Book Review: Seven Keys to Unlock Autism

I just finished Seven Keys to Unlock Autism: Making Miracles in the Classroom by Elaine Hall and Diane Isaacs. I don't actually do book reviews. What I do is to glean nuggets from what I read that I can apply to my daily life.

There were lots of positive approaches and sensitivity exercises in the book that help illustrate why and how we should accept others - despite their disabilities -  just for who they are. One theme of the book was to encourage and appreciate people for their capabilities.

One of the many things that I got out of this book is to set an intention rather than a goal when working with people with intellectual disabilities. The goals we set for others are arguably important and based on building necessary skills. But it is the intention that overrides the goal. Rather than focusing primarily on a goal for someone to learn to set the table, our intention could be that everyone is going to have fun today. So they can still achieve their goal but could do it while having fun.


Other intentions you could have as you work with others:

That everyone will learn something new today.

That you will remain calm despite the chaos and drama around you.

That you will celebrate everyone's success today with them in a big way.

That you will see the positive in everyone today.

That you will support someone to achieve what they want today.

That you will help someone to see their capabilities rather than their disabilities today.

You can still work on their specific goals with them but with the aim of seeing the bigger picture. To work on things far more important than the achievement of that goal. It's about the journey, not the end.