Autism Spectrum Disorder and Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR)

An Introduction

Cathy Dodge Smith

• Publisher: Loving Healing Press
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781615992867
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Index: Psychology

Let's consider why Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) would be expected to be different with an autistic client. One of the hallmarks of autism is a lack of connection with the real world, so the world view of an autistic individual is limited and often very inaccurate. A second hallmark of autism is difficulty with intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships so that insight into how to make relationships better, or work at all, would be expected to be limited. So, within a TIR session where we expect our clients to come up with their own insights, that's really a tall order. Then the meltdowns I've talked about; as a Davis facilitator I understand these as prolonged and severe disorientations, analogous to a PTSD episode, in which the emotional reaction is really out of sync with true facts and conditions in the current situation. Added to all this are the phobias and the extreme aversions that many autistic individuals experience, which can limit full participation in life. One of the things that makes working with autistic clients challenging is that often we simply have to wait until they give us that little window of time when they are able and willing to proceed. If I were to use the guidelines in my TIR Workshop manual, I would have to conclude that there was not enough ego strength or resiliency in these individuals for them to be able to engage for a successful TIR session. You know what they say about fools who rush in where angels fear to tread... A less foolish person than I am, and especially someone new to TIR, would likely never have tried to use TIR with autistic clients. However, based on the wonderful results I have seen using TIR with many of my other clients who do not have autism, and some of the really significant problems that some of my autistic clients were presenting, I decided to try TIR with a few of them. In the remainder of this lecture, we'll consider two specific case studies. Veronica, a sixteen-year old who basically lived as a recluse in her mother's basement, and Joshua, a young boy obsessed with drum kits who was given to periods of extremely oppositional behavior. Cathy Dodge Smith uses Davis Methods in her practice (Davis Dyslexia Correction Program, Davis Autism Approach, and Davis Attention Mastery ). She is also a Certified TIR Facilitator. This article is from her presentation at the 2014 Symposium. Originally appeared in AMI/TIRA Newsletter, Volume XII, Number 1 (March 2015).

TIR and the “Little Window in Time”

Now let’s consider why TIR would be expected to be different with an autistic client. One of the hallmarks of autism is a lack of connection with the real world, so the world view of an autistic individual is limited and often very inaccurate. A second hallmark of autism is difficulty with intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships so that insight into how to make relationships better, or work at all, would be expected to be limited. So, within a TIR session where we expect our clients to come up with their own insights, that’s really a tall order. Then the meltdowns I’ve talked about; as a Davis facilitator I understand these as prolonged and severe disorientations, analogous to a PTSD episode, in which the emotional reaction is really out of sync with true facts and conditions in the current situation. Added to all this are the phobias and the extreme aversions that many autistic individuals experience, which can limit full participation in life.

One of the things that makes working with autistic clients challenging is that often we simply have to wait until they give us that little window of time when they are able and willing to proceed. If I were to use the guidelines in my TIR Workshop manual, I would have to conclude that there was not enough ego strength or resiliency in these individuals for them to be able to engage for a successful TIR session. You know what they say about fools who rush in where angels fear to tread... A less foolish person than I am, and especially someone new to TIR, would likely never have tried to use TIR with autistic clients. However, based on the wonderful results I have seen using TIR with many of my other clients who do not have autism, and some of the really significant problems that some of my autistic clients were presenting, I decided to try TIR with a few of them.

Veronica

The first one was Veronica. She was a sixteen-year old who basically lived as a recluse in her mother’s basement. Her major goal in her work with me as a Davis Autism Approach Program facilitator was to be able to go to a mall. Every time she was in that kind of setting, she would have such a severe panic attack that she simply had to leave immediately. For a sixteen-year old, that is pretty much a life-threatening disorder. School was out of the question for her. She actually had been removed from her mother, who was a single parent, because of her refusal to go to school. The authorities figured there was something the mother must be doing wrong. She was removed from her mother for quite a period of time at one point in her life, but she still was not able to go to school at all. We were able to deal with the mall issue through the normal use of our Davis tools and the de-triggering procedure of the Davis program.

As an aside here, I’ll briefly describe these tools that are integral to the Davis programs. The first one is orientation. We understand that disorientation is at the root of dyslexia, ADD, and autism; disorientation meaning “not fully present.” Based on our assessment, we find the best way to help each individual client to learn how to become oriented and learn how to recognize when they’re disoriented so they can become quickly and easily oriented again. The second is release, and that’s a very quick easy relaxation technique using breath and physical releasing of tension. We teach them that technique to help them let go of tension and frustration, anger and anxiety. The third is the energy dial, which allows them to become aware of their own energy level in comparison with the energy level of others around th...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• About the Author
• Common Autism Traits
• TIR and the “Little Window in Time”
• Conclusion