Using Pace and Momentum to Facilitate Successful Motor Achievement
“Keep going… keep going…”
EVs melodic tones are forever etched in my memory. We heard this early and often when we brought Jackson for our first 2 day training at GKTC over 7 years ago. EV had Jackson on the board right away answering lesson questions and then expressing his own thoughts on them. She made it look easy and I felt confident that after a week or two I’d be communicating with Jackson fluently on the boards. Spoiler alter – that didn’t happen; I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was one epic fail after another. I wasn’t deterred and kept at it, however, two sobering truths repeated punched me in the face.
The first: I wasn’t EV. The second: I’m not a singsong kind of dude. I realized that mimicking EV wasn’t going to work for me, so I set my focus on understanding the mechanics of what she was actually doing.
The finger point
EV pointed her finger a lot but never actually pointed to anything.
My summation: She was establishing a focused cooperative goal.
The rhythmic voice
Any verbal props EV used were rhythmic in nature.
My summation: She was establishing pace. Through melodic timing, she was able to increase and decrease the pace.
Stretching
“Keep going…. Keep going…”. The verbal prompts didn’t only have a rhythmic quality but often the tones were “stretched out” by lengthening the middle or end of the prompt.
My summation: She was maintaining momentum.
So that was the secret recipe! Initiating a focused cooperative goal, establishing pace, and maintaining momentum. Light bulb moment – I had been using this recipe with Jackson his whole life. The first instances of this occurred through Dr Greenfield’s play therapy in order to engage Jackson in cycles of communication through play; then in engaging him in more complex motor tasks such as cooking, woodworking, gardening, building, and self-care (tying his shoes, dressing, personal hygiene, etc.); and finally in motor tasks which are more time critical (require quicker responses) and require an added level of spatial awareness such as driving an ATVing, driving and operating a tractor, riding his bike, rollerblading, and sports like football, hockey and basketball.
My intention for this article is to attempt demystify this secret recipe by outlining the four basic principles required to effectively execute the recipe and to reference the science which explains it. So, let’s get cooking, shall we?
The Synchronization Principle – Changing our perception of expectation
As humans we synchronize/ entrain to each other naturally. The only requirement is that we comply with the first ingredient in our recipe: establish focused cooperation on a goal. What this means is that we establish a common objective with another and have a shared focus on it.
“People synchronize in various ways when we interact with one another. We subconsciously match our footsteps when we walk. During conversations, we mirror each other’s postures and gestures.
To that end, studies have shown that people synchronize heart rates and breathing when watching emotional films together. The same happens when romantic partners share a bed. Some scientists think we do this to build trust and perceive people as similar to ourselves, which encourages us to behave compassionately.” (reference 1)
Because of this organic process of synchronization, when Jackson and I share a common goal, we begin to establish a working relationship in which he can develop motor skills through synchronization. Goals are the same as expectations. The broader the expectations begin, the more common ground is afforded for us to synchronize in. As an example, should we want to build some raised beds together, the initial goal is just to form a working relationship. That’s it. I don’t expect that he will do this or that, I don’t expect that he will accomplish this motor movement or another, the only expectation is that we will engage with each other to cooperate on a common goal which will gradually become more specific over time. This creates the focal point around what Jackson and I call “a track”. In this example, we will acknowledge our shared focus and together get all the tools out and set up our lumber. We now have a track.
The Track Principle – “Ready, go!”
