Thursday, December 8, 2011

Reflection #10

One thing that I would like to focus on is "chunking". How true it is that children with FASD need repetition. If you notice that the child or adult is saying yes a lot or uh-huhs, they may not understand what is being said and just agreeing to see if they can figure it out later.

Many times I have been working with the youth and adults and have asked a simple saying like, Hello, how are you today? Instead of them replying okay or not too good, I hear uh-huhs. When I slow down and focus on saying hello first, I get a response of hi or hello. When I move on to asking them how they are, I can wait for about 40 seconds; which gives them time to understand what I am asking and time to give me their answer.

By giving a person with FASD that extra time to process what is being said they feel respected, as well as heard and understood. I would love to see everyone slow down and take their time to communicate with each other, instead of always being in a hurry. Today people are in such a hurry they don't even take the time to call or talk to each other, instead they "text" each other. I guess that is a form of "chuncking" but one that I am resistant to learning.

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