Teaching Strategy #1: The Choice Is Yours
Can getting in touch with one’s “sixth sense” help a person with autism? An article in today’s Southern.com (Illinois) notes that a man named Grieg Pedersen “wants to refine his skill in Reiki and lessen the effects of mild autism” by improving his psychic and divination abilities. Pedersen is attending a class taught by “Coyote” Chris Sutton who is described as “trained in Si-Si Wis medicine tradition of the northwest and specializes in tarot and numerology” and is a practicing shaman.
I do suppose that a few (or more) of us parents of autistic children would not mind having a “sixth sense” when a child says “I want. I want. I want” several times over but cannot recall the word (my son Charlie has difficulty recalling words: last night in the car he told us “turn on!” to hear some music; we then said the names of several musicians—”Sugarcane? Toots? Jimi Hendrix?”). The way I usually figure out what Charlie might want at such moments is nothing magical: It is from having spent so many hours hearing him request “I want, I want” and not knowing what he really wants, and offering various things, none of which appear to be right, and witnessing him get very frustrated. And thinking, there has to be a better way.
A very small thing we have tried (at his teacher’s suggestion) is to offer him choices: White rice or chicken with noodles? Grapes or carrots? Muffin or a breakfast bar? By presenting a choice, rather than just saying “this is it,” Charlie has some say in the matter (of course, it helps to make sure in advance that all the choices are things he actually likes, if I may state the obvious).
With all regards to Shaman Sutton, I do not presume to know what might be going on in Charlie’s mind. But I do know that just being given a choice (Mexican or Vietnamese food? Swimming or bowling? ABA or Floortime? The Departed or Wedding Crashers?) makes one feel that one has some control over a situation, and that one can think through options and choose the best.
Last night, Charlie chose Jimi Hendrix and sat back to enjoy a snowy ride home.
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POSTED IN: Education, Movies, Music, Teaching Strategies
10 opinions for Teaching Strategy #1: The Choice Is Yours
mcewen
Feb 26, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Choices - just tell me about it! Doesn’t work at all for one, but great for the other as it feeds into the power/control thingummy do dah.
Cheers
Caroline
Feb 26, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Kristina, thank you, thank you for this. I think I will email you privately tomorrow if that is possible, its been a snow day where I live. You have already given so much precious time to the ‘community’ and I am very grateful. I can tell that many who respond regularly here are as well.
I think it is so hard for a parent to work with a child out in the ‘environment’ as parents are so close to the situation.My own embarrassment is often my worst enemy. By educating the public about how great our kids are and that they need to learn (or relearn to enjoy things as they might have once upon a time) how to enjoy the world is a good start towards mitigating the embarrassment or isolation a parent might feel. I know if I were working with a child other than my own I would do a better job!
Thank you,
Caroline
Jennifer
Feb 26, 2007 at 8:28 pm
In my classroom, it often comes down to “do you want this pencil or this pencil?” Or, when it doesn’t matter, “Do you want a pen or a pencil?” “Do you want the purple scissors or the pink scissors?” “Do you want to read THIS book or THIS book?” “Do you want me to tie your RIGHT shoe first, or your LEFT shoe first?”
Not only is it providing the kids more control over their daily lives, there are some real teachable moments that you can embed in these kinds of choice-making things.
And — and this is a big one, I think — being able to communicate, “I want THIS” is a small first step towards self-advocacy.
Lisa/Jedi
Feb 26, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Concerning Reiki… we have a friend who practices this & is also sensitive to crystal energies. She came to Sunday School a couple years ago & shared some of these ideas/concepts with Brendan’s class, & we discovered that Brendan is sensitive to “ki” & also crystal energies (go fig…). He does like to hold certain crystals sometimes, because they soothe him. We’ve also found that when he’s feeling extremely sensitive to touch but needs comfort, the “Reiki hug” works very well (it’s a way of sensing energy from another person without touching them). These things have become yet another tool in the kit that helps Brendan cope with his anxiety & feel good about himself. Strange, but helpful & true :)
Harold L Doherty
Feb 26, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Reiki?
So much for science.
Marcie
Feb 26, 2007 at 10:12 pm
>So much for science.
Utilizing altered states of consciousness is highly beneficial for *anyone*.
About choices, I can’t add too much more except that I agree. As a young child, I “misbehaved” some, but it hit me early that I didn’t understand social rules - so I supressed my will in order to get along and get the structure and stability I so desperately needed. When I was 13, I finally realized that I was “different” and started exploring my choices. It was difficult to “find myself”, an art I’m still perfecting.
Arthur
Mar 2, 2007 at 12:04 am
Hi Kristina,
Yup I agree with you. There should be choices for people to choose whether they are autistic or not. Everyone has 6th sense, it’s just a matter of discovering how strong it is. Through good meditation process, people can improve on their 6th sense.
best wishes
Arthur :)
Kristina Chew, PhD
Mar 2, 2007 at 2:05 am
As a footnote to what I wrote about Charlie and Jim dining on sushi, I’ll note that they ordered too much and Charlie gave some to Jim to finish (in the past, he often seemed to eat without regard for quantity, and never shared the sushi).
Julia
Mar 4, 2007 at 5:57 pm
We offer choices when it’s appropriate.
My twins eat cereal bars (we call them “cookies”) and usually have 2 different boxes open and identify them by the colors of the wrappers. “Do you want a blue cookie or a red cookie?” leaves too much room for Matrix jokes, though. :)
(C. loves yelling “Purple!” if that’s an option. Don’t know if she prefers that flavor or she prefers the color, but she seems happy with it either way.)
Also clothing, if the child cares. S. usually doesn’t want to make that decision. C. is excited to be given that choice. T. has almost always already gone off by the time I’m picking out clothing.
And videos, if they’re going to watch one. There, the question is, who gets to pick this time?
(Books, they just grab and read, or grab and bring to an adult to have read out loud.)
Grieg Pedersen
May 11, 2007 at 3:52 pm
So much for science?
The first time I did Reiki, I located a precancerous tumor on the underside of the breast of the person I was working on. This was not by some vague visualization process, but by a very distinct physical sensation. As my hand passed an inch above the surface of her clothes, I felt a very distinct electrical spark. There was no sound or light as would usually be associated with it. I was skeptical of this myself, but when SHE brought it up and described it to ME in precise detail immediately afterward I had to realize that this was, in fact, empirical evidence. Two people shared an extraordinary experience in exactly the same way. She had been aware of it (”a strange scar”, she thought) and decided to have her doctor look at it. He said, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
I don’t know exactly what Reiki is or how it works. So what? Navigators used lodestone for centuries before the concept of magnetic fields ever came up, and we’re still not completely certain of the mechanics of magnetic fields. That doesn’t make the use of a compass any less scientific. It works and it is of value.
For me, Reiki is the same. Human beings, in fact all living things, have electrical fields that extend beyond their bodies. The observer affects the observed simply by being there to observe (wave vs particle behavior of light as one example). Can we, through conscious effort, cause interactions of these fields and also be sensitive enough to them to gain information? Quantum mechanics tells us it is essentially certain. My experience tells me that it happens. Why doesn’t everyone do it all the time? It’s low-level stuff, background. We’re so busy with everything else that we filter it out like the deer we don’t see in the field when people are changing lanes in front of us on the highway, or like the clothes most people don’t constantly feel hanging on their bodies.
Grieg
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