Monthly Archives: November 2011

Pick of the Week: Time Tracker Mini

Posted on by

We love this small, easy to program Time Tracker Mini! It’s a simple visual and auditory timer that has 360 degree viewing so it’s great for anywhere, in the classroom or at home. There are two simple dials: one for a total alarm time and one for the amount of warning time you’d like given before time is up. The timer turns green, yellow, then red as it counts down. The total alarm time can be set anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours in 5-minute increments.

Save 15% on the Time Tracker Mini this week only by entering the Promo Code BLOGTTM2 at checkout.

*Offer expires on December 6, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces after the Promo Code when you enter it at checkout.

20% Off Sale Starts Right Now!

Posted on by

Happy Thanksgiving All! To celebrate, we’re offering 20% off storewide* today through Monday, November 28.

Enter the Promo Code THANKS11 at checkout to redeem your savings.

*Offer not valid for the follwoing products: VB MAPP Assessment Kits (DRK 700 & DRK 701), ABLLS-R Assessment Kits (DRK 702 & DRK 703), 10- Pack of VB MAPP Protocols (DRB 682), 25- Pack of VB MAPP Protocols (DRB 683)*
The coupon code must be entered during checkout to receive offer. Your order must be placed during the time of the
2011 Thanksgiving Sale to qualify for this special offer. This promotional offer may not be combinedwith any other promotional or discount offers. Discount cannot be applied to previous orders.
 Offer expires 11/28/11 at 11:59 pm EST.
Offer only valid on www.difflearn.com only. 

 

Pick of the Week: Learn to Respond Appropriately

Posted on by

With the holidays coming up and socializing in full swing, Learn to Respond Appropriately flahcards offer children the skills to be successful in their interactions in various situations. There are 32 photographic images of social situations and the back of each card has the appropriate response. Examples include what to say on the phone, asking for a turn, expressing affection, commenting on events and more.

Save 15% this week only on the Learn to Respond Appropriately cards by entering the Promo Code BLOGLRA11 at checkout.

*Offer expires on November 29, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces after the Promo Code when you enter it at checkout.

Building Language for Your Child with Autism, Part 4: Building Expressive Vocabulary

Posted on by

This is the step where your child learns to actually say the words out loud. All of the tasks described in previous posts come into play when building your child’s expressive vocabulary. Picture cards are a useful tool again, because it just isn’t feasible to bring every object directly to your child. We certainly want them to learn the words bus and airplane, but it’s difficult to get those items into your living room!

The basic idea for building expressive vocabulary using picture cards is just to hold the card up and ask your child “what is it?” The intricacy comes in knowing how to prompt your child and how to fade that prompt. We talked previously about the importance of your child being able to imitate the words that you say. Imitation is the basis for the prompts you will use to build your child’s expressive vocabulary.

The first several times you ask your child the name of a new picture, you will likely have to model the word for him or her. For example, you ask your child “What is it?” If you do not get a response, you say “apple.” Ideally your child repeats the word “apple.” After a few tries, you can shorten your prompt to “app….” And then to “aaaa…….” And then perhaps to just opening your mouth as if to say “aaaa…” but not making a sound.

A Comprehensive Picture Card Library

It is a good idea to have a large selection of pictures ready to go when you start to teach the lessons we just described. Here are a few tips to help you choose or take appropriate pictures:

  1. Start with words that are familiar to your child. Words like apple, cup and cookies may be better than ­saxophone or stethoscope.
  2. Start with pictures on a plain white, or a distraction free background.
  3. Make sure to have duplicates available for the matching tasks when you first start out.
  4. Consider taking multiple pictures of the same item (6 different apples for example) to help your child generalize their newly learned words.
  5. As your child becomes more comfortable learning new words move to more natural settings for your pictures.
  6. Have a broad range of pictures, across multiple categories, ready for when your child is ready to move forward!
  7. If you take the pictures yourself, consider having them laminated for durability.If you don’t have the time to make your own pictures, a 350-Card Set of photo flash cards called the Language Builder Picture Card Set is avaibable and is specifically tailored to meet the needs of an early language vocabulary building program.

 

This is a part of a series of guest posts by Angela Nelson on building language in children with autism. As the creator of the acclaimed Language Builder Picture Noun Card Set, Angela received her BA and JD from UCLA where she studied and practiced behavior psychology under Dr. Ivar Lovaas. She has been creating autism and special needs curriculum products since 1997.

 

 

Autism Moms Have Stress Similar To Combat Soldiers

Posted on by

We came across this article from a few years ago but thought that the content was certainly still relevent: mothers of adolescents and adults with autism have stress levels that match that of soliders in combat!? According to the study reported in the Disability Scoop, mothers of children with autism spent a greater portion of their day caregiving, were twice as likely to be tired and three times as likely to have experienced a stressful event compared to mothers of children without disabilities. In addition, their bloodwork indicated that a hormone associated with stress was very low, consistent with people experiencing chronic stress such as soldiers in combat.

