18

It’s fairly common for people to set goals and make resolutions on their birthdays, and Ashish is no different. On his 18th birthday, Ashish set 10 amazing goals for himself. I can’t wait to watch him relentlessly pursue and achieve his goals, like the tiger he is.

1. I want to attend all Level 3 classes- He wants to attend higher level classes in order to receive more academic content input.
2. Cut down on my food-  He wants to be more health-conscious.
3. Become easy to communicate with all- He wants to be able to communicate freely and easily with everyone around him.
4. Can adapt to more meaningful speech towards attending classes- He can use speech to participate in his classes.
5. Become fluent with a wireless keyboard in answering questions independently- He wants to communicate independently.
6. Become a fluent talker- He wants to develop and improve his speech.
7. Become water-adept and acquire swimming skills- He loves water, and wants to learn how to swim.
8. Attend Georgia Tech for engineering- He wants to go to college (and one of the best ones in the world, if I do say so myself!).
9. Pay my own bills- He wants to support himself and be independent.
10. Never stop due to my speech disability- He never wants to be locked away again.

Heading Up, Up, and Away!

Often, I like to look back and think about the incredible progress Ashish has made in the past few months. After trying numerous therapies to help Ashish, when we first started using the letter board, we were only vaguely hopeful about the results. However, that first magical session led to a series of amazing discoveries- discovering his comprehension, intelligence, feelings, and personality.

I remember in one letter-boarding session, Ashish described himself as a tiger. He said that after years of being incognito, his time to shine had come. Today, I can’t think of anything more true. He has steadily been taking on and accomplishing every goal that comes to his mind. The biggest of these goals is the pursuit of this education. In these past few months, he has demonstrated competency in several academic topics, and he has worked to teach himself numerous more. He watches Khan Academy and works with a tutor to advance his skills in subjects like math (his favorite subject!), science, and economics. This semester, he is currently enrolled in a US Government class with Level 3 (high-functioning) special needs children, and he is excelling in his assignments and exams.

Apart from pursuing his educational goals, he is using the letter-board to hone other skills such as speech, typing, and summary synthesis. Biweekly, he meets with a group of autistic teenagers and discusses the presidential candidates, their policy views, and the upcoming election. He communicates very elegantly through his letter board and keyboard- his fingers fly, and his writing style is very mature.

Ashish has made tremendous strides in the past few months, but there are still a ways to go. In a recent letter-boarding session, Ashish was asked to set short-term and long-term goals for himself. What he wrote- and what hurt us to realize- was “I am not sure.”

“There is so much more available to me now, that I would not have dared to dream of earlier. Not that I don’t have goals, they have just never seen a reality. Do not think that I don’t want to share them, I just need time sharing things that I never thought anyone would ever have the opportunity to hear.”

Despite his uncertainty, we know that he can (and will) only go up from here. His intelligence, passion, and motivation will allow him to achieve whatever he sets his heart and mind to. One of Ashish’s current goals is to obtain a high school diploma. He hopes to enroll in more Level 3 classes, and soon after transition to regular-education classes. Throughout this journey, and any journey he pursues, we (his family) are standing with him. Whether we are working with him, finding him resources, or advocating for him, we are going to support him the whole way.

And in the next few months, I cannot wait to see where he goes from here.

 

Insight of the Day (7/14/16)

We’ve been working on various math skills with Ashish for a while now, in order to understand his skillset and build upon his competency. We are impressed with the amount of math he already knows- he’s flying through 7th, 8th, and 9th grade material, and is even excelling at college-level probability and statistics! My mom was curious to know: where had he learned all of this previously? He had never been taught math directly, yet his foundation is strong.

Ashish’s reponse? I LEARNED MATH THROUGH SHEFALI’S HOMEWORK.

It all clicked, and it makes perfect sense. Over the years, as I worked on homework and asked my parents for help, Ashish was always lingering and always listening. He would also come to me as I was working and watch me work. It’s amazing to understand how keen his perception is by realizing how much he learned through indirect means. It’s equally amazing to understand how that mean was through me- to understand how much of a role I have played in his education thus far. His perception, coupled with his willingness to learn and obtain a proper education, has proved to be a powerful combination. Now that we are focused on furthering his education, we are excited to continue observing his brilliant performance, as well as learn more about what he wants to do with his education.

3/10/16, 3/19/16- The Three Parts of the Brain

Our first indication of Ashish’s academic interests began today: upon being given a choice to do a history or science lesson, Ashish chose science. Today’s lesson was about the brain, its various parts, and the functions of each parts.

What is the brain responsible for? WAY YOU MOVE AND THINK
If the brain is not functioning properly, what is one thing that could be affected? SENSORY PROCESSING
What area is responsible for the majority of the brains function? CEREBRUM
What part of the nerve cell did I specifically mention? AXONS

What part of the brain are we talking about now? FRONTAL LOBE

Tell me one thing the frontal lobe is responsible for. MOTOR CONTROL

What area is in the frontal lobe? BROCAS
Tell me about your Broca’s Area. IT HAS DEFINITE DEFICITS EVEN THOUGH I CAN SAY SOME WORDS. NOT EVEN CLOSE TO MY GIFTED THOUGHTS.
What lobe are we talking about now? PARIETAL LOBE
What cortexes can you find here? SENSORY AND MOTOR
Tell me about your sensory and motor. THIS WILL SOME DAY IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS CONTINUE TO HAVE STUDIES ON IT. EVENTUAL FINDINGS WILL COMMUNICATE THIS IS WHERE AUTISM RESIDES.

