Family therapy may help with the stress that comes from parenting a child with high-functioning autism.
This study included parents of 15 children with high-functioning autism and parents of 15 matched normally-developing children (controls). The children were 8 to 15 years old. Parents of children with autism scored higher on the Parenting Stress Index scale than controls. There were more internalizing behaviors (for example, keeping feelings in) for children with autism and their siblings than in control families. The families of children with autism rated their own family members lower on a scale of independence and assertiveness than the control families. The authors said that parents of children with high-functioning autism may face more stress than parents of normally-developing children. Family functioning may also be strained. They suggested that autism interventions include family therapy designed to lower parental stress.
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Responding to mirror neurons
Feb 9, 2010 by AnonymousIt is my opinion that mirror neurons are the basis of our internal connection with each other. Deep inside, without the interference of the ego, is a network of vibrations that allow us to "feel" exactly what the other person is feeling. The person must be closely related to the subject.
Example is when one walks into a room and the entire mood of the room changes. That person influenced the vibrations of the room simply with his mirror neurons. His feelings were transferred to the others through the subliminal vibrations we can't feel with our five senses.
This explains the phenomenon commonly called "contact high". When an individual is under the influence of marijuana, he will influence the mood, the feelings, and other related emotions of the group as a whole because whatever is firing inside him is also firing inside the others in the group.
This can explain why autistic children can tap a part of their brain that we can't. But at the same time he must hold onto a tree in order to accept that it is real. He has lost touch with this reality because he has no mirror neurons in which to relate. He cannot find that vibration with others that we all take for granted.
The cure for this anomaly would be to find ways to help mirror neurons develop in autistic children. This network, although taken away at birth, should be examined and ways sought in which we can enhance this development.
When we pray for a person we are connecting that person with God through our mirror neurons. We can literally change the mind of one who is suffering from a disease simply by connecting him with God and dispelling the myth that he is sick.
Responding to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
Jan 21, 2010 by AnonymousSince very little information is provided here on CBT (though you can certainly find alot from searching the web) I thought I would add some. I am not very knowledgeable about autism so I am not sure how effective a treatment CBT would be. It would require the client to be able to process ideas and have some basic self-awareness of his/her thinking - i.e., they need to be able to think about their thinking.
The reason for this is that in CBT, one examines, with the help of a skilled teacher (CBT is largely a learning experience), one's habits of thinking going down to one's fundamental attitudes and beliefs. I think that all of us have some thought patterns and attitudes that are not helpful (some schools of CBT call them irrational). With the help of the teacher, the client learns which of his/her thoughts, beliefs and attitudes are helpful and which are harmful. They then work on practicing changing the harmful ones to more helpful ones. Since behavior is largely a function of our thinking, one would expect the behavior to change as a result, and that is the idea but we must remember that we have been practicing our thinking and behavior pattens for a long time and they don't usually just change suddenly. It's easier to change the thoughts first and then practice with the feelings and behaviors until they begin to feel as natural as the old less functional ones did.
If the autism is not so bad that the client cannot do this kind of mental processing I imagine CBT could be very helpful, especially in combination with other therapies. The hardest thing I have found is locating a good CBT therapist. My experience comes from the Albert Ellis - Maxie Maultsby school of CBT that whent by many similar names. Ellis began calling his method RET for Rational Emotive Therapy. Maultsby modified RET to make it easier to use by lay groups and for self-counseling and called his RBT for Rational Behavioral Therapy. While I and many people I know found RBT extremely beneficial and also teachable to others, it never caught on. Currently Dr. Aldo Pucci is carrying on the RBT tradition with his Rational Living Therapy and CBT itself has become a respected form of therapy, though there is no clear definition and you will find many different types of therapists who call themselves CBT therapists. In my opinion, good CBT is systematic, makes sure it goes to the heart of the clients thought and attitude patterns, successfully helps the client challenge and change unhelpful or irrational thinking patterns and attitudes and prescribes practice that will make those changes stick. Again my opinion, the CBT therapist has to know his/her method very well and have applied it successfully to themselves. This is not a do as I say, not as I do approach! So if you use a CBT therapist and after a few sessions it doesn't seem to be working, don't assume CBT won't work. It may be the therapist so see if you can find a better one.
Good luck with CBT
Robin Alexander, www.transthought.org
A magical vacation...
