TheBanyanTree: Flapping....

[Sachet]

It used to puzzle me when I saw children with autism flap their hands 
and arms like little birds.

But now I "get" it. And it makes me smile.

There is a wonderful book called "The Heart's Language" by Lois-Ann 
Yamanaka. It offers a unique and endearing peek into the world of one 
child with autism and once you read it, you can't help but understand 
just a little bit better.


Russ is one of the children I tutor each week. He's three years old and 
we call him Little Bear. Partly because he has a bear of a temper and we 
are working on the challenge he has with transitions. But mostly because 
when we are doing a work session, as soon as I smile, clap and 
enthusiastically say "Good Job!" he launches himself onto my lap and we 
hug as he burrows in close like a little baby bear. When I was first 
placed on his team I had to find many and varied ways to be a positive 
reinforcement for Russ. That's the underlying essence of ABA.  So one 
day an idea came to mind and it's become a special thing we do during 
work sessions. I call it "quiet tickle - loud tickle". First, I lightly 
run my fingers all over his back, neck and head, gently tickling as we 
snuggle close and I whisper "quiet tickle" into his ear. Now that he 
knows what to expect his little body will quiver with excitement as he 
waits for me to yell "loud tickle" and tickle him in earnest. He bursts 
into giggles and wiggles around caught up in the immediate happiness of 
the moment. For the first time this past week he manded (verbally 
requested) each part of our game - by himself - all four words..... in 
correct succession!! Russ has very limited language and only 
independently mands a handful of words. Therefore, I was very surprised 
and  tee-totally delighted. After the first time I whispered "quiet 
tickle" and paused like I usually do to build the suspense, he all of a 
sudden yelled out "Loud tickle!". Then after I paused again, he actually 
whispered "Quiet tickle".  Some times life is just so incredibly perfect 
in a moment that flash freezes in time.

This past Thursday our center held a Fall Festival for the children and 
their families after work. We had seven teams of three people on each 
team responsible for organizing a booth with a unique theme. My team 
decided to do tactile/visual stuff. We had clear water bottles and 
little bowls of shiny colorful confetti in leaf, pumpkin and acorn 
shapes, along with glitter and food coloring, which we helped them add 
to each bottle to create "Magic Potion". (We tightly glued shut each 
bottle as a precaution once they were done.)  We also had three plastic 
pumpkins, each one filled with a tactile substance that we thought the 
kids would enjoy touching. There was the cold squishy delight of bright 
orange jello, the fascinating fun of "Ooze" and also warm soapy water 
with lots of bubbles to help clean up messy hands in a fun way. And we 
had one teeny tiny little pumpkin with baking soda in the bottom, on top 
of which we poured vinegar. It causes such a cool and rewarding bubbling 
fizzy reaction that always leaves any child in awe. Russ was totally and 
completely fascinated. I ended up using the entire bottle of vinegar 
just for him because he kept running around the pumpkin, laughing and 
yelling "Again!" while flapping his arms in that special way he has that 
signifies boundless joy.

There is still so very much to learn and some days I feel like I will 
never know enough to be the kind of tutor I want to be and I feel 
discouraged. But then all I have to do is watch Russ running around 
flapping his arms like a little baby bird, laughing with such pure joy....

...Sachet