Therapy for daily living for persons with autism

Posted October 18, 2009 21:07:00

Pinky O. Cuaycong

Philippine Daily Inquirer

THIS year alone, my son Alphonse has gone through five trampolines. All are in various stages of disrepair, with broken springs, bent frames and torn fabrics. We buy trampolines almost as fast as he can destroy them—well, perhaps, not fast enough.

Alphonse likes to jump. I remember that he started jumping before he could even walk. One of our family videos shows him jumping on the living room couch while his nanny held him upright, her hands firmly planted on his armpits. He was only 8 months old at the time. We were amazed to see him jumping unaided very soon after he learned to walk a few months later.

And, boy, can he jump! Even now, he jumps tirelessly, his arms swinging front to back in regular, sweeping motions. With knees bent and his spine straight, there is ferocious grace and impeccable balance in his movements.

We’ve always known that he loves physical movement. Jumping is an important avenue of expression for our boy without words. When he jumps, all is right in his world, and in ours. He is happier and calmer; he smiles more, he has fewer tantrums.

When we began to lose trampolines to the trampoline graveyard in quick succession, we realized that we needed to channel his energies to other, more age-appropriate activities.

Through his teachers’ patient mentoring, Alphonse has learned the basic rudiments of basketball such as shooting or dribbling, but the sport itself did not hold any fascination for him. Ditto soccer or bowling or miniature golf. I guess the importance of shooting a ball into a basket or kicking it into a goal is simply lost on him. He performs these actions mechanically, and performs them almost to perfection, but it is apparent that they hold no special meaning for him.

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