Category Archives: Social Skills

Pick of the Week: Emotions Flashcards

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Emotions Flashcards Sale You’re in luck because this week’s pick is a whole CATEGORY of products! We’re highlighting our wonderful Emotions flashcards this week and offering them to you at a 15% discount. Click here to see the full list of products on sale this week. There are basics such as the Emotions Language Cards which are an ideal introduction to teaching feelings to young learners as well as the more advanced Faces & Feelings Listening Lotto which is a creative way to work on auditory processing and emotions. With 9 different sets of Emotions Flashcards on sale this week, you’re sure to find a set that’s right for your child or student.

Today through March 1, visit Difflearn.com to save 15% on our Emotions Flashcards by entering the Promo Code BLOGEM22 at checkout.

 *Offer expires on March 1, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST. Not compatible with any other offer.

A Coffee Shop in a Middle School Helps Children with Autism Gain Skills and Raise Money

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Woodrow Wilson Middle School in New Jersey has set up a coffee shop that their special class for children with autism or multiple learning disabilities is charged with running every Friday morning. The program aims to instill social skills as well as business and life skills to prepare these young students for life outside of the classroom. In addition to providing a service to staff and imparting concrete skills in the children, the program has raised money for field trips and and special activities that have been affected by budget cuts. We’re so impressed with the teachers who put these creative and effective programs together! Read the full article on their program here in the NY Times.

 

Peer Pals

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is a wonderful not-for-profit dedicated to building communities of inclusion for children with disabilities as they enter kindergarten. Peerpals.org matches preschool age children with typically developing children in their communities for one-on-one play dates. Peer Pals also facilitates group play dates in developmentally appropriate settings supervised by special education professionals.

This program strives to build local communities and give a child with a disability a support system of typically developing peers upon entering school.  Having a typically developing child as a friend, or even as a peer model, is a wonderful thing. You can sign your child up or if you’re a professional who would like to donate some of your time, you can become a volunteer.

New Social Skills Book from Autism Partnership!

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Crafting Connections: Contemporary Applied Behavior Analysis for Enriching the Social Lives of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder is here! This new book – out today – is one of the most comprehensive and easy-to-use guides available for teaching social skills to children and youth with ASD. The book teaches critically important skills in social awareness, communication, interaction, learning and relatedness.

The sub-skills, prerequisites, and methods of instruction are outlined for each area, making it clear and easy for teachers, clinicians and families to use and implement. The book addresses real world, relevant issues such as bullying, conversational development and social comprehension.

In case you’re not familiar with Autism Partnership, they have been teaching  the technique of contemporary Applied Behavior Analysis for more than 20 years. They have also edited the bestselling book A Work In Progress as well as It’s Time for School: Building Quality ABA Educational Programs for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Sense and Nonsense in the Behavioral Treatment of Autism: It Has to Be Said.

More than 13 well-known and respected authors contributed to making Crafting Connections a major work that teaches authentic, appropriate social skills to students with autism as they navigate the social world.

Fire Safety Resources

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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!

National Fire Protection Association Fire Safety Flip Book

Sparky the Fire Dog Website

Video Modeling by Mary Beth Palo of Watch Me Learn

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Mary Beth is a dear friend of ours. Many of you know her as the amazing mother who used video modeling to help her son learn to speak. From there came the Watch Me Learn Video Series which has received near unanimous praise. Here are her thoughts on Video Modeling and how Watch Me Learn came to be.

“I was fortunate enough to see Temple Grandin speak years ago…. before she became a star….. I went to the presentation on a whim – I guess to get out of the house (pathetic right?)  Being the mother of an autistic child leads you to do things that a “normal” person wouldn’t be caught dead doing!  At the time, I believe that she only had one book published; Thinking in Pictures.

In that book and in her presentation she referred to her thought process as going back in her mind, retrieving a video tape from her mind’s library and then playing the proper video to think/see….  This hit me like a 2×4 across the head…. 