Aug 20, 2009 by AnonymousOkay. Here goes.
We had a wonderful vacation. I can only say that now, a few days later, after I’ve been given time to ponder and reflect. I wrote a blog on the airplane home, but after reading it now a few days later, I think it was a little harsh so I’m doing a re-write. I liken it to childbirth. After the baby is out and you’re thrilled to be a parent, you don’t really remember the agony of it all. You even start thinking about when you’ll have another one.
To be honest, most of the trip was exhausting to us. We learned a lot, which is a good thing. We’ll do things a bit differently next time, whenever that turns out to be. We think the kids had a great time; at least they’re saying that they did now. They were not very well-behaved for a large portion of the vacation. In fact, Donald Duck himself had to break up a fight between Thomas and Hayley at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort. We were suitably mortified, I can assure you. We were, needless to say, disappointed in the kids and their behavior. We had hoped that they would be magically wonderful, since every Disney employee we ran into wished us a “magical” day. Even when I called the front desk for extra towels, I was wished a “magical” evening. I should have asked for “magical” towels.
There were two main pieces of advice that we received prior to our vacation that we should not have taken as gospel truth. The first was that autistic children can improve dramatically (magically!) while at Disney World. I really thought that this would happen for Thomas, since he is one of those kids who requires more stimulation than other kids. And Disney World is sensory overload extraordinaire. I’ll just say that Thomas has never acted more autistic in his life. I was quite disappointed. I’m not saying that I thought we’d spend ten days (too long, by the way, but more on that later) in Disney World and come home with a cured boy, but I at least thought that he might be better while on vacation. He was worse. And his badness rubbed off on his sister. Hayley copped an attitude most of the time which I’m sure has nothing to do with the fact that every Disney employee who crossed her path called her “princess.” I was called princess a couple times, but I know I’m not a princess. Trust me, I know. For Hayley, the jury in her brain is still out.
The second thing that we were told to do over and over again by everybody we talked to was to take a break in the middle of the day. Go back to the room, go swimming, take a nap, have a snack, re-charge the old batteries and then go back to the parks in the evening, fresh as daisies. Here’s what happened to us: We got on the bus to go back to the hotel, and during the bus ride the kids fell asleep. We made the trek back to the hotel room where the kids, having rested quite enough on the bus, would be bouncing off the walls just as Jonathan and I wanted to curl up and take a nap. Ha! So we maybe would take them swimming or watch cartoons for a while and then head out again. So this way, the kids were great for the rest of the day but Jonathan and I were completely frazzled and every little thing the kids did wrong set us off. The grown-ups were the cranky ones by day’s end. So some of the best days we had were ones where we went all day long, taking for our “break” a sit-down meal for lunch.
Despite our “go all day long” routine, I managed to pack on twelve pounds! Yes, despite walking around in the hot and humid Florida sun, sometimes toting a child on my back, I managed to gain several pounds over the course of the ten days. I can sum it up in two words: brownie sundaes. We did the basic Disney Dining plan which included one snack, one “quick-service” (fast food) meal and one sit-down table-service meal per person per day. Both the quick-service and the sit-down meal included a dessert for adults. Well, what are you supposed to do but order the dessert and scarf it down? We’d already paid for it! Next time, we think we’ll skip the dining plan, although it was very nice not to have to budget for food which can be a very inexact science. The food was all paid for before we left so that any extra money we brought could be used for incidentals and suchlike. We actually spent very little cash because we didn’t have to pay for food while we were there.
Again, in hindsight, it was a wonderful vacation but not without its ups and downs. We thought the kids would be better than they were. At the end of the trip, we decided that the kids were still a little too young to truly appreciate what they were enjoying. I don’t mean that we expected them to sit us down, look us in the eyes and say, “Mom, Dad, we know just how great an undertaking this has been for you, we understand the cost involved and we truly appreciate everything you’re doing for us. We will always treasure this time with you in our memories.” I don’t think I’ve even said that to my own parents now, who took us all to Disney World when I was in eighth grade. I can say that I have a huge appreciation for them having done it, and I understand what kind of planning and budgeting went into it.
Also, as I hinted at before, ten days was just straight-up too long. Next time, we’ll stay for maybe a week and get better accommodations. The All-Star Movies Resort was fine, but it was clear that it was Disney’s version of the nosebleed section given its proximity to the parks and the clientele. It was rather noisy and we dealt with rude people a lot. Really, at Disney in general, it’s every family for themselves, and those who realize this sooner rather than later will have a better time in general. Jonathan and I, being pushovers, care about other people’s feelings and were shocked at some of the rudeness we witnessed.
