| Asperger's Syndrome is a milder variant of | | | | stronger system and is often shutting down |
| Autistic Disorder. In Asperger's Disorder, affected | | | | verbal development. For this reason we begin our |
| individuals are characterized by social isolation and | | | | training with very little talking, which is one step |
| eccentric behavior in childhood. Though | | | | toward stopping the antagonism between the |
| grammatical, their speech is peculiar due to | | | | visual and verbal systems and initiate a supportive |
| abnormalities of inflection and a repetitive pattern. | | | | relationship. Thus, we want you to minimize your |
| They usually have a circumscribed area of | | | | talking during the exercises. As aresult, your child |
| interest which usually leaves no space for more | | | | will be able to isolate the visual attention system |
| age appropriate, common interests. Some | | | | and begin to loadvisual memory. The more you |
| examples are cars, trains, door knobs, hinges. The | | | | talk, the more you reduce visual memory |
| name "Asperger" comes from Hans Asperger, an | | | | capacity. So by talking during this training, you |
| Austrian physician who first described the | | | | could reduce your child’s capacity from 200 |
| syndrome in 1944. | | | | data bytes to 25. |
| If a child is showing symptoms of Asperger’s | | | | As you work, you’ll establish a tri-level |
| Disorder because highly visual thinking is interfering | | | | sequencer. The sequencer is another |
| with the ability to generate language fluently then | | | | importantbrain function that is the engine of the |
| we may have child who is suffering from a very | | | | verbal thinking pathway and the most underused |
| trainable communication disorder rather than a | | | | component of verbal biology. The sequencer is |
| psychiatric disease. | | | | often very painful for autistic children so initially |
| Children who are highly visual with communication | | | | you teach it as a “treat,” or what feels |
| problems can have as many as 50 symptoms | | | | like a reward. |
| that are very similar and predictable. I call these | | | | The parts of the sequencer are: |
| children Maverick Minds. | | | | Continuous - After every correct answer, ping a |
| To begin working on improving language and | | | | penny into a cup. Feedback that occurs after |
| communication, we start with teaching visual | | | | every correct answer facilitates rapid learning. |
| attention skills. | | | | Fixed-ratio - After every three pennies, give your |
| In my consulting practice I teach parents methods | | | | child a treat such as a sticker, a raisin, or a |
| for improving attention, memory and | | | | chocolate chip. Fixed-ratio sequencers begin the |
| communication skills to replace many of the | | | | process of self control. |
| off-target behaviors they have. | | | | Variable - At the end of your session, go on a |
| Before we begin teaching attention we do an | | | | treasure hunt with your child. Hide clues around |
| evaluation to determine if the child is naturally | | | | the house that lead to a surprise under the pillow. |
| turning to visual attention and memory skills | | | | Varying the elements of the treasure hunt helps |
| rather than the auditory-verbal counterparts. | | | | your child transfer learning and generalize it to |
| When I build exercises to teach attention I use | | | | daily life. |
| the natural strengths of each child so that each | | | | As you work, you’ll begin to vary your |
| exercise is easy, fun, and successful because it is | | | | sequencers to increase the flexibility of this |
| critical that emerging communication abilities feel | | | | component of training. After you have used |
| natural and flow fluently. To see my examples of | | | | pennies, raisins and a treasure hunt, for example, |
| children learning to become symptom-free go to | | | | you might change to printing out a picture of a |
| my ebrainlabs website and watch the videos in | | | | desired toy and cutting it into pieces. Then, you |
| our video viewing studio. You will see parents y | | | | can have your child earn pennies, stickers, and |
| using a pace and methods that result in success. | | | | then a piece of the puzzle. Tape the piece on the |
| The goals of the exercises are to help your child | | | | wall. When the picture is complete, go to the |
| improve daily and achieve at least 80% success | | | | store to buy the toy. |
| consistently. | | | | You can also vary the elements of each part of |
| We evaluate the “just-right” difficulty level | | | | the sequencer, depending on your child’s |
| to begin the exercise so that we understand how | | | | needs. For example, you could change the |
| your child learns best. There are only two rules | | | | Continuous to macaroni, marbles, poker chips, or |
| for the pace of learning: | | | | small post-it notes. You could change the Fixed |
| •You and your child should be having lots of | | | | Ratio to tickles, chocolate chips, pretzels, stickers, |
| fun. | | | | or nickels. Or you might change the Variable |
| •Your child should always be 80% correct or | | | | tocoupons for privileges. The goal is to keep your |
| better. | | | | child interested and challenged, and to have lots of |
| In our seminars, we discuss how we build the | | | | fun. |
| visual attention system first because it is the | | | | |