Category Archives: From the Experts

Safety, Wandering and Emergency Planning for Individuals with Autism: An Interview with Gary Weitzen of POAC and the Autism Shield Program

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The safety of individuals with autism is an enormous concern for parents and caregivers across the country. POAC Autism Services consulted with Dennis Debbaudt to pioneer The Autism Shield Program providing safety training for police, fire fighters, and EMTs. More recently, POAC has developed a companion workshop designed for caregivers, teachers, and child study team members.

Sam had a chance to talk with Gary Weitzen, Executive Director of POAC Autism Services. Gary is an excellent source of information and has been incredibly generous and proactive in sharing his experiences and knowledge with the community. POAC has now trained more than 15,000 police officers and first responders on autism recognition and safety. We’re sure you will find Gary’s insight and suggestions exceedingly helpful and applicable to children and adults of all ages.

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Fifteen years ago, Gary Weitzen’s five-year-old son with autism went missing. The first place his parents looked was the lake, because like many children with autism, they knew he was drawn to water. Fortunate to find him in time to save him, this experience and many similar stories Gary would hear over the years, were the impetus for creating the Autism Shield Program. Gary is now the Executive Director at POAC, an organization in New Jersey that provides free resources for the autism community.

“The Autism Shield Program is a comprehensive program really designed to keep our children safe in their schools, homes, and communities,” Gary said. “It originally started training police officers. Multiple FBI studies have shown that if you have autism or any other developmental disability you’re seven times more likely to encounter police than if you don’t have autism.  We’ve expanded it to the current program which also includes firefighters, EMTs, emergency first responders, school nurses, prison guards, and parents.”

One thing that Gary stresses repeatedly is the need for children with autism to learn how to swim.

“I lived with the fact that my son almost drowned. [Fifteen years ago] it was just huge numbers of children with autism drowning. Like every week another child with autism died, another child with autism died. It was overwhelming,” Gary said. “We thought, we have to do something here. We have to let parents and police know exactly what’s going on here.”

Eight years ago, POAC started training police departments on how to respond to emergency situations that involved individuals with autism.

Wandering Child

“I always tell the first responders the same thing: individuals with autism are never lost. Ever. They’re always going somewhere. They didn’t wander out of the house like someone with Alzheimer’s would or even a small child would. Our guys are going somewhere so you want to try to get the information right away about where you think they might be going from the caregiver. If you get that information beforehand, you can try to search there. Always start a search with bodies of water. Always. If the child is missing from a specific location, start with concentric circles out and hit every body of water,” Gary said.

Two more suggestions have been extremely beneficial for law enforcement and first responders in dealing effectively with individuals with autism. The first is to speak in short, direct sentences telling the individual what TO DO instead of what NOT to do. The second is to provide a prompt if the individual is without identification and not giving contact information upon request.

“Let’s say, you ask Charlie his phone number, he doesn’t give you a phone number. Ask his phone number again, but this time prompt it with the area code for that area. ‘Charlie, what’s your phone number, 9-7-3…’ Ninety-nine times out of 100 our guys with autism will finish their phone number.”

Gary also suggests families complete an Emergency Planner and to register with 911 in order to assist with improving safety and emergency response efforts. He urges families to utilize services such as Project Lifesaver.

“[Project Lifesaver] has been in existence for over 15 years. It’s LoJack for our kids who wander off. It was designed for Alzheimer’s patients and expanded to individuals with autism. There are now more individuals with autism that are on it than people with Alzheimer’s,” Gary said. “The success rate in 15 years nationwide: 100%. There’s never been a case of an individual on the program not being found alive ever, ever, ever. Hundred percent success rate. And the average time it takes from the time mom calls up ‘My child is missing’ until the sheriff’s officer has their child in their hands: 14 minutes.”

For individuals who may not tolerate the Project Lifesaver bracelet, Gary recommends creating a rule about cell phones and using the cell phone to ensure the individual is safe.

“If the rule is I always have to have my smartphone with me, in my pants pocket, guess what, they will always have that smartphone with them in their pants pocket. And it doesn’t have to be turned on,” Gary said. “It just has to have power and with iPhones and Androids you can get free apps like the Find My iPhone. There’s also programs out there with Verizon, AT&T, and other providers for $10 a month to put a family locator on the phone, set up a location, so if the phone moves 50 feet away from wherever the location, work, school, home, mom or dad gets a text instantly. The phone is on the move. And you can track it in real time. So there are so many things that are out there that people need to take advantage of and could take advantage of. They just have to be told about them.”

Beyond wandering and encounters with police, POAC also works with fire departments and with parents to increase safety during house fires.

