Be the change and sign up to this exciting and inspirational training here in the UK for the first time!
Imagine how many other children need unlocking so they can live life to the max!
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DavisAutism
#UnlockCallum: Stepping Stones Program and The Davis Life Concepts for Autism Training are coming to the UK!!
I am absolutely delighted to be able to inform you that this exciting and inspirational training opportunity which offers a professional experience like no other in terms of working with children and young people on the autism spectrum is going to be available to everyone and anyone in the UK in November 2017!
As a result of Callum’s journey and the tremendous progress he has made, the interest in the methods Desmond has been accessing to help unlock Callum has grown rapidly here in the UK. Through collaboration with my friend Rachel Singer who was inspired by Callum’s journey, The Davis Autism International Director, Lorna Timms and UK facilitator Tessa Halliwell, the vision of bringing this training to the UK has become a reality!
Here is Callum and Desmond Smith meeting for the first time in Canada after an 8 week break from seeing each other.
The Davis Autism Approach® is a non-invasive, gentle approach designed to allow autistic individuals to engage in learning and participate more fully in life – and we are thrilled to be able to bring the training to the UK for the first time. In November this year, the Davis Autism Team will bring two different training workshops to Kings Heath Academy (Callum’s school & the school I am Principal pf) in Northampton as follows –
November 15 and 16th The 2-day Davis Stepping Stones Workshop which is ideal for parents, teachers, and support professionals of autistic individuals under the age of 8, as well as autistic individuals of any age with very limited – or no language. This holistic program has been developed to assist you in helping your child/student who are on the autistic spectrum and /or are struggling to meet early childhood development milestones. The Davis Stepping Stones workshop teaches you practical skills to help your child reduce meltdowns, meet childhood milestones, and make sense of the world – all without losing their beautiful uniqueness.
November 17 – 21st The Davis Life Concepts for Autism is a 5-day workshop which shows participants how to develop self -awareness in an autistic individual and a full understanding of what it is to be responsible for oneself both in terms their interaction with the world and in relationships. Davis Life Concepts for Autism has been created to provide meaningful solutions for you or someone who you are supporting. This workshop is for professionals, parents, family members and support persons of individuals over the age of 8 with ASD and for individuals on the autism spectrum who are looking for a self-development program. In this five-day workshop, you will be introduced to the gentle, non-invasive Davis Autism Approach® and be guided on a journey to understanding the Life Concepts created by Ron Davis and outlined in the book, ‘Autism and the Seeds of Change.’
I have included flyers for each course so you can see the content more fully as well as the areas of study and the learning outcomes.
The cost for each course is £199 for Davis Stepping Stones (inclusive of the resource kit worth £70) and £399 for The Davis Life Concepts for Autism (inclusive of the resource kit worth £85). These prices are a one-off special price for UK training, subsidised by Davis Autism International.
You can also explore the Davis Autism website: http://www.davisautism.com to find out about the overall approach in more detail. The uniqueness of the Davis Autism Approach is clearly articulated on the website and through the materials. In addition, many of you will already know of “Callum’s journey” as outlined in my blog but I’ve also included this video to help summarise Callum’s journey to date!
For further information on autism the following links may be helpful:
Autism – the missing pieces
This 11 minute video holds very good information about autism and the workshops being offered in the UK are exactly what Dr. Angie talks about but are being co-presented by the director of Davis Autism International in person.
Autism and Social Integration: Why is it such a struggle?
Though this video is one hour long it provides a lot of detailed information which you may find helpful in relation to autism and social integration.
Finally, you can view Ron Davis talking about the life concepts and how they played such a key part in helping him here: http://www.davisautism.com/meet-ron-davis.html
We are all hoping by sharing this unique and powerful approach to working with children with autism in the Northampton area, we will develop a local hub of knowledge, understanding and insight which will grow in size and efficacy over time so between us we can make better sense of our world for all learners.
To find out more please see the attached flyers, visit the website, read my blog and view the videos – these powerful tools only show you a glimpse of what is possible when the approach is made available to those with the opportunity to embed it in their own and others’ lives and practice.
Better still, I really hope you will enrol on one of these amazing workshops so the tools of the approach become part of your repertoire for working with children with autism and their families and educators.
