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

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

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