“Very often, individuals with Asperger’s will hide in a house fire. And look, regardless of their age—face it—our guys and girls will re-enter a burning building. This happens all the time. All the time, firefighters come, they save the child, the child’s with mom, with other kids, and in the confusion of the fire, especially if there’s somebody still in the house they’re trying to save, we’ve had so many individuals with autism walk right back into the burning house in front of the police, firefighters, and their family and burn alive and die in the house.”

Gary recommends running fire drills at home with clear rules, such as, “Stand by Mrs. Smith’s mailbox.” It’s also important to identify who will be responsible for the individual with autism during an emergency. But Gary cautions that even with supervision, an individual with autism may be dangerously insistent about re-entering a burning building.

“So, where’s the best place to put a child at the scene of a house fire? Locked in the back of a police car. They’ll potentially scream, bang their head, maybe hurt themselves, but they’re alive. They’re alive,” Gary said. “We have videos of a child wandering off and the firefighter actually trying to hold them and the kid just runs across the street back toward the building.”

POAC has also provided many trainings for both parents and professionals about sexual education for individuals with autism. Gary describes sexual abuse as a major problem for individuals with developmental disabilities that people are afraid to address.

“Unfortunately, the sexual abuse rate with our guys to sexual predators is through the roof. The numbers for females are, close to 70% of females with autism were sexually assaulted by predators. Seventy percent. Seven out of ten of our girls are sexually assaulted before age 18. And the number’s around 40% for males. And I go into why that is, they’re the perfect victim. They don’t understand intent, they don’t understand the social rules.”

“You have to start sexual education with our guys in preschool,” Gary said. “That shocks people when I say that, but Sex Ed in preschool is, ‘What a bathing suit covers no one’s allowed to touch.’ That’s Sex Ed in preschool. So it’s not as scary as people think. But you know when most Sex Ed is taught to individuals with developmental disabilities? After something happens. After someone gets assaulted or after someone masturbated in class or someone touched someone inappropriately. You know, we better do something! No, they’re fifteen! Start early.”

“A big problem for parents of children with autism, and I say this as a parent of a child with autism, is that you’re thinking it’s not your kid. Parents on the lower end of the scale always think, ‘Nothing’s ever going to happen to my child because somebody’s always with them—it’s them kids with Asperger’s who are running willy-nilly off by themselves all the time—those are the ones getting into trouble.’ And then right across the room, the parents with the higher functioning kids think, ‘Well nothing’s ever going to happen to my son because my son tells me everything, it’s those low-functioning kids who can’t speak that everything’s happening to.’ But, it’s happening to all of our kids equally, wherever they fall on the spectrum, and the problem is the parents always think ‘Well, not my kid, it’s somebody else’s.’  No, you’ve got to think, this definitely could be my child so what do I have to do to increase his safety?”

POAC continues to provide free workshops and resources to residents in New Jersey. And Gary will continue with that effort for a long time yet. “I always joke that the Irish in me wants stuff to be meat and potatoes. I want it to be real. I want it to be real for the families. I want it to be real for the officers. Any one of our trainings, I want the person to walk away with something that they can use that day to make a child safer.”

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If this story has touched you or you feel you can use it, Gary asks that you please consider making a tax-deductible donation to POAC.

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Ready Set Play! Strategies for Modifying Games

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In continuing our celebration of Autism Awareness Month, we’d like to share with you another article from our very own Sam Blanco, BCBA on how to modify games for learners with autism.  Sam focuses on helping educators and parents understand how to thoughtfully integrate games, toys, and technology for students with autism and other developmental delays, and here she presents a few simple, yet effective, ways of adapting every day games and toys to meet the needs to students on the spectrum.

Ready Set Play! Strategies for Modifying Games
by Sam Blanco, BCBA

Choosing games for learners with autism can be quite challenging, especially when your goal is to provide social opportunities through playing games with peers or siblings. Sometimes you find a game that you think your learner will find highly motivated, only to discover there are aspects of the game that make your learner lose interest quickly. Here are a few tips to help modify games to meet the needs of your individual learner.

One of the easiest and best modifications you can make is to shorten the duration of an activity. Most of the games and activities you will find on this website take 10-15 minutes. For longer activities, I will set a timer and let the learner know that the game will last for 10 minutes (or less, depending on the learner) or allow the learner to choose the duration of the game. Also, though it may feel unnatural, (especially if your learner is engaging with you when he/she rarely does) I try to end the activity when the learner’s interest is at its peak. This will make the learner more likely to request or be interested in the activity in the future.

