Thursday, March 28, 2024

How To Keep A Child With Autism Engaged

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You Can Play Verbal Games

Keeping Kids Busy at Home: Using a Schedule for Kids with Autism

This game works best, especially when they are a bit older. You can have your kids sit in the parlor while they name each animal using each of the letters of the alphabet.

Also, you can also have them play the numbers game where they task their brain while adding in or subtracting numbers. The great thing about this exercise is that you can be carrying out your chores while they are busy answering quiz questions.

Do Make The Effort To Talk To Them

Because talking to kids with autism can be difficult, many adults take the easy way out and just avoid including them in conversations in the first place. But thats a mistake both you and those children can benefit from attempts at conversation, even if they are not always successful.

Theres also a tendency to assume that if an autistic child doesnt respond or shuts you down that they dont like you or dont want to talk. But thats not always the case that signal would be clear from a neurotypical individual but for someone with ASD, its just a part of the syndrome. Dont take it personally, and dont stop trying to gently involve autistic kids in your conversations. They probably want to engage, they just have more difficulty figuring out how.

Celebrate Small Successes Then Build On Them

Dont be afraid to celebrate the tiny positive moments in a day. When trying new activities, set up short, low-risk opportunities to get your child-oriented to the expectations. This could look like walking around the block before doing a hike up the nearby mountain. It could mean visiting a playground early in the morning when there are no other children, before coming back when it is likely to be crowded.

However, even these smaller moments are cause for celebration when things go well. The more than you can give positive feedback, and frame activities as a success, the more likely your child are going to be willing to try again the next time.

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Supporting Students With Autism: 10 Ideas For Inclusive Classrooms

Students with autism may have unique needs with learning, social skills, and communication. These ten simple ideas will help teachers address some of these needs and provide guidance for bringing out the best in learners with autism.

Adapted from: P. Kluth . Youre Going to Love This Kid!: Teaching Students with Autism in the Inclusive Classroom.

While most educators agree that no recipe exists for teaching any individual student or group of students, there are certainly some guidelines that can be helpful for supporting students with certain labels. Students with autism may have unique needs with learning, social skills, and communication, therefore, teachers will need strategies to address each one of these areas. These ten simple ideas will help teachers address some of the aforementioned needs and provide guidance for bringing out the best in learners with autism labels.

Tip : Find Nonverbal Ways To Connect

9 ways to keep your child academically engaged while stuck ...

Connecting with a child with ASD can be challenging, but you dont need to talkor even touchin order to communicate and bond. You communicate by the way you look at your child, by the tone of your voice, your body language and possibly the way you touch your child. Your child is also communicating with you, even if he or she never speaks. You just need to learn the language.

Look for nonverbal cues. If you are observant and aware, you can learn to pick up on the nonverbal cues that children with ASD use to communicate. Pay attention to the kinds of sounds they make, their facial expressions, and the gestures they use when theyre tired, hungry, or want something.

Figure out the motivation behind the tantrum. Its only natural to feel upset when you are misunderstood or ignored, and its no different for children with ASD. When children with ASD act out, its often because youre not picking up on their nonverbal cues. Throwing a tantrum is their way of communicating their frustration and getting your attention.

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Zoom Engagement Tip #: Create The Right Space

When the pandemic first started, I assumed Id be working from home for a matter of weeks. I grabbed a hard plastic folding chair, propped it awkwardly in the corner of a spare room, and figured Id be good to go. Two weeks later, I was getting tension headaches, my energy was low, and I was starting to feel the drag of Zoom fatigue. Setting up a designated office space with a comfortable chair has made a big difference in my stamina for doing online conference calls.

One benefit of virtual meetings is that we get to control our own environment. We control the temperature of the room, we can sit in a way that feels comfortable, and our favorite drinks or snacks are available to us pretty much any time. When I see children for online therapy, they often have their favorite toys, blankets, and even pets on hand to help them feel comforted and grounded during session.

If you started off online school the way I started online therapypreparing for weeks, not months, of working remotelythe new school year is a good time to reassess where and how your child is taking Zoom calls. Here are a few tips to consider if youre creating a Zoom space for your child this fall:

Developmental Therapies For Autism Spectrum Disorders

Developmental therapies for autism spectrum disorders work on autism’s “core deficits” including problems with social and communication skills. They are tailored to the individual child and are very often administered by parents. Floortime, RDI, and Son-Rise are the top developmental therapies for autism. Learn more about developmental therapy and the different approaches. Are these techniques for you?

