"Breaking The Code©"... The Key To So Much!

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Perhaps the best way for parents to think of everything presented in my materials as it relates to the need to understand "the parts" before "the whole" can be understood, is to think of all these issues in terms of the autistic child's need to "break the code".

By this, I mean that in order to understand almost everything in his world, the autistic child must first understand how every part fits into that world.   This is true in everything from language to emotions, socialization to process completion, sensory (visual, auditory, touch, etc.) input  processing to issues with potty training.   All these things - be they behavioral, social, emotional, or sensory - must first be broken into their respective "parts" for the whole to be understood. 

Thus, for the autistic child, in my opinion, life consists entirely of "breaking the code" or breaking things down to their lowest level.   Once each part is understood, the whole can then be "put back together" and understood for what it is.  Until that happens, everything in the autistic child's mind will be perceived as:

                       A                             when it should be perceived as                        B

The key, therefore, in my opinion, lies in helping the autistic child "break the code" to get from A to B... and again, this is true in absolutely all areas of life for the autistic child!  :o)

Strength In Math…And Language…

Once The Code Is Broken

Not surprisingly, the autistic child, once the code is broken will show great strength in those areas that are very ordered and based on a building blocks approach… those things such as math and language.   This is also true in terms of activities in which the autistic child is strong… anything that involves “a code” will be an area of strength.  This would include putting puzzle pieces or train parts together … two areas of intense fascination for the autistic child… two activities that make parts become “a whole” once the parts are “put together”.   These activities, in and of themselves, trains and puzzles, may very well also provide a coping mechanism for the autistic child in that it helps to “order” his world and to “get rid of the parts”.

Weakness in Areas Where There Is No Apparent Code To Break

It will come as no surprise that the autistic child, by the very fact that he needs to “break the codeã” to understand his world will be very weak in areas where there is no apparent code to be broken… areas such as socialization, conversation and to some extent, process completion.  The key to these areas surely will lie in “providing a code” for these activities… a list of “things” that go together to help the child understand the overall situation.    Concrete examples of “things to say” or  “things to do” will undoubtedly be necessary to gain strength in these areas.   As such, role playing, in my opinion, is critical for the autistic child to understand socialization.   Conversation and Process Completion, luckily, can be somewhat broken down into their “codes” or “parts” too, in the form of nouns, verbs, etc. and sequences.   These issues are discussed in much greater detail in my sections on Language and Process Completion.

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Things have a tendency to disappear on the Internet, but I can often find where the information has been moved or find replacement links addressing the same issue.  There is a lot of information provided on this site and any assistance with broken links is most appreciated.   My site has now been hacked twice.   If you get bounced to sites for online drugs, etc., report this to me at once using the above email as this is a result of hacking on my site.  This had nothing to do with me and/or my site.  Read more on hacking issue.

DISCLAIMER - The statements here mentioned and/or found in my materials have not been evaluated by the FDA or any other government agency or person in the medical field or in behavior therapy and are not meant to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any illness/disorder and/or behavior.  This information is not intended as medical advice or to replace the care of a qualified healthcare physician or behavior therapist.  Always consult your medical doctor or behavior therapist.  All information provided by Jeanne A. Brohart on her website is for INFORMATION PURPOSES and to GENERATE DISCUSSION ONLY and should not be taken as medical advice or any other type of "advice".  Information put forth represents the EXTENSIVE RESEARCH and OPINIONS of a mother based on her experiences and research and provides information as it relates to one family's journey with autism in hopes that other families may benefit from this experience and/or research.  The creator of this site is not responsible for content on other sites.

DISCLAIMER - PART II - Now... for those of you who think "mother at home researching" means "uneducated person with unfounded information"... I have 10 years of university... 3 degrees... and over 30,000 hours of research into these areas.   For anyone who thinks my research is "unfounded"...  read the RESEARCH FILE posted on my home page... with its over 1,000 references ... for your reading pleasure... because... quite clearly... you haven't read it yet!    

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