Working the night shift

Most days we hold private consultations in the afternoon/evening for an hour and a half. Parents from around the area (and one from 4 hours away!) come and bring their children for some advice or information.  It’s wonderful to meet with families outside of SOREM who are so interested in learning more about what they can do for their son/daughter. Many of the families are already doing so much for their children—by teaching them at home, taking them to different therapies, or experimenting with different teaching methods. This collaborative approach with parents exemplifies our thoughts and practices on empowering the individuals we work with. More over, each family we work with offers another opportunity for us to engage in our own critical reflection about our work and the best practices for future partnerships. 

Autism Society of West Africa!

We've been hard at work over the past few months, working on building West Africa's first ever regional autism conference. This conference will serve as the catalyst for the creation of the Autism Society of West Africa. Delegates from Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, and Benin are all planning to attend. We're looking forward to an amazing conference and would love to see you there! Details will be posted on our website in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

In the meantime - save the dates!

April 8-11, 2010 in Accra Ghana!

Hope to see you there...

Pictures Autism Awareness Month events in Ghana...

Artwork, done on Thursday's at AACT, being sold at the parents meeting



Concert in Osu by Joyful Way Incorporated




AACT field trip to the Legon Botanical Gardens



Thank you Milo for your sponsorship!



Auntie Serwah up at the podem during the seminar at the British Council



Excited caregivers during our community awareness walk



The awareness walk, escorted by the local police




This picture speaks for itself!



Dear readers,

April was sure busy, wow! It is amazing to think of all the events that were organized, the people who connected and the awareness that was inspired by the 2010 Autism Awareness Month in Ghana. Starting from the huge benefit concert at the National Conference Center, to the community walk and field trip, to the radio shows and press conference, all in all... it was a success.

My personal favorite was the field trip to the Legon Botanical Gardens with all of the students and caregivers. Metro Mass Transit very kindly gave AACT a bus at a discounted price for the day and so we all could ride together. The bus ride to the gardens was filled with singing, dancing, and drumming (This seems to be a theme here in Ghana. No matter what you are doing, there will always be drumming and dancing. Amazing!). Once there, we played all morning on the playground, drank cups of cold Milo thanks to a donation from Nestle, ate mounds of Jolof rice thanks to a parent donation, took a walk around the lake and then had another bus ride filled with singing. Needless to say, everyone was exhausted at the end of the day.

The second best event of this past month, I think, was the last event: the parents' meeting. Upon arrival, I was skeptical about the turn out. But as the time passed about 10 parents showed up, a few caregivers and then the administration from both AACT and Awaawaa2. The agenda for the meeting was to recap all of the Awareness events, thank those involved, and discuss the future of the students who are now starting to out grow the center. Unbelievably, a parent of one of the older boys arrived to the meeting prepared to start a parents organization. This organization will be responsible for creating an assisted living & vocational training center for young adults with autism. This one parent facilitated the meeting, took down names of dedicated parents, and even planned the date and time for the next meeting! Motivation and initiation, its about time. As Auntie Serwah herself even said, “A new facility for the older children should have been done yesterday.”



As the month of April comes to an end, sadly so does my time here in Ghana. In three weeks, I will be returning to the US. Its hard to believe. This will not be the end of my work with the Global Autism Project though, I am excited to say that I will be co-hosting the Paddle for Autism Awareness this summer with Molly! What a better way to recap my work here than to talk about it cities all over the USA.

I am thankful to have been a part of Autism Awareness Month in Ghana this year and hope that it was just as successful in all other parts of the world. Only 11 more months until Autism Awareness Month 2011... lets start planning to make it even more powerful! Together we can make a difference.

Casey

After a few weeks of attempting to conduct caregiver trainings, finally I was granted the time. As I have mentioned before, lecture style trainings have not been the most successful so the teaching style had to be adapted. First, we set up “class” outside. This not only created more physical space, it also was much cooler temperature wise and tended to decrease the probability of people falling asleep (yes, this is a valid concern, no matter how entertaining your presentation). Secondly, I have started each training with a 5 minute Brian Gym. Brain Gym is a technique that I learned through Multikids, the other school that I am working at here. It involves deep breathing and body moment (similar to yoga) to get the brain awake and stimulated.

The beginning week I asked, “What is behavior?” To be able to teach or model good behavior, it only make sense to first know what exactly this means. Thanks to the STAR Autism Program, we identified the ABCs of Behavior: the antecedent, the behavior, and the consequence. Then brainstormed examples of this three part series in our daily lives. While discussing, I wrote key points on a white board. Due to the outcomes of past trainings, I felt it was best if I let the caregivers take the initiative to copy down what was being discussed if the desire was there. I, by no means, will force an education on anyone. Although will also be the first to say that with education comes empowerment. Without my prompting, 4 out of the 12 caregivers present came prepared with notebooks and pencils. It was a step in the right direction.

