Look into Sixth Sense program. it basically discusses the social sense, which most of us have but Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) people lack. The Sixth Sense program doesn't come out and tell what the sixth sense is, just hints.
"Tell me of any senses you can think of. [sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. There are actually others, such as proprioception, but let's not complicate the matter.] Let's look at seeing. Do we learn how to see? Can we practise seeing and get better at it? Maybe, but we are born with the ability to see. Do you know anyone who is blind? What do you think it would be like to be blind? What would a blind person need to do, in order to get around? What would you do to help a blind person?"
And son on, take them through the senses. Always get the child to discuss what it would be like to lack that sense, and how they would help someone who lacks it. Every so often, ask if they have any idea what the sixth sense is. And of course, the pattern is - we are born with our senses, we do not learn them. We do not blame people who lack those senses because it's not their fault.Instead, we help people to find ways around the problem caused by a deficit in a sense.
Finally you get to the last one. Have they guessed it? Let them know that the sixth sense is the social sense. it is what tells you how close to stand to someone when you;re talking, it is how you recognise if someone is happy or sad. It is face recognition, facial expression recognition. A lot of other stuff. Do you have some idea what I am feeling right now? Look at my face. What do you think my expression means? How would yo respond to me if I had this expression? Someone who lacks this sense does not recognise these cues. or just as there are degrees in visual impairment or other sense impairment, there are degrees in deficit with the social sense. How would you help someone who has a problem here?"
We had difficult child 3 present in class for this because he was in the process of learning about his own autism. Normally the child is not present.
The finish is a Q & A session.
Another thing we did - difficult child 3 was into computers in a big way. I said to him, "Think of a text file coming off the printer. Look at it. Can you tell, by looking at it, whether it was written on a Mac? Or was it an IBM-compatible? Can you identify which type of computer made the document? Let's look at the document. I want another. Here is a computer. Mac or easy child, it doesn't matter. I can re-do this document, type the same words in, choose the same font, the same margins and spacing, print it off and you wouldn't be able to tell the two apart. But if you went into the two different kinds of computer, each one needs very different programming in order to do this identical task. You can't install a Mac program on a easy child, not without a lot of tweaking. Now consider - everyone's brain is different. Some people have Mac brains and some people have easy child brains. Both types are equally capable, but each type needs a different sort of programming - education and management - in order to function best."
Our aim was to allow our kids to see themselves as their own kind of normal. The disability (which it is defined as) means they have difficulty in some tasks, but it brings gifts and talents which make life interesting and enjoyable, but in surprising ways.
We allowed the unusual in our home. Home should be where a person can be themselves, and an autistic person can be themselves in some very individual ways! So when we got a new front loader washing machine, after always having a top loader, I started off a load and went to do other chores. Then I noticed the boys were missing. I found them, both sitting quietly on the floor in front of the washing machine, staring intently at the little window and their heads tilting this way and that, in time with the machine.
difficult child 1 said, without changing what he was doing, "I don't know why, but I find this strangely compelling."
Marg