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Submitted by Smrithy Rajesh on 5 November 2018

Ten year old Advaith who is on the autism spectrum and was diagnosed with ADHD has become an adept jewellery maker that keeps him preoccupied and independent. His mother Smrithy, who worked relentlessly on teaching him through structured method, now shares her work and videos with many.

As an infant, my younger son Advaith (Addu) was diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

We enrolled him for ABA (applied behaviour analysis), a type of intensive therapy that focuses on improving specific behaviors, such as social skills, communication, reading, and academics. He was attending ABA sessions for 2 hours from a centre and I was training him at home with the same principles. Initially, he responded very well with ABA and imitation and communication skills, body parts, common objects, function of objects, fruits, vegetables, vehicles, categorisation, shapes, colours, sorting. He was learning fast at the centre.

But after 8 months, he started crying throughout the session. At that time, no one was able to work with him, other than myself. We tried different therapy centres and at last we identified a school, Bubbles, where they are following structured teaching methods. In order to be close to Addu, I too joined the school for a one year diploma special education course for Autism. I did my practical in my son's school and attended theory classes on Saturday. It was really difficult for me to complete that course, because there were too many assessments, record works, and learning notes. But somehow I completed it. The learning at the course was a big help for me and my family.

I have been a co-therapist for Addu from when he was diagnosed. I started training him with different materials when he was 2.4 years old, now he is 10 years old.

Now we are following structured teaching method with visual schedule. Addu had severe anxiety, and structured and visual schedule helped him to calm down. I got best results from structured teaching method and so now I am continuing that. By teaching each skill, my focus is how that skill can help him for his independent life.

Fine motor abilities

As an infant, Addu had severe difficulties with his fine motor skills. He used to struggle with pincer grip and tripod grip, a developmental milestone that typically occurs at 9 to 12 months of age.

He used to be crying continuously while doing those activities. Now he has come a long way. He can perform various difficult tasks. He can button on his own, sort different grains, shell peas, cut vegetables using a knife, weave, make jewellery, stitch and embroidery, cut using scissors by following instructions, type independently for data entry, mouse skills for using different tools, stamp in given boxes (prerequisite for block printing) and many more. Here I am explaining how I developed those skills step by step.

  • Putting coins in the piggy bank
  • Putting rajma seeds in a plastic box through small hole
  • Shape sorter
  • Board puzzles of different shapes and size.
  • Hammer toy
  • Beading using medium sized beads by following patterns

Making jewellery

He likes to make jewellery and learning it as a part of his skill training. He is making jewellery sets including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, hair clips, anklets and many more items. He is making everything independently, with minimal support from us. He is sending items to customers through speed post. He packs and takes it to the post office on his own. He stores details in Excel sheets. At present, he doesn’t know the value of money, we are continuing training step by step.

 

 

Sudha Nair, a customer says: Addu's little creations are crafted with care and a lot of love. When I opened the shipment, and when I wore the sets, the joy I felt was so great. Smrithy had sent video clips of him making the pieces and I just loved his process of listening to music, and efficiently stringing the beads, not without the occasional hand flapping. I feel his creations are a reflection of his lovely personality and work process. More power to him. And more beauty created for us!

App called Avaz

He is nonverbal and communicates using an app called Avaz. Avaz is his communication tool and he is communicating using pictures with words in Avaz. At present he can communicate for his needs, he can initiate interactions, he can express his feelings and can ask for medicines, he can introduce himself, he can send greetings to friends and relatives, he can order food from restaurants, etc. I taught him words to pictures matching using structured files, in worksheets during computer skill training programs. He is not a rote learner and so he doesn't know spellings. He is associating words using phonics. Now I am introducing words without pictures in Avaz. In the picture level his communication skills are very good and that's why I am moving to the next level. No need to worry, if your child is nonverbal or semi verbal, we can train them using AAC and they can communicate and can express everything.

He likes to listen to music. Horse riding is his most favourite hobby. He is a gold medallist in roller skating and felicitated by Special Olympics Bharat as a special athlete.

Physical activities important

Physical activities are very important for a healthy life. Not only that, it is the answer for lots of problems like sleep disturbances, anxiety, puberty issues, focus, attention, etc. We took a break from the busy schedule and went for a vacation. At that time also he was getting proper physical activities daily. So he was calm, enjoyed all outings and slept nicely.

Have fun teaching

My husband, Rajesh, and my elder son, Adithya, are always supporting me. We are not doing activities in a robotic manner, we all are enjoying and having lots of fun while working with Addu. At present after seeing my videos, lots of parents from different parts of the country contacting me for helping their kids, and I am trying my best to help them. I hope this channel will help other fellow parents. I believe that the Mother is the best therapist and acceptance and love is the best approach with our kids.

So we thought of sharing ideas and videos to help other kids and families touched by Autism. For that we created this channel and uploading videos step by step in special education, communication, language, sports like basketball, cycling, swimming, roller skating, art Activities, fine motor activities, proprioceptive activities, teaching typing, about visual schedule and how to arrange a structured classroom, how to built workskills.

You can follow and order Advaith's jewellery collection here 

(Smrithy now shares her experience of teaching Addu through videos for the benefit of other parents and children.)

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