Contents

Preface

Introduction

External Stimulus

Natural Order of Priority for Maintaining our Human Potential

Four Consecutive Stages of Learning

Styles of Entertainment Seen Today

Glossary of terms:

Types of Addiction Chart

Danger diagram

Love, freedom and safety,      

Choices can be helpful because

Creative application to living and learning.

Development of Intellectual Thinking

Diagram –A ]RespondentB ] Director

Inner stressor external stress

Sensory Focus

Common Causes Related to Emotional and Physical Over-whelm:-

Diagram-abstractimagination and Concrete Will

Bach Flower Remedies

DiagramMistrust&Control

Success

Management

Survival

the philosophy of Special Time:-

 

Conclusion – Abstract & Concrete Thinking

Understanding Autism – an alternative perspective

The author Helena Eastwood has been working with positive insights into possible causes and ways of working successfully with autistic people since she began teaching in a special school after completing her Mainstream Education. This section on autism briefly presents her present understanding of how we may scaffold positive behaviour and holistic development for those on the Autism Spectrum.

Preface

The industrial revolution brought mass production of identical items and now society seems to have replicated this into a manufacturing of predictable responses for mass-produced toys and associated repetitive and predictable human behaviour. This can be seen alongside an ever more dominant life styleof socially conforming media entertainment and an ever growing academic style of education. Our passive western lifestyle appears to develop alongside of with an ever growing amount of ‘compulsive repetitive behaviour!’ Thus our human potential of genuine creative and social interaction has been squashed into predetermined moulds structured by industrial activity, media entertainment and mass media communication systems.

,There can be few more numbing experiences than having to work on an assembly line in a car factory, keeping pace with a moving belt, condemned to repeat the same operation over and over again……….My back ached; my legs grew tired; my brain died! I have never known time pass so slowly…..Manufacturing was revolutionised, factory workers dehumanised.’ (Quoted from ‘Nothing else to Fear’ by David W. Ellis; Monarch Books 2003)

Intellectual development has been predominantly related to abstract intellectual skills. Thus the creativity of left and right brain interaction has become marginalised for those considered normal (i.e. useful to the materialistic society); and minimized for those considered abnormal (i.e. not useful to the materialistic society).
The industrial revolution seems to have also supported the development of drugs described as medication. The drug companies appear to control even greater financial power and domination than industrial reproduction. The free childcare offered by state education allows adults to feed both their children and industrialised material growth. In order to keep working and thereby earning, parents surpass natural healing and choose quick fix medication for themselves and their children. Similarly a natural healthy diet is too time-consuming and the working population relies on convenience and comfort foods.
[Philip Day in his book ‘Health Wars’ writes a comprehensive and informative information on many of today’s health issues that may be considered relevant to the amount of autism diagnosed in today’s western world.]

IntroductionEven before birth, the developing baby may show a response to external stimulus. Babies in the womb have been shown to be responsive to music and to suck their own thumb or foot. These responses are stimulated by their surrounding environment; even if it is their own thumb co-incidentally touching their cheek or mouth to stimulate the pre-birth suckling reflex. Thus the baby in the womb is responding to an external stimulus.

After birth the child has the opportunity to respond to an ever growing external environment that offers an ever expanding complexity of external stimulus. The early responses to environmental stimulus fall into two categories:

1. Withdrawal – the child shuts down, withdrawing into a curled foetal like position [For example a mother knows of the withdrawal response when she is trying to feed or dress a stressful child.]
2. Unpremeditated automatic or instinctive responses, e.g. the child may suck or chew, kick or bite, gurgle, cry or scream. [For example a mother experiences the baby kicking in the womb and later the suckling response to her breast.]

Thus, in accordance with the experiences that providence provides, the baby’s earliest subconsciously organised reactions, such as the suckling and grasp reaction, motivate the development of consciously organised responses. Now the baby’s inner desires to gain environmental pleasures such as food, warmth and entertainment motivate the baby to develop consciously directed responses to external stimuli. [For example even very young babies will grasp a soft toy or a blanket as a comforter, or grasp a rattle and wave the arm about in order to make sounds. Bottle fed babies can quickly learn to take hold of the bottle and bring it to their mouth for the milk.]