For further information or to book a place at the workshops please don’t hesitate to contact Tessa Halliwell: info@dyslexia-leics.co.uk
BE THE CHANGE!
Here are the links for further details…
#unlockCallum: Could Callum orientate himself without the NOIT…ABSOLUTELY!!
Yesterday evening we enjoyed supporting the Blue Jays Baseball team at the Rogers Centre in Toronto with the locals hence my lack of a daily update, it was a late night!
Prior to the Blue Jays game Desmond and Callum took Hamish, Euan and I swimming. This was a really important day for Desmond and Callum because Desmond has been requesting more of Callum’s brain and although Callum has been following Desmond’s lead brilliantly there’s been a shift and some downtime, without the NOIT was required. In addition Desmond wanted to see how Callum coped without the NOIT, would he be able to orientate himself naturally?
Here’s Desmond, Callum and Euan making their way to the pool:
When Desmond carried out his training he wore the NOIT for 8 hours a day and as a result he has a deep understanding of how demanding life is wearing the NOIT constantly. The NOIT’s main function is to help an individual re-focus every 8 seconds, this has been tremendously powerful for Callum but can imagine never being able to ‘switch off?’ It’s very intense for Callum so some playtime without the NOIT was required.
Callum stayed in the pool for over 40 minutes and although it took him about 10 minutes to settle he was so very calm and content once he did and he liked exploring the large steps in shallow water. Callum has always enjoyed the water, I think the water has always helped Callum’s body relax and today it seemed to have the same effect. Callum spent most of his time under the water where he demonstrated his excellent lung capacity as he can hold his breath for a very long time!!! Desmond pointed out how Callum really seemed to be exploring where his body began and ended. As always, once Desmond points anything out to me it seems so obvious and I could also see Callum figuring this out and he couldn’t get enough of this exploration. Callum was showing an interest in himself which is critical at this stage of his journey with Desmond.
We then went out for breakfast and both Euan and Callum were shattered. Despite feeling very tired Callum showed his cheeky personality whilst eating his bowl of fruit. Desmond was encouraging Callum to use his fork correctly instead of his hands. It was going pretty well and Callum was demonstrating how he can carry this task out but at one point he cheekily turn his head away from us and sneakily took the fruit off the fork which was by his mouth and used his fingers. Desmond saw this and said to Callum ‘are you being cheeky Mr Callum?’ to which Callum chuckled!
Callum had proved to Desmond that for two hours he had been able to orientate himself without the NOIT which represented a significant milestone from our previous visit to Canada. Callum was not able to do this during our first visit, he would bolt off or his behaviours would change instantly if the NOIT fell off! Way to go Callum!
Following our swim and breakfast we enjoyed a chilled couple of hours back in the hotel and then travelled on the train to Toronto. Callum coped really well with the crowds, noise and late night. We have never taken Callum to a sporting occasion before because we didn’t think he would sit for the time required. I am pretty certain Callum couldn’t give two hoots about the game but he was very happy to sit and watch his iPad and eat his way through the game. At one point I noticed Callum was gently swinging his legs back and forth and humming to himself as though self-soothing. When we noticed he was tired (just before the end of the game) we grabbed our bags and headed home.
Here we are enjoying the Baseball game.
A very tired Euan here!
The train was packed to the rafters with Blue Jay fans but again Callum coped – better than Hamish and I at some points. Of course we had to hold his hand constantly but he didn’t get distressed or anxious despite the crowds and his own tiredness. This was a great time for all of us to use our Davis tools; the station was really busy and we had to wait 10 mins for the train, once we got on the train it was really hot and we noticed Euan doing the ‘release’ to help him cope with the hustle and bustle. Hamish also explained to Dr Cathy this morning he used the ‘release’ during the train journey home. Just brilliant. The Davis tools can honestly help any individual be more aware of themself and cope better with any situation as a result – it really is very simple too!
We finally arrived home and following quick showers and supper we all fell asleep. Thankfully the boys slept until 7am!
