Considerations on Autism Coaching E-Book

Pia Hämäläinen

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 22

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

In her essay, Considerations on Autism Coaching, Pia Hämäläinen, an autistic theorist, presents a presumably autism-friendly approach to autism coaching. Hämäläinen uses both her experiences of receiving coaching as well as diverse theories to shed light on the process of autism coaching. The purpose of the mind map Hämäläinen came up with to organize her thinking on the subject is to offer ways to manage autistic processes with diverse structures in more autism-friendly ways.

Leseprobe

Contents

Preface

Introduction

The encounter (preview of the repetitive structure of the encounter and of its theme, projects to be managed; finding common ground; language)

The state of flow; getting structured through interaction

Structures (structuring the flow; Durig’s profiles elaborated on and structuring the self; mental health and inclusion

Thinking styles (pattern seeking and systemizing /ToM, empathizing by Baron-Cohen; system types: mechanistic, organic and dynamic by Ståhle et. al.)

Coaching (equality vs. equity focused; matching coach-client profiles based on upgraded Durig’s profiles; guidance and coaching)

Feedback guiding the process (the role of feedback in different systems - mechanistic: control, determination. organic: ecosystem style development. dynamic: new structure at the edge of chaos, innovation)

Conclusion

References and Literature

Preface

I have been receiving autism support since my autism diagnosis in 2000, on and off, in different forms. First at a special needs vocational institute studying electronics and IT, then at an autism rehabilitation center. On two occasions, I have received autism coaching at home. Initially, over a period of some years and most recently, over a period of some months.

My theoretical background is based on my academic studies in languages, linguistics, literature, and communication studies at the University of Helsinki and at the University of Minnesota. Hence my need to use theoretical perspectives on autism.

I have a very uneven skills profile which makes getting suitable support/assistance/coaching challenging and makes the coaching process prone to conflicts.

I use Dr. Alex Durig's theory of autism and neurodivergence in this context. According to Durig (2005, 23-36), each profile consists of varying degrees and combinations of social and computer thinking. The typical NT person has even amounts of both, while the autistic person has a higher amount of computer thinking and a lower-than-average amount of social thinking. The autistic profile results in an uneven skills profile. The opposite of the autistic profile would be the profile for someone with a learning disability. Such a profile would consist of an average amount of social thinking but a very low amount of computer thinking. I will upgrade Durig’s theory by adding autism-firendly structure to it.

While receiving coaching at home, I came up with a mind map depicting what I consider to be the key elements of autism-aware and autism-friendly autism coaching. In the following, I will explain and illustrate the elements of the mind map.

There must be many approaches to autism-aware and autism-friendly coaching, but I will offer one approach. I hope my insights will be of some avail.