If the game is too difficult for the learner, you can do some of the steps for your learner. For example, for some of my early learners, I will complete one or more steps in the game Roll & Play. Some of my learners struggle with grasping the cards between their index finger and thumb. I can pick up the card for them, and then continue with the game. This allows us to maintain a quick pace in the game, maintain the learner’s interest, and continue the focus on the skills presented in the game. It’s important to remember that just because you are completing some of the steps, it does not make the game less valuable. Usually, I am practicing grasping objects in other activities and will eventually introduce it into the game, but I want to maintain focus on only 1 to 2 skills when I am teaching through games. Otherwise, the game can become very slow and less motivating for the learner.

Another easy modification is to simply remove some parts of the game. S’Match is a fantastic memory game that helps learners match items based on three components: shape, color, and number. For some learners, I remove the spinner so that I can introduce the game with just two components. I’ll either verbally tell the learner “This time, we’re matching by color,” or I’ll have a textual cue. This way, I can focus on the skills of matching, while making the game easier for learners who might struggle with the skill of remembering three different components of each picture in the memory game. Once my learner has mastered the game with matching by two components, I introduce the spinner and matching along all three components. (There are also games I play with my learners that just involve the spinner, which you can find here.)

Increase your expectations as quickly as possible. For each of my learners, I typically have two categories of games: Emerging and Mastered. With emerging games, the learner still requires modifications, but I am trying to fade those modifications and increase expectations as quickly as possible while still maintaining the learner’s interest and motivation to play the game. With mastered games, the learner is able to play the game as designed with peers or siblings and I can focus on social goals instead of game-related goals.

Games provide a wide array of opportunities to teach academic, non-cognitive, and social skills. Modifications such as those listed above can open up these opportunities for your learner in age-appropriate and fun ways.

Sam Blanco is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and an ABA provider for students ages 3-12 in NYC. Working in education for ten years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam has developed strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals, by organizing resources in an easy-to-use way that also directly connects to data collection and increasing progress in learners with autism. She is the lead contractor for Theatre Development Fund’s Autism Theatre Initiative, working to modify Broadway shows such as The Lion King and Spiderman. She also provides workshops for professionals and parents about assessment, managing difficult behaviors, verbal behavior, and using games and technology effectively in teaching practices. You can follow Sam on Twitter: @SamBlancoBCBA.

Prompting Behavior Change: A Guest Post by Steve Levinson, PhD, Inventor of the MotivAider

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We’re thrilled to bring you this exclusive article written by Steve Levinson, PhD, Inventor of the incredible MotivAider. We’re all familiar with the incredible versatility of the MotivAider in facilitating behavior changes and here, Dr. Levinson explains how behavior modification works. We’re so grateful to Dr. Levinson for this fantastic article. You can find more exclusive articles from leading experts in the field in our new catalog.

Prompting Behavior Change by Steve Levinson, PhD

If you’re a parent or a teacher who’s trying to change a child’s behavior, you’re probably frustrated. It’s not easy to change a child’s behavior. But before you blame the child, consider this: It’s not all that easy to change your own behavior either! Even when you have a good reason to make a particular change, and you’re really serious about doing it, changing your own behavior is rarely a snap.

Why it’s so hard to change behavior  So, what makes it so hard to change behavior? If you think it’s simply a matter of motivation, think again. Motivation is certainly important, but many behavior change attempts fail not because of insufficient motivation. They fail because of insufficient focus.

You can’t change your own behavior unless you can keep your attention focused on making the desired change. While it’s easy to do things the old way because the old way is automatic, doing things the new way requires focus.

Unfortunately, whether you’re a parent, a teacher or a child, it’s not easy to stay focused. That’s because, amazingly, the human mind has no built-in mechanism to keep our attention focused on making the changes we want to make. So it’s really no wonder that our good intentions keep getting lost in the shuffle.

If you’re not convinced that (1) focus is an essential ingredient in the recipe for behavior change and (2) we’re not well-equipped to stay focused on the changes we want to make, here’s an example that should help. Suppose you have a bad habit of slouching. You realize that slouching is not only bad for your back, it’s bad for your image. So you promise yourself that from now on that you’ll sit up straight and stand up tall. How hard could that be? Yet soon—very soon—after setting out to improve your posture, you’re right back to slouching.

So, what happened? Did you lose your motivation? No. You lost your focus! You failed to make a change you genuinely wanted to make because you simply couldn’t keep your attention focused on making it.Yes, it’s hard to change behavior because changing behavior requires focus, and none of us—not parents, not teachers and especially not children—are particularly well-equipped to stay focused.

