Questions from our Mailbag

Q. Can a support group help us? We have a child with Autism who has behavior problems at school. We live in Spokane and are looking for a support group for help.  We are finding  a lack of willingness to help from professional sources and the ones we do locate seem to be rude and insensitive. We are not a welfare case, and are seeking to make our son’s life better.
A: I don’t think a support group is the best way to help anyone deal with behavior problems of kids with Aspergers. Support groups provide some guidance and support to parents from other parents who may have experienced the same situation. An answer to a question about specific behavior issues depends on which parents might attend a support meeting.
If you have a child with behavior problems I believe you will need 1) education and 2) professional help.
Education:
Education, in this context, means finding out about this disorder and learning about ways to deal with it. Education can be expensive, so I will list them according to least to more expensive.
School Resources: As a parent with a child who has an IEP (individual educational plan) you are supposed to be a team member. As such, you should be able to request training from the local school.  You might start here and find out from the child’s teacher what resources are available.  Maybe he or she can loan you a video on behavior techniques or a book on the subject or let you know when a training class is available. There would be less confusion to your child if there was consistency between the school and home on rewards or terminology. If the teacher does not have any information, The State of Washington provides funding for Educational School District (ESD 189) which has an Autism Outreach program including a lending library and a list of training opportunities. ESD 189 will lend out to parents directly.  In addition, the University of Washington had provided monthly video linked broadcasts on autism related topics through out the school year; however, there was little interest in this service in the Spokane area.  You can contact them directly to see what is available.
Libraries:  The local public library can get most books for you. 

Local Speakers: The Autism Society of Washington in the Spokane area meets regularly at St. Luke’s Rehab Center in Spokane. Each year 3-4 speakers are invited to speak to the group.  Some of the topics covered in 2010: Alternative Medicine & Autism, Sibling Play Therapy, Horse-riding Therapy.  There is no cost to attend the meetings. Parents have a chance to network before or after the meeting and to suggest other topics for future speakers. The Autism Society of Idaho in CDA also has quite a range of opportunities to learn about Aspergers and Autism.
Conferences: ASW Conferences are held periodically by the Autism Society of Washington on a variety of topics several times each year around the state. Information about the speakers and topics can be found at our autismsocietyofwa.org website. The advantage of attending ASW conferences is that the speakers are experts in their fields, the cost is reasonable, there is a membership discount and scholarships are available.  ASW as a non-profit group does not put these programs as a money making venture.  Vendors also have tables at these conferences and offer books, videos and information about other service providers that might be helpful to parents.
Autism Society of American Conferences: These are held annually.  These are large conference and cover many autism related topics.  Attending the conferences can be beneficial since a large number of sessions are available.
Commercial Autism Organizations: There are companies that offer programs with widely recognized experts and are held through out the country. If you get on their mailing list you will notice they are more often held in larger metropolitan areas, and not Spokane. 

Professional Help:
The second aspect of getting help for behavior problems is seeking Professional Help.
If a child with ASD or Aspergers has behaviors which are causing a problem it may be harder to solve than with normal parenting skills—otherwise, you would have already handled it. Sometime the incentives parents have used to solve a behavior problem with a normal child do not seem to work for those with ASD.  Some parents found that “time out” was a reward not a punishment for a child with ASD, and that offers of future rewards had no meaning for someone with out a sense of time.  If the usual parenting skilsl are not working, parents need a “new bag of useful tools”. Since every kid is different, it is hard to generalize, but you may want to find someone who can help your family.  It may be more efficient to get some one to coach your skills than trying to find a method on your own. Visual cues, Social Stories, and Schedules can be helpful tools.
How to find professional help? ASW-Spokane has put together a resource manual for our local area. This lists therapists and others who can help. This manual is available at our meetings for a suggested $5 donation to cover expenses. Networking with other parents is also a valuable source of information on professionals.
Professional advice does cost money, and depending on the type and frequency can cost more than some families can afford. However, there are some programs which can assist families. 

This is opinion of the Spokane Newsletter writter only.  If you have any further suggestions for this parent please submit to spokane@autismsocietyofwa.org