That said, the mothers in the group were just as likely as their peers to report a positive experience, volunteer their time and help out their friends, in spite of more stress and less sleep. How much more amazing can one group of people be?

As parents, particularly, the moms out there, do you feel you’re able to manage your stress effectively? Do you have any advice for other parents out there?

Pick of the Week: WEDGiTS Building Blocks and Design Cards

Posted on by

We’ve been hearing rave reviews of the WEDGiTS for years but it wasn’t until we had them in hand that we realized how unbelievable these building sets are. The WEDGiTS can be nested, stacked, linked, and wedged together to create hundreds of different designs from just 15 pieces. Building with these develops dexterity, fine motor skills, sequencing and patterning abilities, as well as visual discrimination skills. You can build as far as your imagination takes you with the Starter Set or you can supplement it with the WEDGiTS Starter Set Design Cards to maximize the challenge. The cards are for users of all levels from 2-piece constructions to ones that utilize all the pieces in the set.

This week only, save 15% on the WEDGiTS Starter Set: 15 Pieces as well as the WEDGiTS Starter Set Design Cards by entering the promo code BLOGWEDG2 at checkout.

*Offer expires on November 22, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces after the Promo Code when you enter it at checkout.

 

Resources for Adolescents & Adults with Autism

Posted on by

With so much of the focus on the exploding rates of Autism in the U.S., the majority of attention has been focused on diagnosis, early intervention and services for school-age children. Not as much attention has been focused on what is available for these individuals after the age of 21 and unfortunately, service options rapidly diminish after this age. ASAT (Association for Science in Autism Treatment) has posted a good article on where to look for resources for older students and adults who need support. To read the article in full, click here.

This will prove to be an even greater issue over the next 10 years as so many individuals on the spectrum transition to adulthood. For those parents and caregivers who have children over the age of 21, is there any advice you can offer or resources you can direct others to that you have found particularly helpful?

Building Language for Your Child with Autism, Part 3: Building Receptive Vocabulary

Posted on by

Receptive language refers to the thought process involved in hearing, processing and comprehending spoken language. When we mentioned above that a two year old child should be able to follow simple commands, point to objects when they are named, and recognize names of familiar objects; these objectives were examples of receptive language skills.

There are a number of ways to help build your child’s receptive vocabulary. Using photo cards is one basic and concrete vocabulary building tool that you can do at home. Place pictures of common objects on the table in front of your child. Ask your child to “touch the cookies” or “give me the hat.” When your child can follow the command and consistently select the requested picture, you have added a new word to their receptive vocabulary.

It is likely that your child will need help selecting the correct card… especially the first few times you try this task. Here is a trick to help make picking the right word easier. Start with just one card on the table and increase the number of pictures slowly. For example, if you are trying to teach the word cookies:

 

    1. Start with just the picture of the cookies on the table.
    2. After your child has learned to touch the cookies picture on request, add a blank card to the table. Ask your child to touch the cookies picture several more times, rotating the position of the two cards each time.
    3. Then, add a second picture to the table, and a third, and a fourth.
    4. Once your child can select the cookies picture each time, introduce new words using the same method!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a part of a series of guest posts by Angela Nelson on building language in children with autism. As the creator of the acclaimed Language Builder Picture Noun Card Set, Angela received her BA and JD from UCLA where she studied and practiced behavior psychology under Dr. Ivar Lovaas. She has been creating autism and special needs curriculum products since 1997.

Building Language for Your Child with Autism, Part 2: Matching Objects and Pictures as a Precursor to Language

Posted on by

Developmental Psychologist, Jean Piaget, observed that a child first becomes aware of a concept and then acquires the words to convey that concept. Think about this for a moment: a child has to know that an apple is a distinct and separate item, before they know they should give it a name. They have to realize that the apple is different than, say, the cup. This is where matching comes in.

To help teach this concept using pictures of objects, place two pictures on the table in front of your child, one picture of an apple, and the other of a cup (or some non-apple picture). Hand your child an identical picture of an apple. Ask your child to “match” the apples, or to “put with same.”

When your child can consistently match the two cards, regardless of the position of the cards, they likely understand that the apple is a distinct object. Now we are one step closer to giving that object a name!

 

This is a part of a series of guest posts by Angela Nelson on building language in children with autism. As the creator of the acclaimed Language Builder Picture Noun Card Set, Angela received her BA and JD from UCLA where she studied and practiced behavior psychology under Dr. Ivar Lovaas. She has been creating autism and special needs curriculum products since 1997.