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

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!)

Stellar students!

Today was another hectic day in Ghana...we are really making the most of our brief visit. We got an early start at the Centre. After working long into the night on our presentation, we got an early start at the Centre. Thankfully, Molly and Mawusi noticed that the rain was coming and moved the presentation indoors so Ann didn't get drenched! Before the presentation, Molly was able to speak to an aunt who had come to inquire about services for her nephew, who is 13 years old and without services. This woman had the same questions that many family members have in the states. What is the cause? Will he make progress? It was a powerful reminder that, even across the ocean, our concerns are more alike than they are different.

The presentation on PECS (the Picture Exchange Communication System) went beautifully. Ann gave examples of how to teach a child to use pictures to communicate. Mawusi was helping by playing the role of both teacher and child in the demonstrations. The staff was eager to see the system used with one of the children, and we were all delighted when she was able to exchange the pictures to request so quickly. The entire room burst into applause (including the trainers!). Some staff members tried the system and when the child's aunt picked her up at the end of the day, she was excited to try it at home too!

We also reviewed with Mawusi some of the data that had been taken on the children's programs. It was amazing to see their enthusiasm for this new system. We are all getting excited about the possibility of going to the Association of Behavior Analysis conference in Norway in 2009. Ann and Molly would be particularly happy to see Mawusi there -- he speaks Norwegian! How will we manage without him?

We headed down to the Cultural Arts Centre to look for gifts for our supporters in New York and then at dinner met an American couple who had also started a nonprofit working in rural areas. Even she said, "I didn't know there was autism in Ghana". It's good to know that we can make an impact raising awareness of the need for services in Ghana both here in Ghana and abroad

Well, for tonight it's back to the house for another meeting with Nic and maybe a full night's sleep...but knowing us, maybe not!