Teaching the concept of time

Visual timers are perfect for teaching the passing of time. Make sure you are constantly reinforcing the concept of time moving as you might say” Look at the timer, you have 5 more mins to play”. By keeping a watchful sense of time it will carry over and be seen visually as the visual timer pie gets smaller. I like to explain time as a whole pizza and as time goes by it gets hungry just like our bodies do. The red pizza pie on the timer gets smaller and smaller as “time gets eaten up”. Time is such an abstract concept and hard to teach but, using a visual schedule or timer can help make this process smooth as transitions are made. No knowing if today is the last time you would ever get to play with a toy or do a fun activity can cause frustration and confusion. Many times problem behavior arises when you stop doing a desired activity. Ever wonder why that is? In most cases if you didn’t know when you would get the chance to eat again you might get very worried and start to have extreme anxiety, it may not be that the child over indulges to keep eating but that there is no clear ending to the task and beginning. That is why routines are comforting to those on the spectrum. The repetitive nature is a cycle that comes full circle once again. As a parent or educator we must break the cycle. Don’t be afraid to switch things up and make “life happen” not everything can be so routine. If you start early on you will have an amazing success with how your child can adapt and handle stressful situations. It is often said that those who complete college are better adept to handling stressful situations. This is only due to the fact that they have made it through and mastered the experience. Don’t let stress control life. Helping children stay on task and use their time appropriately is important. During downtime you can have independent tasks for your child to complete that require little to no assistance or prompting. These would be tasks that are already mastered and completed. You could have your child make their bed or put dishes into the dishwasher to help them with keeping the house clean and making them an essential part of the family unit. Teaching skills around the house proves very useful in general but also leads your child to become self sufficient and able to carry out jobs. These jobs can then be transferred to work at a store, office or school.

Turning Obsessive behaviors into functional tasks that are appropriate.

Often times those who harbor an intense obsession is deemed “bad” but if we use the motivation behind the activity or interest then we can try to make something productive and enjoyable for kids on the spectrum. When I was teaching in my classroom I had one such child who was very Obsessive compulsive about the order of things. If I would move a book on the bookshelf wrong he would go over and try to get it back to just the right spot. At times the behavior would be very disruptive and lead to problem behavior if the student weren’t able to “fix it into place”. I realize that the compulsion had no true function to our classroom but here is how I turned it around to make it appropriate. I used his obsession of neatness to start a small job at the school cafeteria. The job would be done the same way every morning. The job was to put juice, milk and water into the cooler. I set up the job to help him use his OCD to be productive and start a job where other students could see my student on task and in there community of school life. It turns out that it was the best idea I had for my student’s OCD behavior, in fact it no longer was obsessive but more natural and the job was meaningful to my student as he looked forward to going to the cafeteria. The behavior in class diminished and the focus now was doing the bottles in order in the morning which got my student a job where he was more social and was able to give high five’s to classmates. I recommend finding ways to transform obsessions into productive activities.

Branch out and Brainstorm

Teach Brainstorming

Ideas for the classroom:
To teach concepts ask many questions relating to parts of the whole concept. Categories can be broken down into parts and function. Make a fun game show out of it. Have students take turns answering questions then once they get a question right they get the chance to make a choice for a fun project such as make a collage about something they are interested in such as trains or dogs ect. Have then also research ways to expand there interests. Often time’s individuals with autism are obsessive about one topic or idea. Teaching types of breeds of dogs can help to give the student some new information to learn as well as making an appropriate brainstorming of the idea. It’s even possible that you may want to teach strategies to train dogs to do tricks. These topics that are “obsessive” are often calming and familiar.

Dog is Good,Why pet therapy enhances your life!

Pets are fun and keep you active, they make you see the world differently. I recently got a dog and she has been the most wonderful thing that has happened. I have had cats in my childhood but I took the plunge into the doggy world. One thing I had in mind was how could I use my pup to help those with disabilities? I have worked with many families and children and found that most families with kids with needs can't deal with the high maintenance of dog life. But many families I know love dogs and have even offered to care for my pet out of pure love for animals. I believe animals can bring out the best in everyone. I have noted that as I walk Lycos she turns heads and at the very least makes people smile or laugh. Having pets increases our emotional wellness and can help us adapt better. For example if your dog has to go outside in the you peel yourself off the couch and relieve the dog. Responsibility of having a dog is very rewarding as they give unconditionally of themselves. Dogs unlike people don't require conversations but basic needs. I was thinking of having Lycos as a pet therapy dog. My first idea was to implement a program that helped elderly folks have the opportunity to have dog visits to boost self esteem and keep them social. People always strike up a conversation with a dog because many have pet of their own. This is how I made the connection that pets can help reduce the anxiety of those with high functioning autism. It can also be a starting ground for conversation which can be socially awkward. Just as Temple Grandin has written those on the spectrum have very extra sensitive sensory functioning which has a lot to do with our environment and how we react in it. It is a fact that dogs can help calm those they come in contact with, they truly feed off the energy given to them. Recently I got in touch with a local Boston family who has a child on the spectrum who loves dogs. The family lives in a complex that doesn't allow for pets. She was wondering how she could make it work for her son to have a dog without actually having a dog. Pet therapy for an afternoon with Lycos ended up wonderfully as her son got a chance to play and run and feed Lycos. I realized how much this opportunity meant for her son. Temple has said "my emotions are simpler than those of most people. I don't know what complex emotion in a human relationship is.(Grandin,Thinking in Pictures.1995)". She has difficulty understanding emotions but has said how working with animals has helped her better understand emotions. The concept of how an animal responses emotionally is simple. We can know that by watching they are either one of two emotions happy or sad/angry. Using this knowledge and understanding that dogs are simplified entities they're able to help us generalize and expand to more complex emotions. These experiences are valuable and helps us build up to the idea of complex emotion in a natural way. Children who have many therapies can feel the pressure to perform. If a dog can bring "Joy" then let it! I have decided I want to have meet ups with other families who could benefit from dog therapy. We found that during the hour and half session that her son interacted appropriately with the dog, was able to ask questions and worked on turn taking. There was also a great deal of laughs and smiles and giggles and indeed it was contagious. It was great to see what love my dog Lycos could spread. Who knew the love I missed before having a dog?

