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.

Applied Behavior Analysis 3.0 the updated version

Do I think ABA works, indeed it does. However it isn't the only method for therapeutic intervention. I understand that just because something works doesn't always lead itself to be the be all and end all of tools. I have a vast experience through my work as a private consultant to working in companies as well as public schools to have learned that ABA sometimes doesn't work for all children. One of my favorite lines is "If you have met one person with Autism, well you have just met one person with Autism". The spectrum is vast in it's range of ability and my biggest challenge is educating those around me as to how specific autism is for each and every child on the spectrum. My background is in Traditional ABA theory and methods but I have learned over the years that ABA needs to be updated and modified to some degree. Just as our world changes so does the way we need to educate children. We have more technology and educated staff who are willing to try new methods and train classroom teachers to embrace children on the spectrum.