The following weeks we have focused on positive behavior reinforcement, the idea of extinction, and Discrete Trial Training. As some of you know, these are not new concepts at AACT. The caregivers have been taught these ideas over and over again, with little degree of change. Partially due to cultural differences, but also coming back to the teacher. I feel that I have a bit of an advantage conducting trainings at AACT now versus back in July '09. I have spent many months working along side the caregivers and helping with the students. Compared to someone coming in new to Ghana and new to AACT, I have somewhat of a greater understanding of this environment as well as knowing the caregivers on a much more personal level. Therefore, I rely heavily on their participation in these trainings. I pose questions to them, let them role play, and together we brainstorm ideas of how to make concepts, such as positive behavior reinforcement, a regular routine at AACT. Conducted in this way, I feel and hope the information being given is more sustainable.

On top of Brain Gym and the more educational based lessons, I have started to introduce team building games. Stemming off of charades, we have done other activities that involved non-verbal communication, trust, memory and cooperative skills. It is amazing to see people who generally do not show very much emotion and many times are quite “relaxed” by Friday, becoming active, lively, and full of character. Creating an environment that is enjoyable makes learning more conducive. So last Friday we were told that the caregivers must clean the center instead of receiving training and literally one caregiver said to me, “I am disappointed. This is the only place where I can receive an education and today they have taken it away from me,” I was crushed. Yet it also meant that the trainings were having a positive impact.

World Autism Awareness Month events are also coming along well. This week AACT will start its awareness campaign at the Accra Mall. Other events have been added, such as a craft fair on April 10th. This idea came about from an artist that has been recently volunteering on Thursdays. This man not only donates his time to teaching the children once a week, he has also donated many of his beautiful pieces of art for the center to sell.

On a separate note, there was a wonderful thunderstorm last night. So for the first day in months, we did not see the sunshine. It was a nice change from sweating.

Sincerely,
Casey

(My apologies for the lack of pictures in this entry, I promise more next time.)

Wow, is it really the 1st of March? For how slow some things tend to be here in Ghana, my time always goes so quickly!

Friday, the 6 of February was supposed to be the first day of caregiver training at AACT. Even after communicating via email with both Auntie Serwah and Auntie Baaba throughout the week about the training details, there was still a conflict. Upon arrival to AACT, I learned that Auntie Serwah had actually planned to throw herself a belated birthday party. This included music, food and drinks for the entire school day. While it was fun and a kind gesture, it did not create the most effective environment for teaching. Due to this circumstance, the training was rescheduled for the following weeks.

I left AACT that day feeling frustrasted. Frustrated at the lack of communication between administration and volunteers, as well as the lack of attention being given to the students. It was then that it hit me. So many volunteers have come through AACT to do caregivers trainings. So many volunteers have addressed these issues in lecture style classes. Although all of them have some level of positive outcome, the real net gain is small. How do we change this?! It is clear from the long range effect, or lack there of, that these type of teaching may not be the best way to reach everyone. Therefore we, the teachers, must change our teaching style in order to accommodate our “students.”

Instead of a lecture that following Friday we played charades. For anyone who is not familiar, this is a game where you have to act out a specific event, character, or action without using any spoken language. Then your team mates have to guess what you are trying to convey. Not knowing how this was going to turn out, I made about 20 different cards, divided the teams and crossed my fingers. After the first few warm-ups, the caregivers were into it! Not only were they cheering for their teams, they were actually acting with expression.



Once the game was over. The question was posed: “What was the purpose of playing?” Silence. So adapting my question, I asked them to how it felt when their respective teams were unable to guess what the actor was trying to portray. “It was frustrating,” “it was annoying,” “it made them mad not being able to verbally communicate a message.” Exactly.


The majority of the students at AACT have not developed verbal communication skills, nor have they learned any other form of effective communication. It is my hope that the caregivers now have a better understanding of how these children feel everyday of their lives. If nothing else though, the game has now been carried out to an unexpected level. Since that Friday, one specific caregiver has taken it upon himself to set up the game every week. After our lessons, he has run a charades game. Last week he even brought prizes for both the team who won and the team who lost!

Besides charades, there are a few new items to report. First of all, I want to say how proud I am of the caregivers and Auntie Baaba for initiating the use of PECS during their lunch time. Right before the holiday break Auntie Baaba made some pictures of pure water bags, spoons and forks. At first, I was unsure about how effective it was going to be just due to the inconsistency of their use. Although, to my amazement, the caregivers have gotten quite good with this system and the children have really responded. The majority of students will now request these items either verbally or with the pictures! Its a great step towards teaching communication that now needs to be expanded.


