We're in INDIA!

After hours of travel, the team finally meets up! Brad and Molly left from L.A. and flew into Delhi, and took a bus to Chandigarh to meet up with Jayshree, who came in from Ahmedabad where her family lives. After only one day of rest (that was filled with the requisite tourist visit to the local market), we headed to SOREM for the first day of observation and collaboration. The school is gorgeous with large pictures of the students covering the hallway, multiple classrooms including speech, PT, and vocational activities, a garden, a dance studio, a playground, and large basketball court. The staff are unequivocally gracious, and welcomed us into their classrooms to meet their students, young to old, who all greeted us by saying "Namaste!" We met with the Honorary Secretary and founder, Ms. Promila Chandra Mohan, to discuss details about our 3 week stay. Most of the day was spent observing the teachers and students in the classroom, and making plans. Leaving SOREM after the first day, we are all equally excited for the work we are doing here.

The food is amazing, the shopping (and bargaining) quite an experience. Jayshree speaks Gujarati (where her family is from), and has been helping the crew get around via Rickshaw with her limited Hindi. Also, we can't forget to mention our honorary team member and in-country ambassador Avikal Malik who has been a considerate and invaluable friend to the project.

.....Back at the guest house, the crackers are so loud we can barely hear each other. Apparently it's festival season--starting with Diwali in early November and moving into weddings back to back through January. The music is ongoing with singing into loudspeakers (of course). It's a party out there!  In go the ear plugs.......have to get up early for a full day of work tomorrow!

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 16: Wenesday July 22, '09

Hi everyone!

The week seems to be flying by here in Ghana. It's hard to believe that it's already halfway over. This morning Alicia went right to work on her desks, adding the last coats of paint and beginning to add the drawers. Lori continued to organize the many PECS picture cards and Brad worked on the training logs. During all of this, I met with Baba to begin planning a professional open house and information session at the centre. The idea behind this is to not only raise awareness about autism, but also introducing them to local services available at AACT. After our meeting, I was able to speak with Dr. Marbell, the head of the Neurological Development Clinic at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, about attending this event with some of the other doctors. She was extremely receptive to this idea.
After a delicious lunch of fresh mango and pineapple, I had the opportunity to sit in on Brad and Lori's second afternoon of training. Once again, they did an excellent job presenting on Functional Behavioral Assessments and using the BI Capture. While the training was happening, the rest of the AACT staff and volunteers successfully ran the new afternoon programs for the second day.
In the evening, we headed to Osu to do some more souvenir shopping and eat dinner. As Lori and Alicia were getting beautiful Ghanaian dresses specially altered, Brad and I enjoyed some great Lebanese food.

Until next time...

Casey

Ghana Day One: July 7, 2009...

Greetings all, Brad here.

I am an ABA therapist from Phoenix, AZ and I have come to Ghana to lend my support to the Global Autism Project and the Autism, Awareness, Care, Training Centre(AACT).



Akwaaba, or greetings in Twi, is what we (Molly, Alicia, not Lori as she was trapped in NY) heard as we pulled into AACT. The staff and students were very gracious in welcoming us to the center. After a tour of the center and introductions to the staff we headed across the street to pick up some rice and satchets of water from the local vendors. We spent the remainder of our time at the center chatting with the staff and getting to know the students.



We headed out from the center, via tro tro (picture a volkswagen van with a few more seats) and made our way to Osu, a part of Accra where many Obruni's (white people) hang out, eat, and shop. Here we picked up some great souvenir's like jewelry and shirts. This inlcuded a shirt with the message "Obama in Ghana" "Africa Unite". I think I know this Obama guy..? According to the signs and billboards posted everywhere he is coming to visit Ghana; this could be exciting.



After shopping we stopped by Mama Mia's Pizzeria and I had some excellent vegetarian cheeseless pizza. We made our home to the Rising Phoenix, our new home for the next three weeks. This place has a fantastic view of the ocean and some really cute kittens that we named using various forms of Obama.

Tomorrow promises to be another exciting day of getting to know the staff and kids, as well as more bartering with cabbies and shop keepers...

Respect,

brad herron