Well last week I had the opportunity to drive up the road to Chapel Hill, NC.  No, I didn't have center court tickets to the Duke/ UNC game, although half the crowd stayed in my hotel.  I was able to attend the TEACCH autism conference, and believe me this conference may have been sold out as well (although the people with face paint were much quieter in general at the conference).  It didn't take me long to lose my room key.  Literally, a minute after throwing down my belongings I was realing to head the two stoplights down the road to the conference to get some dinner. Man, was I hungry (and running a little late). The only problem was that I couldn't find one of my room keys right off the bat.  It bugged me enough that I had search around for it.  I was able to find the extra and place it in my front pocket.  Luckily for me, I found the original one in my back pocket after rummaging around the room for ten minutes.  I hadn't actually touched both the keys in my front and back pocket t the same time, so I had no way of knowing that both were in my pockets...

Anyways, the TEACCH Autism conference had a lot of extremely useful information on autism and most importantly on helping the children who have autism.  Unlike many new "cures" for autism, TEACCH has been around since the late 60s, and has employed successful techniques that enable a child to better communicate with the world.  The principles are simple, but once you explore the structure of the methodology, you will quickly learn that you can apply the principles in a variety of ways.  There are nine TEACCH centers located in North Carolina and they are heavily involved in the assessment of children with autism as well as consultation with parents and schools. The term TEACCH is a little confusing because it refers to these centers in North Carolina, but also to a methodology that is used all over the world for kids with autism and other disabilities.  I have been going to their trainings for years, and actually got trained to assess for autism using the assessment tools that TEACCH uses a few years ago.  Our team does most of the assessment for the county for autism, but we and parents in the community are still in touch with our closest TEACCH center at times for consultation. 

TEACCH is a structured approach that uses a lot of visual prompts and schedules to structure a child's day.  Structure for most children with autism reduces anxiety and helps them to understand what they are supposed to do.  Teachers in our county have been trained to use the TEACCH methods in their classrooms.  They employ a lot of visual schedules for students and these students function better, because they understand the order of the activities in the day, and can accept less desireable activities (e.g. writing).  Students with self help needs may actually use a schedule in the bathroom for brushing their teeth, etc... 

This is a very basic rundown of what the TEACCH method is, but for more information please go to http://teacch.com 

As you can tell, I really like this method and have certainly seen some positive results. 

Luckily for me, I did not lose my room keys again on this trip.  It was definitely a record! I did, unfortunately, leave the cell phone charger plugged in (which I realized when I got home).  OH well, at least I didn't leave my cell phone!

Yes, I try to cram a lot into my day...I mean my job as a school psychologist is busy.  I have evaluations galore to complete, not to mention observations, meetings, more meetings, and every now and then some counseling.  I also have this thing called an inner drive or conscience..something that just tells me I have to do a good job on everything I do.  I couldn't live with myself doing a slack job. I do a lot of evaluations on kids who have possible autism. The number of kids refered by parents, and teachers with concerns for autism has sharply grown in the last few years.  I guess some people could say that we need to calm down a little bit and see the strengths in children who might be considered a little quirky.  In my mind quirky can be a definite strength if those around such a child help them to accept strengths and weaknesses, and even laugh a little bit at the peculiarities in life.  Of course I do work with children that are a little more than quirky and do have a disability.  It is challenging for parents to raise their child with autism and teachers to educate them.  Despite the many challenges, humor can be theraputic for enjoying children with disabilities. For example, the other day I walked into a class that has a lot of children with autism.  They were in the middle of dancing to some music around the classroom with their teachers...I heard, "Comon'..dance with us".  I was thinking.."Are you kidding me? I dance like the kid in the movie "Sixtreen Candles..(Anthony Michael Hall?),.. I'm pretty quirky myself", but peer pressure got the best of me.  There I was dancing around the classroom with these children.  Man, did I loosen up!!  Laughing a little allows us to enjoy the kids, and all the other people working with the child.  It allows us to connect and move forward....

I have also been selling for the last couple of months on ebay and half.com. At this point it is just my own possesions (and wife's) that I am not using anymore, but I have had a ton of people approach me to ask if I will sell for them.  I really doubt there is a million dollars to be made (at least in one year) selling for other people by myself, but I enjoy the challenge, doing the research, taking the photos, and writing the decriptions.  I hope to share my journey as a school psychologist, ebay seller, and husband/father with whoever is willing to read this blog! One of these days, I'll probably share with you where the name "Zoomazaga" comes from, but like any good suspense novel, I'll save that for later!