Auntie Baaba and Auntie Serwah also decided to change around the classrooms. Where the older students were is now where the primary class is and visa versa. This makes so much difference. It is much less distracting for the young ones and also gives them more space, with direct access to the bathrooms and kitchen.


Planning for Autism Awareness Month is also progressing! The following are the tentative dates and events planned as of last Friday, February 26th with Auntie Baaba and Auntie Serwah:

17th – 19th March - Autism Awareness Table at Accra Mall with Joyful Way Inc.

20th March - Mandatory AACT Parent's Meeting

28th March - Autism Awareness Concert at the National Theater Hosted by Joyful Way Inc.

1st April - Press Conference

2nd April- World Autism Awareness Day

9th April - AACT Community Awareness Walk

17th April - Informational Seminar at British Council

22nd April - Benefit Concert in Osu

24th April - All Parents of Children with Autism Meeting at Multikids

Its going to be a wild month of events!

As always, thank you for reading.
Casey

Its been two weeks back in Ghana and things have picked up right where they left off. Before leaving from the U.S. I had the pleasure of meeting with Prof. Joel Arick, the author of STAR and FACTER autism therapy programs. After explaining my background and role in Ghana, he very kindly agreed to donate some items to the schools here. To my utter amazement, he was able to acquire the entire first and second levels of STAR, and the FACTER program with 3 training DVDs. I was blown away by his kindness as well as endlessly thankful towards STAR Autism Support for their generous donation.

As mentioned in the previous entry, my time here will now be shared. During the week, I will be doing speech therapy at Coledic (soon to be Multikids) as well as helping with the development of a program called Towards Independence. This is an hour long class everyday geared toward teenagers with autism who are in need of enhancing their life skills. So far we have done lessons on dish washing, going to restaurants, talking on the phone, times of day and telling the time, useful measurements, watering the garden, ect. No only are we teaching the students, it also gives me a chance to teach some of the other teachers here about lesson planning and essential adaptations and/or additions for students with autism in regards to curriculum. This increases the program's sustainability.

Using the STAR program guidelines and training DVDs, I'll be doing staff trainings at AACT every Friday. The first training, next Friday, will be focusing on positive behavior reinforcements, something that I feel particularly passionate about.

On top of all of this, International Autism Awareness Day, the 2nd of April, is only about 9 weeks away!!! This may sound like a long time to start preparing although not to Ghana. Over the next 2 months, I plan to really focus a lot of my spare time (haha) on networking and planning for events.

As for my re-entry back into Ghana... well according to most, I have lost all my tan and apparently ate too many Christmas cookies. Ah, it's nice to be back.

Many thanks for reading.
Casey

P.S. Good luck to the Ghanaian national soccer(football) team as they face Egypt in the African Cup of Nations Tournament finals this Sunday.

A New Year in Ghana

Dear Readers,

I first must apologize for the lapse of time since last writing. I hope the holiday season has brought you and your loved ones an abundance of health and happiness. Since the last update, there have been changes to my role as country director for the Global Autism Project as well as many new developments at AACT.

Back in October and November, AACT had an incredible influx of new volunteers. From US study abroad students to Ghanaian community members, the center was consistently flooded with bodies. For the most part, the increased ratio of caregivers to students was beneficial, especially when focusing on the outcome of new program developments. The most influential volunteer-initiated growth was the introduction of an adapted physical education program. This not only proved to be an essential break and energy release for the students, it also gave the caregivers a chance to teach in a more alternative environment.



My personal favorite addition is swimming Friday's. After a large clean-out session of the center, we found many usefully toys and resources, one of them being an unused, blowup pool. Unfortunately though, due to the size of the pool, only the younger two classes are able to safely use it. Just as every student learns differently, not every teacher is able to thrive in the same environment. Through these added programs, we found newly excelling students and caregivers.

Throughout this fall, AACT continued the ongoing process of fund raising and increasing public awareness. Auntie Serwah and I presented to the 120 member University of Ghana choral group about autism and AACT which lead to them choosing he center as their focus for an annual fundraiser. We set up booths at two different bazaars, one more monetarily successful than the other.

As a representative for AACT, I was also given the opportunity to attend the National Inclusion Forum. This conference brought together teachers, parents, doctors, government officials, and any other professional working in the field of special education. The idea was to learn about current policies and adapt them to accommodate all people with any disability, including learning disabilities. This forum was a first of it's kind and needs to happen more frequently in order to provide these children with the education they deserve.



So what does 2010 look like for the Global Autism Project in Ghana? For the next few months, one of our main focuses will be helping to organize events for April, International Autism Awareness Month. Using previously established connections in conjunction with a newly formed parent support group, increased program development, and heightened volunteer communication we will strive to put autism in Ghana on an international radar.



