11-01-2007, 06:28 PM
Funny, I took the patterns I used to teach my autistic son to come out of his shell and join us(so to speak) and used them on a very large, intelligent bird. Within one year that bird was speaking cognitive english. Not just habit/trained language.
Example...when I would take this bird into a convenient store(yes the store owners would always let us in even though it was illegal), as soon as he'd see all the snacks, he'd start rocking back and forth on my arm, bobbing his head, looking for his favorite.(cheetos) Just like my kids, he'd say "want some - want some - please - please". I'd buy it for him and he'd pace anxiously until I gave him the bag. He'd rip through it, take a bite, and with more enthusiastic courtesy than I've ever heard in a human he'd say "why thank you!" And meant it.
I wrote about this technique, step by step. (stopped working on it/non-published) One of my no-no's was to never show hostility,violence, or extreme anger as these birds(like my autistic son) would "mirror" the behavior. Sometimes, it would be a magnified funhouse-type mirror. (throw the anger/anxiety back at you 3-fold)
Next I knew, they were talking about "mirror neurons" on Good Morning America.(or some show like it)
I think there's merit in the theory, from my experiences, but I don't think they've grasped what spectrum people mirror. Most of my learning has come from watching/mirroring/echoeing what I've seen/heard.
Example...when I would take this bird into a convenient store(yes the store owners would always let us in even though it was illegal), as soon as he'd see all the snacks, he'd start rocking back and forth on my arm, bobbing his head, looking for his favorite.(cheetos) Just like my kids, he'd say "want some - want some - please - please". I'd buy it for him and he'd pace anxiously until I gave him the bag. He'd rip through it, take a bite, and with more enthusiastic courtesy than I've ever heard in a human he'd say "why thank you!" And meant it.
I wrote about this technique, step by step. (stopped working on it/non-published) One of my no-no's was to never show hostility,violence, or extreme anger as these birds(like my autistic son) would "mirror" the behavior. Sometimes, it would be a magnified funhouse-type mirror. (throw the anger/anxiety back at you 3-fold)
Next I knew, they were talking about "mirror neurons" on Good Morning America.(or some show like it)
I think there's merit in the theory, from my experiences, but I don't think they've grasped what spectrum people mirror. Most of my learning has come from watching/mirroring/echoeing what I've seen/heard.