So what can we do to stay more focused on the positive changes we want to make? And what can we do to help our children or our students stay focused on the positive changes they want to make?

Prompting: A simple way to facilitate behavior change  One solution is to use “prompting.” Prompting is a simple behavior change method that uses frequently repeated signals to keep your attention focused on making a desired change.

To illustrate how and why prompting works, let’s return to the posture example we used earlier. Only this time, after you promise yourself that you’ll sit up straight and stand up tall from now on, I’m going to follow you around and every few minutes—whether you’re slouching or not—tap you on the shoulder and whisper in your ear, “You’re no slouch.”

With me reminding you frequently, I guarantee that you’ll stay focused on improving your posture. What’s more, soon I’ll be able to stop whispering because just feeling the tap on your shoulder will be all it takes to send you the associated message, “Yes, I’m no slouch.” Sometimes when you feel the tap, you’ll find yourself slouching, and you’ll straighten up right away. Other times when you feel the tap, you’ll notice that your posture is already fine. It doesn’t matter whether you catch yourself slouching or you catch yourself with perfect posture. Either way, you’ll be making progress in replacing your bad posture habit with a good posture habit. Before long, you’ll automatically be sitting up straight and standing up tall.

Fortunately, there’s a more practical and even more effective way to use prompting. Instead of relying on a dedicated person to follow you around and keep tapping you on the shoulder, all you really need to implement basic prompting is a timer or other mechanical or electronic means that’s capable of sending you frequent private signals automatically. The process is simple. First, you devise a brief personal message that urges you to make the change you want to make. Then, you associate the personal message with the signal—the same way we associated “You’re no slouch” with a tap on the shoulder in the example above. The result is that whenever you receive the signal, you’ll focus your attention on making the change you want to make. And by making certain that you receive signals often enough, you’ll stay focused.

Prompting isn’t magic, but it can do amazing things. What’s more, because it allows us to overcome an obstacle that all of us—parents, teachers and children—share, it’s remarkably versatile. The same simple method that can be used to help a young child do a better job of staying on task can also be used to help parents and teachers consistently stick to an effective technique they forget to use when they’re busy or frustrated. The same simple method that can be used to help a child make a constructive keystone change in her social behavior can also be used to help parents and teachers stay cool, calm, collected, and constructive when interacting with a defiant child.

Helpful Holiday Tips for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Kelly McKinnon, co-author of the invaluable book Social Skills Solutions, put this helpful post together for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Kelly is currently the Director of Behavior Intervention at The Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Santa Ana, California.

Helpful Holiday Tips for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The holiday season is a joyful time of the year, but it also can be stressful for kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Preparing and planning early for the holidays can help you relieve some of the holiday stress. Here are a few helpful tips.

Provide concrete information for your child
• Provide a visual schedule of each day’s expectations. Include start times and end times.
• Use your smart phone or iPad when possible to find free apps including visual timers, “First This Then This” schedules, and personalized “social stories.”
• Explain what is both expected of your child and not expected.
• Provide opportunities to reward your child for expected behavior.

Provide information visually
• Take pictures of relatives and friends you will visit, and practice names.
• Video modeling is considered an evidenced-based way to teach your child. Take videos of how to unwrap a gift the right way, thank a family member, or greet new people. Role play with your child and practice ahead of time.
• Use pictures to help your child communicate or make choices of what they would like to have or say.

Reduce anxiety
• Compile a list of activities that can help your child fill his or her time wherever you go.
• Use rehearsal and role play to give children practice ahead of time in dealing with new social situations, or work together to write a “social story” that incorporates all the elements of an upcoming event or visit to better prepare them for that situation.
• If you are going to visit family or friends, make sure there is a quiet, calm place for retreat.
• Try to relax and have a good time. If you are tense, your child may sense that something isn’t right.
• Don’t shield your child from the extended family. Family members need to understand the challenges you face.

Tip of the Week: Scanning – Best Teaching Practices

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Scanning is one of the first skills we teach learners with autism. This skill, (looking at each item presented and using that information to make decisions,) is essential for almost every other skill we teach children in early childhood. Historically, we have taught scanning skills through matching and listener responding activities by lining up 3 pictures or objects, then having the learner choose the correct match out of the three items or point to the item we have named. However, this is not representative of the way scanning skills are used in the natural environment.

Toddler boy reaching for carrots in grocery storeConsider how you use scanning in your own life: searching a row of books on a shelf to find a particular title, trying to find your favorite tomato soup in a supermarket aisle filled with soups, or looking through a box of Legos for one blue square Lego to complete a structure. None of the ways we scan in the natural environment present materials in a field of 3 neatly lined-up items.

