Little Tricks To Help...

For the past 3+ years, I have exchanged information and "tricks" with a lot of people. Tricks we've learned to help our kiddos on the spectrum. I said I'd pass those ideas along, and I apologize for not doing so before now. Let me know if they help you, if you have any ideas or suggestions, I'd love the input.

To get our kiddos to respond the way they should in different situations, can be difficult at best. If they are not "available" for learning, (retreat into their world, begin stimming [self stimulation], or simply not responding to learning) it makes it twice as hard. Many kiddos with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) have a tendency to  "retreat" into their own world at different times. This seems to happen most when they are bored, tired, over-stimulated or when they are tired of working on the same thing over and over again.

After talking to teachers, ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) professionals, other parents, watching and working with our kiddos myself, we find new ways of doing things all the time. The autism gets in the way sometimes, but I don't believe it has to keep them from communicating and learning. Regardless of the severity, I can't refuse to believe that any kiddo with autism, even severe autism, is "unreachable" or "unteachable". So never, ever give up trying with your little ones.

Most of these you probably already know, but just in case...

What we can do when we go out with our kiddos (on errands, outside, wherever):

• We use "generalization" in the natural setting, not just while in school or doing ABA or another type therapy. In other words, ask your kiddos to identify things, colors, objects, numbers, etc. Ask them what things are, "what is it?" car, flower, etc. Whatever they have already learned, constantly use it whenever possible. You may find that a kiddo on the spectrum will also learns new things while in the natural setting.

What we can do if if our kiddos begin hitting:

• Determine whether it's from aggression or stimming. It took me a while to tell the difference. Aggressive hitting is usually more intense and lasts a longer period of time, at least for us. When stimming, it's not necessarily hard, you know it's being done to get a reaction.
• When stimming, we have found that we should say, "no hitting" - firmly. Then try to redirect the behavior to something positive. If that doesn't work, we've found that a "hi-5" done with each hand, just hard enough to "sting" a very little, but not enough to hurt or be harmful. It seems to give them the stimuli they need to move on.
• Still use Hi-5 on a regular basis as a positive reinforcer.

What we do if our kiddos are not responding in their work with ABA or school?

• Make sure your kiddos on the spectrum aren't bored or just trying to get out of work. We've found through observation that our boys will "linger" on certain things or "miss" them on purpose. They do this especially when they have worked for a long time on something and are bored with it. That way the instructor / teacher will say, "no, try again" or give the answer for them to copy. They don't care if they get it right or not. Regardless of the reason, we've found that by waiting 5 - 10 seconds for the answer they will usually give a response. They get more bored waiting for you to give them the answer, when they realize you aren't going to give the answer to them, you know they have it.

a "model"  a guiding hand

My kiddo doesn't seem to be learning as well as (s)he was before, they aren't "testing" as well:

• The same thing above applies here. Sometimes our kiddos aren't given enough time to show that they know something. They don't always have "quick recall" (something I've learned from Temple Grandin's new book "The Autistic Brain"). It may take them a while to figure something out. This doesn't mean they are "less than", "intellectually disabled" or "not capable of learning" like some would have you believe. Some kiddos simply need extra time.
• Some kiddos on the spectrum need a highly preferred, "wanted reinforcer" - something they "really" want can get them to respond quicker so they can play with the item.
• I've also noticed that some kiddos have a delayed response. My sons will sometimes get something "wrong", yet a minute or two later they respond to the previous request. When they do this I find myself going back to the previous request, to reinforce that item. For instance, if I say "touch nose" and they won't respond, but a minute later they do it... even though we may be trying to work on something different, I'll ask again for them to touch their nose a few times.

Every opportunity can be a learning opportunity.

I hope these ideas are as helpful for you ad they There are more "tips" I hope to get to soon, but I want to get this to you before another week goes by.  :)

From a mother's heart to yours - remember our kiddos learn and respond on their time... not ours. It doesn't mean that they don't know it, it just means they know they can control it. How would you like to be told what to say, do and how to respond every moment of your day.


P.S.   Please forgive me for not responding if you've written from outside of the USA, sometimes the translation doesn't come through.