Non-Verbal Autism: What Does Emotional Wellness Look Like?

kchoo7
Jul 2
2 min read

Sebastien, my non-verbal autistic son, gazing at the view of the mountains near his home in Bali

For most people, this video of Sebastien, my non-verbal autistic son, adopting a conventional pose — with his arms wrapped loosely around his legs — and gazing at the view of the mountains quietly may seem very ordinary.

But for anyone who has spent time with non-verbal autistic individuals and experienced how agitated they can be — the sounds they make, the incessant movements with different body parts, their stressed-out demeanour, etc., this is quite an extraordinary sight to behold.

Seeing this video that the carers of Sebastien sent to me today truly made my day. It is a validation of our self-formulated EpiEco© — the Non-Verbal Autistic Individual as the Epicenter of the Ecosystem. This approach prioritises the emotional wellness of the NVA by acknowledging their distinctive autistic functioning, which impacts how they experience our world and the way they communicate and socialise, instead of imposing our normative expectations on how they should communicate and socialise in a one-sided way. Moreover, it highlights that we have been building and sustaining an Ecosystem that caters to the interests and well-being of Sebastien who is its Epicenter.

Stay tuned as I will be sharing more about the concept, the foundational competency, and the techniques on EpiEco© in an ebook in the coming days in preparation for my presentation on meltdowns at the Asia Pacific Autism Conference in Perth:

"Non-Verbal Autism Meltdown: Anatomy of a Loving Response."

*A Mother’s Wish blog contains a treasure trove of insights. We have deliberately not created a paywall for our mission to share accurate insights about the inner lives of autistic individuals to everyone. But we would be most grateful for an SGD10 payment of love and support if you feel you have benefited and are in a position to help us continue our mission. A new digital photograph of Sebastien's artwork is available each time we upload a new post.