Horse Boy Camps

I’m really pleased to say that horse boy camps are getting really popular. They are running a lot of camps this year. Details in the WorldWild newsletter. Keep up to date by signing up to receive the newsletter at the WorldWild website.

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MouseTrial

I’ve just come across MouseTrial. It’s computer software that aims to increase vocabulary. Can be used for fun or as part of an ABA program.

We’re not running any sort of program at the moment, but my son has a slight (understatement) obsession with various household objects and would probably really enjoy this. I think it’s something that should be at the right levels as well. I’ll try him tonight. English accents too which is a bonus for those of us in England. It costs $29 or $10 for individuals modules and you can play online or via a CD. You can try it for free.

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RDI consultant training in UK

Just a really quick post as I have to dash off to work. I know a lot of people have been waiting for this for a long time. It is now possible to undertake training to become an RDI consultant in the UK. More information on the RDI connect blog.

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The Center for AAC and Autism

Sorry I can’t really review The Center for AAC and Autism yet as I haven’t had a chance to look at it. I’ve glanced long enough to get very excited about how interesting it looks. I remain very interested in how AAC can be used to help those who remain non-verbal and feel it’s something we haven’t really yet got to grips with using as well as we should be yet.

My son is pretty flexible in the way he communicates these days, he’ll use photos, pictures on the wall, dragging, reference objects, PECS, the few signs he has, anything really. He recently produced his first word combination that just about represented a sentence.  Non verbal of course, but there to be encouraged. Recently a lot of people have commented on how much he is trying to communicate and I feel we should be doing more to help him.

I was reminded of this yesterday. Yesterday was a Thursday. On Thursdays my Dad usually comes in and makes buckwheat pancakes for all the kids. This is a longstanding tradition dating from the time when number 1 son didn’t eat anything. However, Grandad had things to do yesterday so didn’t come in and I started to cook a big family meal of  spag bol instead. A few years ago this would have been met my much screaming I guess. But instead number 1 son appeared next to me with a pancakes PECS symbol in his had. He then pointed at the pan I was using. I don’t think he really wanted pancakes; he actually prefers spag bol these days, he wasn’t using his PECS symbol to request. He was telling me that I’d mixed up my days and it was pancake day. I just explained that no, Grandad wasn’t coming in today and he was quite happy. No complaint, accepted the explanation and off he went.

Edited to add: I’ve had a look in further detail at the website now. They use an approach called LAMP – Language Aquisition Through Motor Planning – this interests me a lot as it takes into account of the motor issues that  I believe many children with severe autism have. Something that many people forget or underestimate. Unfortunately it looks a little difficult to access training from the UK. I will try and contact the center though to find out. They also use an AAC device that looks absolutely fantastic, but it is thousands of dollars. It’s probably a fair cost given the limited market and costs in designing the device, but it just makes it unaffordable for most.  They do give advice on funding sources (for those in the US), and there are UK funders available (weirdly social service can be a resource for this sort of thing) but I personally would be concerned about spending that much on a device -even with funding-  without knowing in advance whether it was going to work for us.

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Horse Boy Camps UK

Oh my goodness I am so excited by this. Horse Boy Camps are coming to the UK. If you haven’t already read Horse Boy it is well worth a read. It’s quite a powerful book, well it got me back into horseriding after a 16 year break so it captures something about the experience. I now try and go weekly (although usually I only manage fortnightly).

I’ve also been able to take my son (well three sons actually) horse riding a few times at a friend’s house. The effect on number 1 son has been very noticeable. Calmness is not always an easy state for him to achieve, but as soon as he’s on a horse he’s calm. He doesn’t usually bother holding on, but his seat is very good and he has absolutely loved trotting without any fear at all or any signs that he might fall off.  I hope that horse riding is something that he can continue to do and I of course amuse myself getting carried away dreaming of the perfect bombproof family horse.

So anyway back to the Camps. The first camp looks as if it is next week which is probably too soon for us to make, even though we are local. However, it sounds as if this might be the first of many, so I have emailed for details in the future.

For the more adventurous there is a 2010 Mongolia trip planned. I would be booking my place (can’t think of anything more heavenly), but although I am confident that number 1 son would love a week horse riding, I am not confident that he would cope with a plane ride.

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Hiyah.net

Hiyah.net. Full marks for this one. Developed by the  ex-special needs teacher Mum of 2 autistic boys (one with severe and one with moderate autism) she has developed a series of computer games which can be operated using only the space bar. They are designed for children with limited language and are free, with no advertising on the site. There may be some Mac compatibility issues (there seems to be with mine), but hey ho I’m still impressed.

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AAC on the iPod Touch or iPhone

Wow, was my first thought when seeing this. Proloquo2Go is one of the most exciting products I have seen for a long time. An affordable and portable AAC system. All you need is an iPod Touch or iPhone and you’re well away. iPod Touch’s start from a very reasonable £150 -reasonable for an AAC device anyway. You then take a trip to iTunes and download the Proloquo2Go application which currently is available for an introductory price of £84.99 (soon to be rising to £114.99). Hey presto your iPod Touch or iPhone is a pretty powerful AAC device.

I downloaded it today onto my rather ancient iPod Touch. The new generation iTouch comes with inbuilt speakers, but the older models need an external speaker, I managed to find an old, basic portable speaker lying around at home  so have been using that. When Archie came home from school I showed him the application. He picked it up pretty much straight away and was soon asking for “I want apple”.