Day 5 with Desmond: Friday 18th August 2017
Callum waited with eagerness for Desmond this morning and kept opening our hotel door and shouting his noises, he was ready! Once Desmond arrived in our room, Callum immediately gave Desmond fantastic eye contact a number of times and he signaled very quickly he was ready to go by opening our room door, so off we went! Whilst walking down the corridor Callum held Desmond’s hand and made lots of sounds – he was clearly telling Desmond all of his news. He barely paused for breath and it was lovely to listen to, I just wish I could understand what he was saying! Callum got straight into Desmond’s car without any hesitation. There had been a clear shift in Callum today and I am sure it was a result of yesterday’s ‘non NOIT’ day with Desmond. He needed the break and was raring to go again today!
Hamish, Euan and I drove to Dr Cathy’s office and completed our final session. We discussed ‘change’ ‘consequence’ ‘before’ ‘after’ ‘cause’ and ‘effect’. I am going to really struggle to explain the detail of today’s session because it is broken down into many parts so I am going to summarise them instead.
In a nutshell Callum does not understand any of these concepts, he doesn’t even know they exist, however The Davis Autism Approach method of teaching these concepts will help Callum understand and apply them when he’s ready. Through the clay (the visual prompt), the real life experiences linked to practical activities and the scripted verbal sentences the understanding of these concepts will be cemented in Callum. Whilst exploring these concepts I could think of so many children I work with at school who would benefit from The Davis Autism Approach, however Dr Cathy pointed out that the clay is the most fundamental part of the program as the children who need help are more than likely visual learners.
This morning’s session really helped me see how the tools are all there for Callum to understand these concepts and I felt very excited for his future – I know he will have an understanding of all of these and begin to live life to the full when he’s ready. For further information please do visit the following website: http://www.davisautism.com/davis-stepping-stones.html
Desmond and Callum met us at Dr Cathy’s and as ever we enjoyed listening to everything that Callum had achieved. Desmond explained how Callum went straight up to the box of clay when he entered Desmond’s office and started squeezing the clay in his hands. Callum didn’t pull as many little bits off the clay today, which is a change. Callum was squeezing the clay that much Desmond had to give him 3 new balls of clay as they went quite soft.
At one point Callum was squeezing the clay with one hand and had a raisin in the other. He paused and Desmond observed Callum squeeze the raisin and then look at the clay and squeeze it and appeared to be recognizing the two were different. Callum ate his raisin and then placed the clay in his mouth and Desmond responded with ‘it’s not food Callum’ and Callum promptly spat the clay out. This was a great series of events because Callum was showing he recognised they were different!
Following lunch the boys did not move off their bed and we all watched two movies – this never happens in our house but it was a very welcomed rest! We then popped out to the Supermarket for some groceries. We bought Callum some sunglasses as he really doesn’t like the sun in his eyes in the hope he would wear them, as normally he doesn’t. For the first time Callum was very happy to keep his sunglasses on but more importantly I saw Callum recognizing the path was looking different. He really dipped his head down and was staring at the path. Callum was noticing there was a change, the path was darker and this intrigued him! I don’t think I would have recognised this subtle observation and verbalise this ‘change’ to Callum had we not completed our training with Dr Cathy. It was great knowing I could help him in the right way.
Callum proudly wearing his new sunglasses!
I’ve noticed Callum becoming increasingly more independent and less reliant on Hamish and I during his bedtime routine during the past couple of nights. Whenever we have need Callum to sit still and relax his body before bedtime either Hamish or I have needed to sit with him. However, this evening, Callum lay on the bed by himself and enjoyed watching his movie whilst I put the clothes away in the same room. You can see in the picture below how content he is with himself, he did not need us to reassure him and help him rest – he was self-regulating. He’s also crossing his legs one-way and folding his arms another. I noticed he got a little bit fidgety when he got really tired but by his own accord he rested his head on his horse toy and immediately relaxed. This is such a change in Callum!
Here’s Callum calming down by himself before bedtime:
Tomorrow we are going to be tourists for the day followed by dinner at Desmond’s house– we cannot wait to see you Jo-Anne!
Before I log off tonight I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has sent their well wishes and comments of encouragement. Please rest assured that we read them all and they really do help.
xxx
The Abseil – 129M – National Lift Tower #unlockCallum
Due to this incredible effort of Callum’s Dad, Hamish and our good friends Dawn Johnson, Richard Jarvis, Richard Johnstone and Alan Jackson the funds to support Callum’s second round of pioneering treatment in Canada continues to grow. Thank you to you all!
