Solution Focused Approach to Working with Aspergers

Solution Focused Approach to Working with Aspergers Syndrome
Available as a 1 day inhouse course - details below:

Eileen Murphy interviews Sean Foley, now aged 22, diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at aged 13.

Sean Foley

EM: What is your favourite place?

SF: New York - it's an amazing city that I was lucky enough to visit a few years back - it's a very walkable city.

EM: What is your favourite word?

SF: Knowledge - because knowledge is power and with the Aspergers talks I give, that's the point I'm always trying to get across.

EM: Whom do you most admire?

SF: No one in particular because I find you've got to be yourself and not try to emulate others. You should only try to set your own standards rather than looking for it from others.

EM: What makes you laugh most?

SF: Situation, satirical, and slapstick comedy would be my favourite genres really.

EM: What is your musical taste?

SF: The Beatles and Elvis and anything from the 60s, 70s, and early 80s. Not late eighties though - that's where my interest would stop!

EM: What is your best personal quality would you say?

SF: "A glass is always half full" approach which I can combine with doing the Aspergers talks to provide a positive message to my audiences.

EM: What motivates you to run the public talks that you are currently undertaking?

SF: That parents and teachers can hear what people with Aspergers (Aspies) need in life and what their part in that can be to best help them as its not always easy for many of my "aspie" peers to get their wishes across. I feel I'm speaking for a great section of the Asperger community by doing this.

EM: How long do your presentations take in terms of length?

SF: An hour and 15 minutes usually, followed by a Q&A session.

EM: What kind of feedback do you get from parents and professionals afterwards?

SF: I get very good feed back in the sense that, after hearing my story and seeing me up close, this can give them hope that their child may someday achieve the independence and flexibility that I have

EM: What do you like most about your life as an adult?

SF: That I know my condition, unlike when I was a child, and the independence I have now.

EM: What did you dislike most about your life as a child?

SF: The isolation and not knowing why I was different to other children and as a result coming across as overtly autistic in terms of my interaction with other children - some of those moments make me cringe when I think about it now.

EM: At what age did you become aware that you had Aspergers?

SF: I was 13 on getting the diagnosis and at that the time I was under real pressure in secondary school so these factors combined contributed to my awakening, so to speak.

EM: If you were to create an "ideal school" for children with Aspergers - what would it look like or what would it include?

SF: I would make every teacher, from the Special Needs Assistants to the Head Teachers, research Aspergers intensely before I let them within a mile of kids with Aspergers Syndrome! A lack of knowledge can damage the teacher-child relationship immediately. I should know - I've had that happen a few times.
I would include appropriate rest and meditation times in between the work that is to be done so as to get the best out of the pupil. I would have specially trained counsellors for any meltdowns that occurs in a school day and I'd have a separate talk to the incoming neurotypical children of the school on how to relate to their Aspie peers on a daily basis. Knowledge is power - from the headteacher right down to the kids.

EM: If you were training teachers to work in a better way with children with Aspergers - what would you put at the top of the list?

SF: They would most definitely have to take into account an Asperger's child's interests and latch onto it at the earliest opportunity - whether it be Thomas The Tank or stamp collecting: it's a step into their world and they in turn will take a step into yours and also always keep an open mind. No one person with Aspergers is the same: don't let yourself get bogged down with the stereotype approach - treat every person an individual not as a diagnosis.

EM: What have you learnt about yourself so far?

SF: I've learnt that you don't need all the qualifications in the book to know and understand Aspergers Syndrome and embrace it in a positive way rather than a millstone round the neck. I've learnt from every experience I've had - good or bad - and this has shaped the positive person I am today and I'm going to go on learning because just the same as the neurotypicals: the learning is never done - its lifelong.

Sean gives talks to parents and professionals, advising how they can help young people with Aspergers Syndrome to cope with everyday life in school and home, based on his own life experiences

Sean Foley can be booked to give talks and workshops in Ireland and across the UK to parents and professionals. For further details on how to book - contact: Tel: 00353 860703117 or alternatively at seangenegenie@yahoo.co.uk

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Solution Focused Approach to Working with Aspergers Syndrome
Available as a 1 day inhouse course
Facilitated by: Kevin Foley BA (Hons) Econ. PGCE, MA Autism (pending)

Asperger Syndrome is often depicted as a 'hidden disability'

It is often only when an individual's 'distressed behaviour' impacts on school and/or home that diagnosis and interventions ensue. People with AS often have huge untapped potential, but are prone to develop secondary psychiatric conditions such as depression if their different neurological endowment is not respected.

The training includes strategies and techniques when working to be more pro-active in the search for that untapped potential rather than wait until an individual is in 'meltdown' before modifications are put in place. The training presents the bigger picture when working with people with AS and encourages creative collaboration with the individual to maximise self-esteem and minimise stress. The application of Solution-Focused principles is the model which underpins this approach.

About the Facilitator:

Kevin Foley, BA (Hons) Econ. PGCE, MA Autism (pending). Author of Asperger Solution. Kevin, Education Consultant with Eileen Murphy Consultants & Associates, has twenty two years of teaching experience in inner city schools.

Kevin developed and headed an inclusion unit in a Manchester school serving the most socio-economically disadvantaged ward in England and works across UK and Ireland as practitioner and trainer with schools and SEN teams for better outcomes for staff and pupils

To arrange an inhouse course please email us at info@brief-therapy-uk.com or call us on Tel 0208 947 8093 or on the office mobile 07779 242 289

A copy of Kevin Foley's book "Asperger Solution" is available as a download from http://www.aspergersolution.com and see Kevin's Blog