NSW South Sydney – 2 Day Autism Spectrum Disorders Program
Holsworthy High School Huon Crescent, Holsworthy, NSW, Australia14 hours of NSW Teacher Institute endorsed accreditation
The ‘Two Day Rock and Water and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and children with additional and related problems’ is a unique Rock and Water approach that helps children (and adults) who are diagnosed with ASD to develop more self confidence, better communication skills and strategies to deal with the world and it’s sometimes overwhelming demands.
The workshop will assist in increasing self-control and assertiveness, to develop body language awareness, to encourage better communication skills and to decrease feelings of anxiety. Master instructor Marc Boas, Theo Kamevaar and Freerk Ykema have developed a new manual (250 pages) containing successful strategies, dozens of new exercises and up to date information about ASD.
When people in general - and in particular people with ASD – end up in a stressful situation, they often respond according to one of the following two stereotyped patterns of behaviour:
Rock (too rocky): emotionally closed, macho, surviving through power and force) or
Water (too watery): too compliant towards others, not being able to assert oneself very well, avoiding behaviour).
In both cases there is a risk that people are not able to stay close to their own feeling and that they will “lose themselves”. The Rock and Water program shows, first in a physical way, that both strategies have their value, but that this depends on the situation. The behavior is not rejected, but extended through exploration of alternatives.
The program makes use of psychophysical didactics. The starting point is the development of emotional awareness on the basis of body awareness, which ultimately leads to self-awareness.