Over the past 6 months, I have worked hard to really highlight the positive growth within AACT. However, this does not always come easy. Just like anything else in this world, not all of our plans or proposed programs work perfectly. In fact sometimes what works in one environment, will not work at all in another. I have learned a great deal about flexibility, not only within my own expectations but also accepting criticisms of programs, trainings, and the lack of follow-through.

On a more personal level, I was asked to become a part of Ghana's first "all-inclusive" school, COLEDIC [The Communication Learning Difficulties & Counseling Center], as a part time Speech Therapist and Autism Specialist. My presence at this school has allowed me to help AACT increase their involvement with a population of special education advocates in the local community. Originally, my position as the country director of the Global Autism Project in Ghana was going to end in the beginning of December. This has since changed. Thanks to agreements between COLEDIC and GAP, I have been asked to return in mid-January and continue in the effort to help the development of resources available to people with autism in Ghana.



Thank you to everyone who has been reading our blog over the past months and hope you will continue to follow throughout 2010!

Sincerely,
Casey

Back to School

As the air cools and leaves begin to change their color in the US, the sun begins to burn brighter here in Ghana. Similar to the US, September not only begins a change in weather, it also signifies the reopening of a new school year. During the summer months, AACT had about 15 students who regularly attended the center with just about one caregiver for every child. Many of the other students traveled with their families or stayed home with other siblings on vacation. Over the past few weeks, all of these students have returned. Now a typical day at AACT has about 25 students, being taught by 12 caregivers, 3 directors, and a few volunteers. Not including the daily visitors, there are over 40 moving bodies in the center on a regular basis, at least half of whom have autism.



Due to increased attendance, it became necessary to find more effective ways to keep groups of students engaged. With support from Auntie Baaba and help from two new volunteers, we put together a more structured morning routine for the middle classroom. We choose this room to focus on first, because they typically have the most students with the least amount of caregivers. The routine involves the students identifying “who is here today” by moving pictures of themselves to the appropriate area, going through the day of the week, month, year, and then identifying the weather. So far, it seems to be working well!



There has been a lot of other excitement over the past few weeks. On September 8th, a television series called Impact Africa came to film an episode at AACT. This included footage of the students activities and interviews with Auntie Serwah and I. Last week, the Rotary Club came to present a donation to the center. There were over 25 members who came for the ceremony. It was a great opportunity for them to learn more about children with autism and the services provided at AACT.



On top of all of this, I have been continuing correspondence with a variety of others. Caroline Pongo, the creator of a local educational puppet theater, came to the center last Thursday. Her and I discussed getting the students involved with a puppet making workshop, as well as planning a performance at the center. Stacey Reynolds, an Occupational Therapy professor at Virginia Commonwealth University has agreed to include AACT on their annual service trip next May. This is especially exciting because there are currently no Occupational Therapists in Ghana. This coming Monday, I have a meeting with Nana Ocran, the Director of Education at the Ghana National Museum, to begin setting up educational programs at the museum modified for children with autism.

In regards to administrative tasks, I have been involved with developing job descriptions and creating an employee code of conduct. These will be compiled into an employee handbook and be available in the future for new employees. As volunteers come and go, we have been asking for their feedback as well, in order to continuously improve the current volunteer handbook. The point of all of this is documentation. Keeping records, putting job rules and regulations on paper, tracking the number of volunteers in a given time period, etc. It all helps to strengthen an organization’s permanence.


Last but not least, the Caregiver Challenge, a fundraiser started about a week and a half ago, has already raise 130GHc (about equal to about $90 US Dollars)! Auntie Serwah has created a bank account that is specifically for donations. The goal is to not touch this money until there is enough to build, buy, or rent an additional, desperately needed, facility.

All in all, things are progressing! And as much as I miss the beautiful fall weather, the warm sun doesn’t feel too bad. Thanks again for reading.

Until next time,
Casey

Greetings!

It’s hard to believe it has already been 5 weeks in Ghana. Despite feeling more accustom to the routine, every day presents new challenges and unexpected obstacles (such as shoes breaking in mid step and unannounced bus route changes). On the other hand, I also am constantly blown away by Ghanaian generosity and the beauty of this country.

This past Wednesday, I had the privilege of finally meeting Auntie Serwah, the founder and director of AACT. She had left for the US right before our service trip, to accept the Heartspring Award. This is an award that recognizes innovation and creativity in special education worldwide. There are only ten recipients of this award every year. From what I have seen and heard, she deserves it. Congratulations Auntie Serwah and Akwaaba (welcome – back)! For more information about the Heartspring Award check out http://www.heartspring.org/award/.