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Bring Special Interests Into Lesson Plans

Many children with autism have a fixation on certain topics or activities. Take advantage of what theyre passionate about and use it while teaching students with autism to help them focus in class. If a child with autism loves outer space, for example, you could plan a math assignment about counting the planets in our Solar System.

Preparing Your Child For The Visit

Keeping your child with ASD engaged during the holidays

Learn the layout. Call ahead or even better drop in on your own for a pre-appointment visit to get a feeling for the layout of the building and rooms, the procedures and other interactions that will include your child. A little familiarity can help you develop a plan to direct your child from beginning to end with a minimum of unpleasant surprises.

Consider a practice visit with your daughter. Ask whether you and your child can both visit in advance perhaps spend a little time in the waiting room and briefly step into an exam room. The idea here is to make the visit enjoyable perhaps with a special treat or favorite activity during or directly after the office visit.

If your daughter is particularly resistant or fearful, take it one small step at a time. For instance, if she resists so much as entering the building, you might start by explaining that the two of you will simply sit in the car in the parking lot for a brief time before leaving. Reward and praise each small success. Then gradually build on it. For instance, the next visit you might propose that the two of you step into the building. On subsequent visits, you might stay inside for a longer period and/or move down the hallway toward the doctors office.

Many libraries have illustrated childrens stories about going to the doctor. Or you can make a personalized social story using photos and/or drawings.

Got more questions for our experts? Send them to .

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Make The Unknown A Bit More Familiar

Have you decided to sign up for swim classes? Before the swim class starts, take an outing to eat lunch inside the community centre. Snap a few pictures and show them to your child a few times as you tell them about the exciting swim lessons to come.

Cant get there beforehand? Spend some time visiting the pools website in the weeks before the lessons start, or look up video clips of childrens swim lessons on YouTube. If it is a reasonable option, take your child to splash around in the shallow area of the pool a few times with you an adult they feel safe with before the lessons get started.

You could even practice wearing swim suits and goggles around the house in the weeks leading up to the start of lessons! The more pieces of the activity that you can get your child used to, the less overwhelming the new activity might seem to them.

If Things Dont Go Well The First Time Try Again

Sometimes, the best planned activities just dont really work out. It can be really disheartening to see your child struggle with an event or activity you thought would be a success.

Take a deep breath, and after a day or two, think back to what made that particular day unsuccessful. Did you take away some screen time immediately before sending him out to play soccer for the first time? Was the swimming pool too loud and echo-y? Was the hike a bit too long, or the terrain a bit too effortful for a first hike? Were the social demands of the busy playground a bit too overwhelming at that particular park on a Saturday afternoon?

Think about how you can adapt or change those small aspects of the activity, and then get out and try again.

There are countless great reasons for all children to get active and outdoors, and all of these great reasons apply to children with autism as well. But for children with ASD, getting active can also help with sensory self-regulation, developing fine and gross motor skills, learning to adapt to new activities, and providing natural environments for social skills practice. And, last but not least, its great fun to connect with your children through physical play.

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Give The Children An Active Role

No one likes a lecture, and children least of all. The best way to learn is by doing, and children in particular respond really well to getting a chance to try something for themselves. So include them! Even if you are telling a story, you can get them involved by asking them to act out some of the parts or predict the repeating lines.

  • You: And the wolf said . . .
  • Everyone: . . . and I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!

Children engage well with things they can make and touch. This finger-puppet workshop went down a treat!

Make It More Entertaining

Parents Don

You also need to make sure that you are exploring ways to make learning from home more entertaining for children with autism. One of the ways that you can do this is by making sure that you dont forget about the fun lessons that they probably enjoy more at school. Key examples would be art as well as drama. It might seem like its going to be quite difficult to make things like drama work through remote learning. However, experts like Taron Hensley have some great ideas on how to approach this challenge the right way.

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Talking About Your Child With Autism

Just a kid.

Say hi. Dont just ignore a child with autism, even if they are nonverbal, or dont reciprocate. It may take many more times before they learn to reciprocate. Using social greetings appropriately and at the right time is a skill set, and it may take them longer to gain those skills. Try not to give up too soon.

Talk to them. It may be more difficult to process information, and short and simple phrasing may be better, but continue to make the effort to talk to a child with autism so that they hear and see language in action.

