Managing measures of success
Throughout their period of engagement, coach and parents discuss milestones, which serve as measures of success, ensuring that “lessons” and child “objectives” have been mastered. In phase B, in which parents consciously (versus incidentally) impact their child’s cognitive development, mastery criteria relate to observable evidence of cognitive, social and emotional development. Milestones for these observable steps are again sequenced, and follow the path of typical child development (beginning at the developmental age of 2-3 months).
It is critical that the coach, through initial assessments, develops a “picture” sufficient to determine which of the critical steps of development are, or are not in place.
The Process
A) Re-building the guiding relationship between parents and child
The process typically encompasses the following steps:
At the end of these steps (roughly 3-5 months), both parents and child are less agitated, and are living in a more peaceful environment at home. Parents are able to set reasonable limits, and they are far more emotionally in tune with their child.
B) Building the child’s cognitive development
By this time, parents report feeling much more in control of their lives. Parents and child are extremely motivated to interact due to positive feelings resulting from their shared experiences. The “master-apprentice” relationship that unfolds between typically developing children and their parents, is now solidly in place. The child intuitively knows that when he/she is invited to interact with the parent, feelings of competence will result (in general terms). The child has developed resilience as a result of limit setting and inter-relational strategies that parents have mastered.
At this time, the focus shifts away from the parents, who have become skilled “guides” to the child. Parents learn to use the activities of daily life to embed safe, but appropriately challenging experiences for the child, operating at the “edge of the child’s developmental competence.” Over time, the child learns to respond in more flexible, thoughtful ways to novel, increasingly unpredictable settings and problems. Safety and trust continue to emerge as the child sees regularity and pattern, even under continually more complex circumstances.
Parents are coached to embed cognitive challenge that is essentially a “moving target.” Gauging situational findings against mastery criteria (observable behaviours of resolved cognitive challenge), parents document anecdotal and videotaped evidence. Periodic guided interaction by the coach also support parents’ findings throughout this period.
Most parents engage in ASD coaching between 1 to 3 years. By this time, a child’s development is significantly more advanced. If the environments the child engages in have been managed successfully (i.e. home and school), the child demonstrates curiosity where fear would have been observed. Parents and caregivers are sought out for “dynamic” give-and-take interactions, where “static” activities would previously have been preferred. The child routinely engages with siblings, extended family members and family friends; vacations and outings are typically more positive. Genuine, reciprocal friendships, a parents’ greatest hope, are often cultivated through interaction with appropriately chosen peers. Improved quality of life is no longer a pipe-dream, but in most cases, a reality.
Summary:
Although individuals with ASD are still very much at risk of being denied quality of life, autism is no longer considered the “life sentence” it once was. Since neuroplasticity has been catapulted into the spotlight of pop culture, those “in the know” are aware that the brain can change, with the right stimulation. This applies to those affected by ASD just as it does typical folks who seek to improve their sudoku scores, or recall their grocery list! Thankfully, neuroplasticity itself does not discriminate; but the opinions of the uneducated or unwilling to listen do.
By “reverse-engineering” the process of typical development, applying this very process in a slow and systematic fashion, is not just possible; it is repeatable. In other words, the contents of this document are not just hypothetical in nature, but the means through which I have made my livelihood over the past several years. The methodology is undeniably not for those who would rather not “roll up their sleeves.” However, when presented to those parents who seek a hand in their child’s awakening to the joy of genuine social connection, it is nothing short of a miracle (as it was to me, my family and of course, my treasured son).
In summary, coaching parents to alter their behaviour, embracing the skills to encourage their child to “dance” in response – marks the first baby-step of a symphonic progression that can literally change the lives of a family, bringing unbelievable joy to those who were once only acquainted with only sorrow and grief. It is my hope that this document will pique the curiosity of many, such that this methodology can be readily available to those who choose its unparalleled path. Without the benefit and skill of an individual intimately familiar and comfortable with the coaching process, this incredible journey would be an impossibility.
[1]Raising the Bar with Relationship Development Intervention, Dr. Steven Gutstein, Ph.D., The Connection Center, Houston, TX, June, 2009
Gutstein et al; Evaluation of the RDI Program, Steven E. Gutstein, Audrey F. Burgess and Ken Montfort, Autism 2007, Sage Publications