Lots of Love Callum’s family xxx
#UnlockCallum Week 3: More words, more new experiences and more fundraising!
This week has been full of further ‘firsts’.
Monday:
Callum entered his new classroom with his new classmates at school as it was ‘Move up & Stay up’ and overall it was a complete success. He explored lots but was very settled and content. At school we’re really trying to understand where Callum is developmentally so we can help him work through all of the milestones he is searching for and moving through at a rapid speed. This is an exercise I have carried out with other children before and appreciate the importance of identifying Callum’s gaps now, matching the education provision so these gaps can be explored and achieved so Callum can make accelerated progress.
Thankfully Callum’s sleep has really settled down and he’s sleeping consistently from 7.30pm – 5am, which is such an improvement for Callum as his sleep has been incredibly irregular for such a long time now! We did have one night this week when he was awake from 1-4.30am but that’s better than the 3 or 4 nights a week we used to experience this! He loves being surrounded by his teddies and you can see how he likes to keeps them all within touching distance.
Tuesday:
Callum woke up with his first cold since being ‘orientated’ – he did not like this one little bit! It reminded my how low Callum used to get when he was poorly as a young baby. Callum developed a really high pain threshold during the ‘chaos years’ as I now refer to them. He was not aware when he was in pain and it would take a really bad injury for him to wince. This is a change in Callum that we’ve all really noticed, he looks in real pain when he falls over or knocks himself on something and he will search for a hug. When orientated Callum’s pain threshold is reduced quite simply because he is aware of something hurting him.
In addition we had my very good friend, Ron Fortuna, come in and visit Callum at school to help the team aid Callum’s progression. Although Callum knows Ron, Callum was all over the place during his visit. I don’t think Callum sat down once or focused on a task for more than a few seconds (and that’s being generous!). I know myself and Callum’s teaching team felt really deflated as we wanted to show Ron the power of the NOIT and Callum’s new found abilities, however Callum wasn’t having any of this! Following a timely video chat with Desmond, he helped us all understand that our willingness for everything to go swimmingly and our worries/fear for it not would have been the energy Callum would have picked up on! I have witnessed Callum do this time and time again but it was even more powerful with him wearing the NOIT as he’s now so much more aware of what everyone is feeling/thinking! As ever though we all recognised this as a further learning experience, had an early night and woke up full of positivity for the following day!
Wednesday – a new day! Here’s a brief update from Callum’s classteacher’s:
Today has been so much better!!! He didn’t try to leave the classroom for over an hour! That’s huge! He was settled and engaged and even joined in in a group activity! Second part of the morning he needed to climb and that’s what we allowed him to do! We have a visual for when something is not available’ to match the language we use ‘we can’t go there now but we can go later’ then distract. He’s responded to this totally today!! He only went to freezer with the ice poles in once! During forest school today Callum shouted out “me” a few times We found a log away from the group as I could sense he needed some quiet time- we sat and I started breathing with him. I said “It’s ok ,you are safe”. On asking Callum ” can you help me” he started to breathe and copy me!
Callum saying ‘Me’ is a huge milestone and Desmond got very excited! Callum is beginning to recognise himself as an individual more and more and will be a great platform for Desmond to build upon when we return to Canada on the 12th August.
On Thursday we enjoyed our weekly video chat with Desmond and we focused on the language we should use at both school and home to help Callum understand key aspects of the Davis Autism Approach. This was really enlightening and on Friday Callum responded to everything perfectly. The Davis Autism Approach is incredibly powerful and we witness Callum just tap into everything linked to it with such ease! It’s most definitely the right approach for Callum, although we’ve all been using the language that Callum responds so positively to with other pupil’s – it works for them too! I said to one Year 6 boy who was doing something I’d rather he wasn’t doing ‘I’d prefer if you didn’t do that.’ He quite calmly stopped and replied ‘no worries!’ It’s all about mutual respect!
