Dr. Elvira Muchitsch
Clinical and Health- Psychologist
Head of the Centre for Autistic Arche Noah/Austria
Problems of people with "Kanner- syndrome" in a daycare- centre,
protected workshop or in a shared living- group
- They are not able to take up adequate relationships to
other persons or to return those, neither with eye contact nor with
their gesture or facial expression. They can't use their facial
expression or gestures as a means of communication. The social use of
language is limited, even if they have a good language. They avoid
physical nearness or show a strange behaviour of approaching others.
- They cannot or can hardly decode facial expression, gesture and
language of others. They don't understand allusions, comparisons, jokes
or ironical comments.
- They cannot imitate social games or show massive reductions in
pretending. Because of that they cannot follow games in groups.
- They show bizarre and inadequate behaviour: stereotypes, rituals,
constraints, auto- aggressions, aggressions against others, destructive
mania.
The description above applies to Danny Muller unrestricted. Medicinal
therapies can contribute very little to change those problems. Without
pedagogical measures their effect is very low.
Minimal conditions for a development in the emotional- social area, as
well as in the cognitive area could be defined as followed:
- To be able to understand autistic personalities it is necessary
to establish their individual peculiarities and characteristics. These
give information about what is important in their world, what seems
rewarding and motivating for them. Apart from that, these signify what
behaviour autistic persons show if there is no intervention from
outside.
- Small groups (6-8 persons) improve the conditions for the input
of information, the use of information and the competence of action. In
bigger groups autistic don't feel responded. Too much stimulus causes
chaos. The consequences are hyperactivity, stimulating oneself, higher
stereotyping, bothering behaviour or retreat. The skill of
concentrating on facts decreases in bigger groups, spatial changes and
the change of persons to whom one relates to.
- Important is to assure a person who is close to the autistic, who
accompanies the client at all his/her activities and helps him/her if
it is necessary (recommended are at most two persons per week!)
- Necessary is a clear structuring of the daily routine.
- Clear rules for behaviour and clear consequences for behaviour
serve the client as a guide for desirable or non-desirable behaviour.
- It would be a goal to have a high continuity of the usual
surroundings, as well as the persons and the pedagogical strategies
that are used by these persons (little changes in the surroundings like
moving of furniture, frequent change of rooms, changes in the routine
of actions, different consequences on behaviour.)
- Single training (as much as possible, the best would be daily).
In this situation the educationalist is able to concentrate exclusively
on the client and his/her behaviour. He is able to stop wrong behaviour
in the initial stages and to give the necessary help and a positive
motivation in supporting programmes. That way the client learns the
fastest how he can have success and he experiences intensively that he
is successful.
- Handling of conflicts: non-desirable behaviour must be defined
clearly and must be stopped or diverted or sanctioned with the
withdrawal of reward or stopped with time-out.
- Avoiding conflict leads to an increase of non-desirable behaviour.
- Close cooperation with the parents and family and a high
similarity of pedagogical strategies.
Autistic persons therefore need facilities that can fulfil these
conditions!