I really focused this week on modeling positive reinforcement. Not just here in Ghana, but around the world we tend to focus on negative aspects within society. Watch the news for ten minutes and there is guaranteed to be stories about violence, corruption, dishonestly, disrespect, etc. As a global society, we need to shift our attention. Encourage people with stories of success; inspire improvement through positive innovations. This is the general philosophy behind positive reinforcement. We need to make sure the students are being encouraged to participate (not yelled at), following through when asked to complete a task (versus letting students run away) and then praising them for listening to our directions. By modeling positive reinforcement throughout the school day, the students are being given the praise they deserve while also providing naturally occurring examples for the caregivers to learn from.

When not working directly with the students, caregivers, or completing administrative tasks, I continued to help spread awareness about the centre. Through the recommendation of a German Occupational therapist, who visited the centre a couple weeks ago, I have gotten in touch with a woman named Caroline Pongo. She is the creator of Beans & Gari, an educational puppet theater performance. Our hope is to have her bring the show to the centre come September.

Every day there are new developments with the centre. With Auntie Serwah back from Heartspring, she has made a point to emphasize the importance of attitude. Baaba has just completed an Autism course and plans to train the staff in the coming weeks. Nana Akua, a speech therapist, has the next couple weeks off of work and has said that she would like to help brainstorm ways to fundraise. Never a dull moment here at AACT!

…or in Ghana for that matter! Yesterday, I was invited to attend a traditional Ghanaian funeral. This was an all day event, filled with dancing, drumming, eating delicious Banku & stew, while trying to stay cool under a large Baobab tree. I crawled into bed last night exhausted.

Thanks for reading!
Casey

New interactive way to teach number identification!

Saturday August 8, '09

Once again, another busy week here in Ghana…

Every morning at the centre, the students sit in a circle and routinely sing good morning to each other and participate in a variety of other basic welcoming songs. It is a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn appropriate social interactions and communication. Equally as important, it is a time for the staff to be modeling and positively reinforcing this behavior. This week I was able to participate in the morning circle not only to help with these goals, but also as a way to continuously build the relationships between myself, the staff and students.

One of the goals of the Global Autism Project is to also help establish more connections for AACT. Ultimately, these are local professionals and community members, as to keep with our sustainable practices. Although sometimes due to limited resources this is not as readily available. To my knowledge the centre does not have an occupational therapist and in fact no one knows if there even are any in Ghana. So I turned to the internet, where I quickly found a couple different US universities that had conducted OT service projects in Ghana. The most overwhelming response was from Stacey Reynolds, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University Occupational Therapy Department. This past May, she came to Ghana with a team of students. They were involved with a few different service projects, but mainly all relating to OT services. This week we have started communicating about how they could most effectively help AACT, while also understanding the idea of sustainability.

Along the same line, I have been exchanging emails with one of the academic directors of the School for International Training – Ghana. 5 years ago, when I first came to Ghana, he was actually one of my directors. He works in conjunction with the University of Ghana and has shown immediate interest in our efforts to raise autism awareness.

On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, Jessi (an Ikando volunteer studying special education at Vanderbilt) and I conducted trainings on effective lesson planning. This involved basic lesson planning order of operations, as well as brainstorming with the staff on creative ways to teach these lessons. Throughout the week we not only saw the staff utilizing some of these ideas, there was one caregiver that came the next day with an entire week of lessons plans written out for her student!

Thursday, two art students from the University of Ghana came to conduct an art therapy session with all the students. Then on Friday, our good friend Louis Wonder conducted a drumming and dance workshop with all the students and staff. Every day there are new families walking into the centre, interested in services. There is actually such a need, that AACT currently has a waiting list for students.

Thanks for reading!
Casey

Saturday August 1, '09

Last weekend Lori, Brad and Alicia all flew back to the US. It was sad to see them go, but know they accomplished an incredible amount over the course of their three weeks in Ghana.

Work started with the development and implementation of preference assessments. These will be used to determine potential reinforcers for communication opportunities and academic work. In collaboration with Baaba, we helped to create an afternoon activity schedule. This not only gives the students more structure, it also puts selected staff in leadership positions, increasing overall accountability.

Throughout the trip, Lori and Brad put together workshops for the staff. These included trainings on the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), and Functional Behavior Assessments. Along with the workshops, we all helped to make the necessary PECS pictures cards and provided consultation on their use. The BI Capture was also set up. The AACT staff was taught how to use it when evaluating problem behavior or modeling effective techniques.

Last, but certainly not least, Alicia built four specially modified workstations. The materials used were all locally acquired, in order for more of them to be created by AACT staff in the future. Needless to say, Lori, Brad and Alicia were fantastic on many levels. They will certainly be missed here in Ghana.

As for the past week...

