和自闭症患者交流小贴士

Growing up, Paul McAuliffe says he “felt like a Martian.” He was always saying the wrong thing or overreacting, but he didn’t know why. Then several years ago for his job as a case manager, the Panama City resident started reading online about the symptoms of autism.
“And I said, ‘My god,’” recalls McAuliffe, now 57. “‘That’s me.’”
The doctor’s official diagnosis was no surprise: Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that impairs social skills. “I joke that one would’ve like to have had this diagnosis, say, a half-century ago,” McAuliffe says. “That would’ve been helpful.”
Still, he focused on the present, devouring in equal measure books about “Aspies” and neurotypicals – people not on the autism spectrum.
“They are the folks we have to interact with in order to live our lives,” says McAuliffe, who works in social services and serves on an advisory board for the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at Florida State University.
For McAuliffe, a lifelong musician, Native American flutes help grease the wheels of his interaction with neurotypicals. He travels the Southeast giving a presentation called Flutes, Autism and a Different Way of Seeing.
McAuliffe describes what he’s learned about his brain as “empowering.” In hopes of empowering others even earlier, he’s compiled a list of tips for parents of children on the autism spectrum.

1. Always presume intellect. Researchers are finding that even kids who are nonverbal often have high IQs. Be on the lookout for new-tech ways to communicate with your child.
2. Routine is important. Those on the autism spectrum need to know they’ve got safe, comfortable and dependable routines at home even when learning new things and experiencing new situations.
3. Encourage the child to cultivate friendships with other children on the spectrum. There’s an intuitive resonance – a bond – between those with autism, and it’s a relief to spend time together and compare stories. Of course, friendships with neurotypical (NT) kids are crucial, too.
4. Encourage the child to be neurologically “bilingual.” As kids gets older, reading Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends And Influence People can be a real eye-opener.
5. Speaking of eyes, children need to learn to fake eye contact. Encourage them to look at the mouth, the forehead, the bridge of the nose – whatever works.
6. Spectrumites tend to REALLY get into certain subjects; that’s why they’re the inventors and innovators of the world. Encourage children to get into subjects that will help them in the workaday world as they get older.
7. Always make sure children have an escape route for any social/crowd situations, which can be excruciating. For example, if you’re going to a family gathering, make sure children have a quiet place to go if they get overwhelmed due to sensory overload. McAuliffe can’t emphasize enough how empowering this is for a spectrumite: to know they have a measure of control over their own lives.
8. Don’[FS:PAGE]t be a know-it-all. Something else children need to learn that is absolutely crucial in their dealings with the NT world: Just because you’re right and someone else is wrong, it isn’t always good to say so.
9. Most important of all: Help the child cultivate a sense of humor. Be able to see the humor in social gaffes and in human behavior in general.

    成长之后，Paul MaAuliffe说他“之前感觉就像个火星人”。那时候他经常说错话，或者反应过度，但是他也不知道为什么。几年前作为一个个案经理以及巴拿马城的居民，他开始在网上阅读一些关于自闭症症状的文章。

    McAuliffe，现在已经57岁了，他回忆到“那个时候我惊呼‘天哪，这不就说的我吗’”。

    而医生的诊断也在意料之中：亚斯伯格症，这是自闭症中的一种社交缺乏症。McAuliffe开玩笑说：“半个世纪前，压根不会有人去做这种检查，应该也不会有什么用”。

    但是，他现在仍然在大量阅读有关亚斯伯格和一般神经状态者（并不属于自闭症）的有关书籍

    “这些患者都是在日常生活中我们需要打交道的”，McAuliffe解释道。因为他现在在社会服务机构工作，并是佛罗里达州立大学自闭症及相关障碍研究中心的顾问。

    McAuliffe是一个音乐家，而美国土著长笛使他在与一般神经状态者之间的交流更加顺畅。他曾在东南部做过一个“长笛，自闭症，换个方式看问题”的演讲。

    McAuliffe认为他对自己大脑的研究成果很有效。为了能够尽快地帮助其他人，他亲自为自闭症儿童的父母列出了一些小贴士。

    1、一定要表现出很智慧。研究表明即使不会说话的自闭症患者IQ也很高，因此要尽量选择一些高科技的方式来和自闭症患者交流。

    2、计划很重要。自闭症患者需要知道他们有安全、舒适和可依赖的计划，即使在学习新东西和适应新环境的时候。

    3、鼓励自闭症患者去和其他自闭症儿童交朋友。在自闭症患者之间有一种天然的共鸣，他们在一起交流时会很放松。当然和一般神经状态者（NT）交朋友也很重要。

    4、鼓励自闭症患者能够“神经双语”。当自闭症患者慢慢长大时，试着给他们读Dale Carnegie的《怎么赢得朋友并影响他人》，这能够让他们大开眼界。

    5、多提及眼睛，自闭症患者们需要学会进行眼神的交流。可以鼓励他们看嘴，额头，鼻梁，只要能够起到作用，看什么都是可行的。

    6、自闭症患者能够完全沉浸于某些东西，这也是他们为什么会是世界的创造者和创新者。鼓励自闭症患者对某些事物产生兴趣，这能够在帮助他们在长大后从事一些普通的工作。

    7、确保自闭症患者能够及时脱离那些喧闹的群体活动。比方说，如果你参加一个家庭聚会，当自闭症患者们觉得很疲倦的时候要让他们有一个安静的环境。McAuliffe不能过于强调这对于自闭症患者的重要性，因为每个人的情况都是有所不同的。

    8、不要表现出无所不知的样子。对于自闭症患者来说，他们需要自己去学习一些东西，毕竟不能武断的认为你就是对的，别人就是错的。

    9、重中之重，培养自闭症患者的幽默感。让他们能够在一些社交礼仪的失态行为以及个人行为中发现幽默。