Rapid Prompting Method Video

[el0fant]

As for the \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=1373&threadid=175289\Autism Every Day} thread, I see what you mean, Jimjams. I say things in front of my likely NT 2 year old that I probably shouldn't as well.

And I can see that the film is good at showing some of the behaviors that a parent of a young child with Autism needs to cope with every day.

But what the mom says is an extreme thing to say in front of her child, and it makes me sad for the girl if she understands anything, which is pretty hard to tell from the video. I think this is a great \link{http://www.halo-soma.org/learning_videos.php?sess_id=6472b2b147b022221947b7515dbee79d\video} to watch. This is a child with severe autism, who cannot talk and looks like he understands nothing, learning to communicate using simple choices and then a letter board. I'm surprised that RPM, featured on the same \link{http://www.halo-soma.org\web site} isn't getting good attention like RDI.

The \link{http://www.aut2communicate.com/Sydneys_Story.html\theory} is that some autism is largely a sensory processing problem having to do with the timing of signals in the brain, and that disruption in inputs and outputs can interaction through normal channels impossible, but that there are still channels to be found. It seems to have opened a line of communication with some \link{http://www.halo-soma.org/community_stories.php?sess_id=3c5cb95da8d45f99efecf2a0a737536b\kids} who didn't seem to be understanding, but actually were.

I think maybeyou misunderstood what she said. She said she wanted to drive her child off the bridge to avoid sending her to the school she was meant to send her too. The comment- as I understood it- was that she loved her dd so much and the school was so unsuitable for her that she would rather kill both of them than send her to that school. She didn't because she had another dd that needed her. It wasn't that she loved her NT dd more and stayed alive for her, its that she wasn't free to escape the situation she was in with her dd1 because she had other commitments. It would be easy to send your child to a ropy school where you knew they would be unsafe and unhappy if you didn't give a monkeys about them.

I looked into RPM before, and paid to join up, tbh I'm not convinced that it is useful for the majority of severely autistic children, although I think, like facilitated communication it can work in some cases. Lucy Blackman is a superb example of that, but I think those cases are quite rare.

Do you have a disabled child? Sorry I'm losing track of name changes at the moment. You're probably someone I know really well, but by a different name.

I still feel mentioning murder suicide in front of a child is not a good idea, but you're right, I did misunderstand what she was saying.

I have some concerns about my son and have been lurking as a result. Nothing concrete yet, and he's seeming more NT as he gets older, but I still do research so I will feel better prepared if there's anything special I might need to do to help him...and also becauase I've become very interested in the subject. It's clear that my son is either NT or mild AS at this point, but I came across RPM in my research and was impressed and wanted to share.

I'm glad to hear you've looked into RPM, jimjams, even if just to decide against it for your ds. I was floored by that RPM video and wanted to make sure it was out there in the open.

I do have some pointing boards, but ds1 can't spell. He likes pointing at the letters though. Lucy Blackman is very like ds1- The behaviours she describes at certain ages are exactly like his. Aged 35 now she is still more or less non verbal, requires full 24 hour care as far as I can work out, but uses facilitated communication, has an english degree and has written a book (published by jessica kingley). A fascinating book!

Some of the free video clips are amazing, the paid for ones, hmm not so sure, looked a bit like over prompting to the right answer.

Having said that there are definitely children it helps. The mum I bought the pointing boards from (aut2communicate) has a dd who uses this methosd very successfully. (she- the dd has also designed autistic dolls that look sideways rather than make eye contact).

Of course mentioning suicide is not a good idea, especially in front of a child who may easily get the wrong end of the stick, but you do have to put it into the context of the huge amount of pressure parents can be under. And of course a number do kill themselves and their child, usually for the reasons the mother describes- that there are no suitable services. It's a huge problem.

Part of the reason that rpm isn't popular is that facilitated communication has a bad name as there have been cases where people supposedly using fc (but not independently) have made allegations of abuse etc.

It's a shame imo as there are definitely people it will make a huge difference to. Lucy Blackman for example can now type independently (and did when she took her degree/wrote her book) but she needed a physical supporter for many years and so was open to doubt for that time. Of course it has given her a voice she would otherwise never had had (and fascinating for me as ds1 is so similar).

I saw a great presentation on FC a few years ago by Rosmary Crossley (she has also written a book). I think it is a good method if the support fades and it leads to reasonably independent use of keyboard/pen etc. Its a shame it has a bad name because, if its done properly, I think it can work really well. I believe there is a LOT of evidence that if it remains fully supported then it is not effective and facilitators really are prompting responses etc without knowing it. Sue Rubin was another who started with FC and went on to college etc. I think the NAS has some info about it at the website.