SELF-ADVOCACY, AUTISM, & ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY 1 Self-Advocacy, Autism, & Adlerian ...

60 Pages·2012·4.53 MB·English

by  Amy Reid

Running head: SELF-ADVOCACY, AUTISM, & ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY 1

Self-Advocacy, Autism, & Adlerian Psychology
A Summary Paper
Presented to
The Faculty at Adler Graduate School
____________________

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
The Degree of Master of Arts in
Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy
____________________

By:
Amy M. Reid
July 2012
SELF-ADVOCACY, AUTISM, & ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY 2
Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore application of the relationship between Autism
Spectrum Disorders, self-advocacy and Adlerian psychotherapy. Adlerian psychology
concepts as well as other psychotherapy methods will be discussed. It is critical for
individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders to advocate for themselves to be successful
in communication, relationships, and employment.

Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders will better equip a therapist, educator, parent,
or caregiver to teach people with autism how to have relationships, communicate clearly,
secure employment and access his or her community. Researchers agree that to have
strong advocacy skills one must have knowledge of self, knowledge of one’s rights,
communication skills, and leadership skills. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
may struggle in these areas and may result require direct teaching to develop skills
necessary to be an effective self-advocate.
SELF-ADVOCACY, AUTISM, & ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY 3
Acknowledgements
I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me through this journey and
guiding me as I learn and grow. I would like to thank my parents for their
encouragement. I would like to thank Dr. Karyl Frye for all of her support throughout the
process of completing this project. Finally, I would also like to thank my friend and
business partner Kim Busse for taking this journey with me. Without her support and
encouragement completing this project and graduate program would not have been
possible.
SELF-ADVOCACY, AUTISM, & ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY 4

