Alterations in movement, rhythm, and senses affect perceptual reality. What can we do to help?

An organized body leads to an organized mind! A person with severe nonverbal autism will often exhibit intense sensory, movement, and rhythm difficulties that affect all areas of development. The messages projected by impaired sensory systems are irregular and often confusing. Disrupted underlying thought processes can cause difficulty organizing and categorizing thought. When movements (dyspraxia or apraxia) are not automatic, there are often problems initiating and implementing motor skills, including speech. Central nervous system dysfunction may be the cause of this miscommunication between neurons, making someone with severe autism unable to think and move their body simultaneously. Starting, stopping and changing the movement are all difficult.

If the person cannot direct their body when verbally prompted, or imitate when given visual cues, encourage them through movement patterns. Repetition with a gradual reduction of motorized cues develops the neural circuitry that allows self-directed movement to become automatic. (That is, for example, many children with severe movement problems cannot follow a simple directive like touching their heads. Some need visual cues. The most disabled need strong motor skills at first, followed by gestural cues.) Break motor skills into small units and keep Language simple and direct. Use visual and gestural cues as needed. Incorporate backward chaining techniques, a process in which the person is propelled through most of the steps and then encouraged to complete the last step on their own. (For example, when learning to zip a jacket, walk the person through the process of closing the zipper and let them complete the last step by lifting it. These strategies work well with self-help skills that require a series of steps.) .(For example, brushing teeth, dressing and shoes)

Dyspraxia or apraxia makes it difficult to learn sign language; a poor choice for expressive communication; however, learning to understand signs and gestures as visual cues is an effective strategy for increasing language comprehension, as many of these individuals have stronger visual comprehension than auditory comprehension.

Exercises that cross the midline and engage both hemispheres of the brain may have additional benefit. (ie Brain Gym) Start early for best result; however, it is never too late to improve. Nature walks on uneven terrain with natural obstacles encourage the individual to remain present, pay attention to the natural environment, and automatically respond with appropriate movements. The inhibitory factor that often appears in artificial settings is relieved. being on uneven ground, walking on a balance beam, or climbing stimulates a slight adrenaline rush as the person is forced to pay attention. Adrenaline seems to improve capacity.

A nonverbal person may seem to prioritize one sensory channel at a time. There is often a delay in auditory processing; therefore, a visual stimulus may not be experienced simultaneously with an auditory input. Some may demonstrate totally disconnected sensory channels. For example, a person who responds correctly by selecting a correct response from a field of words or pictures may lose her accuracy in selecting the appropriate response if she has to get up or walk a few steps to select an answer. Is it just that he has difficulty thinking and moving at the same time or could it be more complex? A visual message, whether it’s an image, a sign, or a gesture, usually fixes the problem, but it doesn’t fully explain the breakup.

A person with severe autism may indicate that they understand and respond appropriately to a directive verbally, by typing, using picture words/cards, but still not be able to carry out the action. For example, ask, “Where are you going?” He replies, verbally or using alternative means of communication, “I’m going to hang up my coat.” Instead of hanging up his coat, apparently unconscious, he heads off in a different direction. Is it going from listening to thinking to moving that causes the interruption of thought? Does the lost connection occur when the student moves? Is it a compulsion of the body to ignore the request? Is it an inability to remember what you were going to do? Is he even registering what he’s saying or is he just telling you what he thinks you want to hear?

When working from a field of options, an individual may never look at the options, not even a quick peripheral glance can detect them, yet their response selection may be correct! It seems as if he is viewing and controlling his body from outside of himself. A person who has difficulty integrating sensory channels can easily relate visually presented objects. (ie word by word, image by image, object by object) This process becomes more difficult when pairing visual material that varies from concrete (object) to representational (image) to word (abstract). (That is, matching two words or two pictures is much easier than matching the word to the picture. Matching the word to the picture is easier than matching the word to the object.) Crossing the sensory channels can be difficult. The person may not be able to match a visually presented object with an invisible object. For example, he puts a crayon, a bottle of glue, scissors, and a ball in a bag. Show the person a crayon and then ask them to look in the bag and find the same thing. If he can’t find the crayon, put one of the crayons in his hand and ask him again to look in the bag to find the other crayon. Repeat the activity, using the other objects. The person may be successful from visual to visual or from tactile to tactile, but not from visual/auditory to tactile. After much practice, you may improve while another may continue to struggle.

It may seem that an individual lacks an internal rhythm. When he is young, parents should hug their child so that he can feel the beat/rhythm of the heart of the mother or father. An older child can be provided with an external rhythm by alternately striking the right and left hand, shoulder, or arm. Many of these people like rhythmic pressure to the sides or front and back of their heads. Listening to ocean waves, nature sounds, or music might help you tune into the rhythm of the earth. Moving to the beat of music or drums may also help. Meditating in unison with a calm person helps ground your brainwave and body rhythm patterns.

Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures can all act as sensory irritants. Eliminate aggravating factors when possible. One of the reasons a student may self-stimulate is to modulate unwanted stimuli. These repetitive behaviors can also help the person establish a rhythm to organize their movements. You may also be trying to block out the interfering thoughts and emotions of others or you may be self-stimulating as a strategy to return to your own inner world. Whatever the reason, instructors should encourage the person to stop when in the process of direct instruction, as self-stimulation allows the person to block out the teacher, parent, or therapist. When not involved in instruction, let the individual return to engaging in her preferred self-stimulating activities as they can help her organize and/or relax. If the behaviors are dangerous or socially unacceptable, try to replace them, rather than mitigate them.

Allow plenty of time to spin, swing, or jump on a trampoline. The individual is the best judge of the type, intensity, and duration of vestibular and proprioceptive information that he needs. Brushing, deep pressure massage, joint compressions, meditation, cranial sacral, reiki, and reflexology can help a person feel comfortable with their body. If you feel comfortable, the person is more likely to stay present and pay attention to instructions. Addressing rhythm and movement is paramount in helping a person with severe autism reach their full potential.

Definition of terms:

apraxia/dyspraxia: Impaired ability to execute purposeful voluntary movement.

Binaural beats: two different frequencies are presented, one for each ear, the brain detects phase differences between these signals. A perceptual integration of the two signals takes place.

Vestibular: The system that serves the bodily functions of balance and equilibrium. It does this by evaluating the movement and position of the head and body in space, generating a neural code that represents this information, and distributing this code to the appropriate sites located throughout the central nervous system. Vestibular function is largely reflexive and unconscious in nature.

Proprioceptive: Describes the ability to feel the movement and position of muscles without visual cues. It is essential for any activity that requires hand-eye coordination, awareness of posture, movement, and changes in balance, and awareness of the position, weight, and resistance of objects in relation to the body.

Resonant Brainwave Entrainment: Because neural activity is electrochemical, brainwaves can be influenced. Think about the fretboard effect.

Rhythm: a measured movement, the repetition of an action or function at regular intervals.

Subconscious: The part of the mind below conscious awareness where subconscious blending or blending can occur. I speculate that the mixture of subconscious minds can exist without one’s consciousness. This combination can be very useful in helping the person understand and operate in “our” typical perceptual reality.