Once a track is created, it’s just a matter of getting into it. Usually I will start the track, but in certain activities, that is now changing; Jackson is the first to initiate and launch the track. The purpose of the track is to set the pace. I will begin the activity (in this case woodworking) and be mindful to keep a consistent pace in my activities. I do not expect Jackson to do anything, even watch… I know he is attending. Once pace is established, I offer Jackson opportunities to jump into the track. In this case I may hand him a tool or motion to him to help me move something. This is akin to EV’s “Ready, go!” prompt to begin a communication on the letterboard (which Jackson and I would call a track). This is almost always in the form of a physical prompt but could also be a SHORT verbal queue. The more focused you are, the more effective the prompt. Ready, go! Now we are on the track together and it is my job to set and modulate the pace based on our activity within the track. What I mean by this is that activity does not stop whether Jackson is participating or not, but I continue to offer opportunities to get on the track and modulate the pace so that in those moments the pace slows down, but once engagement is established, I can pick up the pace to develop momentum. I have done this enough with Jackson that I know with certainty after some time (if not right away) he will be fully engaged in the activity/ track. Establishing pace is really creating flow/ rhythm. Why does rhythmic activity make sensory integration and motor engagement easier? Enter neural entrainment.
“Brainwave entrainment, also referred to as brainwave synchronization or neural entrainment, refers to the observation that brainwaves (large-scale electrical oscillations in the brain) will naturally synchronize to the rhythm of periodic external stimuli, such as flickering lights,[1] speech,[2] music,[3] or tactile stimuli.” (reference 2)
What is being said here is that our brainwaves modulate to sync with particular rhythmic sensory phenomena in order to distinguish and isolate it from other sensory input.
“Imagine yourself immersed in the babble of multiple talkers around you. In this common situation, your goal will likely be to listen to, and to communicate with, one of these talkers. For normal-hearing individuals, this task can pose a challenge, but it rarely prevents us from communicating. For the hearing-impaired listener, however, as well as for any artificial intelligence system, it can border on being intractable. Over the past decade, cognitive neuroscience has been concerned with one apparent feature (or, more contentiously, a key mechanism) used by the brain to resolve this multiple-talker disarray: ‘neural entrainment’” (reference 3)
We can isolate a specific speaker through modulation and synchronization of our brainwaves to attune with a speakers’ tones and rhythms. We take this for granted, but there are underlying mechanisms which allow us to focus our sensory attention to specific sensory phenomenon on a moment-to-moment basis; it appears that the mechanism utilized to accomplish this is likely neural entrainment. We can therefore understand that it is easier to isolate and engage with sensory inputs which are rhythmic in nature.
The Elf Principle – “Keep going, keep going…”
Once a shared focus is initiated and a pace established, we need to maintain momentum. Momentum is an organic process, so we do not need to discuss how to establish it. What we do need to discuss is what hinders and eventually kills momentum, namely distractions. There are two types of distractions, internal and external. External distractions are obvious. Turn your phone off, ensure you have the time to spend on an activity, and pick a place for your activity which is free of distractions. This will eliminate/ minimize external distractions. Internal distractions refer to emotional and mental processes taking up your attention. These distractions are more difficult to mitigate. Increasing your focus on what you are doing will eventually eliminate thoughts which are not relevant in the moment and create an environment where momentum can be unimpeded.
Another distraction we face are the behaviors of our autistic counterparts. When Jackson and I engage in an activity which is physical in nature we have made an agreement. If he begins showing signs to dysregulation or is not engaging I ignore it and focus on myself and the principles discussed in this article. Its not that I don’t care about why he is dysregulated or whether he needs something, it’s that if I stopped and pulled out his letterboard every time he reacted to something, we would never have focus, develop pace or ride the wave of momentum. I trust that he will figure things out himself and that I am providing him with exactly what he needs to be successful… we can always talk later if needed… almost always, it is not necessary. I NEVER assume I know the cause of a behavior / dysregulation.
Momentum is an amazing thing. Once we are riding the wave of momentum, Jackson begins to initiate spontaneous action. We are in a flow and within this flow he finds it easy to go grab the tool he needs, intuitively help me lifting a timber, or any other number of motor tasks without prompt or imitation. We’re in the zone. We call this “Elfing it”. Have you ever seen elves working together? They work to song, each initiating and executing their own actions while at the same time working together on a common goal. This is the magic of momentum. But how does momentum bring us to self-initiated motor success?
We learned that we sync our body moments when attending to each other. We’ve also learned that our brainwaves sync more adeptly to rhythmic sensory phenomena. We are about to learn that neural entrainment also occurs between human brains.