The ability to express a personal influence upon the external environment is initially developed through interactive play; later this develops into social interaction and creative expression. Finally as adults we express our influence as inventive manipulation. This may evolve, from a positive perspective, into sharing, caring and parenting, humanitarian service and God consciousness. However, when an adult remains adversely under the influence of the environment this inventive manipulation may develop as fear based negative counteraction expressed as aggression, bulling, military domination, wars and other worldly issues of destruction.

Natural Order of Priority for Maintaining our Human Potential.

Sleep  – a comfortable, safe, quiet environment for the required length of time.

Food – adequate amounts of food, free from stimulants and artificial additives, containing the required nutrition.

Movement – a safe and suitable quality and size of space.

Free play – uninterrupted activity within a suitable free play environment.

Creative activity – self-confidence, enthusiasm, imagination.

Authentic social interaction

Intimacy

Devotional service to Highest Good.

Four Consecutive Stages of Learning: established during normal childhood development:-

1. Sensory stimulus – assimilation of sensory information presented by the environment to the physical sensory receptors.
2. Concrete integration of sensory information – physical multi-sensory enrichment acquired through child directed exploration and experimentation as the ‘director’. Experiential experiences, constructional sensory-motor activity. ‘Willed’ – recall (memory), motivation.

• Abstract thinking – imagination and conceptual understanding; feelings as an awareness of energy, moods, disposition, attitude, desires.

1. Creativity as the ‘director’- Now the integration of a, b, and c (sensory, concrete, and abstract) is guided by inner incentives and external objectives. When this integration is genuinely authentic, unique aspects of personal individuality blend with the heart and soul connections that nurture dreams, morals and beliefs. This can initiate Spiritual experiences of reverence, compassion, gratitude and appreciation.

Much of children’s play activity today is occupational rather than educational aspects of ‘living and learning’. Occupational activities are focussed on, and dominated by, the reception of sensory stimulus described above as(1). The child’s physical activity is either minimal or directly related to the repetition or the prolonging of a specific structure of sensory experience. Today’s highly stimulating environments mean that much of a child’s day is occupied by acclimatisation i.e. getting familiar with the ever changing environmental surroundings. Children thereby gain a large amount of sensory input, but may have little opportunity to integratethe context of their different sensory experiences. Because children by nature need to be physically active they establish a repertoire of occupational responses. This style of interaction provides opportunity to physically respond when overwhelmed by prolonged or strong sensory stimulation. For example the young child watching TV may suck a blanket or manipulate a cuddly toy, older children play on computer games that require fast repetitive button pushing movements as directed on the computer screen. The author describes these predominantly receptive sensory occupations as entertainment. Entertainment here describes situations that hold our focus in the first level of learning: sensory stimulus.(1)

Entertaining activities support:-

• passive behaviour;
• an externally specified repertoire of action;
• automatedreactions;
• primitive responses to environmental stimulus.

Styles of Entertainment Seen Today:-

• Television, back ground TV, music or radio programmes.
• Repetitively reactive man-made toys and uniform building blocks which minimises the creative potential due to structural formality and pictures of predetermined designs.
• Food stimulants found in junk food (artificial colourings flavourings and preservatives, sugary sweets, chocolate, coffee and peppermint, alcohol.
• Over stimulating new and exciting environments that create abnormally high adrenalin levels for abnormally long periods and disrupt normal healthy sleep patterns.
• Dominating adult speeds of activity and adult schedules.
• Libertarianism, I can do anything I want, and you can do anything you
• Rigid routines, mechanical or theatrical styles of response that exclude authenticity.
• When the adult replaces a ‘don’t know’ response with a ‘yes’, or the ‘I am sorry I can’t let you do that’ response with ‘it’s OK I’ll pretend it isn’t happening.’
• When verbal communication is overwhelming the child’s free expression and movements and/or physical punishment is so intense it dominates over the child’s self-directed play responses.
• Adult initiated/motivated/enforced apprenticeship into clubs and classes, e.g. ballet or boxing. [Only when attendance is genuinely child motivated and appropriate to the child’s ability, personality, age and development, will the child develop the genuine engagement, empathy and interest related to meaningful learning.]
• Adult entertainment: adult social events, cinema, theatre, dining out etc.

