School Visit on Day 2!

Today we had a bright and early start and as Emily says, “we hit the floor running”!
We put up the poster which looks soooo amazing!! Then we planned on the 2 consultations with Johnny’s and Sammy’s parents/aids. We then went and visited a school for children with disabilities. School H is doing amazing things for the children with the resources they have. They are in a low SES area but still do so much, which is something I find very inspiring.

We then went to School S where some of the children who come to Kaizora also go. School S is a mainstream education school in a higher SES area. There we had a wonderful and productive consultation with Johnny’s teacher, teacher-to-be, mum, and the head teacher. We managed coming up with some great ideas and goals, and also provided various strategies they can implement in the school setting to promote social skills among others. We talked about what Johnny should be doing in his next school year and how we can use the holidays to get him at par with everything.

Back at Kaizora we then meet with Sammy’s aid and mum and talked over behaviour modification in the classroom. This also went great and mum sent a text saying “Hi, thank so much. The aid says it was really helpful. She has been on a 1 week training in 2005 & no one has ever come to school to talk to the assistants like you have today”! We will be providing data sheets to help identify the ABC in Sammy’s behaviours in school, and hopefully having such a system in place will shed light on plenty more.
The consultation after that with Johnny’s mum went fabulous as well and we identified lots of goals and went over his progress so far. She was very happy with all the information, and some of the things we plan on doing while Emily is here is weaning him off his GFCF diet!

Overall, the day has been absolutely amazing, and I’m so excited for the next 2 weeks as well… everyday is a new learning experience! 
-Pooja

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. 

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