Press Releases of Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Source: cll
PRESS RELEASE London, 13 August 2013
London parents returned to the classroom in July to learn an innovative approach designed to improve the way they relate to their autistic children.
Guided by speech and language therapist Selve Krishnan, who is also CEO of Communication Links Limited, these parents embarked on a crash course in the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped Children (TEACCH) workshop.
The TEACCH workshop has been in use over many years and is considered by clinicians as a useful tool for independence and learning in the school context. People with autism are often very focused, have excellent memory and thrive in routine-oriented environments and this programme sought to harness their valuable skills.
Parents were schooled in creating visual timetables to promote daily routines at home, and introducing colour coding to organise their childrens toys, to strengthen these qualities. The TEACCH programme focuses on the strength of the individual to lessen their difficulties in social situations.
Adapting the school, home, community and work environment were key features in the half-day workshop and Ms Krishnan urged attendees to work in partnership with live-minded parents, education and support staff to create nurturing environments for their children.
In my work I found that many students benefited from clear and structured approaches to learning, Ms Krishnan said. I felt that the knowledge would be useful for parents as it would help to provide a visual structure to their daily routines at home thereby reducing their children's anxiety that may arise due to uncertainty and the unpredictable sequence of home events.
There is also research that indicates that parents have the greatest impact on their children's life outcomes. However current services are either school or clinic-based with very limited time provided for parents in their homes. So the introductory TEACCH workshop was a small step towards empowering parents with additional knowledge and resources to enable them to help their children.
See the original post here:
Ghanaian charity gives parents a crash course in autism treatment