There are steps you should take in order to help prepare your learner for scanning in the natural environment. When working on matching items or identifying items, you should quickly reduce prompts (as discussed in this previous post) and increase the difficulty of scanning. There are two ways to do this: (1) increase the number of items in the field and (2) make the array of items messy.

If we take a look at matching, here is a sample of the steps for a matching program you might use to help teach the skill:

  1. Match an object to 1 of 3 objects placed on the table
  2. Match an object to 1 of 5 objects placed on the table
  3. Match an object to 1 of 5 objects placed in a messy array on the table
  4. Match an object to 1 of 8 objects placed in a messy array on the table
  5. Match an object to 1 of 10 objects placed in a messy array on the table
  6. Match an object to 1 of 5 objects with similar but non-matching items in the messy array (example: you’re trying to match a red car, in the array there will be a red car as well as a blue car and a red truck.)
  7. Match an object to 1 of 8 objects with similar but non-matching items in the messy array

As the learner masters each step, he/she is getting closer to what that skill looks like in the natural environment. Lastly, here are a few examples of how children use scanning in the natural environment. These can be used to practice the skill in ways that are motivating to your individual learner:

  • searching for all the pieces to a costume for dress up play
  • finding a specific piece to complete a puzzle or block structure
  • looking for his/her favorite candy or snack at the supermarket
  • finding a specified item in a picture (for example, if I have a learner that loves Elmo, I’ll find many pictues with Elmo shown and have the learner point him out)
  • retrieving shoes from a shelf or closet
  • picking out a nail polish color
  • choosing their favorite tv show from a DVR or computer menu
  • playing “I Spy”
  • finding the right tool from a messy utensil drawer for a cooking activity
  • retreiving his/her favorite train from a bucket of trains

Tip of the Week: Always Be Pairing

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Yesterday, we introduced you to Sam Blanco, BCBA-extraordinaire and Different Roads’ wonderful new consultant. Today, we’re thrilled to commence her new weekly segment, the “Tip of the Week.” We’re sure you’ll find them to be as interesting and insightful as we do.

TeacherStudentHighFiveAlways Be Pairing

If you are familiar with ABA, you have probably heard of the term pairing. The idea behind pairing is that you will establish and maintain a positive relationship with the child by pairing yourself with preferred items or activities. Pairing is important not only in establishing a relationship with a learner; but also in maintaining the relationship, preventing boredom, and increasing motivation throughout your relationship with the child.

Below we address four common misconceptions with pairing.

Common misconception #1: Pairing only takes place when you are building a relationship with the child.

Many therapists I’ve supervised tell me that they pair for the first 1-4 weeks, then start teaching. But pairing shouldn’t end there (nor should it necessarily take so long as we’ll see with common misconception 2.)

Before each session, you should engage in “pre-session” pairing. This means that you are providing free reinforcers without placing demands. For early learners you might start off a session with blowing bubbles or playing with a parachute. For older learners you might start off a session with a game or sharing a book the child enjoys. Usually, it’s a good idea to present the learner with options during pre-session pairing. Involving choice frequently increases motivation, and it also increases the likelihood of delivering a more highly reinforcing item.

Some people feel that pairing every session eats up valuable instructional time. However, pre-session pairing increases motivation and cuts down on maladaptive behavior, which actually increases the amount and the quality of your instructional time for a given session.

Common misconception #2: Pairing takes a long time, and a provider or teacher should not start placing demands until the pairing process is complete.

In some cases, pairing may take a long time. However, in many cases, you are able to start placing demands during the first session. This does not mean that you’ll necessarily start doing discrete trials on the first day, but you can begin placing simple demands to build instructional control while you are pairing. It’s helpful for gaining instructional control to incrementally increase the number of demands placed across sessions, while always starting with a pre-session pairing session.

Unfortunately, pairing is not an activity that can be measured, and it’s important to recognize that the pairing process is never complete.

Common misconception #3: Pairing should involve sensory toys because all children with autism are highly motivated by such toys.

For some learners, sensory toys are highly motivating. However, a common error is using the same pre-session pairing with every learner. What you believe is reinforcing in general may not be reinforcing for your learner in particular. If the learner is not engaging with the item, ignoring it, putting it down, or displaying maladaptive behaviors when the item is presented; then the item is not reinforcing.

Another consideration is that big aspect of pairing is that the learner associates these motivating items and activities with you. While it is beneficial to be the purveyor of fun sensory items; it may be even more beneficial to engage in activities with the learner, such as cause and effect toys or games or physical activity that requires your involvement.

Common misconception #4: A learner will always be motivated by the same items.