“Surprisingly, people synchronize their neural rhythms, too.
You may have experienced this while playing music with someone and falling into rhythmic and melodic harmony. Or you may collectively solved a problem with a team. Perhaps it felt like you were operating at the same frequency — in reality, this might have not been far from the truth.
These collective electrical signals can be aligned to certain frequencies, much like a wave where the peak represents a spike in neural activity and a dip represents low neural activity.
…scientists have peered into people’s minds as they complete tasks in pairs and groups.
They noticed something unexpected: Functional links appeared across people’s brains when they cooperated during certain tasks. In other words, different people’s neural oscillations aligned when they cooperated.
In a different study from 2018, greater neural synchronization occurred between subjects when they were told to complete a puzzle together. Synchronization levels dropped when the same subjects had to complete identical puzzles individually, or when both watched other people finish one.
As for the subjective experience of individuals in such studies, higher feelings of cooperativeness were aligned with higher levels of neural synchronization. Additionally, study participants’ level of inter-brain synchrony could predict subjective feelings of engagement, affinity, empathy and social connection. ” (reference 4)
This human-to-human neural entrainment research is the latest in the field of neuroscience and we are only beginning to explore its mechanics. Studies have shown that when we are in focused cooperation, our brainwaves sync up so that we are in greater awareness of each other’s perception, resulting in ease of cooperation. When Jackson and I enter a track and develop momentum it is like a dance. We are in perfect sync with each other. We have a knowing of what each other are doing and what we need to do to work together on any given task. No words required.
This author believes there is a path of exploration in neural entrainment and its role in the CRP (Communication and Regulation Partner) and Speller relationship, but this is beyond the scope of this article. In the future, studies of the relationship of neural activity of CRPs and Spellers, while engaged in the facilitation process, will likely yield some interesting findings.
The Loose Lip Principle
Refrain from talking while engaging autistics in activities which have elevated motor expectations, it is not helpful and will kill momentum. There is a reason for this. As we learned before, we must tune into sensory stimuli to perceive and respond to it through motor movement. Speaking is a distraction in facilitating that process by adding a complex audio sensory input which is not required. If I need to explain to Jackson what we are doing, I do it before we get started. This is an open discussion on the letterboard and that’s all the talking we’ll do. I have been around CRPs in training who talk too much while the speller is on the board. They try to explain to the speller what to do. It is not helpful; it only distracts and annoys the speller (and me). The Speller already knows what they are trying to do. If using verbal queues, use them to modulate pace and maintain momentum, not to explain.
We know from personal experience it is difficult to switch our attention back and forth from listening to completing motor tasks. Observe as your favorite athlete puts a move on someone on the field, dunks over a defender’s head, or bobs and weaves to land that uppercut. They aren’t having any side conversations in the game or in training; they are focused on the sensory environment and their response to it. Pretty obvious.
Conclusion
The intimacy and synchronicity in the interactions I have with Jackson is a unique partnership I have been unable to develop with anyone else. It’s not for the lack of trying. As someone who has lead groups, teams and projects, my goal was to use the 4 principles as a guideline to facilitate the most cooperative and entrained environment possible. While at times I have been able to evoke that type of coherence, it quickly disintegrates through personal distractions, mostly in the form of disagreement over unimportant logistical issues. As the focus shifts from a shared goal to assertions of concept and ideological differences, the momentum is stopped, pace collapses, and previously unimpeded cooperation gives way to irrelevant turf wars. We have much to learn from our autistic counterparts as to how empathy and focus can lead to more compassionate communications and interactions.
There is a lot more to be discussed in relation to techniques in facilitating positive motor achievement, but these guiding principles can get you on the path to being the best facilitator you can be, by truly connecting with the autistic population and helping them develop the sensory awareness and motor response needed to accomplish any task. I truly believe, and have seen through my experience with Jackson, that by deepening our understanding of our interactions with autistic individuals, there is nothing which together we cannot do.
