The HollyRod Foundation is raising money to provide free iPads to families in need. Applications are being accepted until December 31, 2010. In trying to donate to the those in the most need, the guidelines stipulate that the child is non-verbal or minimally verbal and that the family falls below a certain income level. We applaud the HollyRod Foundation for trying to make a real difference in the lives of families in our community.
Category Archives: Resources
Traveling for the holidays? Here are some tips.
Traveling for the holidays can be stressful with long lines, delays and unanticipated changes to plans. The Autism Speaks blog has a helpful post that gives parents simple strategies and tips for preparing both the individual with autism and airline personnel so that the trip goes as smoothly as possible. Check out the section on the Autism Speaks site called Travel Tips for Individuals with Autism and Their Families for even more information. Kathy Labosh has written two practical booklets that are filled with hints and tips on how to travel both in the community and to Florida with a child with autism.
Do you travel or fly with your child? If so, how do you prepare? Any helpful hints for other parents who are planning a trip?
Fire Safety Resources
There is no one piece of advice that I offer more than “Prepare your child.” We all know that children with autism tend to be inflexible in their adherence to routine. Any unexpected change in their daily schedule can present emotional and behavioral difficulties for all involved. That is why it is important to prepare your child for any potential disruptions. This includes fire safety and it just so happens that the National Fire Protection Association has created some great resources to help you. Check out the social story that can be customized to include your child’s personal information below!
Thinking About All the Parents Out There…
With the holidays approaching we all know that gift giving will soon be in full swing. This undoubtedly means that your families will be generously bestowed with electronic cause and effect toys. These types of toys help to stimulate development as your child discovers the function of the toy and how to elicit certain responses from the object. Children with special needs tend to have a longer relationship with these types of toys as they often serve as powerful reinforcers, meet ongoing sensory needs and continue to provide opportunities to address language and motor development. Additionally, it may take a special needs child longer to master this type of play before moving onto more imaginative and creative play. What I’m getting at is that these toys are going to be in your house longer and some of them are LOUD. So when I came across the following post on Apartment Therapy the other day it jumped out at me as a piece vital information for all of you special needs parents out there. We are always thinking about adaptations for toys and games for the kids but what about the parents? A former sound engineer for children’s sound books shares a secret on how to turn down the volume on these toys.
Check it out and Happy Holidays!
Special Screening of Harry Potter for Hearing & Sight Impaired Children
Awhile back, we told you about AMC Entertainment offering special monthly viewings for children with autism spectrum disorders where they dim the lights and turn down the sound to make movie watching less of an overwhelming experience for children with sensory issues. Well, as the latest Harry Potter movie makes its way to theaters, a movie theater in Richmond, Virginia is offering special opening weekend screenings for individuals who are hearing and sight-impaired. We think it’s fantastic that more mainstream outlets are taking individuals with special needs into account!
How and When to Help?
So, I’ve been falling a little behind lately with my blog posts. The main reason is that I’ve been feeling overwhelmed.
My current caseload is four very different children and their even more dramatically different families. I’ve been doing this work a long time and can easily move from case to case implementing programs ranging from simple gross motor imitation to reciprocal conversation to complicated play schemas involving a peer. In fact, I’m feeling invigorated by the current challenge of having children who are in such different places developmentally. When it comes to the kids, right now I’m bringing my ‘A’ game.
The thing that is leaving me feeling a bit discouraged is how difficult it can be to present the same information to different parents and caregivers especially when it comes to family training sessions. One parent wants me to be a straight talking express with no holds barred. Another needs me to tip toe around sensitive issues while modeling techniques and strategies. This discrepancy has left me feeling confused and frustrated. I haven’t felt that it was an appropriate blog topic because quite frankly, the last thing parents need is to listen to me complain about not always knowing when and how to help them.
But then I started thinking… who better to ask than the great group of people we have reading the Different Roads to Learning blog? I would love to hear from parents and professionals alike about their successes and failures regarding communication with each other. Tell us your stories!
YouTube!
Here at Different Roads to Learning, we’re doing our best to keep up with the ever shifting changes in technology. There’s a ton of wonderful stuff on the internet and on YouTube but who has the time to sift through endless videos, trying to find one that is age-appropritate and addresses the skills you’re working on with your children and students. To take advantage of some of the great, free stuff out there, we’ve created our very own Difflearn YouTube Channel! Stacy, our fantastic and tireless Behavioral Consultant, has been assembling quality videos that you can use for Feeding & Nutrition, Reinforcement and she’s got a whole section for Play.
Please let us know what else you’d like to see up there or what you’re using for reinforcement or teaching play and social skills. We look forward to hearing from you!
The MotivAider
The MotivAider is consistently one of our top sellers here at Different Roads to Learning. It’s a versatile and helpful tool that can be used for anything from prompting a child to engage in play to toilet training. The MotivAider vibrates at timed intervals to prompt an individual to engage in a specific behavior. This is an interesting article about how it is specifically used with children with ADD. Have any of you used the MotivAider as a way to teach or change certain behaviors? How have you used it and for what? We’d love to hear your experiences.
Weekly Rethink Autism Tip: Generalize Skills from the Classroom to Everyday Life
This week’s free autism tip covers an important topic that helps enable your child to adapt to his/her daily surroundings. One of Rethink Autism’s special education professionals guides you through teaching your child how to apply what he/she has learned in a classroom setting to necessary skills utilized in everyday life. This tip is an effective tool to help your child develop these transferable skills.