I’ll spend the next few days customising it so that it’s easier for Archie to find the symbols he commonly uses and I’ll also have a go at adding some photos of familiar items. This sort of versatility is usually only found on devices costing thousands. AssistiveWare who developed the Proloquo2Go application are dedicated to making powerful AAC devices affordable. They say (probably correctly) this can only be achieved by developing software for a consumer, rather than specialist device. Exciting times ahead.

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The Horse Boy Foundation

I meant to add this to the review about The Horse Boy book! The Isaacson family have now set up a foundation just outside Austin, Texas, where people can bring children with special needs to ride horses. They provide the premises, the horses and trained staff to help you with whatever it is you want to do. They do not charge and instead ask for donations. 

I’d be over there now if I thought we could get Archie on a plane. Currently our only possible means of travel to the States appears to be the QM2, so we may have to wait a few years!

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The Horse Boy

  

‘The Horse Boy – A father’s miraculous journey to heal his son’ tells the story of Rowan. Diagnosed with autism aged 3, Rowan’s parents found life becoming increasingly difficult in the years following the diagnosis. Rowan loved being outdoors and so his father Rupert Isaacson, a British ex horse-trainer would often take Rowan out to be in the open. One day whilst exploring the woods behind their house Rowan ran onto the nieghbours property and into his herd of five horses, where he threw himself onto the ground in front of the alpha mare, Betsy. Known to be a little on the grumpy and feisty side, Rupert was amazed  to see Betsy dipping her head and mouthing Rowan with her lips. This is how horses signal submission and was something that Rupert had never seen so quickly before. A few weeks later Rupert visited the United Nations with a group of Bushmen from the Kalahari where he was helping them with land claims. This visit coincided with a convention of traditional healers. Something which Rupert had become interested in after observing healings during his time working with the bushmen. And so he introduced Rowan to the healers and found immediately afterwards that he said his first real words “green” and “green grass” and became calmer. Positive changes, but ones that didn’t last on returning home. However, this gave Rupert the idea of combining horses and healing and so the idea of a trip to Mongolia to visit shaman on horseback was born, and eventually resulted in this incredible journey.

I have to admit I was reluctant to read this book. Not so much because of the healing, I know healers and believe that they can have great effects. It was the byline to the book the ‘miraculous journey to heal his son’ that put me off. When you have a child who is 9 years old and still non-verbal ‘miraculous cure’ books can be depressing reads. Partly because they frame the sort of autism my son has as something terrible, as the worst thing in the world, and as something to be pitied and seen as a tragedy. Which isn’t really how I see my son’s life. However, I was wrong, this book is nothing like that. Early on in the book Rupert makes the distinction between healing and cure, an important one and whilst he clearly wants Rowan to progress, to become toilet trained and to speak there’s no sense of autism being something that needs to be destroyed.

Rupert has the gift of being able to describe the difficulties of autism realistically but with acceptance. I identified with the book so much because I felt his family had taken a similar journey to ours. From slipping into drinking too much as a way of dealing with stress, to noticing the lack of ego that accompanies autism, to coming to some sort of peace with the condition out in the open. For me the moment of acceptance came on Dartmoor, when sat with Archie in the middle of nowhere I could see that he was getting as much pleasure out of the experience as me. And I realised then that life is abut experiences, and autism didn’t need to limit those. This book is a fine example of that. 

Rowan although higher functioning than Archie has so many similarities this is another book where we seem to be sharing aspects of our lives. Rowan’s difficulties in journeys centre around obsessions an compulsions, just like Archie, Rowan adores the outdoors and space, just like Archie. Rowan seems to get some peace from the wilderness – just like Archie. And of course horses. Archie loves riding and its something we’re planning to do more often. 

This book left me with a longing to make a journey. Richard horrified, muttered ‘you’re not going to get me on horseback in bloody Mongolia.’ I reassured him that I wasn’t that ambitious but perhaps we’ll look at a smaller journey. This book has reminded me that we need to pack our lives full of experiences, and autism doesn’t need to limit those.

You tube trailer for the film:

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The P.L.A.Y. project

I’ve recommended this to two people in the last few days so I thought it was time I gave it a review. The P.L.A.Y. project is based in the States and provides play based early intervention for children with autism. It is based on the DIR Floortime approach and is supported by the founder of Floortime Dr Stanley Greenspan. 

Unfortunately in the UK we’re unable to access home consulting (although there is a practitioner in Galway, Ireland), but we can buy a DVD. I bought an older version of this when the P.L.A.Y. project first started which played on my computer without a problem. The DVD was very useful, with lots of video clips of children and their parents taking part in the intervention. I remember the office staff being very helpful as well and they didn’t charge me too much for postage (I seem to remember they didn’t charge any extra at all for being overseas, although I will email to check the postage rate to the UK then update on here when I have a reply). This DVD would be ideal for someone with a young child struggling to access any support or help, but who wants to do something to help. I’m a big fan of Floortime and related approaches and this provides an opportunity to get going quickly. 

 

Update:
I received this reply regarding the postage costs:
“You are correct, if you order one DVD, the shipping is the same–of course bulk orders would be more.”
I’ve also been told that there are a couple of people from the UK who are now trained in the P.L.A.Y project. If you would like their details it’s probably best to contact the P.L.A.Y project direct.

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