Glossary of terms:

Self-direct:      The application of personal ‘will’ onto the environment.

Environment:  External sensory stimulus.

Stimulus-response:      unconsciously organised responses to the environmental stimulus.

Reaction:         an immediate uncontrollable reaction to an environmental stimulus/situation.

Interaction:     a consciously directed response to an external stimulus/situation.

Primitive/primal:        a biological (animalistic) level of survival/fear based behaviour.

Entertainment: passive forms of occupation directed by an external environmental stimulus.

Addiction:        an obsessional desire for an internal response to a specific external (environmental) sensory stimulus.

Types of AddictionChart

Internal and the external conditions commonly related to specific types of addiction.

External sensory stimulus	Internal response
Cane sugar and glucose	Desire to feel a sweet taste, like mother’s milk, and the accompanying ‘sugar high’
Alcohol	Carefree lack of responsibility for one’s self and a desire to give up on life. Life isn’t worth living too much pain and not enough joy.
Pornography	Desire to feel the exhilaration of sexual arousal.
Excessive and dangerous levels of excitement and recreational behaviour.	Desire to feel the exhilaration and extra physical strength caused by high adrenaline levels in the blood.
Recreational drugs	A desire to escape from reality and personal responsibility for one’s own survival out in the world working for basic survival. Lack of faith and trust in one’s ability to do well as an independent free adult.
Smoking	Initially this is motivated by a desire to feel the sucking mouth movements similar to those of the baby receiving milk from a bottle or the breast. Later the smoking is required to relieve the body of nervous stress by supplementing a quick nicotine fix for the nerve cells.

Fearful experiences during the years of growing independence and conscious maturity, can disrupt our development of confidence and well-being. From birth to adulthood traumatic emotional disturbance related to issues of safety, separation, isolation or exclusion can disturb the way we meet our development of consciousness. The development through each stage of consciousness is dependent upon the quality of success in the previous stages. Thus emotional disruptions and anti-social behaviours that have adversely influenced one level of development will disrupt subsequent levels of development. Within the context of our dependence upon others for care and safety the development of consciousness becomes vulnerable to stress and emotional disturbance. Without a predominance of trust, love and care survival issues can override our potential development of consciousness. Natural and sweetly spiritual environments as well as association with mature adults who have established higher consciousness can aid and repair a person’s development of consciousness.

Every individual has a unique perception of the environment and potential dangers are met from the person’s personal perspective and worldly understanding. The diagram below illustrates a natural progression of responses to seen or unseen levels of danger.

At its best this primal disposition develops as a growing desire to obtain environmental sensory pleasures alongside a growing dependence upon repetitive behaviour and ridged routines. This style of ritualistic and predictable behaviour wants a simplistic and controllable interaction with the environment. We see this type of development supported today by the man-made toy industry, media entertainment and technological communication.

Adisposition focused uponprimal survival responses can encourage development of different forms of hypersensitivity, learning difficulty, addiction, imaginary fears and phobias, illogical thinking and abstract perspectives of reality. When abstract thought processes dominate over a sense of consequence and compassion anti-social behaviour may develop into lying, stealing and abusive behaviour. When interactive behaviour is directed by the abstract imaginative aspects of thinking there are little or no boundaries of practical logic or social conscience.Later in life, survival responses can establish: victim mentalities, suppression of free will through extreme forms of indoctrination and oppression, psychotic behaviour, and an ever escalating desire to control others, and ultimately destruction of life.

When inner feelings related to survival passions and fears motivate interaction with the environmentall incoming stimuli is perceived as important. All incoming sensory information is received from a survival perspective of needs and safety. A sense of wellbeing is essential if some of the incoming environmental stimulus is to be turned down or even ignored. Thus informal and spontaneous play remains undeveloped; because play and associated social interaction are not related to immediateissues of survival. Indeed play and intimate social interaction is dependent upon relaxed and safe feelings of safety and wellbeing. Indiscriminate multi-sensory levels of alertness are key to the baby’s and young child’s daily survival.

