Reflections of materials covered 11/19/06

On review of my notes from the last class, it's amazing how much information was
covered.

First theoretical counseling methods were clarified. I learned that in Psychoanalysis, the patient is encouraged to look backward to childhood to find reasons for current issues. Behavioral Analysis builds skills step by step by encouraging a person to look forward toward the next step necessary to attain goals. Cognitive Theory explains how what we think propels how we feel and what we do. Cognition drives behavior. Although, I had general knowledge of these counseling techniques, these explanations helped me to understand the differences in these methods.

I was completely unfamiliar with the parameters of conversation which include: vocal intensity, length of pause, length of switching pauses, and length of vocalizations. Working with Asperger students, it is clear that they have problems in each of these areas. Incongruent speech patterns are common with this population and so it was comforting to be able to identify the exact areas where the patterns vary from the norm.

According to the book Blink, people decide whether they like or dislike someone within seconds at the first meeting. If this is true, then kids on the spectrum have a clear disadvantage based on their unusual speech patterns. However, I learned several ways to help ASD kids improve their speech patterns. There are software programs that can be used such as Audacity and Monk-e-mail. With Audacity the voice is recorded. Next, the voice pattern can be seen and edited seamlessly, offering an observable model. Monk-e-mail was referred to as the best text and speech translation program. Both of these are free downloads. I have not had a chance to review them yet but hope to download them and explore their potential over the holiday break.

Another way to aid students with their speech is to use "errorless modeling." This technique can be used with other tasks as well as with conversation. With conversation, students follow several steps. The first is to have a conversation with other people. During this conversation, the student is prompted on appropriate responses. This conversation is taped and the prompts are edited out. The student then observes this errorless model and practices the conversation. Lastly, the behavior is tested.

Our discussion of the chain of anger touched close to home since I am currently working with a teenager who has an incredible amount of stored rage aimed at a parent. The most important thing I learned was to break the chain of anger at its weakest link and its earliest point and to not back away from confronting the anger head on. I have already begun to practice this as well as the self-monitoring exercise of writing the reason for the anger down and scaling it from 1 to 10. So far, this really has worked remarkably well.

Our discussion of anxiety and depression also was very helpful. I actually use the cognitive technique on myself to deal with anxiety. As I head towards panic, I ask myself, "What's the worst thing that could happen?" This usually helps me put things in perspective. Behavioral techniques such as exposure, role playing and avoidance were also addressed. Physiological coping strategies such as relaxation and increased physical activity have always worked for me. We do encourage our ASD students to take walks during stressful situations and to partake in some regular physical activity. Those who do so seem to have much better control of their anxiety and depression.

Our first class was loaded with useful information. I look forward to our next class.