Callum’s ‘village’ set up on Facebook Messenger has been incredibly active this week and everyone has really pulled together to help us continue supporting Callum the best way we can. We are learning a whole new way and feel safe to try new methods/ideas with the support of Callum’s village. At school and home we are incredibly open to maybe not getting something quite right and being pointed in the right direction. This is critical to Callum’s success. I met up with a wonderful friend last week (I will explain more about that in a minute) but she used a great expression ‘the more I know, the less I know!’ This resonated with me so much. I have been on an incredible journey and my eyes have been opened up to new ways, however, it’s all new and I’m still learning so even though I know more than I knew 4 weeks ago I am only at the very beginning! I do hope that makes sense? I think what I am trying to explain is that never assume you know everything because the moment you think that, that’s the moment you stop learning and growing – there’s always something else to learn!
As I’ve just mention my friend Rachel Singer popped into school for a cup of tea and a good old catch up. Rachel is responsible for me taking up my first Headship and I have been eternally grateful for her placing me in a school that led towards a career path I hadn’t ever thought about before. I didn’t work for Rachel for very long as an exciting opportunity took Rachel up North and although I was gutted to not learn more from her directly, we have always remained in touch.
Rachel is always searching for new and exciting opportunities to better the lives of young children and therefore followed Callum’s story with intrigue. Since our trip to Canada Rachel has been working hard on exploring how The Davis Autism Approach can be implemented in the UK so watch this space for further details very soon!!!
Friday – just brilliant! Here’s a note from Callum’s teacher’s below to summarise his day – I’m sure you can feel their excitement!
Okay are you already? So far, today has been AMAZING! Callum has responded to the new routine. He stayed in the classroom from 10-10:30 without trying to leave once. Explored the sensory tuff spot (sorry Kim and Hamish he is covered in an edible mud) he found the bugs hidden in the mud. It was amazing. We got cleaned up and then Callum sat with me to paint a rainbow. We did it with our hands first, followed by hand over hand with a brush. For the final stripe of the rainbow I handed him the brush and said you do it and he did! It was almost perfect to fit with the rainbow. He didn’t once try to move away!
We then did 10 solid minutes of breathing followed by building a tower with lego bricks (large ones) he could place one brick on top of the other. We then did 5 more minutes of breathing before we looked at the Thomas train. The other children were creating a giant map. We sat together on the floor and Callum studied the train. He ran his fingers over the wheels and he sat and watch the children draw him a track. Together we pushed it on the track and then up we jumped for break! He spent the longest time ever out doing the daily mile so he’s slowly coming round to the crowd. He also spent the whole time in nursery for break.
After break he did a job in the pod with Katy. One of the gaps he has missed is opening a pot with a lid on. Inside the pot were some grapes and after hand over hand and being shown Callum successfully opened the pot – he just needed some initial help pulling the top of the lid. He will master that by tomorrow I feel sure. He then had 15 mins of down time on the laptop. He chose sesame street. He then went to the trim trail just before lunch for climbing time! Callum also confidentially registered himself this morning. Along with joining in with the movement group on the trim trail. He didn’t care there was other children there!
I took him to the toilet and when we got there he shouted ‘no’, I wasn’t sure so I said well let’s try. He pulled his pants and trousers down sat on the toilet stood up again and said ‘no’. He didn’t need a wee! This was great! Callum also saw a classmate had the keys in his hand to open the gate and followed him so we could open it. He noticed the keyhole on the toilet door and reached out with his finger to touch it. When Kim took a photo at lunchtime he heard her voice and looked towards the camera. Callum also said “ball” when we were in the sensory pod, made a ” moo” sound during yoga and finally stayed out for the full 15mins during daily mile AND ignored the bowl of fruit on the playground ( we all know how much he loves his fruit too).
By the end of this week Callum is regularly using up to 10 words in school to express himself! This is incredible when you remember he was non-verbal before we left for Canada!
On Saturday we supported the brave abseiling fundraisers for #unlockCallum.
Callum’s Dad, Hamish and our good friends Dawn Johnson, Richard Jarvis, Richard Johnstone and Alan Jackson all abseiled all 129M of the National Lift Tower in Northampton!!!
We are so proud of them all and between them they have nearly raised a further £2,000 that will all go towards funding the next round of Callum’s pioneering treatment in Canada with Desmond. Hamish has produced a video so you can all witness their bravery – well done team!!! Thank you so much to everyone who have donated/shared our quest in helping unlocking Callum – we are so incredibly grateful!