Love, freedom and safety, The foundations for movement. Movement – The Foundations for Play, Play – Foundations for Learning. Learning – Foundations for Intelligence Intelligence – Foundations for Personal Empowerment Empowerment – Foundations for Heart-full Living Heart-full Living – Foundations for the Engagement of the soul. Engagement of the Soul – Revival of Higher Consciousness Higher Consciousness – Foundations for Communion with God Communion with God – The Supreme source of Love and Light Love and Light – Living the Dream of Heaven on Earth (From The Tides of Time by Helena Eastwood)

Human Development Beyondthe Responderinto the Director.

Throughout childhood the young child would normally develop a growing ability to move from ‘being the responder’into action as ‘thedirector’. As self-directed behaviour is established the child gains the ability to influence the environment according to his own needs and wishes. His willed responses thereby become motivated by his own inner directives and the influence of external sensory stimulus becomes attuned to the individual’s consciously organised expression of choice.

Choices can be helpful because:-

1. They can direct the child into a voluntary activity of conscious thinking.
2. They can give control to the adults who are organizing the choices and conditions the child must except with each respective choice

E.g.  ‘You can choose to play something that does not disturb the other children or you can play your boisterous game in the garden’.

1. Every set of choices can be tailored to suit individual circumstances and situations accommodating different dispositions, changing circumstances and a wide variety of practicalities.
2. Choices give children a positive alternative to inciting their own changes through disruptive/anti-social behaviour.
3. Choices encourage children to be flexible.
4. Choices encourage children to organize activities that will support their own inner motivations and purpose.
5. Choices simplify situations and help children find their way through complex circumstances that may be too hard for them to intellectually accommodate.

Creative application to living and learning.

A)     Imagination: Abstract thinking.

Through play the young child explores and learns skills. This willed manipulation of the environment supports learning to integrate a ‘creative’application into living and learning.

As the child develops, the three aspects A), B), and C), unite and empower the development of voluntary thinking and self-directed exploration through play. Play is naturallyprerequisite to the development of a creative application to living and learning

Those children on the autism spectrum will illustrate a notable emphasis on repetitive and copied behaviour, along with a notable absence of self-directed play and creative endeavour. Play in states personalised directorship over aspects of the environment. For the autistic child play may be predisposed by their focus upon survival orientated behaviour. Even when the level of physical care is excellent the autistic child may habitually remain the respondent,searching all sensory information for environmental aspects related to personal survival and safety.

Development of Intellectual Thinking

The development of intellectual thinking is based on structural or concrete understanding, logical assessment and interactive behaviour. This intellectual development moves the child from respondent into a directorrole over his environmental experiences. Thus the child’s initial desire for survival related sensory comforts and entertainments are gradually superseded by his individual desire to organise, structure and influence his external environment. He expresses his unique nature through exploration, experimentation and an enthusiasm for creative expression.

Thus instead of the environmental energies stimulating the child (A) the child influences the environment(B) as shown in the diagrams below.

A ]Respondent: Fed by environmental stimulus

B ] Director: Actively influencing the environment

Normally a child’s initial (A) dependence upon the sensory environment reverses as the child develops consciously organised interaction through movement and play. Movement and self-directed learning promote the child’s ability to energetically influence the environment according to his own endeavour and will; whereby living and learning help the child to direct his own influence upon the surrounding environment (B).

Our natural desire to reverse this energy flow from that of (A) to that of (B),is what gives our human life form superiority over other forms of life. This reversal of energy flow enables us to consciously organise a command over the worldly environment. This ability to influence the environment is initially seen as interactive play, and later develops into creative expression and finally manifests as inventive manipulation using social interaction and/or structural mechanisms. Inventive manipulation is seen in the positive as sharing, caring, parenting, and humanitarian service, and at its best God consciousness. A consciously mature human is able to integrate both an inward flowing energy sensory stimulus (A) and actively influence the environment (B) in accordance with Highest Good – incorporating his own best interest with others, and that of the earth planet and all life that dwells upon it.

When a person remains predominantly under the influence primitive stimulus-response behaviour personal survival modes may be expressed through negative perspectives of fear and control. This may ultimately be seen as greed, jealousy, bulling, aggression, rivalry, indoctrination and oppression, dictatorship, military wars and other forms of worldly destruction.

