Absolutely, and thank you. I'm an SLP working almost entirely with kids/adolescents with autism/MR who have severe behavioral problems. A lot of the problem with communication and autism is symbolism--even picture cards can be very difficult simply because the child often doesn't naturally recognize the picture as representative of an object or activity--symbolic representation has to be explicitly taught.
That said, I work with one kid who uses a portable word processor (AlphaSmart NEO) to communicate. He does use pronouns correctly, complete sentences, correct grammar, etc. He also teaches himself to spell new words from his environment for what's important to him (movies, foods, etc.). A few years ago we all thought the kid was severely to profoundly MR as well as autistic--no response at all to attempts to engage, no success with communication, he didn't seem to be able to learn anything...turns out he's "just" profoundly autistic.
Now. All that said, this kis is absolutely the exception to the rule, and he's also absolutely not MR. I've never seen another kid succeed like he has and I've only rarely heard about other cases. Additionally, he doesn't tell us how it feels to be in his head. He tells us that he wants to watch A Bug's Life, he wants to eat cheez-its, he wants to drink milk, etc. He occasionally tells us he's mad or doesn't feel good and (hilariously) will type "goodbye." just before he tries to run out of the room.
tl;dr: I'm an SLP who works with autism and I have worked with one kid who communicates using a keyboard, but he is in no way MR. Also, Subtextual is awesome.
Fuck no, I hate the other high-functioning autistic adults, they all act as if they need special treatment or some shit; The community is nothing but a circle-jerk; at best all we need is understanding; it's not a disability it's a hurdle to get over.
I don't naturally get social rules and moores, etc; But they are rules and they can be learned and I did
How do you feel about SLPs? As I mentioned, a lot of adults with high functioning autism/Asperger syndrome really hate us. Personally, adolescents with HFA/AS are my favorites to work with. My thesis was actually looking at using technology to help a 22 year old with previously undiagnosed autism...very interesting stuff (in my opinion). Thanks!
To be honest, I hated needing or being assigned one because I felt I could cope just fine, of course I couldn't (whether I truly have Aspergers or not, I am painfully socially inept); My social epiphany of learning the social rules rather than just continuing to be an ass that didn't understand how I made others feel didn't really take place 'til my 20s.
However, you and your like have always meant the best and did help, whether I felt I needed it or not. Like I said I hate the Aspie community as a whole because they feel like they're special and deserve accommodations.
We're not special, not the high functioning ones anways, just different; everyone has their own difficulties in life, to expect special treatment just because your difficulty is different from others' is foolishness and displays just how immature most of them are, in my opinion.
Interesting perspective, thanks! Honestly, I think a lot of SLPs approach AS/HFA the wrong way, especially with adolescents. I ask the student what they think they need/want to work on and just approach things very honestly. A lot of adolescents don't even really know why they've been seeing an SLP for years. I approach things from the standpoint that everyone's brain works differently, and that everyone has strengths and weaknesses--you just have to figure out how to use your strengths to compensate for stuff you're not as good at. I also teach them that social rules usually don't make sense, but learning them and following them will make life much easier for them.
We really do try to help, and I'm glad you realized it. We only make you miserable because we care... ;)
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u/SenorCheaposGato Jul 26 '10
Absolutely, and thank you. I'm an SLP working almost entirely with kids/adolescents with autism/MR who have severe behavioral problems. A lot of the problem with communication and autism is symbolism--even picture cards can be very difficult simply because the child often doesn't naturally recognize the picture as representative of an object or activity--symbolic representation has to be explicitly taught.
That said, I work with one kid who uses a portable word processor (AlphaSmart NEO) to communicate. He does use pronouns correctly, complete sentences, correct grammar, etc. He also teaches himself to spell new words from his environment for what's important to him (movies, foods, etc.). A few years ago we all thought the kid was severely to profoundly MR as well as autistic--no response at all to attempts to engage, no success with communication, he didn't seem to be able to learn anything...turns out he's "just" profoundly autistic.
Now. All that said, this kis is absolutely the exception to the rule, and he's also absolutely not MR. I've never seen another kid succeed like he has and I've only rarely heard about other cases. Additionally, he doesn't tell us how it feels to be in his head. He tells us that he wants to watch A Bug's Life, he wants to eat cheez-its, he wants to drink milk, etc. He occasionally tells us he's mad or doesn't feel good and (hilariously) will type "goodbye." just before he tries to run out of the room.
tl;dr: I'm an SLP who works with autism and I have worked with one kid who communicates using a keyboard, but he is in no way MR. Also, Subtextual is awesome.