Here’s some photo’s of our day…
So… we have one more week left at school before the Summer holiday period here in the UK and I cannot wait to watch Callum’s progress this coming week!
XXX
#UnlockCallum: Naughty NOIT/Nice NOIT
On Thursday, the NOIT broke. Callum was restless and spent a lot of the day upside down.
Grampy Bill to the rescue: clever Grampy fixed the NOIT and Friday was the most wonderful day. Here are some observations from Callum’s teachers and Kim.
Like normal he’s been making noises: we’ve had the word “Mum”! When we suggest going somewhere, there have been a few “Nos”, but, when Callum agrees, he leads us to the location. We told him that the other children were doing PE and had balloons. Callum had a look at the balloons but didn’t want to join in, so he took Miss Savage to the trim trail. He then said “Balloon”! Callum is bonding really well with Katy (Miss Savage). This is such great news!
Callum pushed his dinner away, having eating almost all of it, to say he was finished! This lunchtime break there were lots of children on the trim trail and Callum shouted and flapped his hands because he wanted a turn. Callum ran away whenever he got close because of the amount of children.
During lesson time, a few classes went to the trim trail as a last day of the week treat. Callum kept going down but walking away or requesting hugs or breathing and leading us away. After sitting with Michelle singing and talking about some seseme street he completely calmed down. When the screen froze, Michelle told Callum they just needed to wait. Callum said, “Wait!” Truly amazing!
A wonderful video of Callum bonding with his teachers and peers.
#UnlockCallum: Readjusting to Normal Life
The First Week Back Home – New Eyes!
Since returning back to the UK last Saturday evening life has been a total whirlwind and quite simply brilliant! I am going to attempt to update our blog weekly, every Sunday, until we return to Canada on the 12th August 2017 when I’ll return to daily updates.
So we landed in the UK and celebrated Callum’s amazing progress in Canada with a cheeky glass of champagne and a biscuit (as you do!). Callum was so excited to return home, he was incredibly alert and aware of everyone around and couldn’t contain his excitement. He slept from 2am -9.30am and woke up a little unsettled. He was struggling with being back home and seeing it for the first time in an orientated state. By 4pm he did settle a little bit but we’ve both been struggling with jetlag – it has been hitting me like a brick every day around 2pm so goodness knows how it feels for Callum!
So, Monday arrived and you should have seen him run into school, he was so thrilled to be back! He remembered all of his old routines and remembered where to put his coat and bag and waltz into breakfast club like he’d never been away. I could sense there was a certain level of nervousness from Callum though as he was insistent that I walked down the corridor with him as he grasped my hand tightly. A completely normal response when you consider the Canadian bubble we’ve lived in for the previous two weeks. However, once breakfast was served he was ok and I made my way up to my office. Due to a previously arranged appointment, I was due at Head Office on this day so after an hour I made my way up the M1 and left Callum in school.
Callum spent the day pacing and exploring the entire school; we had agreed that we would follow Callum’s lead as his non-verbal cues would tell us where to go and what to do. He obviously wanted to re-establish himself with the school and would walk in and out of most rooms repeatedly checking they were still there. He was generally unsettled but happy to be back.
On Tuesday, Callum arrived to school very content and his teachers witnessed a ‘first’: Callum enjoyed playing chase with another little boy. Remember Callum was not even aware of his peers and even if he was he certainly wasn’t interested in playing with them! This was such a moment and one of his teachers ran up to tell me and even better share the video evidence. We were all bursting with pride! Callum was also incredibly focused on the light tubes in the sensory room – he has been in there time and time again and never bothered with these lights! He was following instructions first time with absolutely no problem or stress – Callum was generally very content! On Tuesday evening we video called Desmond from home and it was brilliant. Callum was definitely aware that Desmond was on the screen and relaxed whilst watching Shrek. We were lucky enough to be joined by Ray Davies (son of Ron Davies) and it was great to share Callum’s journey to date. During the video call Desmond was able to spot subtle signs of sadness (Shrek got a bit scary at one point), then fear, then empathy from Callum’s body posture and eyes – Desmond really is a marvel! This array of emotions displayed by Callum in a few moments was brilliant – we just need to make sure we label them clearly for Callum so he can understand what he’s feeling!