Those who do not notably develop beyond the primal survival state of stimulus-response (A) remain predominantly influenced by environmental stimulus from a purely personal and self-motivated perspective. The young and consciously immature person is predominantly influenced by their external environment (A) and understanding is limited to their own experience. This is seen as a growing development of dependence upon others, lack of empathy, hypersensitivity, sensory pleasure seeking, repetitive and ritualistic behaviour and entertainment seeking life styles. This perspective in the longer term can be seen as one of primitive fears, abstract illogical fear-based thinking, victim mentalities, phobias and psychosis. Any fear based disposition escalates into a desire to control others and indeed anything seen as unpredictable/uncontrollable. Thus the person who has not developed their own self-direct ultimately works to supress the freedom of others which in turn destroys the quality of life for both themselves as those they manage to intimidate.

Autism is present when the reversal of energy flow from that of (A) to (B) issupressed or disrupted. This inhibiting influence causes the young child, adolescent or adult to remain predominantly and unpredictably under the influence of environmental stimulus and responses related to personal issues of survival.

Autism prevents the development of consciously organised responses (B) and creative play due to a restricted relationship with reality and environmental experiences (A). The absence of an outgoing energy flow (B) adversely affects the development of concrete thinking with the brain.

Structural interaction with our environment is directly related to the person’s sense of safety and subsequent development of play and social interaction. When the normal aspects of living and learning are inhibited the more the brain compensates with an emphasis on abstract thinking. The abstract thinking capacity of the brain is influenced by the imagination and ‘dream’ qualities of unconsciously organised mental activity. The abstract mind does not relate directly to reality or environmental experience beyond that of everyday aspects of survival.

In contrast to this, our concrete thinking skills are directly associated with and our conscious view of reality and our personal development of conceptual understanding and social conscience. When our concrete thinking is compromised our abstract thinking inevitably grows more dominant. In this way the ever active mind fills in the spaces of time. Just as we dream when the body is resting and the mind is awake, we are also inclined to engage in abstract thinking activity when the body is not engaged in activity associated with positive living and constructive learning. For example for most people watching TV stimulates abstract thinking while the body remains passively resting and free from any conscious responsibility. Computer games occupy the mind and body in predominantly unconsciously organised ‘stimulus-response’ activity which encourages primal brain activity, and imaginative thinking. This releases the player from self-directed living and learning.

Most typically autistic behaviour, especially that seen in young children, imitates the safety of womb-like experiences: i.e. gentle rocking, hands over ears to muffle reception of environmental sounds, repetitive banging imitating the sound of the mother’s heartbeat, and obsessional desires for ongoing repetition of certain sounds or experiences in order to acquire feelings of comfort and safety.

We may not be able to identify the womb like association with safety that is experienced within an autistic person’s behaviour but it is almost certainly present in some form of subconscious association. For example one boy was obsessed with coaches, if he saw a coach he would do anything he could to sit on the coach and would refuse to willingly get off even when the coach was stationary. He was greatly distressed when this was not allowed.For him the coach may represent travelling in safety within a set internal environment and accompanying comfort of womb like engine noises.

Autism can be described as a survival mechanism designed to establish the minimal levels of brain function essential to everyday living.

Every individual has different strengths and weaknesses. Those with learning difficulties and associated brain damage will inevitably find it harder to experience a safe environment that encourages positive living and learning experiences. The author has found that when a child moves beyond their normal autistic behaviour the child often illustrates specific learning difficulties, such as auditory integration disorder, dysphasia, dyspraxia, visual perceptual disorders, and proprioceptive disorders. Lack of safety can be related to either:-

inner stress e.g. overwhelmingly sensory experiences, sensory perceptual disability and specific learning difficulties ;

orexternal stress e.g. physical confinement– buggies, car seats, indoor lifestyles, classrooms, etc.

The birth process itself may include traumatic survival issues. Some children may experience their ‘normal’ birth as a survival challenge. Those who have experienced any form of traumatic potentially life threatening experience, may be triggered by ‘normal’ experiences into fear based abnormal and defensive behaviour. For example, the child who hides in the curtains when visitors arrive or the girl who spent her school day under the teachers desk acting like a dog or the child that bites the hand that is extended in kindness or the child that loudly screeches and screams without any obvious reason or provocation.

