friday too. He has to ask appropriate questions instead of asking questions that he already knew. He was good at this too. In fact, I think that he was really good with all the programs yesterday. Awesome=)

Johnny Session 1

Everything went well today with Johnny. His behaviour and engagement were awesome!! There was no fussing. I did quite a few programs with him

Receptive instruction (RI)- He has to listen to my instruction ie "stand up", "turn around" and "sit down". He has already mastered both "stand up" and "turn around" so i'm teaching him "sit down", in fact i think that he can do pretty well with sitting down. He should have no problem mastering it in few more sessions.

As for play, I'm teaching him to kick the ball into the goal post and roll snake using the playdoh. He was grat at kicking ball into the goal. For playdoh, he tends to play it the wrong way (as in not regular kid would play). He just pressed the playdoh and that's it. So i'm teaching him to roll it into snake. He seems to understand rolling it as he was able to it by himself after a few prompted trials.

Verbal Imitation (VI)- This is a program which he has great difficulty. As he cant speak now, I'm teaching to make some sound. He is able to make "Baa" and "Aaa" but "Eee" is really hard for him and he oftens get fustrated when he couldnt make the "Eee" sound. But the good thing is that i know that he's trying and i believe that he'll definitely make the sound one day. I need to be patient=)

Matching- This is something that he is really good at. I'm teaching him now to match the word to the picture ie the word "bicycle" to the picture "bicycle". He already can match "apple", "chips", "strawberry" and "cap"

Receptive Label (RL)- This is the next step after matching. He has to know the name of the objects. This is actually a form of building his vocabulary. He's quite good with this too (In fact, i believe that ASD kids are actually as smart as regular kids however the only problem is that they lack the social and communication skill to communicate with us).

So as you can see, Johnny is really improving and everytime i saw him smile, it really light up my life too=) Tomorrow i'm going to have session with Nick and Ivan, hope that i'll be enjoying the session just like today.

We are afterall the same, why treat them differently

i was quite distressed today when one of my fellow therapists called me and told me about Ivan. He told me that Ivan was not at his usual self during therapy today. There was actually time during the session that Ivan covered his head and was going to cry. When the therapist asked him what happened, he told the therapist that he was bullied in school. His school mates hit his head on the wall and slapped him. I was really quite pissed off when i heard that. How could they do such a thing to Ivan? That's the thing about putting an ASD kid in a mainstream school with the regular kids. The worst thing is that he is in EM3, the place where all the hooligans are. I really feel sad for Ivan. It's really sad that he has ASD and now instead of treating him better, these kids are making fun of him. He is not an "object", he is like one of us, human who needs the love, care and concern from others. Why must we treat them differently? Sometimes, i just cant understand what have this world become. It seems that humans are getting emotionless these days. And what are the teachers in the school doing? I'm just wondering....

Ivan Introduction

Hey, i has one more kid called Ivan (not real name). He is an older kid, hence his behaviour is much more worse than the others. He tends to giggle and laugh for no reason (this is one of the behaviour that i'm tackling, a challenging one though) Also, he will hit and throw things at people sometime. As you can see from his behaviour, he is not really that compliance. And the sad thing about him is that he doesnt have any hobby (as a result, he doesnt know how to spend his own time), so we actually have a program to develop his interest in activities like reading magazine, playing computer, playing boardgame and listening to music. He seems to like reading magazine and Blokus is one his favourite boardgame.

I'm also teaching him how to have a proper conversation with others (cause he tends to ask questions that he already knew and kept repeating it) and also to talk slowly (he tends to talk very fast). He doesnt have much programs yet but i believe that he will definitely improve and learn more things=)

Johnny Session 0

Ok, tomorrow i'll be having session with Johnny (not real name). I saw him today. He was pretty good except for some short period of fussing during the session. He used to cry alot when i first had him but his behaviour is better now even though he still cries occasionally. (As one can see, these kids all behave pretty bad at first but have all improved after the therapy begins). Johnny cant really talk, however he can make some sounds. We teaching him to make some "verbal imitation" ie Aaa, Eee, Baa. This will later lead him to say some proper word. I really hope that one day he will call my name=). Anyway, he's a smart kid. He has learnt quite a few words ie ball, car, playdoh. (once again, this is considered to be easy for a regular kid but not to someone with ASD). Also he has learnt to understand basic instruction like "stand up", "clap hands" and "turn around" Overall, he is improving and less rigid these days. Hope that i'll have a great session with him tomorrow.

Nick Session1

This is actually not nick's first session with me. I have been working with him for about 2 months and i can see that he has actually inproved quite a bit since i first saw him. I still can remember that at our first meeting, he actually was super non compliance. He would not listen to the instruction that i gave to him and he also scratched me too. However, his complaince now is defintely so much better now. He has no problem listen to me and scratches me less too.

I did a few programs with him today and taught him to play quite a few games. He likes the remote control car. He is now able to make the car move forward and backward. I'm impressed!! Ok, you may think it's an easy task but definitely not when the kid is autistic. So it's really nice to see that he enjoyed doing it. He was doing pretty good with the air slammer too, able to slam the disc to the goal ( basically, the plays are broken down into small parts so that these kids can learn it step by step. remember that they are not our regular kids so special attention and patient are needed to teach them and it's not always easy)

I was surprised today that he could say "What is it?" when i asked him something that he didn't know. It's such a wonderful feeling. I literally smile when he said that without me prompting (in ABA, we did quite a lots of prompting especially for programs in which the kids have difficulty).

I also did "operation + object" ie give xxx, shake xxx. He was super good with that. The function of this program is basically for him to listen attentively so that he can get the object and do the action. Overall, the session went on super well!! Keep it up Nick=)

All about the kids

This blog is totally about my sessions with the kids that i'm working with. I'm working as a child therapist dealing with autistic kids. I use ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis) technique to help them on their social skill, communication skill. You will definitely know more about the approach and how i use ABA on the kids as time goes by.I'm going to update every session that i had with them, telling you guys about the progress and maybe my thoughts and feeling after each session. Basically, it's like a journey to see how they have grown (and also me) through all the programs that i have with them. Remember that this is a learning process. I'm learning alot from them too, these kids are teaching me so many things every session