![]() ![]() This approach was so successful that it was taken up by Nind and Hewett who named it Intensive Interaction. ![]() In the 1980s, Geraint Ephraim, Consultant Psychologist at Harperbury Hospital, introduced the idea of using body language to communicate with people whose ability to communicate was impaired by severe intellectual disabilities. And with people who are non-verbal, there is an evident difference in the affective state of someone who is flapping their hand gently and one who is thrashing the air with it: same gesture but in the first instance we know they are relatively calm, in the latter, that they are expressing severe distress. Basically we both want to know if we can trust each other. In conversation, we watch our partner to check whether what they are saying matches how they are expressing it. This Emotional Engagement is expressed through our body language, not so much by what we say or do, as how we do or say it. What we are all less aware of, is how we inform and monitor each other’s emotional states all the time. In people who are non-verbal, functional communication may be assisted by sign systems such as Makaton (Grove and Walker 1990) or PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). Most of what we are consciously aware can be called Functional Communication, informing each other of our needs, on the level of ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’, or sharing more sophisticated information. In the context of autism, I use the term ‘distressed behaviour’ in preference to ‘challenging behaviour’, since outbursts in autism are triggered by sensory overload and the word ‘challenging’ sets up oppositional expectations. ![]() We find it hard to communicate with them and they with us. This article introduces an approach that allows us to engage with children and adults with whom we find it hard to get in touch. ![]()
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