Several times when a provider calls me to come in and assist with behavior problems, I discover that there is not enough novelty within their pairing sessions. A learner may love a marble run one session (which happens to be one of my all-time favorite toys) then have no interest the next session. Or, what I see much more often, is that the learner loves the marble run for two months, then suddenly has no interest in it. The provider or teacher is uncertain about what happened and depended too heavily on that reinforcer. Then, without a powerful reinforcer to use throughout the session, the learner displays a drop in motivation and sometimes an increase in maladaptive behaviors.

There’s a word for this: satiation. Learners display a wide range of satiation levels. Some learners you work with may satiate on reinforcers within minutes, while other may prefer to see the same items over and over from session to session. A learner’s satiation can vary based on many different variables, so you should be prepared to address it.

One way to address this is to choose not to bring the same reinforcers to each session. This way, if a battery dies, you forget to bring a favorite toy, or something breaks you have not set yourself and your learner up for failure. A second way to address satiation is to remove the item while the child is still motivated to engage with it, instead of waiting until he/she has lost interest before introducing other choices.           

When pairing is consistent, specific to the child’s interests, and involves a variety of items and activities learners will maintain motivation and you will be more easily able to maintain instructional control.

Pick of the Week: The Early Start Denver Model

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As the first comprehensive, empirically tested intervention specifically designed for toddlers and preschoolers with autism, the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an early intervention approach for toddlers ages 12-36 months and continuing until ages 48-60 months. The model does not require a particular setting for implementation and can be used by parents, teachers, therapists, at home, in preschool or in a clinical setting. To help you get started with this early intervention model developed by Sally Rogers, Ph.D., and Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., we are offering a 15% discount on the Early Start Denver Model for Young Children with Autism Manual and its accompanying Curriculum Checklists this week. Just enter in the promotional code BLOGESDM3 at check out to redeem your savings!

The Early Start Denver Model is the only comprehensive early intervention model that has been validated in a randomized clinical trial for use with children with autism as young as 18 months of age. It has been found to be effective for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across a wide range of learning styles and abilities. Its core features include the following:

  • Naturalistic applied behavioral analytic strategies
  • Sensitive to normal developmental sequence
  • Deep parental involvement
  • Focus on interpersonal exchange and positive affect
  • Shared engagement with joint activities
  • Language and communication taught inside a positive, affect-based relationship

The manual provides structured, hands-on strategies for working with very young children in individual as well as group settings to promote development in key areas such as imitation; communication; social, cognitive and motor skills; adaptive behavior; and play.

In order to implement individualized treatment plans for each child, users must complete the ESDM Curriculum Checklist, which is an assessment tool. One non-reproducible checklist is included in the manual for reference with instructions for use. Additional checklists are sold separately in sets of 15.

This week only, take 15% off your purchase of the ESDM for Young Children with Autism Manual and the accompanying ESDM Curriculum Checklists by entering in the promo code BLOGESDM3 at checkout.*

*This offer expires on October 8, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces in the promo code at check out!

Product Review: Sandwich Stacking Game

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We recently came across a wonderful review of the popular Sandwich Stacking Game by Melissa & Doug on TeachThrough. Here is everything you have ever wanted and need to know about the Sandwich Stacking Game and how a parent or educator would incorporate it into lessons for his or her child:

Age level: Preschool, Early Elementary

Description: This silly game come with two sets of bread-shaped gloves and fourteen sandwich fillings that attach with velcro to the bread. Add twenty sandwich cards and a booklet with ten different games you can play with the materials, and you have a recipe for a great game.

Skills & Modifications: First of all, I should mention that I love any game that comes with instructions for multiple games. The fact that this comes with instructions for TEN games makes it that much more valuable to me, and it makes my job easier! I can find games that meet the skill level of my student, and then modify them as needed. Also, while I have listed below many ways in which I focus on target skills with these materials, I always end the activity by allowing the student to choose a game or to have free play with the materials for a couple of minutes.

Expressive Language – Students are usually highly motivated by these materials, so I use them to create opportunities for expressive language. Sometimes I’ll have the student create any sandwich they want and then describe it to me. Other times I will create sandwiches with the goal of targeting specific words or phrases that I am working on with the student.
Alike & Different – Sometimes I’ll have the student make two sandwiches, then describe how the two are alike and different. This provides and opportunity to talk about different ingredients, but also to discuss order of ingredients using words such as top, middle, and bottom.
Block Imitation – This is another game that, while it does not use blocks, can be used to test for generalization of block imitation skills. You can use the pictures included with the game, but those are all limited to four ingredients on each sandwich. For some students I take pictures of bigger sandwiches I have made with the game materials and have them recreate it based on the picture.
Scanning – I use this frequently to practice scanning skills. I lay out all of the ingredients on the floor (though be careful if the floor is carpeted, the velcro pieces may stick!) The student has to look at the picture card or listen to my instructions and find the correct piece. If we are playing with a peer, scanning may be more challenging because the peer may pick up the piece first, causing your student to have to scan once more to find the piece needed.
Peer Play – This is another great game for peer or sibling play. Students are highly motivated by the materials, and are frequently interested to see what other people are making as well.

