Can it be confusing for parents to embrace more than one approach?If you wanted to build a house, would it be confusing to use more than one tool?
We help parents develop a basic set of priorities for their child and an order for accomplishing those priorities. Then we teach them various skills and tools needed to accomplish the priorities. When parents have clear priorities, there is no confusion.We believe that the first priority for children on the autism spectrum is relationship and social interaction. This is initially more important than the acquisition of cognitive skills. We are interested in gaining the child’s cooperation by giving the child control. Some programs get compliance by taking the child’s control. We believe that this compromises the relationship. In our programs we cultivate cooperation, co-control and co-direction. We begin by actively encouraging and supporting behaviors that will benefit the child socially, such as affection, enjoyment of interaction and simple communication. This first phase of the program (relationship building) is often substantially accomplished in a relatively short time. Once estab
