I love working with individuals with ASD because they have never stopped amazing and inspiring me. They fuel my intense curiosity of learning about the basis of what everyone thinks that being human means and my primitive grandiosity of omnipotence.
Yet, they also make me humble about how little we collectively, in human research and in artificial intelligence, know about human beings, the fluidity and the spontaneity of our social brains, the limits of our efforts, albeit generous with the right intention, the boundless sacrifices families make on a daily basis for the good of their offsprings, and the many surprising twists in life that will happen in the outcome of an individual.
There is this saying that, “when you meet one person with autism, you meet one person with autism”. There are so many of them to meet now, the prevalence has gone from my days of 1:1000 to now 1:68.
I still have a lot of them to meet and I haven’t felt tired or bored yet. They also grow older and mature in different ways. The different types of challenges they encounter in various phases of their life, the gradual enrichment of their psych and the emergence of some of their talents are all intriguing to watch as a passer-by.
How lucky that I am given a chance not only to witness the interaction of these many factors leading to totally unexpected outcomes, but also being invited to make a difference and be part of their process. With all this fun and stress going on, I am not sure I can ever stop or retire from it.
Yes, stress there is and with the right dosage and intensity (in my case I do need a lot), it does push me into a flow that fuel my intellectual and emotional cravings.
It is also the people I have been working with that maintain my passion in this field. It is not just learning some skills and theories about autism or ABA from these great mentors. You learn lots of things from the masters of this field. The amount of thought, the dimensions of psychology you need to take into considerations when working with a case, are not the same as from reading any books or watching any videos.
In the early days, I used to play guess what Ron would say about a case. The thrill you got when you guessed it right was magical! One of my exciting times of the year was to see cases with them. Yes, It was really awful when you realised your cases were not on track from their standards, but yet they always brought refreshing thoughts and new experiences in. This feeling that you don’t know how much you don’t know and then feeling enlightened to be brought to the next level is again another irreplaceable awe of working with these people.
The inspiration is not just from my mentors, it is also from working with all the intelligent folks in our office throughout the years! Their dedication, interpersonal skills, creativity, and knowledge of technology are brilliant for the development of the field. You feel the energy when discussing cases with them (not from the realisation of my senility) and the new dimensions of looking at some cases that I had never been considered before.
And, these are some of the reasons I am still in the field. I hope it will be many more years!.
Dr. Angel Au, Psy. D., Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Angel Au is a Registered Clinical Psychologist of Hong Kong Psychological Society and has undergone doctoral training in Clinical Psychology. She has received extensive training and on-going supervision from Dr. B. J. Freeman, a world-renowned diagnostician in Autism Spectrum Disorder. After completing the Clinical Training of Autism Diagnostic and Observation Schedule (ADOS) in 2003, which is a well-regarded as gold standard in diagnosing ASD, Dr. Au has also completed the ADOS Advanced Research training, from the University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Centre in 2011. Her doctoral thesis was on early identification of the more able children with ASD in mainstream preschool settings. She specializes in assessing individuals on the milder end of the spectrum and has more than 14 years of experience in diagnosing individuals from toddlerhood to middle-age adults. Other than ASD, Dr. Au also assesses a wide array of individuals with different diagnosis, including Attention Deficit / Hyperactive Disorders, Global Developmental Delay and individuals with various behavioral challenges.
Under the direct supervision and training of Dr. Ronald Leaf and Dr. Mitch Taubman, Dr. Au started providing Applied Behavior Analysis therapy for individuals with ASD since 1996. Other than seeing cases locally, she has also provided overseas consultations in China, India, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Applying her many years of experience in helping children with ASD, Dr. Au also specializes in providing psychotherapy and social skills training for adolescents and adults with ASD and other behaviorally challenged conditions.
Follow our Facebook and WeChat to learn more ABA skills.
