This is an interesting article about students with special needs at Dexter Middle school “practicing” a Thanksgiving meal. We thought this was a fantastic idea! By preparing children for what to expect at a holiday gathering and meal, either in school or at home, perhaps some anxiety and behavioral issues can be avoided. Do any of you “practice” the holidays to avoid stress and make the event easier for your children?
Tag Archives: behavior management
At the Age of Peekaboo, in Therapy to Fight Autism
This is a really interesting article in the NY Times about early autism diagnosis and the steps taken by one particular family. The treatment is based on a daily therapy, the Early Start Denver Model, that is based on games and pretend play. Do you think your child’s outcome would have been effected if they had received a diagnosis by age two?
From Stim to Power Reinforcers
We’ve been through a ton of stimming. Pin wheels, spinning toys, pouring sand, watching water move from container to container were all familiar stims at our house.
The only one that really struck fear in our hearts was flipping the pages of magazines. At first it was only a particular kind of magazine, but later, any would do. Flipping the pages of a magazine always led to a little tear, then a lot of tearing, which led to trying to fix the pages (by us), which led to hopeless fixes and “help me, please” and then aggressive behavior. Some of you knew where this was leading at “flipping the pages”.
This behavior started very early, at age 3. We were unable to control the behavior. Instead by the time she was 5, we wiped out magazines, hid books and reams of paper, everything flippable was gone from the house. We never read a newspaper, never looked up a recipe in a cookbook and kept computer paper high up on the shelf.
Many years, later, that same obsession is a power reinforcer. The magazine is controlled under specific circumstance, perhaps a haircut or a difficult medical treatment.
The whole premise of Applied Behavior Analysis is working to get what you want. As Joanne Gerenser used to say, “Most people work for the most powerful reinforcer: Money!”
I wish we had understood and used the concept of reinforcement at the beginning and used it to the family’s advantage. I was too scared to introduce it but braver parents can use those stims and obsessions to shape behaviors and make life smoother by creating the right delivery of rewards.
– Julie
Children helping children!
I am always moved to learn about inventive developments in the fields of education and intervention for children with autism. But how often do you hear about interventions being designed for children BY children? Well that is exactly what Zak Kukoff did when he developed Autism Ambassadors. Zak, a typically developing 15-year old, created a curriculum that “will engage typical children and children with ASD’s in a mutually beneficial relationship.” There is research that supports the efficacy of using peer models to facilitate observational learning with children with autism but how often have you seen examples where it has been successfully implemented? We would love for you to share your stories regarding peer modeling or your experience with Autism Ambassadors!
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.
“It’s not me, it’s the Timer.”
The timer is one of everyone’s favorite tools for structuring time and activities for children with autism. It can be incorporated into all parts of daily living.
It was once explained to me that a parent could blame the timer for everything that has to do with transitions.
“It’s not me, it’s the Timer.”
“I know you want to stay in the playground but the timer said it’s time to go home.” Or perhaps, “The timer thinks you might have to go to the potty again.” My favorite at Christmas is, “The timer will tell you when you can open another present.” At our house, the timer was the higher authority. The timer is a fair arbitrator. It didn’t respond to whining or behaviors and it very coolly and serenely had to be obeyed.
It works! You just have to remember to put it in place and use it before you enter the big struggle of wills.
It’s just a simple kitchen timer….BUT we needed one that could count down and count up, it had to have a magnet so it could be easily found on the refrigerator and a clip/stand so one of us could wear it or place it close to us at the table if we were working.
Along the way, we found the Time Timer, invented by a mom of mainstream kids who needed a visual for transitions to stop her kids from asking, “Are we there yet?” The Time Timer is a visual depiction of time elapsing. Kids on the spectrum have a tangible way to see time passing as the red dial disappears.
There are all kinds of timers, and implementing them into any aspect of the day can significantly help in cutting back problem behaviors and anxiety over what is happening next.
– Julie Azuma