Sensory Focus

It is generally helpful to develop an ability to tune into chosen stimulus while at the same time turning down of even turning off the reception of unwanted stimulus that would otherwise disrupt one’s chosen focus. Those described with sensory overwhelm, often associated with the Autistic spectrum, appear to use physical withdrawal, repetitive actions, specialised movements and specific vocal sounds to appease their experiences of sensory overload. It is thought that the autistic person puts his hands over his ears, or hides in a small enclosed space, or eats only one type of food at a time, as an attempt to cut down stimulus receptivity. Does autism represent a person who cannot select one sensory input over others and/or consciously organise the brains ability to integrate different modes of sensory information. Certainly these two difficulties can be experienced by everyone when we encounter a particularly challenging environment. Also the Autistic person may be challenged by hypersensitivity, such that ordinary levels of sensory stimulus are received as overwhelmingly strong and intense levels of sensory input. The difference between hypersensitivity and an inability to integrate a multi-sensory experience may be key issues of consideration when working with disabilities on the autism spectrum. It has been suggested that diet can adversely affect our ability to successfully accommodate sensory information due to stress associated with heightened sensitivity, hyperactivity and associated overwhelming levels of stimulus.

Common Causes Related to Emotional and Physical Over-whelm:-

1. Unable to shut out unwanted stimulus.
2. Too much unfamiliar or overbearing social interaction.

E.g. Being in close proximity with people I don’t know or feel uncomfortable with.

3. Transition:-

• Unable to meet the change/s in circumstances.
• Loss of supporting companionship- mother, father, sibling, teacher, friend, familiar companions (child, adult or pet!) and/or environment.
• Unable to accommodate invading stimulus. For example:-
• Adult commentary, “Oh what a wonderful castle do you see how that drawbridge is going up?”
• Unwanted companionship, “Johnny is coming to paint with you.”
• Being told to do something different, “It is time to tidy up for lunch now.”
• Postponement, “No you can’t have a piece of this cake until Aunty comes to tea tomorrow.”

4. Unable to keep appropriate body temperature, i.e. too hot or too cold or too changeable.
5. Boredom (lack of self-direct): –

• Unable to motivate engagement in activity.
• Unable to respond naturally.
• Unable to relate to the environment in a way that feels right or is requested of me.

The Autism spectrum could be considered a predominance of a reflective relationship with the environment. The dominance of copied repetitive forms of behaviour excludes the person from successful development of self-directed interaction and personal independence.

The empowering aspects of the creative life force are subject to an appropriate balance and interaction between the two principles of life

• that of yielding – like the flow of water
• and controlling – like a mountain that blocks the way ahead.

Bach Flower Remedies

Each Bach flower remedy is noted for the negative aspects that it can transform into a positive disposition. For example: Chestnut is noted as a remedy for failure to learn from past mistakes and when taken it is noted for bringing about a positive ability to gain knowledge and positive learning experience. [Dictionary of the Bach Flower Remedies –Positive and negative aspects by T.W.Hyne Jones]

If everyone had Dr Bach’s understanding we all may accept our faults without judgement, in the knowledge that they are only the prickly outer casing that over protectively withholds our best qualities. As confident is gained a safer place is found in which we can flourish and find our true potential.

The author perceives Autism as a symptom of unseen learning difficulties and /or emotional trauma. Autism is the way by which the children attempt to survive, as opposed to thrive in an environment that fails to provide them with the quality of safely and encouragement they need. However, this shutting down mechanism inhibits natural play and learning activities and triggers primitive survival instincts that may stimulate adverse behaviour; for example one young child hide under the kitchen table when in a house fire; or a scared child may scream and run and wave their arms defensively when a strange dog comes too near.