On Wednesday, Callum seemed to want to retreat a little and I’m not going to lie and say we were all a little panicked by this but we shared this on our facebook group with Desmond and as a result calm was restored. Callum had experienced two full on days and he needed Wednesday to process everything he had taken on. Desmond thankfully stated he would be very happy to talk to me, Callum’s two wonderful staff at school and DawnLouise at Callum’s after school club on Thursday – so we prepped our questions and slept peacefully knowing we had the constant support of Desmond guiding us every step of the way. We are all certainly feeling the pressure, the baton in #unlockCallum had been handed over to us all and we desperately didn’t want to waste a moment by getting it wrong. However, as Desmond explained ‘as long as you do everything with the best intentions for Callum, then he will feel that and good will come out of any experience.’ At school we had to really reflect and seek solace in the understanding that if something didn’t quite go to plan, know that we would spot this and change it immediately.
On Thursday, Callum went horseriding and for the first time ever he was very unsure of the horses! This is just another piece of evidence that demonstrates the impact of the NOIT. In an orientated state, Callum was not sure of an animal he had previously had an incredible bond with! I can only imagine how Callum’s eyes and ears were perceiving the horse, it demonstrates the extent of the new clarity in which he is seeing his new world! Thankfully the staff recognised Callum’s fear and guided him through the required steps to get him to feel confortable on the horse again – which they achieved with great success!
At 4pm we enjoyed an enlightening video chat with Desmond and we revelled in asking him our plethora of questions to which he responded very clearly following the Davis Autism Approach leaving us all feeling very positive. I must confess that this conversation made me realize just how much I am missing Desmond! This is despite us having video called most days and messaging him numerous times each day! I cannot wait to go back to Canada on the 12th August!
On Friday I was on a training day so absent from school and Callum really wasn’t very impressed about it at all. He was incredibly tired from such a busy first week and I was certainly struggling so he must have felt a lot worse.
So to summarise Callum’s first week, he has been very brave and wanting to explore everything/everywhere and check out this new world. I am thrilled that Callum is inquisitive and wants to know things, showing an interest in the people and environment around him is a HUGE first step. We are all on a huge learning curve as a result of our trip to Canada but we have very open discussions and as Desmond reminds us ‘an act with good intentions is a positive act as Callum will know the source of the intentions and feel it.’ We are learning through observations and together we are recognizing the vital small steps that are critical to Callum’s overall development.
Bring on Week 2!
#UnlockCallum: Settling In
A quick update to keep you all informed as to Callum’s continuing progress:
After arriving home on Saturday night, Callum spent Sunday readjusting to his old / new environment. By the afternoon, he’d settled comfortably at home and then spent Monday re-exploring school, walking around and re-finding his feet.
Tuesday was magical. Callum played chase with one of his school friends, and all his peers are noticing how much more aware he is. He has vocalised “Mum” again several times at school, so much so that one of his fellow pupils noticed and went careering over to Kim to inform her of the achievement. Such a lovely school community, that they all care so much.
Wednesday was more unsettled, but Callum has refound his teddies, becoming quite attached to one and walking around with it for comfort which is a great step. He’s also doing his release breathing independently and often which is awesome as this shows he is able to self-regulate any tension.
To continue contact with his support village, Callum had a video call with Desmond and Ray Davis (son of Ron). Whilst Callum was watching TV, Kim and Hamish were able to discuss next steps, and Desmond and Ray pointed out further progress with Callum, who was contentedly sitting on their laps.
Obviously, it’s still early days of Callum’s return to the UK, but how wonderful that he’s managing to transfer the skills he learned in Canada to his regular life. Such a great sign that there is so much more progress to come.
Thank you all for supporting and continuing to follow Callum’s story. We’ll attempt to post regular updates to keep you informed of his progress as the weeks go past between now and Callum’s next trip to Canada to continue further into the programme.
In the meantime, stay tuned for news of a daring abseil down the Northampton Lift Tower by some of Callum’s friends and family. I’m sure they won’t mind if we share pictures of their fearful faces as they go “over the top”. If you’d like to support their endeavour, please visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/help-callum
#UnlockCallum 