October 23, 2008, 12:10 pm PT
I was fascinated with Melissa Greene’s article in the New York Times, talking about the DIR/Floortime interactive teaching method for autistic kids. For those who don’t know, this method was developed by Dr. Greenspan, a pediatric psychiatrist at George Washington U. The method promises “neurological progress” through real-world engagement. The article accurately, I think, describes the role of applied Behavioral Analysis in rewarding or punishing appropriate or inappropriate behaviors. Dr. Greene suggests that this is simply an act of the child learning ever more complex formulaic responses, which, at a given point (usually puberty) break down. It is easy for autistic children to learn formulas like this and apply them to real-life situations. For example, if you meet someone before noon, you must look them in the eye, hold out your hand and say, “Good morning Mr. Jones.” But what are the formulae for dating? Choosing a mate? Even the most psychologically healthy and strong autistic will often end up on the rocks when facing such subtle shadings on the decision tree. The formulae start to break down, because, as in string theory, they become too complicated for anyone to truly understand.
The DIR/Floortime method features intense interaction, to help kids learn these more intense decision-making processes. Here we’re not talking about mission statements or rote memory chores, but 40 hours a week of close interaction between groups of peers and teachers. Will it work? As a father of a teenage autistic child, I think that yes, without question, it will work. The more interaction the better. The more mental stimulation, the more friends, and the more opportunities for learning, the better. My perpetual fear is that my son will learn a few more formulae, decide that he’s learned enough, and zone out to his lonely, isolated iceberg of a world. Anything that keeps that from happening is a dream come true. I’d assume that most parents of autistic children would say the same.
The real question is, then, why isn’t DIR/Floortime prevalent in every community? The answer is simple. The method costs at least $25,000 per child per year. And who here has that kind of cash to burn? The only answer to that problem is to bring the issue to the forefront of the public eye. It needs to become a political issue. It needs traction inside the Beltway. Many of these autistic kids have astounding abilities. I’ve found within them perfect pitch, photographic memories, and startling mathematical and abstraction abilities … and that’s just a start. At heart, these are amazing people, who use their minds in ways most of us can’t even begin to fathom. Most of these kids could, if their autism were sorted out, become great contributors to our society.
Instead, they are misunderstood and treated as outsiders. They are a higher suicide risk, and at a higher likelihood of job loss, marital breakdown (if they even get married), depression, and mental illness. Many of them could and should be leading fruitful lives, but by the time they are in their mid-twenties, they’re on Skid Row contemplating self-harm. Why? Because they haven’t been helped. This is an awful sentence for a rapidly growing sector of our general population. And it’s something that needs to be amended. How? Perhaps a coalition of autistic organizations should go to DC, where it seems they throw $1 billion checks around like bubble gum wrappers, and ask that a couple of those checks come to such a deserving cause. Why should super banks, high-risk hedge funds, and billionaire bankers who screwed up somehow rank ahead of these priceless autistic children?
This is something that we need to change. I think Dr. Greene has given us the first step. See the article here.
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