Talk with your hands. Some children who struggle with verbal communication use formal sign language to bridge the gap while they are learning to talk. But beyond that, and for all individuals with and without autism, visual supports and gestures can be used help to clarify verbal information. We all use our hands to gesture when we give directions or describe something, to support our words, and these additional visual cues can help.

Use correct grammar. A child with autism who struggles with language still benefits from hearing many models of correct grammar and language sequencing. In fact, some may demonstrate relative strengths in imitation of your phrases and sentences, and so it is best if they are simple but intact grammatical utterances.

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Make Story Time Fun For Special Ed & Autism

May 14, 2019 00:18:41

Are you looking for ways to make story time for fun your special education and autism students? Do they lose interest? Or are they struggling to pay attention to you while youre reading a story? Maybe youre lost. You want your students to love reading and listening to stories. But,

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Use The Right Technology

First, you might want to think about using the right tech to engage autistic students or your child with autism. Children with ASD are often fascinated by technology and some have a special talent with games or even coding. As such, it does make sense to include tech in your remote learning plans. Teachers should encourage parents to engage with kids through tech. This could include educational games. that can be found from a variety of different online resources. Tech can also be used in a rewards-based system to encourage kids to engage.

Tip : Create A Personalized Autism Treatment Plan

Creating More Learning Opportunities for Your Child with Autism

With so many different treatments available, it can be tough to figure out which approach is right for your child. Making things more complicated, you may hear different or even conflicting recommendations from parents, teachers, and doctors.

When putting together a treatment plan for your child, keep in mind that there is no single treatment that works for everyone. Each person on the autism spectrum is unique, with different strengths and weaknesses.

Your childs treatment should be tailored according to their individual needs. You know your child best, so its up to you to make sure those needs are being met. You can do that by asking yourself the following questions:

What are my childs strengths and their weaknesses?

What behaviors are causing the most problems? What important skills is my child lacking?

How does my child learn best through seeing, listening, or doing?

What does my child enjoy and how can those activities be used in treatment and to bolster learning?

Finally, keep in mind that no matter what treatment plan is chosen, your involvement is vital to success. You can help your child get the most out of treatment by working hand-in-hand with the treatment team and following through with the therapy at home.

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Dos And Don’ts For Keeping Children’s Attention

  • Do raise your voice so you can be heard.
  • Don’t ever shout. Losing your temper with children will cause them to quickly disengage from you and damage your relationship with them.
  • Do have fun together.
  • Don’t forget that you are in charge. You still need to keep the children within the rules and boundaries.
  • Do use games and structured activities to illustrate a point.
  • Don’t just stand and lecture children with a flow of words.
  • Do change the pitch and tone of your voice when you speak, emphasizing the important words in a sentence.
  • Don’t speak in a meaningless monotone!
  • Do challenge children with games and problem-solving activities.
  • Don’t set them up for failure with a task that is far beyond their abilities.
  • Do use friendly competition to focus their attention.
  • Don’t create a high-pressure atmosphere with painful consequences for ‘losers’. A sense of failure will quickly cause children to disengage. The best competition is against a goal rather than against each otherthat just leads to tears and tantrums.

Dont Wait For A Diagnosis

As the parent of a child with ASD or related developmental delays, the best thing you can do is to start treatment right away. Seek help as soon as you suspect somethings wrong. Dont wait to see if your child will catch up later or outgrow the problem. Dont even wait for an official diagnosis. The earlier children with autism spectrum disorder get help, the greater their chance of treatment success. Early intervention is the most effective way to speed up your childs development and reduce the symptoms of autism over the lifespan.

When your child has autism

Learn about autism. The more you know about autism spectrum disorder, the better equipped youll be to make informed decisions for your child. Educate yourself about the treatment options, ask questions, and participate in all treatment decisions.

Become an expert on your child. Figure out what triggers your kids challenging or disruptive behaviors and what elicits a positive response. What does your child find stressful or frightening? Calming? Uncomfortable? Enjoyable? If you understand what affects your child, youll be better at troubleshooting problems and preventing or modifying situations that cause difficulties.

Dont give up. Its impossible to predict the course of autism spectrum disorder. Dont jump to conclusions about what life is going to be like for your child. Like everyone else, people with autism have an entire lifetime to grow and develop their abilities.

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