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CONTEXT-BASED AUTISM INFORMATION: Models as Maps and Autism Expertise
There is a myth in the world of Autism, that if one looks hard enough, travels far enough, or spends enough money one can find a real Autism expert. There is a very good reason why this may be a falsehood, and yet there may be ways to make the expertise you are seeking more available, affordable and access-able from right where you live.
What is an Autism Expert and What is the best way to Find One?
Experts are people working in a given field of study who can fully define, competently explain, reliably predict, and effectively influence a person's biological condition and social situation in ways that causes them to return to an ideal state. In the world of Autism we have no experts, and most likely will not have any soon--no matter how we try. We cannot yet fully describe the nature of Autism fully in any one individual, let alone across the full spectrum. We cannot yet explain it well or easily in ways that let us quickly function in competent ways. We cannot predict what causes it, who it will happen to, when it begins to happen in a person, or what the short, let alone longterm outcome for anyone person will be. While we have methods that have shown to positively influence the behavior and developmental of people with Autism, there is no method that can be matched to any and all persons with Autsim and cure all the features of Autism and return a person to the ideal of typical more able development. The other important aspect of this reality is that our group is so complex and hetergeneous in its causes and presentation of Autism, it is unlikely that any one person will ever be able to become an expert by this definition. Therefore, people with Autism and our families must live, work, and cope without access to an expert in Autism. There will just be all of us, with our varying levels and different kinds of adult provider expertise: Professionals with our differing bases of established theories about Autism, our chosen practice models, and our professional experience; and, Parents who always know our individual child the best as we walk this hard road together, often learning a great deal about Autism and the intervention models we choose as we travel along that path. This is why it is important to respect each other's expertise. Because for our community it is the real resource of very credible expertise we have available right here and right now. The trick is to find each other. Use our model RESOURCE guides to help.
Expertise is the set of knowledge, awareness, skills and abilities that let us FIRST define problems accurately and THEN to develop related solutions based on available best practices. Research in Cognitive Psychology has shown that EXPERTS have the same basic problem SOLVING skill levels as NON-EXPERTS. YES! This finding stunned researchers.
Experts have proven to have the same problems solving skills as lay persons, but much greater problem DEFINING skills than others in their same situation/field of study. We all know this: “Once a problem is clearly and correctly defined many possible solutions become self-evident." Becoming able to accurately define the problems we must face in Autism will lead to us be more knowledgeable, competent, open-minded, flexible, and creative solutions that better match us and help us effectively promote everyone’s potentials. Having a model that is grounded in well-established research that has been peer-reviewed and lived and worked with in the real world is key. One of the most dangerous things a family or service provider can do is to believe they can invent the wheel all by themselves, without building their Autism programs on a strong intervention model. This has shown to put everyone at life long risk.
What is an Autism Intervention Model and What Makes it a Best Practices Approach?
A model helps us learn best practice methods for problem defining in relatioin to Autism. Well-researched models let us all think more accurately & efficiently about Autism by providing us with descriptions of the condition and explanations of the reality it creates as well as ways to both predict events and influence outcomes.
ROAD TO SUCCESS: USE A SHARED MODEL IN A TEAM APPROACH
We can then pick models that we feel will best match our conditions and situations. Then our experience of Autism is transformed from a negative loss to a positive path in life. So when a team SHARES a model of this complex condition and effective intervention options, research shows we are all immediately empowered in the face of the serious mutual impacts of Autism.
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Researched Models of Best Autism Practices are well-established and organized systems that provide us with:
•Labels and definitions for the features of Autism and elements of its impacts that we can use to DESCRIBE our reality;
•Principles that EXPLAIN the relationships between those features and elements, thereby creating flexible concepts that let us define problems timely and accurately, rather than simple rigid rules for what solutions should always be;
•The discipline of applying a proven foundational philosophy that functions as a guide for creating goals that can PREDICT both positive and negative outcomes of the methods we may choose to use or not use;
•Positive, proactive, principled, and productive best Autism practice methods provide us with systematic methods and use-able practical tools that are proven to help us INFLUENCE the learning and independent functional behavior of people with and without Autism in relation to each other. (These will follow from any foundational philosophy you select)
•Authentically inclusive models must also relate well to our individual CONDITIONS and the functional REALITIES we are facing and our community SITUATIONS and the cultural EXPERIENCES they create. They must then provide us with available and use-able resources and affordable and value-able systems of meaning making between people with and without Autism. When we have these elements of a model together our needs get met and we can all expect to reach our optimum developmental potentials together. That is the most that life can offer anyone and everyone.
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The lack of a reality-based, problem-matched, well-established and inclusive model of intervention can lead to risk of harm due to poor organization of best Autism practice approaches. Research consistently shows that the lack of well-designed and well-matched model results in more negative behavior in the child AND family AND service providers. (The Structured Teaching model that Threshold uses is only one, albeit a comprehensive, philosophical approach and intervention model. It is not THE ONE True Faith in Autism practices. You can see the green links in the intervention row to learn about others>)
See the INTERVENTIONS column for a discussed of specific models and contact resources and sources.
A.D.A.P.T.™ Training Series. Copyright © 2000-03 by Sharone Lee. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. All names, concepts, methods, materials, products and publications are protected by trademark and copyright, and no part of this text or this web page may be reproduced or distributed in any manner, for any purpose, including educational purposes, without express written consent from: THRESHOLD • SALEM, OREGON • 503-375-9462 • sharone@understandingautism.org. Portions originally published in the 1999 Fall Issue and 2002 Complimentary Edition of The Net Journal of the Autism Society of Oregon, with the Author's permission.
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