Autism is a development disorder that manifests itself in an unusual development of language and communication, disturbances in the acquisition of reciprocal social skills and a reduction in the repertoire of interests. It may be associated with extremely variable degrees of intelligence. Our clinic takes every aspect of the autistic spectrum into consideration within an interactive child-family-environment spectrum.
As its name suggests, the therapeutic programme offers a specific service for autistic children or for those who evidence a similar disorder (Asperser’s syndrome, X fragile). The understanding of this handicap and its method of treatment depend upon the cognitive model. Autism is no longer considered a disorder in the parent-child relationship that generates a disturbance in the global development of the person, but as a disorder in the functioning of the central nervous system with a consequently deviant development in the domain of social relationships, affectivity, communication and repertoire of interests and behaviour.
The cognitive educational programme for autistic children is designed for a clinical therapeutic and individualised educational treatment. It is characterised by its personalised and specific therapeutic orientation, together with an awareness of the nature of the deficiency, the particular features of the child, expectations of the family and requirement of the environment.
The cognitive model
As an interpretive model, the cognitive procedural programme for autistic children refers to the theory of learning and treatment of information by the brain. This approach differs from the behavioural or more classical approaches in seeking an understanding of mental functioning in relation to the capacities for integrating information from the senses, incorporating the emotions and regulating them, taking control of communication and language, understanding social reality and undertaking learning. The search for understanding is realised by a close observation of the aptitudes of the child within the field of perception, and by guiding thinking, communications, relational exchanges, emotions and learning processes, in order to put them in relation to the normal aptitudes of children of the same age but without a handicap. The object of the collected data is to install a custom-made pedagogical procedural programme that is appropriate to the strengths, weaknesses and needs of the child, and to estimate what assistance is required.
What does the programme offer ?
– A definition of the strengths, needs, capacities and challenges of the child
– Development of language and communication
– Acquisition of aptitudes for learning (imitation, observation, visual contact, selective attention, logical thinking, mental processing and conduct of goals)
– Increase in the repertoire of interests and development of knowledge
– Enrichment of relational and social aptitudes
– Integration of the emotions in the development of intelligence
– Anticipated reduction in behavioural problems
– Improvement in the foreseeable nature and clarification of the environment
For you the parents
– The setting up of an individualised educational project, definition of the priority goals, objectives to be attained and the strategies for achieving this
– Assistance and advice in order to be better prepared for responding to the needs of your child
– An active participation in the project of accompaniment and in the procedure
– The possibility of exchanges, of expressing your opinion, of being listened to, and of expressing your concerns
– Of learning to understand the limitations and real capacities of your child
– Of improving the quality of the relational and communicative exchanges with your child/p>
– Of activating the communicative functioning, supporting the development of language both in its comprehensive and expressive functioning
– Of encouraging and supporting learning capacities
– Of modulating and assisting the child in controlling its emotions and governing its behavioural difficulties
– Of activating charged emotions for the mental activity and completion of a task
Clinical procedural plan
Having defined the strengths and difficulties of your child, a clinical observation of the learning and exchange situation is undertaken throughout two or three sessions. This observation period will enable the application of a professional view to complete the parental data. The work will take shape according to the clearly established goals to be reached. The number of sessions per week will be determined. Meetings will be envisaged as including the participation of a parent or accompanying person, in order to impart knowledge about the child and to acquire the pedagogical tools of the cognitive education model for autistic children. The participation of an adult (parent or accompanying person) is essential for encouraging the appearance of language (communication guide) and for developing learning capacities. Each semester, a written assessment and a meeting are envisaged, in order to define the new objectives or goals to be reached.