What would that be like? What things would change for ever in our perception of the autistic spectrum? I have done much work looking at the effects of being ungrounded on many of the diagnosed learning difficulties. Not being grounded from a young age comes up time and time again in connection with so many learning difficulties. It really does seem too simple to be that significant, but remember that the simplest things are often the most effective.
In “Bridge to Success – how to transform Learning difficulties” there are 2 chapters about the effects if being ungrounded, that cover inability to concentrate, below average ability to listen, difficulty toilet training etc etc. Those who write abut Autism mention a series of symptoms that are very related to being ungrounded. So lets just imagine for a moment that grounding is a hugely significant factor in Autism. How would that change our perceptions?
1. What is being ungrounded like? We can all do that very busy feeling in our heads of overwhelm, when we are rushed and there are far too many thoughts going on in and above our heads. We can feel quite wobbly and unable to focus – that is ungrounded.
2. How do we get so ungrounded? Our lizard brain (the very old part of our brain that is focused on personal safety, fear, etc) has taken us into fight, flight or freeze. We can all do this from time to time, but when you are on the autistic spectrum, you may live perpetually in this state, with this state becoming your norm. Some of the reasons for this maybe for instance, a very early trauma, problematic pregnancy, childbirth, and many more we have yet to connect. Remember an event in your life can be fun for some people and a trauma for others; it all depends your response to the event.
3. How do we notice a young child retreating into this disconnected world? there are many signs like lack of eye contact, frustration, not wanting to engage with others, etc that any parent will notice. I believe that parents are the experts about their children, although it is more difficult when this is your first child.
4. What can we do at this young age? We can learn more about grounding that will be good for our own health and help our children too. Grounding is free to every person on the planet, and a simple “how to” skill to learn. It is worth trying it out, it will help you understand more about your own experience and that of your children. You will start to be more aware of the circumstances that you can create to assist your children.
Just imagine what a difference it could make to our highly intelligent children on the autistic spectrum if grounding could alleviate many of their challenging symptoms. You can make these changes rapidly and just notice what happens. When you tell us we can tell more people and put together more pieces of this jigsaw puzzle for our time.
If this blog interests you, leave your comments or contact me directly. If you want to learn more I recommend getting a copy of “Bridges to Success” to quickly and cheaply start your own journey. The earlier we can make changes the better for our children.
Olivehickmott 