Balancing the Tray, an article for all

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BALANCING THE TRAY

by Lenore Gerould (1996)

Those of us who have daily contact with children with autism sometimes

have trouble explaining to regular education teachers or administrators

the ‘hooks' of autism; especially the kinds of support they need.

You're always trying to explain the basics, ‘no, moving the pencil

sharpener's location in the classroom is not what upset him. You have

to understand that...'. Then I came up with this analogy. Perhaps it

will help others to visualize the support needed.

Try to imagine the child balancing a large serving tray on one upturned

hand. Every distress for that child is like a liquid-filled glass you

are putting on this tray. The ‘distress glasses' are unique to each

kid; but generally include things like auditory or visual

over-stimulation, social interaction, 'surprises' or unexpected changes

in the schedule, lack of clear leadership, the number of people in the

room; whatever is sensitive for that child. (Don't forget the ability

to read the body English and anxiety of the adults around them!) The

size and weight of the 'glass' for that child varies; just like the

'distress glasses' vary for each kid. Some things are merely shot glass

size, while others can be a two liter jug. At some point the tray is

going to start to wobble - the liquid will start spilling out of the

glasses on the tray. The cues that this is happening will vary kid to

kid: just as the cause and size of a 'glass' varies kid to kid, but

generally include regressive behavior, avoidance or shutting down,

giggling or minor acting out to get attention.

Hopefully, someone will help the kid rebalance the tray, or remove some

glasses. Perhaps taking a break, or allowing time to refocus or process

will work; again, techniques are unique to each kid. If there's no

intervention, the addition of one more glass will topple the tray to

the floor. The cause is not the most recent 'glass' you added, but the

fact that the tray was full or too heavy (the latter is why the child

seems so unpredictable to some people.) Our efforts should be that the

kid learns to hold a bigger tray, or to do minor correction of the

tray's balance somewhat independently, but they will always carry that

wobbling tray. Ignoring cues can be disastrous, from classroom

disruptions to a major regression. When an autistic kid's tray crashes

to the floor, it is always a major event. That's why, if I hear my son

got highly upset over a moved pencil sharpener and acted out, I do not

want to hear that he has to learn to accept change. The sharpener is

immaterial, if I learn that day he'd dealt with a substitute teacher, a

fire drill just as Reading was starting, dead calculator batteries

halfway through Math, a 'crashed' computer in the middle of English, a

late bus so that he missed part of home room and some florescent lights

in the class are half out - his tray was already full.

All of the distresses are unavoidable and he'd dealt with them without

a hitch; but each was another glass on this tray. Autistic kids need

someone around who is familiar with them; to sense how full the tray is

getting and read the cues, so there's intervention before that wobbling

tray topples to the floor. That is why the type of support for these

kids is critical, not just a 'hot body' nearby - but the 'right hot

body' whom they can trust will help balance and who knows the 'hooks'.

For all of us, life is a balancing act, but for autistic kids the

glasses generally break when they hit the floor and it takes a whole

lot longer to clean up the mess and get a new tray.

Roxanna

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.