The experience with a person with autism. Phenomenological study of the experience with contact and contact reflections

Abstract

The aim of this work was to explore the author’s experience with contact and the use of contact reflections in encounters with adult persons with autism. The contact reflection method that originates in Pre-Therapy is based on the principle of reflecting a client’s observable behavior. In 1995, Hobson, and in 1999, Nadel, showed that imitation leads to an increase in the social contact of a person suffering with autism. In this study, the original intention was to facilitate contact between a person with autism and the author by using contact reflections. The author’s experience with six adults with autism evolved into a self-reflective narrative, and was subsequently analyzed following a phenomenological heuristic methodology. The recurring themes were abstracted as the main meanings of the complex experience of the author facilitating contact with a client whose communication skills are deeply altered. The paper concludes by affirming the meanings use of contact reflections had in the author’s experience of contact with a person with autism. Also, it acknowledges the necessity of sharing a self-reflective practice as a step forward in extending the embodied knowledge of Pre-therapy integrated in diverse settings.