I am mostly an auditory thinker….. so I guess it didn’t dawn on me that this could be so impactful on educating. Couple this information with 2 years of therapy for my son with no progress, and a light bulb went off in my head.  Pure desperation led me to video modeling.  After my first attempt at VM, as a result my son was speaking within 2 ½ weeks.  Well, needless to say, video became my life and my son just kept learning and learning.  Video was our main teacher and our therapy hours were used for generalizing the skills he learned on video.

Video modeling can be used in sooooo many ways – self modeling, peer modeling, etc…  and it can be used to teach sooooo many skills – from simple receptive language, imitation skills to complex social skills.  Research supports video modeling as an evidence-based teaching method and it has been recognized by the CEC(Council for Exceptional Children) as a valid means of teaching.  The research exists and more will be coming. 

Now, when I teach my son, I always have visuals.  Of course, he was most successful with video, but after years of strictly video, we have been able to branch out into other visual inputs. The learning is always faster with visual inputs ….. even in 6th grade when we are using cookie dough and chocolate chips to make a visual model of the atom nucleus – who would have thought?

Why does it work?  Well, I don’t have the scientific answer to that – as I have yet to find a study researching the brain activity while watching VM.  Watching children for years and knowing how and what they react to, it is easy to see the reason why VM works.  Children love tv, children love other children, children have an inherent desire to be social and VM provides not only repetition but also removes outside distractions enabling a child to concentrate on one thing.

Today, there are many VM products on the market.  These products allow you an easy way to experiment with VM and a great learning opportunity for your children.  VM can also be done in the home, school, therapy and out in public.  You need to decide what is best for you and the child.

I am the proud mother of Brett Palo – a 12 year old boy who is now mainstreamed in 6th grade.  Without VM, he would not be there.  As a result of his success with VM and a zillion phone calls from other desperate mothers, Watch Me Learn Videos were created.  Watch Me Learn’s goal is to teach children in their natural environment – at home, in school and most importantly through play!  A child’s job is to play – let them do their job and learn at the same time!   They will learn without even knowing it!

Astronauts, Pirates and Superheros. Oh My!

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Many children look forward to Halloween with the costumes, candy, parties and being with friends.  However, for parents of children with autism the approach of October 31 and the extra challenges might bring about stress and anxiety.  Here are some tips to help it go more smoothly.

  • Choose a costume together!  This can take time so start early.  I like to start by looking through catalogs or online with the child to determine which costume they are most excited about.  This decision won’t be made right away.  I find that children on the spectrum need to see their options several times before they can accurately determine which one they would like.  Once you decide on the basic theme it is always a good idea to see the different options in person and consider sensory issues.  How does the fabric feel? Does it require things to be worn on their head? Are there uncomfortable seams or does it require face paint?
  • It is a  good idea to expand your child’s general knowledge on the theme related to their costume and on Halloween in general.  This is easily accomplished with books and videos.  I use YouTube all the time for expanding play schemas.
  • Practice!  It is so simple and makes such a difference when it actually comes time for trick-or-treating.  Takes turns being the one handing out the candy and the one doing the trick-or-treating.  This also involves rehearsing questions and statements they might encounter such as “What are you?” or “You are so scary.”
  • Ease into it.  It’s best not to wait until Halloween to put on the costume.  Set aside time to try on different parts of the costume and use positive reinforcement to increase the number of items until your child is comfortable with the entire costume.

Check out our new YouTube page, it’s a work in progress but we hope to do all the work for you in finding relevant clips for teaching and reinforcement.

Back to School Basics

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You know it is officially back to school season when the grill in my backyard has been cool to the touch for days and I’ve had my yearly medical exam (PPD titer and all!). I hope it has been smooth sailing for you and your little ones as classes begin. If it hasn’t been, this is what I always try to keep in mind, for all people, big and small:

PREPARE!

It is best to join forces with your child and prepare for the year by making sure you cover what I like to call the 3 S’s.