Therefore unsafe environmental experience can trigger behaviour related to either withdrawal or fight and flight. Autism gives the child the time and space to separate themselves from potentially stressful environmental experience. Thus Autism could be an important safety system that relieves the child from extreme reactions of either withdrawal and shut down, or fight and flight behaviour. Neither of these forms of behaviour provides an opportunity to pause and thereby organise an intelligent choice of behaviour. Indeed the fight and flight response is almost always the subconscious motivator of all ‘Disruptive and Anti-social behaviour’

Disruptions to our original loving nature are based on ‘fear of not being loved, nurtured and cared for’ and these fears are expressed as either Mistrustpassive withdrawal or Controlassertive action/reaction:-

 

Mistrust Reservation Unnatural limitations within social interaction, intimate sharing and caring exchanges. Indifference to others feelings. Fear based attitude and a pessimistic outlook. Disrespect Avoidance of physical intimacy Criticism and grief

Control Domination Possessiveness and jealousy Excessive independence Fixed on doing things their own way. Intolerance Desire to chastise, punish, discipline, and/or retaliate. Demands for physical affection, and use of emotional blackmail. Blame and anger

It has been recorded that in some communities do not have any experience of autism. These communities usually live in remote areas of the world where they live a notably peaceful and natural life-style. Their gentle and loving style of community is one of working together to meet the daily needs. Their social and creative expression is shared through dance, play, story and music. The children are brought up within the community lifestyle and they are not sent to school but educated through their living and learning as an individual being that is loved and cared for as an important member of the community’s future.

One of the positive aspects found in these simple stress free community life styles could be described as a naturally safe environment; where sharing and caring has a strong affinity with the therapeutic qualities presented in the work of the Option Institute USA and the ‘Special Time’ play therapy as taught by the late Rachael Pinney. These two alternative approaches to overcoming autism and other forms of disrupted social development are based on The philosophy of Special Time:-

• Moments of heart-full soul spirit sharing
• Trusting and appreciating the other persons chosen actions and interactions.
• Gentle moment by moment responses of genuine care and authenticity.
• Taking time out to explore, feel, reflect and listen without any judgement and free from any preconceived agenda.
• Nurturing our emotional disposition rather than goals or levels of achievement.
• Resting our physical body from worldly demands and practical work.

(These and other recommendations are described in detail in the section titled ‘What to do?’

The Ammish communities in the USA noted that recently autism has appeared in their children. They tried to identify what changed could have caused them to now experience this condition which they had not had in their communities before. The only change that they could identify was that childhood vaccination had now been brought into their communities due to pressure from the State authorities. This example illustrates the depth of complexity that, present-day, parents are faced with when trying to create a safe environment for their children. Philip Day in his book Health Wars lists the concoction of additional ‘substances’ presented within the vaccine serums as well as the know side effects. Alternatively, for some children the physical stress and pain of receiving a vaccine injection may in itself trigger survival fears that undermine their trust in their parents and their daily environment as ‘safe’.

Present day data suggests that the number of children diagnosed with autism is notably increasing. It may also be that adults diagnosed with mental illness and psychosis may be on the autism spectrum.

The escalating presence of autism in our world today may be due to different biological and environmental factors such as:-

• Medical drugs administered to mothers and babies during and after birth.
• Enforced regimes of vaccination.
• Adult addiction especially when it adversely affects the performance of parents and childcare workers.
• Auditory noise pollution and visual over-stimulation.
• Stressful, unnatural and restrictive environments. For example baby buggies and car seats, indoor life-styles, (confinement to a room in the home or classroom orshops, cafés etc.)

v  Firstly cancelling the primitive survival responses by moving into a neutral management response, v  then positive responses both inner and outer can come forward as a chosen endeavour and positive acknowledgement of responsibility.

The following chart describes the three choices presented within our human levels of consciousness. It was originally put together to help adult carers recognise that avoiding negative survival responses could be achieved in two stages;

Success	Management	Survival
POSITIVE	Neutral	NEGATIVE
Amusing, inspiring, motivational.	Experiential, entertaining	Unstimulating, boring, Ineffective
Passionate, engaging	Pause and stillness; reflective witnessing.	Disconnected, rejected, isolated.
Personal Expression	Repetition	Echolalia
Original	Imitative	Copy, reproduction
Receptivity	Awareness	Denial
Discerning	Perceiving	Ignoring

Conclusion – Abstract & Concrete Thinking

The following diagram has been designed by the author to illustrates her own understanding of associated areas of abstract and concrete development. It is important that everyone and especially children are encouraged to integrate functions in the brain in a balanced way that promotes more complex areas of learning and appropriate responses.