Baaba came into work Monday morning with a mission to clean. Every day we choose one room or space to tackle. Broken, chewed, unuseful toys were thrown away. Selected toys and teaching tools, including all stuffed animals, were washed. Once inventory was taken, we were able to make every child there own set of supplies. Each pouch included a new box of crayons, colored pencils, a pen, a pencil, sharpener, and eraser. The individual classrooms were also given the appropriate toys and teaching materials according to the needs of the students.

Once again, a personal thank you to Lori, Brad and Alicia for being excellent volunteers. Can't wait to work with you again next summer in India!

Going now to enjoy some delicious grilled plantain.
Casey

Friday, July 24

Greetings!

This is Lori again. We had a very exciting day today at the centre! In the morning Brad helped the centre with evaluating a new potential student. I went with the Casey to print out all of our training summaries as well as the graph showing the number of functional communication statements made by students during snack before we started training and after we started training. The data was very impressive! Casey will be taking data a week or so after we leave so we can measure if this change in staff behavior (increased opportunities for communication) is maintained. Considering the enthusiasm by the staff over the impact this has had on the students, I believe that this change will be maintained after we are gone.

In the afternoon, Brad and I did our third Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) workshop with the staff. The response from the staff was amazing! In all three workshops the staff had excellent questions and were really beginning to understand the functions of behavior. After one of the workshops, two staff members came up to Brad and I to tell us this was the best training they had received in five years working with kids with Autism. They told us that often times people in the community turn to them for answers about what is Autism and how can Autism be treated and they are often unsure of the answer. They said the workshops from this training trip helped them understand Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis so that they could answer the questions of people in their community. One of the staff members even told us that every day since the beginning of our visit she has gone home and shared with her family what she had learned from us that day. All of the comments from the workshops were incredibly powerful, but these in particular were very touching and meaningful to us. It is such an honor to be able to provide knowledge and information to individuals who are so dedicated to their work and hungry to learn more.

During the FBA workshops we also showed the staff how to use the BI Capture. In the morning, the staff set up the BI Capture (with a little guidance from us) and used the BI Capture to get videos of a student’s biting behavior. The supervisor at the centre will review these videos with the staff to determine the function of the behavior and be able to come up with an effective intervention plan.

Alicia finished modifying the desks today! They look absolutely amazing and are the best desks I have seen for Autism intervention. The pull-out drawer leaves space for data taking and lesson plans without placing too much onto the desktop. The beads make data collection easy which allows for faster teaching. There is even a spot on the desk where the reinforcer is placed so that staff does not forget to determine what the child will be working for before beginning teaching. The staff was very excited about these new desks and we look forward to their feedback as they begin using them.

After our day at the centre, Brad and I had a drum workshop with a local drummer. This was a truly remarkable experience! We sat in his drum workshop (where you can watch cattle passing by) and played our African drums together! Then we had a traditional ceremony where liquor is poured on the floor (and a little on the drums) as a blessing. I have to say, I have never had an experience quite like it!

Alicia and Casey went to the market and then met us for dinner at the vegan restaurant (again) where we had some delicious veggie stir fry, pasta and yam fries. I am very sad to say goodbye! I look forward to keeping in touch with the staff at the centre as many of them want to continue to learn more about Autism and ABA. I cannot express how meaningful this trip has been to me. Being able to see an Autism centre in another part of the world and collaborate with the staff there has been a great pleasure and wonderful learning experience.

As always, thanks for reading! I look forward to sharing future trips with you!

Afua (this is my Ghanian name!)

Day 17: Thursday July 23, '09

Today we all worked to wrap up all the many projects started over the course of the past few weeks.

Alicia finished adding the drawers, affixed a divider to create a designated spot for a reinforcement item, and attached a wire with locally made beads as a counter for easier data collection.  All together she was able to make four complete desk and chair sets, specifically modified for students with autism and their caregivers/therapists. While back in the US, she will be working on the instruction manual to send to AACT, in order for the staff to create more of these desks in the future. 

Brad and Lori spent the morning making sure all of the training sessions were well documented and the appropriate certificates were available.  Once the paperwork was completed, we ran over to Busy Internet to print out a hard copy for AACT's new training log binder.  I spent the rest of the day continuing to help the caregivers run the students programs, as well as be a human shield for the desks that still had spots of wet paint. 

In the evening, Brad and Lori had the opportunity to partake in a traditional drumming ceremony and receive their own drums made by Lewis, a local Akuma Village musician.   We all then enjoyed another wonderful Ghanaian dinner. 

