August 7, 2017
Henri Nouwen, while working at L’Arche Daybreak, said it best, so I am going personalize his sentiment! This is what I learned,
Going to The National Autism Conference was a painful experience for me in many ways. I had to face all my limitations and shortcomings directly, and with my husband and son. It was also a life giving experience seeing my handicaps so clearly and those surrounding me. This helped me make them not just stumbling blocks but gateways to solidarity with those who cannot hide their disabilities and who form the core of our community.
Any time we take Dorian out of his routine, there is upset. We realized that this was the longest one on one time we had with him…ever. In the past when had a few days alone with him, eventually there would be a sibling to buffer our relationship. We had really excruciating times with no where to run! We all had to reach deep- so that is good, that is growth, that is progress! This was coupled with intense sessions of Autism Information from sought-out speakers. There were a few parents who simply had to leave, their children couldn’t take it one more minute. We have been there, but we realized, we pushed through this week and we have all found things we really appreciated and are thankful for!
George and I also had some pretty heavy marital issues going on. Some times when you re visit a geographical location it can bring back memories…good and bad. We had to over come, reclaim as it were, this location.
The last day we were at the conference, we went to a session by Dr. Jonathan Ivy on Token Economies. Having tried Token Economies in our home for over 20 years with varying degrees of success, we were interested in having a whole session on this. He did a fantastic job explaining the key components of a successful Token system as well as why they fail. I could understand, during his explanation, why some of our Economies failed or simply never took flight! You have to have a clear definition of what you are working for and what your target behavior is- you may be trying to decrease undesirable behaviors or may be trying to increase one’s that aren’t as evident. He is a researcher and communicated his eagerness to collect more data and do more studies. You can find more about his research at this link.
Our hope is to implement a Token Economy for our son’s morning routine this school year. I was equally inspired how I might use these more to motivate everyone in the home, including myself!!
When the week was done, we all felt saddened at the thought of leaving the campus! Something really shifted in our dynamic through those days together, we all had to be mentally and physically strong and we were…together. I learned more about my self, as I often do- but I learned more about my husband and son too because I willing to really listen. I learned that at the end of the day, it isn’t your test score, diploma or degree that brings great success or a platform from which to speak, but it’s your resilience and grit that is going to make you stand out and move forward<3