Pros: This is one of those games that consistently causes giggle-fits with my students. It’s silly, challenging, active, and fun. Oh, and it’s machine-washable.

Cons: I have no cons for this game. It is a little pricey compared to most games and toys I purchase, but the materials are high-quality (which is usually the case with Melissa & Doug products.)

Cost: $29.99 You should invest in this game if: your student or child is highly motivated by active games, you are looking for materials to increase potential for peer play, or you are working with a range of ages at the same time.

ABLLS: B6, B12, B20, C41, K5, K9, K14, L2, L12, L22

VB-MAPP: VP-MTS 6, VP-MTS 13

Written by Sam Armstrong, MSEd, BCBA

Using Music to Help Children with Autism: A Guest Post by Board Certified Music Therapist Ryan Judd

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For those of you who don’t know him, we’re thrilled to introduce you to Ryan Judd. Ryan is a board certified music therapist with a Masters degree in Music Therapy and has been working as a music therapist with children with special needs for more than 13 years. We’re excited not only to share his wonderful wisdom with you but also to let you know that you can now incorporate his teaching techniques at home and school with The Rhythm Tree Music & DVD Package. This comprehensive package includes a DVD with 9 interactive songs that address particular skill sets, a full-length CD for listening and learning on the go, a 30-page guidebook with music and lyrics along with strategies for addressing developmental goals, and 3 sets of musical and motivating instruments so the whole family can join in. It’s this week’s pick so you can save 15% on The Rhythm Tree DVD and Music Package by applying the promotional code BLOGRHY3 at checkout.

“Using Music to Help Children with Autism”
By Ryan Judd

I am a lucky man. I get to see music touch the lives of children with autism on a daily basis. Even after 13 years of providing music therapy for children with autism, I still am amazed at the power of music and the way it can grab a child’s attention and motivate them to perform challenging tasks.

Today, I would like to share with you some ways that you can use music to motivate children with autism and help them reach developmental goals. The cool thing is that you don’t need to be a musician or even be able to sing on key in order to use music with children! Music offers so many possibilities for growth and development. I am here to help you begin to tap into this powerful medium.

Let’s look at how you can use music to help children learn social skills, and in particular, greetings. This can be challenging for some children with autism, especially when the expectation is to make eye contact when greeting a peer. If you practice greetings through a fun and engaging song, you can grab a child’s attention and help them practice this foundational social skill.

I have created a simple but effective greetings song for you that is easy to learn and easy to remember. It is to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” I changed the words, but have written the original words above these, so that you can get a better feel for the timing. So here it goes. Let’s try it!

Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I won-der what you are.
Hello, hello, hello friends, it is time to sing a-gain.

Up a-bove the world so high, like a dia-mond in the sky.
Look at a friend and say “hi.” Use your eyes and give high fives.

Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I won-der what you are
Hello, hello, hello friends, it is time to sing a-gain


To practice this song and teach it to your child, start by facing each other and holding hands while seated. Now rock back and forth or side to side while singing. This not only gives your child time with you to practice greetings, but it’s also a great way to bond with your child. Facing each other also sets you up perfectly for making eye contact. If your child is not willing to hold hands for that long, then try a patty-cake type pattern by slapping your knees with both hands and then their hands. If your child craves deep pressure, you can push firmly down on their shoulders, after slapping your knees.

In order to prompt your child to use a greeting in this song, you can use the musical tension that is created by stopping a song in the middle. For example, if you hear, “Twinkle, twinkle, little ________” your brain just wants to hear “star” if it is left out! You can use this natural tension as a non-verbal prompt by pausing before the word or action that you want your child to take. To create even more tension, take a loud, audible breath in, and hold your breath while waiting for them to respond. For our greetings song, it would look like this.

Hel-lo, hel-lo, hello friends, it is time to sing again.

Look at a friend and say ________ (big dramatic pause while waiting for your child to make eye contact and say “hi”).

Use your eyes and give high _______ (big dramatic pause while waiting for your child to make eye contact and give a “high five”).