Sign and Say

Recently I made a connection with a wonderful family who was in need of ASL training. They wanted to learn sign to help facilitate better communication with a family member. I geared up my hands and started to plan lessons on teaching the fundamental signs for ASL. American Sign Language can look extremely difficult at a glance but once you sit down and understand more. You learn the reason for signs they make a lot of sense because it is a very contextual. I was very excited to teach sign again as I have a vocabulary of 700 signs. In the past I trained with my non-verbal student to sign as it was his primary mode of communication. I am a firm believer that sign language not only enhances regular speech but it helps prompt children to be active in communication. My student of 4 years was such an endearing young boy who was in a tough place when I started but as his sign vocabulary increased I saw frustration melt away. We even had some small conversation at times and I felt that we broke through his autism. If you don't have a word for something you need/feel you can feel trapped. To reduce this I used his sign to create a signing schedule of when things would happen. Knowing when something would change ahead of time helps to alleviate stress and behaviors. When problem behaviors happen we have to ask the question WHY? In this case it was due to a communication break down. That is why when starting up ABA programs I always focus on the key concept that Language Acquisition must happen first. I hear people's concerns that they think sign language stops speech from occurring because you focus on sign. The truth is this is NOT true. Just as learn with the correct methods. You need to pair the sign with a verbal response by doing this they help each other. The sign can act as a verbal prompt. If you have a cookie and you hold it up and your child signs cookie and you give it them then they will only use sign. You must teach with it as a pair that you require both and if done correctly you will have a child who signs and makes verbal approximations. Stay posted for my free sign language videos.

Social groups are important for children with Autism

Today I am going to talk about the important role of having"Friends". Most people don't realize that everyday they keep social networks through Facebook, Myspace,Twitter just to keep communication lines to friends and family. Friends are a sounding board that we naturally roll ideas off or in some cases help form opinions of current events and relationships. Kids on the spectrum have a hard time reading social cues and it's very difficult for them to cultivate lasting relationships with peers. Social skills should be started at an early age so that children can be comfortable around children their own age not just adults. When children have social groups they connect with others and realize that sharing information with others can be fun some can share laughter and understand that they aren't alone. Children with autism who are higher functioning especially isolate themselves not due to the fact that they don't want to have friends, but that they feel no one understands them. That is why starting small playgroups early on is necessary for children to share and practice turn taking skills. Skills that are taught in groups are to take turns when speaking and talk about many topics of interest not just an area the child might perseverate on. One way of helping increase social skills is to form a small group on your own with your own close friend's children. That way it starts with someone that they already know and you can expand the social circle to others. Summer can be a wonderful time to go to the library, spend at the park and ride bikes make sure you give opportunities to have your child connect with school friend's or make new friends through camp or classes.

Language Learning: What is the best mode for your Child?

When we dive into a subject so large as language we first have to identify the best mode of language that works for your child. Make sure when you sit down and figure out the best means of communication that everyone is on the same page. Here are some of our communication options:
Verbal language
Sign language (ASL)
PECS (picture exchange communication),
a point system using PECS
Augmentative communication
Typewritten communication
and a modified system of whole communication which incorporates all modes.
It is important to encourage your child to communicate on all levels even if the sign isn't perfect still accept and honor requests just make sure that your modify the sign when they request the second time. If you are striving to keep your child verbal that is great, just be aware that often times if others are having a hard time understanding your child it can cause frustration. The frustration can lead your child to decrease in communication. In this case you may want to pair verbal with sign language to help based on his/her needs. Every child is different and based on your child's specific needs communication should be a constant. When I say constant I mean that across the board stick with one mode of communication. If school is using Sign Language but at home you are using PECS, you may be confusing the child. In order to keep your child successful with language learning you should try to also learn Sign language. I would like to recommend ASL browser which is a free online video pictorial of common sign words. You may find in such cases that your child may have less anxiety and temper tantrums if you resolve issues around communication. After all if your child is trying to tell you something but you don't understand and at school they do understand then they will have a tougher time at home. Sometimes you need to change up the mode of communication based on fine motor skills or other issues. But the key to have everyone work together as a team. It is important for families to hold schools accountable for expanding language.