I recently discovered my initial ‘resolutions’ for my son Joshua, created 4 years ago just months after he had been diagnosed with Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. I had spent rather long months listening to negative prognoses in the light of which my resolutions seemed rather optimistic, and could even be labelled ‘false hope’.
The funny thing about false hope in the context of Autism is that it can prepare the pathway for the basis of real hope. Let me explain.
At that time of writing my goals, Joshua’s future was being decided on the basis of assessment tools (such as the Wechsler Scale for children) which were dependent on his ability to engage with a stranger and to communicate the intelligence he possessed. This assessment was then approved as a reliable tool on which to write his education plan for the next number of years, to be revisited only at key stages, that is every few years. However Joshua could attend for only a few seconds at a time, he had no language, spoken or non verbal, and could not point, so that his psychologist was not able to see the potential I saw and asked me ‘What signs of any intelligence can you see?’
On reflection Creativity Expert Ken Robinson’s comment seems appropriate
‘ We look but we do not see, because our traditional commonsense assessment of abilities distracts us from what is actually there ‘
(Robinson, 2001, Pg107)
In fact Intelligence Expert Howard Gardner calls:
the drawing of widespread educational implications from the composite score of a single test — like the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children...nefarious [wicked, villainous]
(Murphy,1999, Pg 102)
Why criminal? It is criminal because it is an inaccurate measure of intelligence in Autism thereby creating a false impression, and we are advised to then use this information to ‘be realistic’ and adjust our expectations, which impacts on what we do, in many cases setting the child on an educational pathway with ceilings on the learning experiences and information provided. The IQ test creates a false reality.
By contrast the SonRise Program course I was attending was dismissed by many as ‘false hope’. Indeed the practice of asking a mother to write out her dreams for her autistic child, regardless of others predictions, to write them exactly as she would like them, to rate how likely she feels she is to see them realized, and then to rate them higher, just by deciding to do so, could seem unfair, cruel even, much better to be realistic. Given the choice I chose the former. And then a marvelous thing happened. I changed. By deciding to view my child through the eyes of hope, my expectations raised. With the limits imposed by others removed I no longer saw labels over my child’s head. I made decisions that prioritized making these dreams happen, I communicated more with Joshua, played more, expected more, waited a few more seconds for a response, persisted more, and ultimately have got every one on my list (well, we are still working on the last one- an improved sense of danger!)
I am off to write 2013 resolutions, this time they are things Joshua tells me he would love. I see a number of obstacles in our way and like many parents it is the fear of what may happen if I cannot help Joshua realize these wishes that could prevent me from going after them. Safer to be realistic? No, because false hope is more powerful than false realism, and both will create their own reality as they change what we expect and what we do. Great expectations indeed.
Last edited by Didrichs on 31 Dec 2012, 6:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
31 Dec 2012, 6:00 am
