Who would benefit from a Davis Autism Approach program?

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Any autistic individual aged eight years or over, who has receptive language (i.e. they can understand what is being said) can benefit from this life-changing program.

 

If an individual does not yet have receptive language, we can still help.  However, their Davis Autism journey will take a different path, starting with the Davis Stepping Stones Program  beginning steps to the Davis Autism Approach.

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What is involved in a Davis Autism Approach program?

 

Davis Autism Approach is a three-step program.

 

Step 1: Self-Regulation
​Our Facilitator will begin by assisting the individual to become more present in the world, develop accurate perception, gain an awareness of self, and develop the ability to regulate their focus, stress and energy levels.  This process includes: 

 

Auditory Orientation – the participant listens to a specifically engineered sound through headphones leading up to and, if necessary, during program sessions. This auditory stimulus – affectionately referred to as the ‘Davis ting’ was designed by Ron Davis to help each participant to develop accurate, stable perceptions and an awareness of being separate from others. This technique can greatly enhance a person’s ability to maintain a calm state of focus.

 

Release – a simple, effective technique to empower the individual to manage their stress and anxiety levels.

 

Dial – a visualization technique that enables the individual to monitor and regulate their energy levels according to any situation.

 

Self-awareness – using plastilina clay, the individual creates a model that represents themselves (Self).  This model of Self is used in every part of the program that follows, to allow true understanding of how Self can be involved in all of the fundamental life concepts.

 

Step 2: New Foundations
Once the individual has developed a greater awareness of Self, established more accurate perception and is becoming more present in the world, we can help them to learn fundamental life concepts that they may not have picked up previously.

 

The focus of the New Foundations life concepts is to facilitate solid understanding of the following fundamental ideas:

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• change, consequence, cause and effect, before and after, time, sequence, order and disorder

• continue, survive, perception, thought, experience

• energy, force, emotion, want, need, intention

• motivation, ability, control, responsibility.

 

Each concept is taught and ‘mastered’ using a highly effective, multi-sensory hands-on approach, which heightens each participant’s engagement and ability to learn. 

 

First, the individual is guided to create their own clay model of the concept in order to assimilate the idea accurately.  The individual is then encouraged to find and examine the concept in the real world. These exploratory experiences are essential for enabling the individual to consolidate and integrate the concept for themselves. 

 

New Foundations also includes a set of  simple, powerful exercises that empowers the individual to:

 

• Establish order in the physical environment
  They learn how to use the concepts to establish order, determine order, and create and maintain order.

• Creating new behaviors
  They explore behaviors that have had negative consequences and, using the concepts above, create new, positive outcomes and strategies.

• Develop self-responsibility
  They learn how to increase their personal sense of responsibility by applying the New Foundation life concepts in real-world situations.

 

Step 3: Building Bridges  
Once fundamental life concepts have been consolidated for an individual, they have the foundations on which to start building a bridge into the world of other people.

 

The Building Bridges stage of the program focuses on facilitating social awareness by exploring the different types of relationships and behaviors we engage in with others. 

Rather than having the individual learn a set of social skills, we work with them to explore different categories of relationships and associated behaviors that can be applied across any social situation they may encounter.

 

Once again, the visual, hands-on technique of modelling clay is used by the individual to create models of Self and others within these different types of relationships.

 

What kind of results do people see with the Davis Autism Approach program?

 

Clients who have completed the program have experienced many positive changes. These are some of the most common results Davis Autism Facilitators see in their clients, which have been confirmed through independent research:
 

• less anxiety

• increased ability to be able to take part in daily activities and create order in their life

• a willingness to try new things

• greater capacity to cope with change

• greater ability to cause a change in their life

• a reduction in sensory overload symptoms

• reductions in meltdowns

• a greater sense of self , and

• being better equipped in relationships
   

What are the options for accessing this program?

 

Every individual has unique needs. We have developed a variety of delivery options to choose from, so you can find the best solution to suit your needs.

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