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“Yes, I want to go with you”
“Yes, I want to go with you”
said Siri, my non-speaking autistic daughter when asked if she wanted to go on the jet ski. She uses a letterboard to communicate.
On our recent family trip to the lake, we had a lot of fun. Her 2 neurotypical brothers are very active when it comes fun on the water. Siri can do a lot of regular physical activities like riding a bike, swimming, riding a horse etc.
Being a girl and a non-speaking autistic in the family has its many challenges.
Do we treat her like a princess, being over protective and keeping her away from rough elements and tough play?
OR
Do we encourage her into more physical activities hoping that she will enjoy them?
It was very challenging for me as her dad while she was growing up. Either way I risked not being able to follow her wishes. She being autistic did not help. I had to go with my gut. And sometimes it backfired!
I am glad I pushed her to be more active rather than less. As we now know that strenuous physical activity, immersive experiences and cognitive challenges help autistic individuals stay regulated. How do I know this? I asked Siri!
Siri is now attending college and wants to become a neuroscientist. She has been a non-speaking person most of her life. Only recently we discovered she could communicate with the help of a letterboard.
I am glad we have been doing the right thing all along when it comes to physical activity. It is hard to know the difference when an autistic child is screaming - do they love the activity or do they hate the activity?
My advice to parents of young autistic children is to push them to do more physical activity. Autistic individuals are at a higher chance of becoming sedentary and have a higher cardio-metabolic risk. Physical activity can be therapeutic not only for physical health but for mental health too.
As they grow older their activity level and geographic footprint becomes smaller. Ultimately, many of them are confined to their home as they need more support to move, which may not be available. It will ultimately restrict their social interaction and leads to poor quality of life.
We have been working to solve this problem for the last several years. How do you create an activity that is strenuous enough, requires less effort from the caregivers and is FUN for the individual? And it has to be scalable, personalized and require minimal staff support. That’s a tall order - but I think we cracked this nut after several years of trying.
We developed the Cognitive Sensory Motor (COSMO) therapy. Hope you can come, see and experience what we have to offer at the Sirica Center.
As for Siri, she wants to try the kayak now!
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