Students in disabilities studies minor help autistic children at Semel Institute
By Andra Lim
Nov. 19, 2009 10:27 p.m.
Alicja Martins rode a bus through UCLA with a 4-year-old boy.
As they passed various buildings, Martins’ companion, an autistic child in the UCLA Semel Institute’s Early Child Partial Hospitalization Program, read the names with ease.
“Faculty Center. Murphy Hall,” he read.
“At the time, I was really impressed and could not fully comprehend why he was in the program, but after awhile, I gained a better understanding of the disorder and how to help the kids,” said Martins, who volunteered at the Semel Institute to fulfill the internship requirement for the disabilities studies minor.
The majority of volunteers at the program are from UCLA. The Semel Institute, which is committed to research, education and patient care and treatment in psychiatry and neuroscience, is minutes from the Ackerman turnaround.
The institute’s approach to autism is unique because it is medically based and focuses on treating acute behaviors by modifying them or teaching new ones. Teachers focus on cognitive, social and behavioral skills, and supplement the occupational (motor), recreational (social) and speech therapy children receive from specialists.
Since the 10-week program is the only one of its kind on the West Coast, it can take up to two years to get off the wait-list. Though a majority of the children are from California, families from all over the world apply. Past participants have come from Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Israel and Indonesia.
“These kids are so in their own world that they need active, energetic people to help them,” said Jenny Lee, a head teacher for the program.
Some people with autism, like Martins’ seatmate, possess remarkable abilities. But social impairment, communicative impairment and repetitive behaviors are the main characteristics of autism, a developmental disorder that usually appears within the first three years of life. For example, those with autism may not respond when spoken to or lack empathy, making it harder for them to form relationships, Martins said.
“It’s inevitable when you’re working with kids to form attachments. With autistic kids, sometimes it feels like it’s not mutual attachment because some of them have difficulty making eye contact and other social difficulties. But you know that they’re attached to you when they reach for your hand, even if they don’t look at you,” said Celina Chavez-Lemon, a fourth-year sociology student.
Chavez-Lemon and other volunteers typically work about seven hours a week in one of four classrooms alongside head and assistant teachers, said the program’s co-director Stephanny Freeman, an assistant clinical professor in the department of child psychiatry.
In addition to disabilities studies students, psychology, psychiatry and sociology students also work at the institute. Many of these students have independent study internships, according to Dr. Kathy O’Byrne, director of the UCLA Center for Community Learning.
After working at the institute for two quarters, Menaka Nageswaran, a fourth-year psychobiology student, realized that what may seem like small gains to a casual observer can be huge leaps for autistic children.
“Sometimes in the beginning, the kids would not say anything. We’d work on singing songs like “˜Old McDonald,’ and at the end they’d be able to say “˜E-I-E-I-O.’ That’s huge, considering they were nonverbal,” said Nageswaran, who is also minoring in education studies and disabilities studies.
Volunteering allowed her to view autism through a non-clinical lens, a perspective she said will help her as she pursues her interest in becoming a doctor who works with disabled patients.
“Going into the (disabilities studies) minor, I had this very scientific definition of disorders and disabilities,” Nageswaran said. “Now I’ve been able to see it from a more personal side. I’ll be able to connect with them in the future and understand them not just as patients but as individuals too.”
Chavez-Lemon has also built on her previous perception of autistic children.
“Before, my basic knowledge of autism was purely what I’d learned through classes,” said Chavez-Lemon, who is minoring in labor and workplace studies and disabilities studies. “Being able to observe the kids and see the great intelligence they have and the great potential, it’s opened my eyes a lot and really sparked an interest in me to work with these children in the future.”
In the years to come, autistic children will need more programs similar to the institute’s, especially given the many success stories and the growing number of autism diagnoses. Autism increased sevenfold in California between 1990 and 2006, according to a study by University of California scientists.
“It was very inspiring to me that kids improved a lot,” Martins said. “It’s not like they got cured from autism ““ they never will ““ but they’re able to participate in regular activities.”
