We’ve been waiting since February for the TimeBuddy to arrive and it’s finally here!
This wonderful and customizable clock is designed to help young children with daily routines and time management. TimeBuddy is a battery-operated 24-hour activity clock with alarm settings. The alarm can be set for up to three different activities. The clock dial points to visual icons which consist of reusable stickers that are placed at actual times throughout the day by the parent, giving children cues on when to start and stop certain activities. You can also set the clock to literally speak three different phrases in your choice of three languages (English, Spanish, and French). There’s even an option for a user-recorded message of up to 15 seconds to allow parents to record a personalized message and you can insert the child’s name into the pre-programmed messages.
Tag Archives: Applied Behavior Analysis
How Do I Get My Kid To Eat?!
I couldn’t even begin to count how many times I’ve been asked this question. It is an issue that I love to tackle in collaboration with the families that I work with mostly because when progress is made, it makes such a dramatic difference in the well-being of the entire family.
Behavioral and sensory issues of a child with special needs can further complicate the ordinary mealtime struggles of a parent of a small child. Parents are often torn between the interventions outlined for them by therapists and the reality of everyday life. This usually means that at the end of the day, just getting the child to eat anything and by any means necessary. No one is happy when mealtime becomes a battle zone. Use of a token economy or escape extinction is most common and can work if implemented consistently. However, I am always impressed when I come across new and creative approaches to food and feeding issues.
One such example of creativity comes from my experience with a great family and their two young boys that I worked with for several years. Their mother was a force to be reckoned with when it came to approaching the introduction of new foods and organizing play dates. I don’t remember how it started, or if it was a conscious plan but the weekly play dates she organized for socialization quickly evolved into preschool foodie events. The children were much more likely to try new foods and like them when their peers were trying them too. It was also a great opportunity to work through sensory aversions and begin to enjoy getting messy. I was recently reminded about these special food play dates when I came across a post on https://special-needs.families.com about a food centric play group started by some parents in Texas.
Currently I am experimenting with new ways to expand the diets of the children on my caseload as well as improving my own health through my food choices. My own mantra for health is to “Eat the Rainbow” so that I make sure I get a nice mix of fruits and vegetables. In my research I came across a great book for one child who has a strong interest in letters. The book is “Eating the Alphabet” by Lois Ehlert and it has inspired a new token economy type system for him and his siblings. Check out the template for the chart in the DRL Downloads! All you have to do is add your child’s picture and a picture of anyone else in the family wanting to participate, laminate, start checking off new foods with a dry erase marker and let the eating begin!
What have you tried?
Fun (And Learning) In The Sun!
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!
Welcome to the Different Roads to Learning Blog!
Family and community mean the world to us here at Different Roads. Technology has given us an incredible platform to reach out to the parents, teachers, grandparents, and consultants who love and educate children on the autism spectrum. We are thrilled that our blog, along with our Facebook and Twitter pages, has given us the opportunity to move beyond products and sales and be an active member in the autism community.
Our Difflearn blog was created specifically for sharing. We’ll be sharing our experiences, our concerns, new and exciting products and events and best of all, our collective treasure of information. It is our hope that you will find the information posted here helpful, practical, and interesting and that it will help all of us – especially our children – learn and grow.
We’re thrilled to have partnered with Stacy Asay, a wonderful, energetic creative behavioral consultant with 14 years of experience in the field. Her work with special needs children integrates a strengths-based, holistic approach to child and family with the tools of Applied Behavior Analysis. Her focus is on equipping children with the tools they need for learning and living while honoring their unique spirit. It is our joint hope that this blog will lead to a dynamic and exciting dialogue between parents and providers, where the free exchange of ideas promotes growth in both our communities and our homes.
And this is just the beginning…We hope that professionals and parents who have advice, information or a story to share will contact us and submit thoughts and ideas for blog posts. We intend for this to be a true community and all who are interested in the education of our ASD children are invited to participate.
Welcome! We look forward to hearing from all of you!
~Julie, Abigail, Jeana & Stacy