http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/58058
some very interesting conversation in there. I haven't yet checked out the info.
on communication/language - quite frequently, in Tristan's utterances,
there are parts of words in there. I'm sure he says a lot more that is
English than I realize, I just can't understand it. The idea of the
utterances being a form of communication is interesting.
on facilitated communication and it's debunking. I'm quite a skeptic.
but some of the holding tristan's hand in a pointing position, and
letting him point, well I've tried it, and when he cooperates, it's
him pointing. more often he just takes my hand and puts in on there.
His old language therapist, who was also a skeptic on faciliitated
communication was doing that with him when she realized it was
facilitated communication. I'm pretty sure that in some cases it works
but in other cases you are getting more speech from the facilitator
than the individual.
on what little I've read of autistics and their perspectives. For some
of the lower functioning autistics that have achieved speech - it does
seem there experiences very heavily weigh in on their speech. I've
heard the opinions that it's a different way of doing things, and
should be respected. and then there's the girl in CNN's Autism is a
World that refers to her behaviors as "killer autism behaviors." I'll
have to admit I found the phrase somewhat offensive. I'm sure there's
also those that were heavily affected and rebelled against the
opinions of those in our lives. We neurotypicals are the same, in that
respect. Our environment can have a heavy effect on our opinions,
though it doesn't always. I will have to admit that it seems far
easier for a high functioning person to say "accept us as we are" than
to say that in reference to someone who is very low functioning.
on autistics communicating with eachother - I believe it. There's this
little girl - that does have speech in Tristan's class. When I've
brought him to school late, she's run to him and hugged him, and let
him go when he wanted to be let go (I can tell he wanted to be let go
because of how he was trying to move out of her arms - she instantly
released him, most children, I think there would have been a delay).
Most recently she pointed at him and said There's Tristan! and ran to
him and hugged him. When he got on the bus today (well yesterday now,
I'm finishing up this post), instead of going on his usual route to
his seat, he walked straight over to her and hugged her. I was
floored. As far as I could tell, he does not acknowledge other
children. Sometimes he acknowledges his older sister but then she
likes playing mommy and it's probably because he views her as a sort
of pseudo parent - she helps us with him by getting him things and
she'll put up with him climing over her or curling up next to her. The
only child I've seen him interact with without an initial interaction
is his baby sister, but then they are in many ways on the same level
developmentally. makes me wonder about all the comments relating
behaviors to those of pre-language children. maybe there is some level
of communication going on btw him and his sister that I don't
understand.
I also agree that more often the problem is we don't understand them
than that they don't understand us. I'm pretty sure Tristan
understands when he's paying attention. Yesterday (now two days ago)
when I picked him up from daycare, he laid on the floor after I got
his coat on, looking back and forth between me and the girl that takes
care of him at daycare. I bent down and held out my hand, and he
continued to look at me. While making eye contact, I said, I'll pick
you up if you stand up, but I'm not picking you up from a laying down
position. As soon as I said that he got right up and held his arms up
to be picked up. Now that could have been a delayed response to me
holding my hand out (he doesn't always take my hand when I do that
sometimes he just gets up) but I'm pretty sure it was in response to
my words. Of course, maybe he just picked out the term "pick you up"
and figured it out.
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