Casey

Day 15: July 21, 2009

Greetings and salutations,

Today was another day jam packed with work and steady progress. Alicia is nearly finished with her desk project; when finished the centre will have four retrofitted desks at their disposal. The new design of these desks will make instruction and data collection more effective and efficient.
I spent my morning working with a staff member to review, revise, and develop a number of new training and assessment documents. These documents included a PECS and PRT procedure poster for each of the classrooms, an A-B-C chart for use with functional behavior assessments, and a brand new preference assessment worksheet. This collaboration was an excellent example of how the Global Autism Project works to empower existing resources within the centre. Lori, a staff member, and I spent the afternoon conducting a workshop on functional behavior assessments. Again, it was great to work side by side with staff member who had so much knowledge and experience to share with the staff and us.
Casey spent her morning drafting an AACT volunteer questionnaire; this document will be used in the continuous refinement of volunteer roles, duties, expectations, etc. Casey’s afternoon was split across training a staff member in PECS and helping to facilitate the newly created afternoon structured play activities. While giving the staff and students something new to do, these activities aim to provide staff and students with continued opportunities to utilize PECS and PRT.
Our evening was filled with a quick trip to the National Cultural Centre (place where all the souvenirs are sold) where the girls picked up some last minute gifts: wooden spoons, a wooden boar (which was actually a rhino), and jewelry. After this, we had another delicious catered dinner courtesy of a friend of the project. We were joined by a number of volunteers that are also working with the centre.
Tomorrow we will continue to focus on finishing up our works in progress…
Thanks for reading.

Respect,

brad herron

Day 14: Monday July 20, 2009

Hello beloved readers!

Today was a wonderful day at the centre! Alicia got a first coat of paint on ALL of the desks and chairs that she is working on modifying (they will be set up to create a more efficient way for the teachers to take data while teaching). They look amazing!

We have found another project for Alicia (like she was not busy enough!). We will hopefully be modifying another desk to become a wheeling cart that will hold the BI Capture. This way the staff can wheel the BI Capture wherever it needs to be! Alicia made a trip to the hardware store but as of now the wheels have not been found. We hope for more success in the future!
Brad, Casey and I tackled the task of getting the BI Capture up, running and in use today. I am happy to report it was a success! We were able to teach a staff member at the centre how to record videos of any problematic behaviors during his teaching session. He did a phenomenal job both getting the videos and teaching! We will use the videos taken today for the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) workshops that will happen on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon this week. During these workshops we will also teach the staff how to use the BI Capture to improve teaching and determine the function of problematic behaviors.

At snack time today I was overjoyed to see the staff members setting up language opportunities for the students (what we worked on in the workshops last week). In the preschool classroom, one teacher had all the snacks and each child needed to request the snack (either with a picture card or verbally) before receiving it. In the other two classrooms each staff member set up repeated language opportunities for the student he/she was working with. It is incredible to see the increase in spontaneous communication for these students in only a week!
We also worked together with the staff (and some students) to make more PECS picture cards. We used a list generated by the staff of all the preferred items/activities for the students using PECS and made all of the picture cards requested. The staff will be putting together communication books for each student who will be using PECS and there will also be picture cards located in different areas of the school so staff will be able to easily set up language opportunities throughout the school day.

On Thursday we will be presenting to a group of local doctors (thanks to Casey!) on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We are very excited about this opportunity to continue to increase awareness and knowledge of ASD in Ghana, especially within the medical community.
After a productive and exhilarating day at the centre, Casey, Alicia, Brad and I traveled to circle market where we did some fabric shopping on the way to our tro tro. We had an excellent meal at our local vegan restaurant and ended the day by relaxing on our patio listening to the waves.

Looking forward to another great day at the centre tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

Lori

Day 12: Saturday July 18, 2009

Greetings and salutations,

Our Saturday began as Lori, Alicia, and myself were awoken at the crack of dawn (we had spent the night in camping in the rain forest) by our park guide in Kumasi National Park. He had arrived to take us on a hike to the park’s skywalk. We reached the skywalk after a short hike up and through the park. The skywalk is a series of bridges and platforms that are suspended across the canopy of the rain forest. The walk was exhilarating, an excellent way to start the day and yes, we all made it across.

After this we began the trip back to Kaneshie Station in Accra. Once we arrived back at Akuma Village we split up, with Molly and Casey heading out to wrap up some loose ends, while the rest of recuperated by doing laundry, napping, and cleaning the bathroom (thanks Lori!).

We sent Molly off in style by having a roof top beverage at the ultra swanky Citizen Kofi in Osu. Molly, who was still recovering from a minor stomach bug, indulged herself by consuming truffle-infused mashed potatoes; according to Casey these potatoes were “incredibly amazing.” After this we headed to Mama Mia for some delicious pasta. We ended the evening early and got some much needed rest, that is until Casey and Molly inadvertently woke me while trying to detain a potentially lethal gecko. Luckily it escaped the pokes from Casey’s mosquito net pole and vanished into someone’s luggage.

Our final week is sure to be a whirlwind...