SPACE

Make sure everything in your child’s work/play space at home is organized and equipped. Play continues to be an important part of learning even when school is in session so take this time to go through toys and arts and crafts supplies and weed out things that are broken or no longer developmentally appropriate for your child. Make sure there is a spacious and uncluttered work space stocked with all of the supplies your child will need to complete homework and school projects. It is also a good idea to keep a space near the work area for a visual schedule to help foster independence during homework time. Lastly, designate a spot near the entrance of your home where your child’s backpack, important papers and your keys can go each afternoon. The last thing you want is to add undue stress to your morning routine and risk missing the beginning of class.

SCHEDULE

We all know that with this population transitions can be especially difficult.  First, take care of as much as you can the night before. Pack bags, sign paperwork, pack lunches, and pick out clothing.  Also, don’t think that a a parent you are the only one responsible for this prep work. Incorporate as many of these things into your child’s evening routine as you can. Having your child participate will foster independence and build confidence. Again, visual schedules and token economies help facilitate independence and provide motivation respectively.  Structure benefits children so it is good to develop a general school year routine and stick to it as much as possible.  Predictability is helpful when it comes to transitions but also remember to build in components that have some element of change to them so that you can facilitate flexibility.  One part of the schedule that shouldn’t change is the sleep schedule.  Keep it as consistent as possible, even on the weekends.  I suggest building a calming activity into the schedule before bedtime and using a timer to help with the transition to bed.

SOCIAL

Sometimes, people find it surprising when I suggest preparation for social interactions but there are a lot of creative ways to help children familiarize themselves with conversational topics, common games and salient information about their peers and teachers.  I encourage all of the families I work with to print photographs of family outings or events that can be used as visual prompts for conversational topics.  Especially good are things that happened over the weekend.  If the picture book is reviewed Sunday evening they will be fully prepared to talk about what they did over the weekend. Additionally, you can find out what schoolyard games are popular with your child’s peer group and practice them at home with siblings or playdates.  If it is an athletic game you might also spend time with your child making a book about the rules that can be reviewed periodically. Lastly, I like to construct a “friend journal” with a child at the beginning of each school year.  You might need to enlist teachers or other parents to help with this but it is such a useful tool that it is worth the extra effort.  Start by obtaining photos of each classmate and pasting them individually into different sections of the journal.  On a daily basis you can help your child fill in something they have learned about their peers.  This could range anywhere from favorite cartoon or tv show to their age or their family members names.

Going back to school can be a fun and exciting time.  With a little preparation and creativity maybe it will be the best school year yet!

Fun (And Learning) In The Sun!

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Discrete trial teaching and a home-based ABA program, without a doubt, play an integral part in a child’s ongoing progress.  However, during the summer months here in New York City all I can think about is PLAY. The sun is shining, playgrounds are full of children and there are child friendly events for free all over the city.  I can’t help but seize these summer moments and optimize the huge array of incidental teaching opportunities they provide.  The playground is the perfect place to start to generalize all of the play skills that the child has mastered with you during the year and facilitate them with novel peers.  The headache of trying to schedule play dates during the winter months fades, there are children everywhere you turn, and kids outside ready to make new friends.

The novelty of an outdoor children’s concert playground or sprinklers can be motivating enough to get the child in the mix with other kids.  I find that having the child I am working with take a popular item on the outing can serve as a really powerful icebreaker and readily grab the attention of all the kids there.  Items to consider include; sidewalk chalk, bubbles, water balloons, a foam rocket launcher or a bug kit.  It is easy to rehearse possible scenarios the child might encounter with one of these items in hand and the rehearsal can lead to greater success and less prompting once you are at the playground.

Another programmatic shift that happens for me during the summer is to take time to help the child see the bigger picture.  Many children diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder understand the parts of things but may have difficulty conceptualizing ‘the whole’.  For example, if the child is showing an interest in airplanes take some time before heading out to expand on this interest.  I like to sit down with a child and draw out what I call a “Play Map.”  It is a flow chart of all of the things connected to an airplane, drawing arrows to show how all of the parts connect together.   This is a great way to flesh out a larger play schema and rehearse possible play scenarios other children might generate at the playground in relation to the toy airplane.  All of this preparation will ultimately lead to better outcomes at the playground and more fun had by all!