The Patersons

Sorry Ren,

I deleted your post by mistake and lost it, so I can't answer your questions
properly.



Just wanted to say something about what I told my daughter about my son's
autism as explained on my blog.



She is four years old than he is, and notices very clearly the difference in
his relationship skills in comparison with other children his age. She has
asked me direct questions like, "Why does he only talk in TV scripts?" and
things like that. One thing I am really keen to do is explain it openly. I
don't just want to say, "He's special and unique." Because that's what my
family said to me about my brother who had 'learning difficulties' as we
said in those days. But I never understood what was really up with him and
why he never had any friends, and why I could see so clearly what he was
missing in conversations. They seemed to brush the issue under the carpet
and not admit he was different or explain it to me.



I have no problems explaining to her that I am helping him to think
'better'. I think it is better to be able to think flexibly, to see
solutions instead of problems, to have resilience in the face of
frustrations, to be able to think your way through the 'messiness' of life,
to be able to read relationship cues and signals, to understand and enjoy
irony and humour. It's better than being locked into a static system, than
reacting with anxiety to any differences in life.



RDI therapy is all about going back and giving the ASD child a 'second
chance' to develop those flexible thinking and relationship skills that most
babies 'get' automatically. It's slowing the relationship down, minimising
distractions and having a lot of fun together. It has made a huge difference
to my son and his ability to relate to the loving people around him and
respond to their love.



Thanks for your thoughts,

Cecily







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