Respect,

brad herron

Day 11: Friday July 19, 2009

We woke up Friday morning to an overcast coast (surprisingly, reminded me of Oregon). Lori and Brad took off for an early run, as Molly, Alicia and I assessed our stomachs. It had now been about a day since Alicia or I had really eaten anything substantial, so breakfast was sounding like a great idea to me. While enjoying the roof top view and attempting to eat a meal, it dawned on us that Lori and Brad had been gone quite a while. It seems some how, their “loop” run turned into an hour and a half lost sight-seeing adventure around Cape Coast, ending in a cab ride back to the hotel.

Alicia, Brad and Lori then went to Cape Coast Castle. This is one of the old castles used in the West African slave trade that now runs guided tours to the public. One week prior, President Obama had visited and presented a commemorative plaque to this castle. They then met Molly and I at the Coconut Beach Resort. Here we all enjoyed lunch on the ocean.

That night, the fearless three, headed out to Kakum National Park to spend the night on a tree platform in the Ghanaian rainforest. Unfortunately, Molly and I were still not feeling great and made the executive decision to spend another night in the beautiful Sammo.

When in Ghana….

Casey

Day 10: Thursday July 16, 2009

Our trip today to Cape Coast was a bit delayed, as Casey and I came down with a bout of food poisoning from dinner the night before. I have never had food poisoning before, and I doubt that it will ever be like it was today ever again. After some due diligence, we realized that it was from the vegetarian pizza that we shared the night before at dinner. Looks like we won’t be making that mistake again!

We left for Cape Coast in the late afternoon and traveled via the “American Ford Car.” It was quite a luxury to say the least, complete with a nice interior and air conditioning. Upon arriving in Cape Coast we checked into the Samo Guest House. Casey and I spent most of the remainder of the evening in our guest house room trying to recover, while Lori, Brad and Molly had dinner at the roof top restaurant.

Hopefully we can pick up steam again tomorrow and visit the Cape Coast Castle, among the many other local attractions here.

Stay Classy!

Alicia

Day 9: Wednesday July 15, 2009

Salutations from Accra!

This is Lori. We had a truly amazing Wednesday! It was excursion day at AACT; so we all packed into a bus and traveled to the University of Lagion’s Botanical Gardens. The children were wonderful on the bus ride, although traffic was occasionally a challenge. We arrived to the botanical gardens where we were given a tour of the grounds. We enjoyed a boat ride in a small lagoon (well, Alicia enjoyed it while Brad and I paddled the boat). We also went with the children and staff at AACT to see various farm animals including goats and chickens. Some of the children enjoyed chasing the chickens.

At the botanical gardens there was an amazing playground. The children (and adults) enjoyed a fantastic seesaw that went up high and could spin around (I enjoyed trying it out!). There were other seesaws, slides, swings, and cars that the children could peddle. Everyone enjoyed playing for hours! I also witnessed several staff members creating communication opportunities during mealtime and on the playground (something we discussed in our workshops earlier this week).
Lewis, a local drummer who volunteers time at the centre, played drums for the children both at the centre before we left for the field trip and at the botanical gardens. He even played on the bus ride home. It felt like a party bus as music was played and staff and children were dancing and clapping the entire ride home.

Brad and I recently finished our first staff workshops on teaching communication using PECS and Pivotal Response Treatments (PRT). I was overwhelmed by the quality of questions and comments the staff had during this workshop. I also enjoyed one of the most interesting conversations I have ever had on perceptions of autism in various communities and the challenges of working with individuals with of autism. I found it very interesting that the challenges the staff mentioned at AACT are very similar to challenges I have faced working at various centers in the US. Some of the challenges they mentioned were raising awareness about autism within the community so that families would be able to bring their children into the community without fear of judgment. They also mentioned that training parents and making sure that intervention is consistent across home and school is often a challenge. Selected the best intervention and teaching methods for each child is another challenge they mentioned.
This trip has been an incredible learning experience for me as I have now been able to see that autism is the same in other parts of the world and that individuals who dedicate their time to improve the lives of individuals with autism often face similar challenges all over the world.
After our excursion we enjoyed some more delicious Italian food at a local restaurant called Mamma Mia. We then visited a sky lounge that overlooks the city. It looked like any place you would visit in the US. There are many times that I will be in a place such as a restaurant or a lounge here and forget where I am so much so that I am surprised when I step outside to see the large street gutters and vendors walking by. AACT is one of those places. I often forget that I am in a developing country as I feel like this centre could be anywhere in the US. They are individuals who are dedicated to research based interventions for children with autism in a place where it often perceived that the cause of autism is an evil spirit possessing the individual.

Tomorrow we will be visiting a place called Cape Coast!

Thanks for reading!
Lori