APPENDIX D
D. Public Environment
How do everyday buildings, such as shopping centres, offices, etc. affect Brody?
A change in routine or visiting a new unfamiliar place often results in Brody throwing tantrums. His distressed behaviours result in me not being able to take him out into public places often. I guess the change and unfamiliarity and overload of new sensory stimuli in shops and such is just too much for him and he starts hitting, screaming and kicking. I guess it is his only way of expressing the distress and frustration he is feeling.
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E. Closing Statements
Any last comments?
I have found with Brody that I need to keep him actively engaged and busy. The additional home therapy which he gets in addition to the school program has helped him make progress and pick up new skills.
Interview 04
Name of Child: Kim*(alias) Age of Child: 16 years
Interviewer: Helen Reeves Date: 14/06/2012
Which School does your child attend: Whizz Kidz, Pinetown
From my research I understand that Autism is a broad disorder with individuals experiencing a wide range of symptoms that also vary in severity. Will you explain the symptoms which your daughter experiences?
Kim's main problem is that she is non-verbal. She does not speak at all. She does understand what we say to her, she just does not speak back. She is extremely demanding and craves attention all the time. She is especially close to her mother and harasses her constantly when at home. For Kim negative attention is just as good as positive attention, and if she doesn't get her way she has what we call 'melt downs'. She will bite, smack and break things. What we have to do is remove her from that stressful situation until she calms down. For example, if she has a meltdown at home we will take her out for a walk on the beach until she calms down. When we return home she falls back into the bad behaviour but to a much lesser degree.
Does your daughter experience any sensory deficiencies, such as sensitivities to sights, smells, sounds, etc.?
Kim battles the most with the sense of touch, specifically with clothing. When she was younger we would often dress her in the morning, she would seem happy, but then later when we went out she would strip all her clothes off and run around much happier that the clothes were off, even if it was freezing cold that day. There might be a particular jersey that she likes but once it is washed the washing powder might make it feel different and she won't like the feel of it any more. What we do is we let her feel all the clothes in her cupboard in the morning and pick the one that feels the nicest to her. Bedding also has an effect. We bought her a nice new duvet, only to find that she was sleeping on the floor because she did not like
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the feel of it. It is difficult to tell her other sensitivities because she cannot talk and tell us, it is guess work for us. We do not know how sensitive she is to sound, but she definitely does not like the sound of whistling. Kim does have a good sense of smell, for example, she likes to smell things first before she decides if she wants to eat them. We have her on a gluten free diet at the moment, as parents we keep trying different things to see if it might help her. It is difficult though because her favourite foods are dairy and bread and she does not understand why she cannot have bread.
B. Education
Tell me more about Whizz Kidz and how they provide for Kim's special needs.
Whizz Kidz caters for children with multiple disabilities who are considered 'unteachable' and are not accepted at Brown's School. It is extremely difficult to get your child into Whizz Kidz. It is a small school with 4 classrooms and 21 children in total. These small classes mean that you have 2/3 children to one teacher which I think is crucial because each child with autism has the demands of seven regular children. I am a member of the board of Whizz Kidz and we learnt the hard way that bright colours do not work with children with autism.
They were scared of the bright colours and it used to take them a good 10 minutes to actually enter the classrooms. Now we have used various shades of white which work better.
C. Therapies and Treatments
There is a vast range of therapies and treatment methods available, which methods has your daughter been exposed to?
The only therapy Kim has been to is speech therapy, which she goes to at school, because her main problem is her lack of speech. It has reached a point though that she no longer attends speech therapy, the therapist says that the muscles in Kim's mouth have deteriorated to a point where she will probably never be able to speak. Kim is very good with jigsaw puzzles, she is very sensitive to shapes and at five years old she was easily finishing 100 piece puzzles.
We have also used pictures with her. For example we would have a picture of a book and the word 'book' written. When we ask Kim where the book is she will point to the picture of the book and when we ask her which is the written word she will point to it. We do not know if she actually reads the word and understands or if she knows from memory which words and pictures go together. We have also tried various medicines, Ritalin being one; she is currently on a calming medicine which helps us cope with her.
Has your child been exposed to any specialized sensory rooms or sensory gardens?
No, Whizz Kidz does not have any sensory rooms.
153 D. Home Environment
Are there any specific features which you have included in your home to help your daughter?
All the glass in the picture frames in our house are gone because Kim has smashed them over the years during her 'meltdowns'. Our whole house is beige; we have never gone for any bright colours because of Kim. We also don't put anything high up because Kim will find a way to climb up, children with autism do not have the best balance, and she could hurt herself. I have put up a white board in the house for Kim to draw on, but because of her attention seeking she will rather draw on the walls. So I recommend a good quality paint that can be washed! Kim has had to adjust to our lifestyle, rather than us adapting our house to suit her.
E. Public Environment
How do everyday buildings, such as shopping centers, offices, etc. affect your child?
As a rule my wife and I will take Kim where ever we go, so if we are invited to a friend's house and they will not accept Kim then we will not go there. We have a full time baby sitter for Kim. It is essential for us because she is so demanding, needing attention all the time that my wife and I sometimes just need a break. She doesn't have any issues with the shops in terms of sensory overload or anything. In fact she is excited to go to the shops. Her favourite shop is Makro, I do not know why, but she pushes the trolley and knows exactly where she is going and what she wants to buy. The problem comes when she finds something that she wants and we refuse to buy it, she then has one of her 'melt downs'. I must mention that although Kim does not talk she is very noisy. When we go to the shops she shouts all the time, people know that she is disabled and I must say I can only remember one time that I have had a negative response from someone.
F. Closing Statements