Facebook: APautism
WeChat ID: AutismPartnership_HK
Learn more about our ABA Services[:zh]自Autism Partnership 於1999年12月成立以來，我便開始在AP工作。在加入AP前，自1996年起, 我在AP其中一名的創辦人Dr. Ron Leaf 的指導下開始以ABA的方法教導患有自閉症的兒童。
我之所以熱衷於服務自閉症人士，是因爲他們經常為我帶來不同的啟發和令我感讚嘆。他們誘發我對學習的好奇，啟發我去思考及衝擊一些已牢固的觀念及價值，如人存在對社會各階層甚至對自然生態的貢獻；也令我知道自己的不足，教導我以更謙虛的態度學習各樣基本的知識。
這些年來，我體驗到我們知識的局限，不單只在自閉症的研究，亦包括我們對人工智能的認識，對人腦的靈活及複雜程度所知的微少。與不同的家長一起支援他們患有自閉症的家人，我親歷他們日復日在生活上為患者作出無盡及無私的犠牲，令我明白親人的真正意義。當然隨著每位患者的特質，他們往後的生活及預後各有不同；然而我也目擊很多令人驚喜的轉變，好讓我明白希望總會在明天裡的。
有人說：「當你遇見一位自閉症人士，你只是遇見了一位自閉症人士。」現時有很多的自閉症患者，自閉症的發病率已由從前的1:1000 升至現在的1：68。
可見我還會遇見很多獨特的他們，但我從未感到疲倦或沉悶。他們亦會逐年成長，再不是當初的幼童。因此，他們在生活當中所遇到的挑戰種類亦隨著各成長的階段有所不同。過程中，我目睹他們的心理發展，一些特有的潛能慢慢出現，個人亦變得成熟。這些挑戰及成長的階段變化多端，不但不會令我沉悶，反而更令我反思治療方法的不足及令我對他們的家人多加點尊敬。
就是因為有這麼多變數及謎思，而我有幸不僅見證著當中的交替，亦被邀請成為這個過程中的一部份，你說我怎會想停下來或離開這個行業呢？
雖然當中的壓力確實不小，但我相信壓力（適量的) 是必須的，不然就很難在學術思想或感性層面有大躍進。
與我共事的人亦是我對工作熱情不減的其中一個原因。最初，引領我認識自閉症及ABA的老師不只是一般的良師，他們正是此行業的宗師! 與他們討論個案，親身示範治療技巧，與書本、講座或影片中所學到的知識簡直不可以相提並論。
以前，當Dr. Ron Leaf就個案給予意見時，我總會先猜猜他會怎樣說，而當我猜對時就會感到很興奮。一年當中，我最期待的就是和他們一起審議個案；而當然，亦緊張自己對個案的處理未如理想，但他們總會提出一些嶄新的想法和分享新的經驗。這種感覺就像幼童學習，之前我不知自己對各樣事物知識的欠缺，所以一受他們的啟發，就即時被提升到另一個層面，興奮不已。
啟發我的不只是我的良師，各個與我一起工作的同事亦令我對這個行業更雀躍。他們對工作及各個案全心全意的付出、待人處事的技巧、創意、對新科技豐富的知識，促進了這行業的發展。當我與他們討論個案的時候，亦會感受到他們的熱誠及活力（這與我的年齡差異無關），及會發現一些我從未想過的新角度。
因此，在可見的將來，我仍會繼續為自閉症的患者及家人工作。
區浩慈博士(心理學博士), 臨床心理學家
區浩慈博士是香港註冊臨床心理學家，擁有超過14年專為幼兒、兒童、青少年以至中年人士提供診斷自閉症譜系障礙的經驗。她的博士論文是研究如何在主流幼兒園及早識別能力較高但患有輕微自閉症的幼童。執業多年來，她一直接受自閉症行內的國際權威診斷專家B. J. Freeman博士培訓。於2003年完成「自閉症診斷觀察量表」（ADOS）──公認為診斷自閉症黃金標準的臨床訓練。 其後，於2011年完成由密西根大學自閉症及溝通障礙中心提供的ADOS進階研究訓練。區博士的專長是評估患有自閉症譜系障礙的人士，尤其是自閉症譜系障礙症狀較為輕微者。除此，她亦診斷不同類型的發展障礙，包括專注力不足／過度活躍症、發展遲緩及各類行為問題。
除診斷外，區博士亦對『應用行為分析』（ABA）治療具豐富經驗。自1996年起，她在Ronald Leaf博士及Mitch Taubman博士的緊密訓練及督導下，以ABA訓練去幫助患有自閉症譜系障礙的兒童。不但為本地個案提供診斷及咨詢，她亦為海外個案及組織提供諮詢服務，包括中國、印度、日本、馬來西亞及新加坡等。此外，區博士亦為自閉症及有行為問題的青少年及成人提供心理治療及社交訓練。
請分享，讓更多人了解自閉症及學習更多應用行為分析（ ABA）的治療技巧。
Facebook: APautism
微信號: AutismPartnership_HK
更多有關ABA治療服務[:]
