HAPPY AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH!

Dear Readers,

As some of you may know, April 2nd was World Autism Awareness Day! Hundreds of countries around the world held events on Friday and will continue to throughout the month to raise public awareness about autism.

The events in Ghana started a couple weeks ago with an awareness campaign at the Accra Mall. For three days, AACT administrative staff along with the members of the Chosen Vessel Choir were going to promote a benefit concert being held the following Sunday. Unfortunately, after the first day they were told to leave. I guess the marketing team at the mall had a particular sensitivity to singing.

On Sunday, March 28th, the Chosen Vessels Choir made of all University of Ghana students, put on a spectacular benefit concert. It was held at the International Convention Center and lasted 6 hours!! Performances ranged from skits, solos, preaching, singing, dancing, lots of clapping and a video documentary about AACT. In the end, there were over 1,000 in attendance, each paying 7 cedis for a ticket. After expenses are paid to the performers and staff, it has been said that AACT will receive the rest of the proceeds. Either way, it certainly raised awareness on a huge scale!!



Last week, Auntie Serwah and Nana Akua (Founder and Director of Awaawaa2 - pediatric speech therapy services), were interviewed on various radio stations. On Tuesday morning, when they were on Joy FM, we turned the radio on through the stereo speakers at AACT so everyone could all listen! I suggested that next year we should get a truck with megaphones and drive around town amplifying such radio programs so the entire community is able to hear it. Hey, everyone else in Ghana is doing it.



At the end of the week, I had a meeting with Salma the director of the West African Consultant Network. This is an company that has offered to partnership in the organization of a fundraiser scheduled for the 22nd of April. Essentially it would be a networking event for their staff and clients, while also raising funds for a local cause. I have attended an event like this in the past and it was quite successful. Hopefully we have the same results.









As far as caregiver trainings go... on Friday March 19th I did a training focusing on Howard Gardiner's Multiple Intelligences. To teach this I started with a game that was actually inspired by my mother(thanks mom!). The idea behind the game is memory retention. The caregivers first numbered their papers 1 - 30. For the first ten: they had to listen to 10 words and then write down as many of the words as they could remember. For the second ten: I wrote 10 words down on paper, they were allowed to look at the word for 20 seconds, then once the paper was covered, they were to write down as many as they could remember. Finally for the third ten: I unveiled a tray of 10 items, they were allowed to look and touch the items for 20 seconds, then once the items were covered, they were to write down as many as they could remember. The idea behind this game was to show them that some people work better with auditory memory while others excelled in visual or tactile memory. Obviously all relating back to the different approaches to lesson planning and teaching students with autism. Similar to past weeks, we also played a few team building games such as the human knot.




Overall, I felt like the training was successful. The caregivers seemed engaged. They asked questions, took notes, and requesting for more. All in all, I felt pretty good about it until, a certain administrative staff asked "Why are you even doing these trainings? You know that the caregivers just nod their heads but really do not understand you." Well... I had a hard time with this comment. It wasn't until last night that I found a quote that descibes how I felt about the situation:

"I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any of them."
-Mahatma Gandhi


In honor of children with autism around the world and as a member of the Global Autism Project, I will always try my hardest to provide sustainable education to communities affected by autism worldwide. In life there will always be mountains temporarily blocking your path. But this doesn't mean that the other side doesn't exist. Together we can help to change the lives of children with autism. Only together can we get over this mountains, supporting each others positive efforts.




Thank you for reading!
Sincerely,
Casey

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