Responsive Communication

"Phoebe Caldwell has found some unique paths to achieving deep and meaningful engagement with autistic people and people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Families and carers are in awe of the deep and intuitive connections she is able to make, adapting her way of being with and responding to each person; Through her practice of Intensive Interaction over several decades, Phoebe has illuminated the way in which sensory issues can impede communication and emotional engagement of autistic individuals with others. She has shown how both hypo- and hyper-sensitivities can contribute to a scrambled sensory input, and how subsequent anxiety results in either hyperarousal (sometimes seen as `meltdowns') or hypo-arousal (sometimes seen as `shutdowns'). These sensory issues are often unrecognised by professionals, families and other observers, as they are not routinely part of the experience of those who do not have autism. When sensory triggers are not anticipated or recognised, distress may manifest as behaviours that challenge. The authors of this book share their different perspectives, while also all being practitioners of Responsive Communication."; Professor Sheila the Baroness Hollins