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Research shows that around 1 in 100 children have an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Children
with Autism have the best chance of reaching their potential when they receive evidence
based early intervention like that offered by Autism Spectrum Australia also known as
Aspect. Oliver takes part in an Aspect Building Blocks program in his own home.
I think when Oliver was originally diagnosed I was looking for something that worked specifically
with his Autism. A lot of services offer many different things but what I found was that
Aspect, through their broad range of services, was the best for him and was the best for
me because they’re actually working solely with the autism and that’s what is benefitting
my son.
I think what sets it apart in terms of what kind of service it is, is that it’s very
much about building capacity within the families, it’s about training the parents, not just
working with the child. We know that there is no cure for Autism but we’re looking
at building skills and capacity for lifelong learning and we know that the more you do
that at a younger age the better the outcomes are.
Having the assessment early really helped because he started doing a lot of early intervention,
he does programs through Aspect, he does Building Blocks which is centred based and he also
does home based therapy. Hibba Nagrial, Early Intervention Specialist:
All the programs that we do are tailored individually for the family and the children and it’s
very flexible so it’s not something that gets stuck in stone so if something isn’t
working we can actually change it and modify it and keep moving forward.
In the last 12 months since he started doing therapy Oliver now speaks, he speaks quite
clearly sometimes, usually 3 to 4 word phrases which is exceptional for a child that never
spoke before.
Autism is a lifelong disability; we know that it is related to social impairment, communication
impairment as well as rigid and repetitive behaviours. In terms of what I’ll do, I
usually go out to families and have a chat through what their goals and their priorities
are, as well as what my own professional qualifications indicate to me what to be worked towards and
I combine that with what the families want to work on.
Some of the strategies I have learnt through working with Aspect I suppose would be a lot
to do with visuals and social stories, putting those sort of things in place, and understanding
why Oliver does the things that he does when he has melt downs or his different sensory
needs and how I can manage them appropriately to help him be the best that he can be.
Learning those skills definitely helps in my day to day life cause I understand him
as a person better and I understand why he is the way he is.
Aspect is a not for profit organisation that has been helping children like Oliver and
their families since 1966. Aspect offers Early Intervention programs across NSW, the ACT
and in North West Melbourne. Find out more visit autismspectrum.org.au