|
Autism / Asperger
Asperger syndrome
is one of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or pervasive developmental
disorders (PDD), which are a spectrum of psychological conditions
that are characterized by abnormalities of social interaction and
communication that pervade the individual's functioning, and by
restricted and repetitive interests and behavior.
Like other
psychological development disorders, ASD begins in infancy or childhood,
has a steady course without remission or relapse, and has impairments
that result from maturation-related changes in various systems of
the brain ASD, in turn, is a subset of the broader autism phenotype
(BAP), which describes individuals who may not have ASD but do have
autistic-like traits, such as social deficits. Of the other four
ASD forms, autism is the most similar to AS in signs and likely
causes but its diagnosis requires impaired communication and allows
delay in cognitive development; Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative
disorder share several signs with autism but may have unrelated
causes; and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified
(PDD-NOS) is diagnosed when the criteria for a more specific disorder
are unmet.
The extent of the overlap between AS and high-functioning autism
(HFA-autism unaccompanied by mental retardation) is unclear. The
current ASD classification is to some extent an artifact of how
autism was discovered, and may not reflect the true nature of the
spectrum. One of the proposed changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, set to be published in
May 2013, would eliminate Asperger syndrome as a separate diagnosis,
and fold it under autistic disorder (autism spectrum disorder),
which would be rated on a severity scale. The proposed change is
controversial, and it has been argued that the syndrome's diagnostic
criteria should be changed instead.
Asperger syndrome is also called Asperger's syndrome (AS), Asperger
(or Asperger's) disorder (AD), or just Asperger's. There is little
consensus among clinical researchers about whether the condition's
name should end in "syndrome" or "disorder".
A pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger syndrome is distinguished
by a pattern of symptoms rather than a single symptom. It is characterized
by qualitative impairment in social interaction, by stereotyped
and restricted patterns of behavior, activities and interests, and
by no clinically significant delay in cognitive development or general
delay in language. Intense preoccupation with a narrow subject,
one-sided verbosity, restricted prosody, and physical clumsiness
are typical of the condition, but are not required for diagnosis.
Review
of Complementary Therapy at Charter School
Our objectives are:
To help support the mental, physical, emotional
and spiritual well-being of the students
We aimed to help improve the following:
- Self-esteem and confidence
- Capacity to learn by improving attention span and concentration
- Calm hyperactivity by helping to reduce tension and anxiety
We also aimed to support and address the emotional
needs and aspects of the children’s development through puberty.
To assist the school achieve its Medium Term plan
objective for a Specialist Dyslexia Centre and the Ofsted report
recommendation to enhance its Special Needs provision.
Summary of students treated
Danielle
Danielle was a little unsure and wary to start with but as the treatments
have progressed she has opened up more each week telling us about
what she’s doing and she has started to relax more into the
treatment as she was very unsure to begin with and was always watching
Isabel whilst she was having her treatment. With more sessions she
will benefit further. She’s always polite and thanks us at
the end of the session.
Isabel
Isabel has responded well to the treatment, she has never shown
a manipulative side to us and has shown us respect and is always
interested in what we are doing, asking questions about the oils
we use and is very expressive in how she feels during the treatment
– she says it feels better than a piece of heaven. She always
sleeps and sees colours through the treatment – she seems
much less angry than when we first met her. She always thanks us
and looks forward to her next session. Isabel was suffering with
quite bad acne when she first came but this has significantly improved.
Tom
Tom would like to have the treatment every day! He says he feels
much calmer since he’s started and feels less inclined to
want to run and charge about the place. He says his Mum has noticed
a difference in him. He’s sleeping much better than before.
He has recently opened up to us and communicates well establishing
more eye contact than before and tells us all about home and family
life. Always very polite and thanks us every time.
Rhys
Rhys was initially a little reluctant but as the sessions have progressed
we have been able to establish more eye contact and he is communicating
a little more each week. He seems to have some nervous twitching
but as the treatments progress he is becoming more relaxed and goes
to sleep. He needs more treatments as we need to continue to improve
and establish the relationship but in general he says he feels calmer
and is also sleeping better.
Akeem
Our star pupil! Akeem has responded unbelievably well – during
his first treatment he told us he could see colours and thought
he was laying in a field. He eagerly looks forward to each treatment.
When asked how he thought the treatment is helping him in school
he said he thinks he’s able to concentrate better, feels calmer
and hasn’t had any letters sent home or been put on report
since starting the sessions. He also said that when someone tries
to wind him up or tries to get him to do something he knows is wrong
he just thinks of his treatment and doesn’t get involved.