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………5
Autism Spectrum Disorders…………………………………………………………….. 6
Self-Advocacy……………………………………………………………………………8
Alfred Adler and Social Interest………………………………………………………...10
Autism and Psychotherapy……………………………………………………………...11
Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………...15
References……………………………………………………………………………….18
Presentation Process Paper………………………………………………………………22
Appendix A: Self-Advocacy Presentation Proposal…………………………………….25
Appendix B: Materials for Call for Papers from AUSM………………………………..29
Appendix C: Material from AUSM Regarding Speaker Presentations………………….30
Appendix D: Evaluation Form for AUSM Presentation………………………………...33
Appendix E: Materials Representing Gathered Information for Presentation…………..34
Appendix F: PowerPoint Presentation for Self-Advocacy for Individuals with Autism
Spectrum Disorders……………………………………………………………………...37
Appendix G: Additional References for AUSM Participants……………………………59
SELF-ADVOCACY, AUTISM, & ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY 5
Self-Advocacy, Autism, & Adlerian Psychology
As the numbers of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) diagnoses continues to
increase it is of growing importance for professionals to have an understanding of autism.
In the field of psychotherapy it is likely that a client will present with ASD or some of its
characteristics along with another mental health diagnosis. The presence of ASD can
pose challenges to the therapeutic process due to impairments in communication and
social skills. The importance of helping clients learn ways to advocate and communicate
for themselves effectively is critical for social success. As a result of acquiring self-
advocacy skills increases the likelihood that, a client will have success in social situations,
communicate clearly, and identify his purpose and role in society.
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders who have a duel diagnosis such as
anxiety or depression often struggle with asking for help, which is a critical skill in
successful self-advocacy. A parent, family member, or an outside agent such as a social
worker, will often urge the individual with ASD to enter into therapy. A client with ASD
may struggle with personal insight and the ability to identify when he or she may need
help. The therapist will need to identify whether he or she has this skill. If the client is
not able to ask for help the therapist will need to provide him with strategies to become
more self aware and identify when help is needed.
This paper will define Autism Spectrum Disorders and self-advocacy, and
identify the Adlerian psychology concepts and other effective psychotherapy methods
that can be used in working with this population of clients. The need for individuals with
ASD to be able to advocate for themselves toward successful communication,
relationships, and employment is critical. This paper will identify the importance of and
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provide guidance for individuals with ASD in the development of self-advocacy skills
and communication skills in the therapeutic environment.
Autism Spectrum Disorders
In the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
“an estimated 1 in 88 children (11.3 per 1,000) has been identified with an Autism
Spectrum Disorder (ASD)” (CDC, 2012, p.1). This rate of diagnosis results in many
individuals and families needing assistance and support as they learn to cope with a
diagnosis of autism. An increasingly large group of individuals with autism are looking
for therapists and support groups that understand their challenges.
Autism Spectrum Disorders can look very different from one individual to the
next with some displaying only mild symptoms and others more debilitating
characteristics. ASD symptoms include problems with language, communication and
repetitive or restrictive patterns of thoughts and behavior.
In addition, individuals with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) may have some of the
symptoms described above, as well as normal or above normal intelligence and verbal
skills. AS is usually thought to be the mildest of the ASD (Janzen, 2003). AS involve
impairment in reciprocal social interaction, communication, restricted interests, behaviors,
and activities (Stiefel, Shields, Swain & Innes, 2008). Significant sensory needs that
have a limiting impact on daily activities may also be part of the picture for people with
AS.
Portway and Johnson (2005) worked with a group of individuals with Asperger’s
Syndrome to identify a category that “were not obviously different, but did not quite fit in
to many aspects of daily living” (Portway & Johnson, 2005, p. 76). Many of the
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participants displayed unusual developmental patterns, intense interests, strong
preference for routines, and a dislike for change (Portway & Johnson, 2005). This group
of individuals also displayed social immaturity and an inability to advocate for
themselves. As a result of these differences, these individuals often received negative
labeling such as “naughty” or “not smart”. Several participants described episodes of
being bullied as a result of their differences but they did not share with family members
or professionals the extent of the negative experiences they endured. Often the person
did not recognize the treatment as negative but viewed it as normal. As result of having
Asperger’s Syndrome, many misunderstood the intentions of their peers and just accepted
the treatment of others.
More males than females are diagnosed with AS. Like males with Asperger’s
Syndrome, females often have difficulty coping with change in routines or patterns and
struggle with inflexible or rigid thinking. Social relationships are challenging for
individuals with AS even though they have a desire to have friends and fit in. Their
behaviors can be unpredictable and impulsive, making social interactions challenging.
Executive functioning frequently a problem area for those with AS includes
deficits in: inhibition, visual and working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, short-
term memory, and visual motor integration (Verte, Geurts, Roeyers, Oosterlaan &
Sergeant, 2006). These struggles most often relate to brain impairment which result in
difficulty switching attention from one task to another” (Attwood, 2007, p. 232).
Sometimes individuals have learning difficulties specific to one subject area while being
gifted in other subject areas.
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Family and Autism
Individuals impacted by autism often deal with many issues that are very
consuming and as a result the entire family is affected. Some families are looking for a
“cure” for their child with autism. Others are looking for therapy that is going to “fix”
their child. This intense focus may put a strain on the parents’ relationship. These
families are attempting to take direction from several outside agencies such as; social
workers, therapists, and personal care attendants. The uncoordinated involvement of
these professionals often causes the family to lose its own identity as they struggle to
figure out how to function in a healthy way. Many families have other children going
through their own developmental stages that add to the family dynamic. The siblings
struggle to understand why the parents focus so much energy on their sibling with autism.
Conflicts and lack of understanding on the part of the extended family can also place
strain on the whole family unit.
Self-Advocacy
Stephan Shore (2003) identifies that “Advocacy is realizing what a person needs
in order to maximize his or her functioning in life and knowing how to arrange the
environment or obtain the necessary accommodations to do so. Or to put it another way,
it is being literate about a person’s needs” (Shore, p. 173). Self-advocacy is a concept
most commonly associated with self- determination. Research suggests that people who
are self-determined have better post-school outcomes (Test, Fowler, Wood, Brewer &
Eddy, 2005), specifically citing correlation between the employment success of an
individual with strong self-advocacy skills and his or her postsecondary outcomes. An
individual’s ability to self-advocate is a step toward self- determination and social
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success. Often when individuals with disabilities leave the supportive environments of
school, they do not understand their strengths and needs well enough to seek the
accommodations they need beyond school (Test, Fowler, Wood, Brewer & Eddy, 2005).
Researchers agree that in order to have strong self-advocacy skills, an individual
must have knowledge of self and of one’s rights, as both are identified as the foundation
of self-advocacy. Communication and leadership skills are also considered crucial to
developing self-advocacy (Test, Fowler, Wood, Brewer & Eddy, 2005). Communication
is an important factor in self-advocacy in order to accomplish telling others what one
wants and needs. Being able to communicate effectively with others through negotiation,
assertiveness, and problem solving in individual and group settings is necessary to self-
advocate. Leadership skills which involve awareness of common needs and desires of
others, group dynamics, and accepting responsibility, enable a person to move from
individual self-advocacy to advocating for others as a group with common concerns (Test,
Fowler, Wood, Brewer & Eddy, 2005). Generally, there are few opportunities for
individuals with developmental disabilities to obtain leadership skills in traditional ways
such as school activities, employment, or mentoring (Caldwell, 2010).
During interviews of people with ASD, Caldwell (2010) discovered that
individuals with disabilities had similar accounts of being labeled and bullied in school.
Identifying themselves as leaders, these adults developed their self-advocacy and
leadership skills through a connection to a disability community, family influences,
relationships, and community supports (Caldwell, 2010). Caldwell found the
participants cited similar experiences in which they were able to practice self-advocacy
and leadership skills such as: volunteering, belonging to committees, workshops on
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leadership and opportunities to advocate. Research shows that being part of a self-
advocacy group assisted participants in feeling supported, expressing views and opinions,
and having a sense of belonging (Gilmartin & Sievin, 2009).
Alfred Adler and Social Interest
Alfred Adler stressed the importance of community. He used the German term
Gemeinschaftsgefühl, which means community feeling, social interest, social feeling or
social sense. The concept identifies recognition and acceptance of the interconnectedness
of all people, experienced on affective, cognitive, and behavioral levels. Individuals with
disabilities such as ASD frequently struggle to find a place to belong within their
communities. Those with a mental health issue in addition to ASD can experience even
more isolation and pose particular challenges to therapists, social workers, teachers, or
families.
Adler identified that Gemeinschaftsgefühl occurs at various levels. “At the
affective level, it is experienced as a deep feeling of belonging to the human race and
empathy with fellow men and women. At the cognitive level, it is experienced as
recognition of interdependence with others, i.e., that the welfare of any one individual
ultimately depends on the welfare of everyone. At the behavioral level, these thoughts
and feelings can then be translated into actions aimed at self-development, as well as
cooperative and helpful movements directed toward others. “At the heart of the concept is
the feeling of community that encompasses individuals' full development of their
capacities” (Stein & Edwards, 2003, p. 23). Many individuals with disabilities struggle
with cognitive, behavioral, and emotional regulation, which impacts their ability to be
part of their communities. They may be perceived as being strange or outcasts. Adler