What type of movement requires larger muscles? GROSS MOVEMENT
Name a body part involved in gross motor movement. CORE
What type of movement requires smaller muscles? FINE MOVEMENT
Name a body part involved in fine motor movement. EYES
What is the role of the Wernicke’s area? IT HELPS YOU IN THE UNDERSTANDING OF SPEECH AND LANGUAGE
Tell me what body functions the cerebellum controls. IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR COORDINATION

Tell me one function of the brain stem. IT CONTROLS YOUR HEARTBEAT

Tell me about your brain.
JOINING IT SOMEWHAT WITH MY LAST RPM SESSION WITH YOU, I THINK MOTOR IS THE ISSUE IN MY SPEECH NOT MY INTELLIGENCE. I HEARD YOU SAY SPEECH CAN IMPROVE WITH RPM. IS THAT TRUE? I HATE NOT SEEMING SMART SO I THINK THIS WILL HELP ME SHOW I AM. I MEAN RPM THEN TRYING SPEECH.

Not only is Ashish a science buff, but he’s also putting his science knowledge to use to understand his autism! Today, we were able to understand how Ashish has viewed his autism all these years. His frustration is certainly understandable, but at the same time, his passion and determination to express himself is unwavering.

2/20/16- Roller Coasters!

Ashish’s second letter-boarding session was about the history of roller coasters! It was awesome to watch him learn about some very cool roller coaster facts.

Where did the idea of roller coasters start? RUSSIA

What did the French call the rides they saw in Russia? RUSSIAN MOUNTAINS

When did the first wheeled coaster open in Paris? 1804 

What country turned a coal-hauling railroad into a ride? US

What is the name of the tallest roller coaster in the world? KING DAKA

How tall is it? 456 FEET

Where is the fastest roller coaster in the world? DUBAI

Once again, he gave us a great answer to an open-ended question!

If you were around in 1874, would you have gone on this ride? MY IDEA OF FUN IS FAST NOT SLOW

The most amazing part about this session was Ashish’s first creative writing bit! His prompt was: “Imagine you are a roller coaster designer, hired to make an awesome roller coaster for a new theme park! What would your ride be called? What would it look like? What crazy things would it do? The sky is the limit for your roller coaster!”

His response? Brilliant.

THE RAIL IS MADE OF STEEL. MY WORRY IS THAT RIDERS WILL THROW UP.

What is your ride called? THE PUKE MACHINE.

Tell me about “The Puke Machine”! MOSTLY TWISTS AND TURNS. EXTREMELY FAST. THE NEW WORLD RECORD HOLDER.

This was incredible to witness. Humor, creativity, and ambition wrapped up into one response? This was the first time we were getting to know Ashish’s personality, and we were already beginning to love it.

It’s also incredible to note that by his second session, he was already opening up immensely and giving creative writing responses! It’s clear that he is so eager to share himself with us, and we are equally excited to discover him!

2/13/16- Ashish’s First Letter-Boarding Session

Ashish’s first letter-boarding session was truly a special one to remember. Up until then, we had only witnessed other children undergo their own miracles by using the letter board. This device certainly seemed like a “magic wand,” but like anyone else new to the bandwagon, we were skeptical at first. We had already tried years of various different therapy options for Ashish, and couldn’t help but wonder: would this work for Ashish? Was it just a visual trick?

Ashish’s first letter-boarding session deftly began to sweep away the doubts and misconceptions. The lesson was about an explorer named Ernest Shackleton.

Another brief technical explanation: The way letter-boarding works is that the content is presented through an interactive lesson. The content is divided into chunks/paragraphs, and every chunk is followed by a series of questions. First, a chunk of content is read aloud to the individual. Autistic individuals tend to have extraordinary auditory channels due to their heightened senses, and therefore absorb knowledge through their powerful listening skills. After the content is read, the questions are asked, and the individual is able to answer the questions through the letter board.

It was amazing to watch Ashish demonstrate his ability to absorb and report knowledge for the first time. Below is a transcript with some the questions asked, and his answers:

WHAT IS THE FIRST NAME OF THE EXPLORER WE ARE TALKING ABOUT? ERNEST

WHICH CONTINENT DID HE WANT TO CROSS? ANTARCTICA

HOW MANY MEN WERE THERE ON THIS EXPEDITION? 27

WHAT WAS SHACKLETON’S SHIP CALLED? ENDURANCE

WHAT SEA DID THE SHIP GET TRAPPED IN? WEDDELL SEA 

In addition, there were a few questions asked that didn’t have a clear-cut answer in the paragraphs. Through these questions, we saw the first glimpses of Ashish demonstrating his own knowledge to us:

WHAT IS ONE WORD YOU COULD USE TO DESCRIBE THE MEN WHO RESPONDED TO SHACKLETON’S AD? BRAVE

WHAT LANGUAGE DO YOU THINK ‘FORTITUDE VINCIMUS’ IS? LATIN

WHAT DOES ISOLATED MEAN? NO ONE LIVES THERE

HOW DO YOU THINK THE CREW FELT AFTER BEING RESCUED? THE MEN FELT RELIEVED

The answers to these “semi-open” and “open-ended” questions left us in awe. For the first time in his lifetime, we were beginning to recognize Ashish’s true cognitive ability- and so far, it was looking to be very impressive. Ashish’s letter-boarding coach shared with us that it usually takes some time for autistic individuals to open up on the letter board and give open-ended answers. However, Ashish’s intelligence- coupled with his excitement to start using the board- really shone through when he answer open-ended questions in his first letter-boarding session. From this day, we knew  Ashish was a powerhouse. We were ready for the journey to unfold.