So next time – this hypothetical “next time” – we’d stay for shorter in a better hotel, rent a car so that we weren’t constantly at the mercy of the Disney Bus System and ditch the dining plan so that we could eat (less) outside the World and probably spend less. Everything at Disney is so expensive! I read that Disney will ride a money horse until it drops and boy, was that ever true! Plus, if you do the Dining Plan, Disney’s got you – all your money and you’re never leaving the parks until they shuffle you onto the bus to the airport and drop-kick your luggage to its final destination, and they don’t really care where that might happen to be. Our bags did show up, but somewhat smashed.
So that was our trip. If you have any questions, let me know. Now, we gear up for school! Hayley had her kindergarten assessment with Mrs. H. yesterday and she did a swell job! Pre-school really paid off in that respect. After her little interview, we went and visited Thomas’ new classroom and saw his teacher again. After seeing his teacher and class again, Thomas is much more…okay…with going to first grade. Plus, I told him that I’d make him cold pizza to eat for lunch. So that was great! I feel like he’ll be okay now and that he understands he’ll be at school all day and eat lunch with his friends. He’ll get a recess which will really help him out and Mrs. H. said that he will have sensory breaks in her classroom a couple of times per day or as needed. Thomas was pleased to hear that. When we were in his new classroom, he noticed many similarities between his kindergarten room and the first grade room which made him very happy. There was a chart on the wall for the weather, lots of numbers to count the days and the old “green-yellow-red light” cards on the wall to track everyone’s behavior.
As we walked home from school, I asked him again how he felt about it. I said, “So how do you feel about first grade now? Do you think you’ll like it?” He replied, “I think it’ll be great!” I really, REALLY hope he means it! School starts next Wednesday.
I can’t wait, for my own sake. It’s been one hell of a rough summer.
Beyond the Mask - Walk Now for Austism Chicago 2007
Jun 10, 2007 by AnonymousBeyond the Mask
The walk-a-thon, Walk Now for Austism Chicago 2007 was a great success. Healing Thresholds held a booth inside Soldier Field Stadium for individuals to get on line and to cheeck out the website and to create art. Art therapist worked with the children through the creative art process of mask making.
Art therapy is an established mental health profession that uses the process of making art to improve the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of individuals. Art therapists believe that the creative process of artistic self-expression helps individuals to resolve problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, and increase self-esteem.
While growing up, we all have many obstacles and challenges to overcome. We can either take on these challenges and try to grow from them, or allow the challenges to control us. These obstacles and challenges can influence who we are and who we will become. Art therapy is a way of understanding and facing the conflicts that occur in our lives.
The expression of art begin early in a child’s life as a reaction to sensory experiences. As the child’s senses mature, his/her reationship to the environment also matures. In additon, as a child grows and learns s/he begins to understand him/herself in relation to the environment. The milestones in a child’s life relate to the physical emotional, and cognitive perspective of development. As a child identifies his/her own experiences and the environment, mental growth begins. A young child begins to express him/herself in constructive forms of art that are self-expressions of his/her feelings, emotions and thoughts. Through development, a child knowledge gained takes on a visual form. By creating symbols a child can take something they have captured and tranform it to something that has meaning. Art therapist use the abstraction of art and the multisensorial experience of art to help a individual understand his/her environment and overcome or cope with the challenges in life.
We all wear masks and may wear several in the same day. As mask makers, we wear masks that are both visual and invisible. They can hide, protect or allow us to express ourselves. The face is powerful and holds the senses of sight, sound, smell, and taste. In addition, our emotions can be seen mostly through facial expression.
Often masks are used in rituals, religion, culture and uniforms. Some cultures believe masks to be magical. They may symbolized or represent an animal or spiritual meaning. Overall, masks are a powerful form of art that has been around for thousands of years.
In art therapy the process of creating and wearing masks can help an individual to explore the self. A mask can serve as a container to be seen or unseen. By exploring different masks allows an individual to transform from the present state to a new place.
These experiences may enable an individual to be free to express themselves or perhaps provide an emotional distance. Masks can connect the non verbal to a visual form.