If your child is non-verbal, no problem! You can have them wave high instead of saying it, or have a visual icon for them to select or touch. You can also set up an electronic Augmentative and Alternative (AAC) device, so that they get the auditory feedback from pushing a button and hearing a recorded voice say “hi.”

To generalize this skill when you are out and about, you can prompt your child by singing, “Look at a friend and say _____ (big pause).” This musical cue can be very effective in prompting a child to use an appropriate greeting with a peer or adult. Just make sure to be patient and give plenty of wait time!

I hope that you’ve found this article helpful and that you’ll begin to explore the potential and fun of using music with your child. Whether you are looking to build a deeper connection, or help your child learn developmental skills, music is a great source of motivation. I have a free bi-weekly newsletter that gives great suggestions and resources for using music with your child, so please sign up at https://www.therhythmtree.com/user-registration.

If you are interested in having all of the tools you need to bring the joy and benefit of music into your child’s life, check out my award-winning DVD and Music Package for Children with Special Needs. It is now for sale at Different Roads to Learning!

Remember, this week only, take 15% off your order of the Rhythm Tree DVD & Music Package by entering in BLOGRHY3 at check out!*

*This offer is valid until July 22, 2013 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer. Be sure there are no spaces in the promo code at check out!

A Grandparent Guide for Happy Holidays

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This post was written by our old friend Dr. Erica R. Holding for the Grandparent Autism Network. Dr. Holding has a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral level and founder of Avita Nova, which provides early diagnosis and ABA therapy for children and parent training and support. This article is based on her many years of working with families affected by autism.

When you have a grandchild with autism, the holiday season can present some extra challenges for your family. With careful planning your family can make the holiday season warm and happy for everyone.

If you don’t get to see your grandchild regularly, it is important to remember to have realistic expectations for your time together. Before the visit, call your son or daughter to ask if there is anything to do or have on hand to make the visit more enjoyable for your grandchild. You can have favorite toys, food and videos ready and plan to go to places that they like to visit.

Grandparents often express fear and anxiety about how to interact with their grandchildren.  You may feel rejected because you expect welcoming big hugs and kisses and may feel frustrated and unloved if that does not happen. Your grandchild may have sensory issues that make it overwhelming and even painful for them to be touched or hugged. They may not have the skills yet to know what to do or how to respond or they may just be learning these skills, but shut down around new people or in new situations. The most important thing is to not take this personally. They are not rejecting you. A high five or brief gaze may be all that they are currently capable of doing.

If you are planning a party or other special event, ask your son or daughter if they feel your grandchild will be comfortable being present. You may want to change your plan to be more inclusive and focus on creating new holiday traditions together.

Keep demands for social politeness at a low level.  Even if your grandchild has learned new social skills like greeting people by saying hello or shaking hands, don’t anticipate that will happen when there is a lot of stimuli like lights, music and new people in new settings.

Pace yourself and be flexible.  If you have 3 events planned for a day, but there is a midday meltdown after event # 1, maybe it’s best to skip the others. It is better to have one great time together that you can all remember fondly than to watch the rest of the day deteriorate into tantrums or other behavior problems. New situations, new people, and new schedules can be overwhelming for a child with autism. Your grandchild is not being willfully defiant or difficult, and your son or daughter does not have poor parenting skills. Too much input and too many changes can be very hard for children with autism to process. Let your son or daughter know that you understand this may be what is responsible for meltdowns and negative behavior.

Create outlets or escape routes.  Prepare a place in your home that is quieter and provides a comfortable spot where you grandchild can “take a break” from all of the excitement.  Having a place to go for some respite time may prevent you from having to leave or end an event. Just taking a break may be all that your grandchild needs to get on to the next event.

Manage sensory input.  The holiday season is filled with new experiences. Manage these to the best of your ability. If you are taking a trip to the mall, try to go at times when the mall is less busy, or make the trip shorter. The holidays might not be the best time to try new foods. Try to have something your grandchild likes at every meal.

Control Schedules.  Routines and knowing what is happening next is often very important to individuals on the spectrum. Holiday schedules deviate completely from our daily normal routines and this can be especially difficult for a child with autism.  Ask your son or daughter how best to handle daily schedules. Some children with autism can be included in the schedule making and this is very empowering for them. Other children may be more able to understand when given a visual schedule. Find out what works best and if an unexpected change is just about to happen, find out how best to communicate that change.

Be sure to compliment your grandchild and your son or daughter about the new abilities and progress your grandchild has achieved.  Grandparents can be supportive good listeners who consistently give their families loving reinforcement at the holidays – and throughout the year.