He’s a very communicative and receptive child. He always wants
to stay longer, always looks forward to the following week and always
says thank you!
Romario
At the start of the sessions Romario was very fidgety and it was
difficult to get him to be calm but now he completely relaxes. He
falls into a deep sleep and never wants to go at the end of a treatment.
He says he feels happier in classes, feels he can concentrate better
and isn’t getting into trouble as much as before. He’s
become a lot more communicative about his feelings in the last 2
sessions and is a happier child. He always wants more and looks
forward to the next session and says thank you every week.
Josh
We have noticed a complete change in his behaviour towards us, he
needed a few sessions to build up trust and confidence in us but
now he understands the routine he looks forward to his session each
week. There is a big difference in how he responds to the treatment
he now lays completely still and doesn’t speak for the full
25 minutes and when we discuss how he feels at the end of the treatment
he is much more controlled in his conversation and is much less
manic about things. He’s also sleeping better at home too.
David
David has missed 3 sessions (1 due a school trip) – David
is a totally closed book and unfortunately we haven’t been
able to open him up at all. There is a lot of unexpressed anger
and is he completely shut down, very withdrawn, very quiet and difficult
to communicate with. His eyes are always open during the treatment
and he constantly fidgets. At the beginning he said he felt better
and was enjoying the scalp movement of the cranial lines but we
feel we haven’t been able to gain his trust yet and are very
disappointed he hasn’t been to more sessions. It may also
be the case that this therapy isn’t the one for him but we
would like to try to convince him otherwise!
Storme
(3 sessions): relaxed during treatment from the 1st session. Feels
that her head is much clearer, is more energetic, she also enjoys
the smell of the oil and the new experience of the treatment. She
commented on them “like heaven” and “that’s
the end of my paradise until the next week” (at the end of
a session) and always says thanks for the session. Storme seems
to be an emotionally well-balanced young woman, independent and
finding her way in the world, treatments allow her to find deeper
space within herself.
Felix
(2 sessions): seems to be rather confident in himself
(it could be a superficial impression though). Relaxed into the
treatment but didn’t let himself go completely – alert
quite often. Good contact, would need more time to build up closer
therapeutic relationship and open up more. He could also benefit
a lot in terms of his physical health, building up energy levels
and the resistance of his respiratory system.
Natassia
(1.5 sessions): Natassia felt deeply grateful for the
treatments during which she relaxed a lot. She also looked much
more calm, peaceful and less tired at the end of it. She was very
happy that she could come for at least 20mins of her 2nd and last
session straight from her exam. Our feeling is the treatments would
be a really important aid in her growth.
Yewande
(1 session): we had the opportunity to have 1 session
which was beneficial in enabling Yewande to relax. She seems to
be well motivated to bring about changes in her life style to help
her well being, and having continuity would help her confidence.
Anna’s
impression is that all four disabled students benefited from their
sessions even if we couldn’t complete the full course they
got the taste of what could be helpful for their development on
all levels. They certainly could benefit from further treatments
as a supportive measure through puberty and to help boost their
self-esteem and physical health, especially in the light of these
students’ conditions.
Conclusion
We feel the pilot scheme has proven to be a very valuable exercise,
which has benefited all the students in some way, obviously some
have responded quicker than others but as we regard each as an individual
so we would expect our degree of success to vary accordingly. We
believe that we have achieved some fantastic results in a very short
time (but there is a lot more to be done!) Akeem’s statement
sums up for us better than we could have hoped how powerful and
effective this treatment can be in helping children with special
needs to cope with the challenges set before them. We feel this
treatment can really help address the children’s emotional
needs which is not possible in any other way.
As therapists we have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
We absolutely love working with the children and building the therapeutic
relationship. It has been a real privilege and very rewarding to
watch how they have responded to the treatments.
We very much hope that Charter will allow us to
continue this valuable work next term. As I mentioned Professor
George Ellison at St George’s University London has agreed,
subject to sourcing the funding to establishing a full research
study fully supported by the University. This will entail submitting
an 80 page submission to the Dept of Health Ethics Committee prior
to the research project starting. I hope you will agree this would
be a unique and groundbreaking opportunity for the school and it
enables us to continue to give complementary therapy to children
who would not normally be able to access such treatments.
Next Steps
- Charter to agree to continue the project!
- Source funding of £5k to continue the project next term
and develop it into an Audit study (we are currently in the process
of setting up a meeting with the Prince’s Trust)
- Source research funding of £20k to begin the research study
project with St George’s University London under Professor
Ellison.
|
Exam.
Therapists:
