Break time... but check out these math websites

Today will be my last post for a little while. Unfortunately, personal life has gotten in the way. I no longer have the gift of time to create thoughtful and helpful posts. Thank you to everyone who checked out my blog for ideas. Good luck to everyone on their journey to raise your fabulous children, especially if you have the added challenge of having a son or daughter with autism. Keep learning and growing and doing your best.

Before I go I will share one last thing:
I attended a math workshop at my son's school. Learning math is no longer about memorization and monotonous math problems that you practice over and over. It is about understanding why we do things, working with hands-on materials and problem solving. Technology is the way of our world. Thus it is essential that our children learn math, but more importantly, feel confident in their ability to do math

Here are some websites you can visit for more information:

Enriching Mathematics (Cambridge University)

YouCubed by Stanford University

Problem of the week by University of Waterloo

Reviewing your child's IEP (individualized education plan)

It is the time of year when your child's individualized education plan (IEP) will come home for you to review. Here are a few definitions and links to more information

Accommodations
This refers to instruction methods that are specific to your child. It will help tailor the curriculum to your child's learning needs. However, there are no changes to the learning material. Examples might be using special technology such as voice to text software or getting extra time on tests.

Modifications
This refers to changes in the child's curriculum. If there are modifications listed in your child's IEP it means he/she is not working at the same grade level as the rest of the children. If your child has modifications listed on the plan it is important to consider the downside. It could have trickle effects in the rest of their schooling. For example, if they graduate from high school with a modified curriculum they will get a high school certificate and not a diploma. However, you don't want your child to have a negative school experience by doing a curriculum that is too difficult for them.

Alternative
This includes goals that are outside of the standard curriculum. It is the opportunity for the school to help your child with some things that are difficult for your child, but fall outside the curriculum. Some examples include, social skills, organizational skills, and tolerating sensory difficulties. It is important to make sure these goals are written in a specific way and there is a specific plan to reach the goals.

Make sure you review the IEP carefully before you sign it. Don't be afraid to arrange a meeting with the school to have them explain components and make changes. Also, keep in mind that this is a working document and can change at any time.

Here is a link to the IEP guide used by educators in Ontario

Tips for getting your child to do less preferred activities

There are times when children will have to participate in a less preferred activity. Examples, may be doing homework, visiting a relatives house, participating in circle time. Here are some tips to get through it without a full meltdown.



1. Clearly state when the activity is going to end
This can be a simple strategy, and perhaps all that is needed. If a child doesn't know when something is going to end, they think it will go on forever. Just telling them a time can be enough for them to be able to tolerate the activity. If your child doesn't understand time concepts yet, you can use something more concrete. For example, circle time will end after 4 songs. Or we will leave our family reunion after dessert.

2. Use a strategy to allow them to see progress
If the above isn't quite enough you can use a fill in a grid with checkmarks or stickers. Divide a piece of paper into sections that represent even time intervals. After each interval (say 5 minutes) with acceptable behaviour, the child gets to give them self a check (or a sticker). It allows them to see the progression of time, and you can put a reinforcer at the end for them to look forward to.

3. Use a reinforcer at the end
Ideally, the reinforcer should be related to the activity. For example, leaving, or finishing the activity might be a reinforcer in itself. However, you also may need something a little more powerful, such as a favourite activity.

4. Try to include things they like
If possible, try to use elements of things they like in the activity. For circle time ask the teacher to sing songs about their favourite things (like animals, or letters). At a relatives house, try to get others to talk to them about their favourite things, or have a favourite game to play.

5. Offer choice
Every activity has some opportunities for choice if you think creatively. For example, at circle time they can choose where to sit, or what song to start with. For homework, it can be where to sit, what colour pen to use, what subject to do first. These great tips and more can be found in the following book

Getting a conversation with your child going about school

Getting my son to talk about what happened at school as always been difficult. He doesn't provide a lot of information, and he is not particularly motivated to talk about it. Here are some things we have used to improve our conversations about school. It is by no means perfect, but we do get some information.

Share information about your day
Talk about things that happened in your own day to model the type of information you want to hear about. Don't expect your child to share information about their day immediately. But, with time they will understand what type of information to share.

Don't force the conversation
Right after school or at the dinner table is generally when we want to hear about the day. This might not be the best time for your child. They might prefer to give information just before bed, or when you are playing together. You can try asking a general question like "how was school today?". If the aren't interested in sharing anything further than fine, try again later. My son often likes to share information in the bathtub or right before bed. I guess this is when he is relaxed and there are no competing toys or screens.

Try being silly
One of our therapists recommended this approach. You can try asking them if they did something completely wacky to get them to open. For example, ask "Did you fly to the moon today?". Hopefully, they will think that it such as silly thing to say they will tell you something they actually did. I have found that this didn't work particularly well for my son. But, there is no harm in trying.

Get the teacher to send home a calendar or agenda
It is always nice to have a clue as to how to start the conversation. An agenda can be helpful to give you this piece of information. If you know that your child had gym or went to the library, it can be a conversation starter.

Ask specific questions
Once you have your agenda with at least a snippet of information, you're set to ask questions. You can ask "what did you do in gym today", or even "did you play soccer in gym today". This might be just enough to get the conversation started.

Questions to ask your child's teacher

Sometimes it can be hard to get information from your child's teacher about what happens during the day. Likewise, it can be hard to get information from your child with ASD.

In our previous school, it was extremely difficult to get accurate information from the teachers. Often, we would get a response such as "he's doing fine". But fine can mean many different things:
1) Everything is going well
This was mean your child is following the routines, listening to directions, and interacting with the other children. Everything really is fine.
2)Your child is not disrupting the classroom
This one means that your child is not causing any problems for the teacher and other classmates. It also might mean that your child is involved in repetitive interests as a method of not being disruptive. But it also means that they are not necessarily learning anything and not interacting with the other children.
3) There are problems, but the teacher thinks they can handle it
This is what happened at our last school. We set up a meeting with the teacher early on in the school year to discuss what was happening. The teacher reported everything was going well. However, when we got his report card there were signs that this was not the case. For example it said, that he only follows directions when he wants to.

Here are some strategies you can try:
Determine the best way to communicate with the teacher
Determine which time of day is best for the teacher. For example, it may be best to try to call or meet during the teacher's spare versus after school. They may have other things they need to do after school (such as picking up their own kids).

Ask the right questions If you ask general questions, everyone's first instinct is to say things are going fine. You can start with this general question. However, you should follow up with more specific questions. Here are a few examples: Is he interacting with the other kids?, Has he had any disruptive behaviours?, Is he following classroom routines? Is he doing the same level of school work as the other kids?.

Set up a communication log
You can try developing a piece of paper that is quick for the teacher to fill out and gives you meaningful information. It could include a section for desired behaviour (asking questions, playing with the other children, finishing school work) and disruptive behaviour (engaging in repetitive interests, aggression to the other kids, yelling or crying, intolerance to loud noises). Make sure it is simple and is not time consuming.

Apps and Activities for Emotional Intelligence

In a recent post, I discussed how proud I was that my son comforted another child in gym class. Here are a few apps and activities that we used to develop his ability to do this.



Touch and Say
A game for kids with autism which teaches daily routines and social skills through play and practice. Example: Feel (A Happy Face, A Sad Face, etc.), Sing (songs like 'If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands), Talk, Colour, Silly, Look, Letters, Numbers



Emotions, Feelings and Colors! Arts and Social development
From Tribal Nova i Learn With. They have a character called Poko who helps the children identify feelings.



ABA Flash Cards Emotions
Shows pictures of babies, children and adults with the following emotions: Scared, Sad, Bored, Happy, Worried, Sleepy, Thoughtful, Focused, Upset, Afraid, Proud, Frustrated, Surprised, Curious, Mad, Tired, Excited, Unhappy, Hungry, Disgusted.

Acting out a story and identifying an emotion
I wrote a bunch of different emotions on flash cards. Then I acted out a story and paused at different points. I had my son choose the emotion that matched. I chose a story that was motivating to him. It was about buying ice cream, and it falling on the floor. I had him identify about 5 different emotions. He had no difficulty with this activity what so ever.

Tying Shoelaces

Admittedly, teaching my son to tie his shoelaces hasn't really made it on my to-do list. He is six years old and its probably about that time (maybe a bit past), but he has never shown any interest in it yet. However, I saw this youtube video on the news and thought I would post it for any one that is ready to tackle this goal. It is supposed to be an easy way to tie your shoes.

Shoelace video

This is a great book that my kids enjoy. It may help to generate interest in shoelaces or at least get them putting a shoelace through the holes.

Should you disclose your child's autism diagnosis to their classmates

In a previous blog post, I discuss how we will often disclose our son's autism diagnosis to others. In a classroom setting, an ASD child will be with the same classmates for the full year. We felt it was important to disclose the diagnosis to the other children for many reasons. We choose to do this in the form of a class presentation.

1) To foster understanding and acceptance
We them to understand that children with ASD may talk or behave differently from others. We want them to understand why. It's because they have autism. We want them to understand what autism is. We want to encourage the other children to approach and interact with the child with ASD. We don't want them to be scare off by any behaviours that might result from sensory or other challenges.
2) To understand why there may be accommodations
Many children with autism with require some form of accommodation in the classroom. This is often to help them overcome any sensory challenges, to manage behaviours, or to modify the workload to their level. They other kids might perceive this as special treatment if they are unaware of the diagnosis

3) To provide suggestions for interacting with an ASD child
We also want the other children to be aware of some things they can do to help the child with ASD. Also, what they can do to increase the success of the interaction.

So, should you give a presentation to you child's classroom?

It is an individual decision that each parent must make. Here are some things to consider:

1) Does your child know they have autism?
2) What is your child's severity level?
3) How old is your child? What grade are they in?
4) How will give the presentation? The parent?, the teacher?, the child?
5) Is the school and teacher on board?
6) Do you want your child to be present during the presentation?


More on what to include in the presentation next week.

Parenting Tip: Teach problem solving

Sometimes I forget that when a child encounters the simplest problem, they have to learn the solution. You think (in your head of course) how is it possible that you don't know what to do. So often we tell them what to do. But, it is important to let them figure it out. They need to practice so they can have the skills to figure out big problems. My son has a very difficult time finding his lost personal belongings. He will drop them where ever, and then has difficulty finding them even when they are right in front of him. It's easy to just tell him where it is. However he doesn't learn the problem solving skills to find it and to put in the same spot in the first place.

So what can we do as parents. Parenting expert Barbara Coloroso recommends using a statement such as "you have a problem and I know you can handle it". That may be too little help for a child with Autism. They might get frustrated at a too difficult task and have an outburst. However, you can ask leading questions without giving away the answer. For example, "we looked on the floor of the living room, where else can we look". Or if they need further direction you can ask "maybe we can look under something". Then you can try to help them come up with a solution to not loose things. You can apply this to all sorts of problems. Even during play when they are trying to figure out how to put something together.

The key is to ask questions instead of giving answers.

Teach your kids to comfort others

Today was a proud moment. My son’s teacher told us that he asked another boy “Are you ok”. The boy was hurt during gym class. My son (on the spectrum), was the only child in the class to go over to the other child.

This moment was not without hard work. Previously, my son would laugh if someone was hurt, or ignore them all together. We taught him to go up to people if they were upset and ask “Are you ok”. We had plenty of opportunities to practice. My son doesn’t have the greatest spatial awareness. He’ll often stomp on your foot (accidentally) and continue on without showing the slightest awareness. When this happened, we would tell him that he hurt someone and prompt him to say “Are you ok”. Gradually, we started saying things such as “your brother looks sad” and he would go over and ask.

Today, we can rejoice that our efforts have paid off.

Things we love: Going to the park

We find taking our kids to the park to be a very valuable experience. It gives my ASD son (and his brother) a chance to practice his social skills with the other kids in a fairly relaxed environment.

There were a few sensory issues to overcome first. My son doesn’t like long grass on his legs, he doesn’t like the feeling of sand or dirt on his feet. First, we had to get him comfortable going to the park. We did this by bringing a folding chair, so he didn’t have to sit on the ground. We brought lots of snacks so he would have something to keep him occupied. We let him wear his socks in the sandbox and splash pad, so he didn’t have to worry about his feet. He also prefers to wear long sleeves and pants even on the hottest day. We had him wear a sun shirt so he looked less out of place.

Next, we needed things to attract the other kids to come and play. We brought a lot of sand toys and the largest bubbles we could find. Some other great ideas for toys include large colourful balls and a baseball bat. This one kid had a toy where you jump on an air bladder and it sends a rocket in the air. That is a sure way to attract other kids. In the splash pad, we brought balls and toy figures and would put them in the water jets. This would shoot the toys up in the air which attracted some attention.

Gradually, my son became less concerned about the sensory issues and he began playing with other kids. He started having some conversations with them in the sandbox. I facilitated a game of baseball (really just taking turns trying to hit a large beach ball) which was a big hit. The day another child brought an air rocket toys was also a big success.

Parks can also lead to new experiences such as going for a walk through the forest. Again, my son was against doing this at first as it was overwhelming from a sensory perspective, but now he quite enjoys it. Overall, we have had some great experiences going to parks this summer. With fall coming the weather will be cooler, and there will be less bus. It’s a great time.

Managing at school: Getting your child to remember their backpack

Last year, my son needed constant reminders to bring his backpack with him. One day, I forgot to remind him, and we went to school without a backpack. Snacks were provided at that school, so the consequence of no back pack wasn’t to great. Daily reminders are usually not going to do the trick. One thing you can do is start to fade your reminders. You can start by asking “Do you have everything”. This is still a pretty direct cue. Next you can say something a little more indirect such as “Hmm, I think something is wrong”, and try to let them figure it out. Next you can try just blocking your child’s pathway to leave the house. Then you can let them figure out why you are blocking their pathway.

Another thing you can try is a checklist of items at the door to leave the house. You can use a dry erase board to check off each item on the list that they need to bring. Getting them to actually check items rather than just look at the list is usually more effective. Of course, they may need reminders to look at the list. You can expect this will still take a while for child to be fully independent, but it is worth a try.

Things we love: Mini putt

We love mini putt for many reasons. There are so many skills that your child can practice during this game. This includes gross motor, cheering for others, waiting your turn, counting strokes and keeping score. It is also a fairly quiet activity so there are not too many sensory challenges that you have to worry about. However, make sure you pick a mini golf course that is not in a touristy area. They can be crowded and sometimes have large statues that can be overwhelming. Our three year old son was fearful of the large dinosaurs in Niagara Falls. Mini golf courses attached to golf courses are a better option. The children have a great time hitting the ball with the club (or just dropping the ball in hole) and they don’t even realize that they are practice some of the other skills. For now, we are not bothering with keeping score. The focus is still on waiting your turn, holding the club properly and cheering for others. We’ve been four or five times now and each time less cuing is required.

A new direction for a blog

Much of our blog has focused on describing activities you can do with your kids. However, with school starting up, the kids will be doing most of their activities at school. As such, you’ll notice our blog posts will shift to be more about helping your child manage at school, at home and hopefully ideas for some successful playdates. This also means that we will be posting a little less often. You can expect posts two or three times a week. We will post consistently on Mondays and Wednesdays with the occasional post of Fridays.

Should you tell others your child has autism

Here are some things to consider when you are deciding whether or not to tell others

1) Does your child know they have autism
Whether your child should be aware of having autism is another discussion. However, if they are unaware themselves, you may not want to tell others

2) Where is your child on the spectrum and what are their communication deficits
If your child is on the milder side of the spectrum, telling others may result in generalizations. People might treat your child differently in a way that is not necessary. Conversely, if your child does or says something that others perceive to be weird they may not want to continue the interaction. Telling them about the diagnosis can lead to understanding and they may be more willing to continue the interaction.

3) Do you expect to see people one time or on an on-going basis
If you are seeing someone for a short, single episode; disclosing a diagnosis may not be necessary. However, if the interaction is on-going (i.e. at school or after school activity) a disclosure is likely beneficial. It allows others to know what to expect and discuss strategies.

4) Should you raise autism awareness
Your own feelings and opinions are most important. However, telling others about autism is always a worthy cause. This helps others to create understanding. Prior to having a son with a diagnosis my knowledge of what autism was, is drastically different than what it is now. Now I understand the saying "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism".

As for us, we are pretty open about our son's diagnosis. We have found that telling others helps to foster understanding and the other kids are more willing to maintain interactions. We will also be telling our son's class in the form of a presentation to the kids (more in that in the future). Telling other parents and adults will usually lead to some great discussions and even foster friendship and communication among adults. Our primary reason for disclosure is to help our son with social interactions and not autism awareness. However we are happy to help with that as well.

Activity #40: Paper mache pig

Description: This is a two part activity
Part 1: We made the paper mache structure. In this case we made a pig. We put a pudding cup on a balloon for the snout, and parts of an egg carton for legs and ears. We dipped newspaper strips into the flour water mixture and covered the pig
Part 2: After the paper mache pig dried, we painted it with washable paints
Age: 3+
Purpose:
Sensory
Fine motor
Creativity
Prep time: extensive. You have to make the newspaper strips, the mixture. This is also a messy activity that requires a lot of clean up and adult supervision
What you’ll need: Flour and water to make the mixture, for the pig we used a balloon, egg carton and pudding cup, and you’ll need paint.
Fun Factor: The first part of this activity was a challenge. My younger son would not touch the flour mixture. My older spectrum son dipped a few newspaper strips and put them on the pig. After that he had enough. There was a lot of monitoring the kids to keep the mess contained. I ended putting on most of the strips. They enjoyed painting the pig better. They liked changing up the colours and we finished painting the pig together.

Succeeding at School: Prepare a reinforcement package

In order to give my son to have the best chance to succeed at school I created a reinforcement binder for the teacher. My son often does not like to do hard work. But, if there is an incentive at the end (a favourite activity), he usually will complete the work. The reinforcement binder has some favourite activities: mazes, streets signs, and maps. The idea is the teacher can say “when you are finished this activity, you may choose something from your binder”. He will then get to look through the binder and pick what he would like to do. It works out nicely, that our most of our son’s favourite activities are marker and paper activities. However, you can provide a box of quiet toys, favourite books or magazines to look at. An added bonus, is that the other children may become interested and lead to socialization opportunities.

Today, was our school visit before the first day as part of our transition plan. We presented the binder to the teaching staff. We also let our son have a look through it and pick out a reinforcer. He finished a few of the activities while he was at the school. He now has developed some excitement about going to school. We’ll keep you posted as to how the binder is working out during the first week.

Products we love: High Five Magazine (Highlights)

This is the Kindergarten version of Highlight Magazine. I used to receive a Highlights Magazine every month when I was a child. I looked forward to getting one every month. The kindergarten version is full of short stories and activities including: hidden objects, what’s the same/different and that’s silly. It also has recipes and craft ideas.

The kids enjoy listening to the stories and doing the activities. Their favourite is the “That’s Silly” page, were you look for all the silly things in the scene. I like it because it introduces new reading material into the house. My son is a good reader, but we have read all of our household books multiple times. With a few new stories every month, we can ensure he is comprehending the stories. Sometimes I will even make activities based on the stories to practice comprehension. For example, one story was about buying things at a grocery store. I made little piece of paper with the names of foods at the grocery store. I had the boys pick out the items they bought in the story.

Checkout the Highlights website for more information

Activity #39: Alphabet scavenger hunt

Description: The children had to find objects around the house that started with each letter of the alphabet. I wrote all the letters of the alphabet on a piece of paper. When the kids found an object they put it with the matching letter. For my son that loves road signs, he had to find come up with a street name that started with each letter. If he couldn’t think of one, he had to look it up in a map book.
Age: 3+ or when they know their alphabet
Purpose:
Alphabet
Matching
Phonics
Search and find
Prep time: minimal
What you’ll need: a piece of paper and marker
Fun Factor: My 3 year old sustained his attention until about “M” and then he lost interest. He enjoyed finding animals and objects to match the letters. My older son finished writing streets signs for each letter. It was somewhat difficult for him to think of a sign for each letter, but street signs are very motivating for him. At the time, I thought he didn’t enjoy it that much. However, a week later he asked to do it again.

Tips on dealing with tantrums

Unfortunately, tantrums happen from time to time. Even if you have done everything ahead of time to try to prevent them from happening. Here is what to do if you find yourself in the middle of a tantrum.



Stay calm and neutral
When your child is having a tantrum, it is important to keep calm yourself. First, make sure everyone is safe. In a calm, neutral voice you can state “You are feeling sad”. After this, sit near your child (but not touching them), keep your body still. Try to be silent or say very little, until your child is calm. Children are not able to taken in verbal information when they are upset.

Do not reinforce the tantrum
As a parent our first instinct is to do whatever we can to make the tantrum stop. But it is important that this behaviour is not rewarded. Some things we do can be rewarding to a child, even if you wouldn’t think so. For example, yelling at the child can be reinforcing because they know that they angered you. That is why it is important to stay calm and neutral.

“When your calm we can talk”
For older kids with good comprehension you can say “When you’re calm we can talk”. When I say this my son will immediately stop crying and say “I’m calm, “I’m calm”. Even though he stops crying I know he still needs some time (He is still breathing heavy and fidgety). I might follow this by saying “I will know you are calm when your arms and legs are still and you are breathing normally”.

Quietly start another activity
For younger less verbal children you can start quietly playing with another activity that your child may find interesting. Do not actively draw attention to the actively (ie Don’t say “Come over here an play”). The idea is to for your child to decide they want to stop crying and come over without reinforcing the crying.

Talk it out
Once your child is completely calm you can talk about what happened. Usually, my son’s threshold for another tantrum is much lower. Depending on the situation you may decide to prompt your child to say the appropriate response and then reinforce it (“Can I have a cookie” and give them a cookie”). However, if the tantrum is occurring regularly you may say “Next time you’ll remember to ask nicely”.

Try to figure out why it happened
Think about the incident and try to figure out why the tantrum occurred. Write down what happened before the tantrum. Write down what happened afterwards. Also keep note of the time of day, the environment, when did they last eat, is there a sensory component. Your strategy to prevent one next time will depend on this. For example, occasionally my son will have a tantrum that is completely unexpected. The exact same scenario on a different day would not lead to a tantrum. We started to realize that when he was hungry his threshold for having a tantrum was a lot lower. So, part of the solution was to keep him well fed.

Activity #38: Thomas the train ramp race

Description: My younger son is a big fan of Thomas and friends. My older ASD son likes trains ok, but its not his top choice. I created this activity in the hopes that they would work together. We used one of our ramps and sent each train down one at a time. Then we marked it on the floor with painter’s tape. The purpose was to see which train would go the farthest.
Age: 3+
Purpose:
Measurement
Cheering for each other
Writing
Fine motor (tearing tape)
Prep time: minimal
What you’ll need: a ramp and trains. If you don’t have trains you can use cars or anything that rolls
Fun Factor: It took a few trains to get things going, but after that we marked down every single train that we had. This was really engaging for my ASD child, my Thomas the train lover son preferred to do pretend play. They wanted to do again a few days later, so I would say it was successful.

Getting your child to do household chores

One of my earlier blog posts was about the importance of getting your child to help out around the house. Turns out this is easier said than done. While I would get enthusiastic helpers once and a while, most of the time, I got a big “No”. I have read a lot of parent articles about whether or not to pay your child to help out around the house. At first, I was leaning to the side of not paying kids. But, it is very motivating to earn money to buy a new toy. So, we set a goal with a dollar amount, and gave the kids a dollar every time they helped out with something around the house. We wrote the dollar amount on a white board (because we didn’t have any loonies available), but giving them an actual dollar may be more tangible. After, they earned the goal, we went to the store to buy the item. An example of how motivating this can be: My son is afraid of washing machines, because the spin cycle is too loud. He agreed to come downstairs and transfer the wet laundry into the dryer. That was a pretty big win.

Activity #37: Sorting

Description: Have your children sort various objects into muffin tins. Objects that we have sorted include bread tags and puffs. You can have them sort but colour (easiest), but also by size or shape etc. You can also weave other learning opportunities within this activity such as counting (How many green puffs are there?).
Age: 3+
Purpose:
Colours/shapes/size (other descriptors)
Counting (How many green puffs are there?)
Sequencing (Can you give me five white bread tags?)
Skip counting (How many purple bread tags are there?, arrange into rows of 5 and skip count)
More and less (which pile has more?)
Prep time: minimal
What you’ll need: muffin tin (or containers), and objects to sort (bread tags, craft puffs, buttons etc)
Fun Factor: I have done this activity on multiple occasions with my children. They enjoy playing with objects and sorting them by colour. Every so often I will ask them a questions while their doing it, so they don’t even know they are being quizzed. If you have a lot of things to sort, you can do this multiple times.

Activity #36: Highway onramp and off ramp craft

Description: This activity was my sons idea (with me taking it to the next level). He wanted to draw highway on-ramps and off-ramps, but you really need to make it 3D. We used cardboard and and construction paper to make an overpass and then added on-ramps and off-ramps.
Age: 5+
Purpose:
Scissor skills
Using tape
Creativity
Learning about structure
Prep time: This is a pretty parent intensive activity as cutting construction usually requires a knife. The kids will also require help to make it stable.
What you’ll need: cardboard, construction paper, tape
Fun Factor: My son was initially resistant and drew on paper while I started making the overpass. Once, he realized what I was doing he got really into making the off-ramps and on-ramps. He cut out the shapes of the ramps with construction paper and I cut out the cardboard to support it. It actually turned out pretty strong and we could actually drive the cars on the ramps. This activity kept us going for about an hour.

Activities we love: Camping

Why we like it: Camping can be a challenging experience for a child with autism. My child has a fear of automatic toilets, and flying insects. He also doesn’t particularly like grass or dirt on his feet. However, we feel camping is a great experience to expose him (gently) to his fears, meet new people and develop coping skills in the real word.

Preparation is key:
1) Choose a camp site where there are a lot of kid friendly activities: We like places with large pools, water slides, playgrounds and recreational activities. A restaurant on site is also great if the camp food doesn’t go over well
2) Have a plan to help them manage their fears: we brought a large blanket so he had a space free of grass. We bought a tent with enclosed netting to help manage the bug fear. We brought urinals and a portable toilet to manage his fear of automatic toilets (which limits us going to the washroom at rest stops).
3) Bring favourite foods and snacks: Meltdowns often occur more easily when the kids are hungry. It is important to make sure you have well liked snacks that are easy to grab when you’re in the car, setting up equipment and cooking.
4) Prime your child on what to expect: Discuss before hand a general game plan, the drive, rest stops, setting up equipment, activities available and downtime. Avoid having a rigid schedule as flexibility is required.
5) Bring some favourite activities: allow them to have some time to spend with their repetitive interest to help regulate their emotions
6) Bring just in case items: prepare for rain, cold weather etc, to avoid negative experiences.

We have camped twice this summer, and we a third trip planned. We have learned from each experience and improved our preparation for each trip. Both of our boys enjoyed the experience, and aside from screaming at a few bugs there were no major meltdowns. We were able to meet some other kids and practice our conversation and play skills. The boys are looking forward to our next trip.

Activity #9: Pillow sandwiches (Repost)

When I first did this post, I said that I would sew some sandwich toppings to make the activity even more fun. I promised that I would post a picture when it was done. So, as per promised.



I used different textures and lentils to create different weights and sensory experiences. I made swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, bean bag ketchup and mustard, lettuce (also with beans to make it heavy), tomato with beads to add a texture, and cucumber.

Description: Use couch cushions, throw cushions and blankets to make a giant sandwich with your child as the meat. Get your child to lie down on the “bread”, and asked them what meat they want to be and what toppings they would like to have on it. Then put the top slice of bread on and grill the sandwich by pushing down on the pillows. They will also enjoy putting toppings on the parents.
Age: 2 and up
Purpose:
Proprioception
Pretend play
Turn taking
Labelling
Prep time: minimal to moderate
What you’ll need: Couch cushions and various colours of thrown pillows and blankets
Fun Factor: This was a big hit. The kids like to be squished in between all the pillows and climb on top to grill. It was such a big hit, I will be putting my sewing skills to the test to try to make some more realistic toppings. I have also done this activity with some other kids, and they found it equally fun.
Safety tip: Make sure the child who is being squished has their face visible at all times. Also, the sandwich can get pretty high, so make sure you watch the child doing the “grilling” closely.

Tips on improving scissor skills

Here are some tips on getting your child to improve their cutting skills.


Teach thumbs up, and “helper hand” Have them give a thumbs up before grabbing the scissors. Teach them that their non-dominant hands is the “helper hand” and has a job of its own.


Use thick paper Thicker paper is easier to cut than thinner paper. This is because it stays stiff and doesn’t flop over when they are cutting. Try using card stock (construction paper isn’t thick enough).


Use 1/4 sheets paper Normal sheets of paper (8.5x11) are hard to cut because they flop over when the child is cutting and are harder to manipulate. If you cut the paper into quarters, it is easier for the child to cut.


Cut PlayDoh to build strength Have your child roll the dough in to worms and cut them with PlayDoh scissors. This can build strength in the muscles required for cutting. PlayDoh is fun and a great way to develop fine motor skills. Playing with tongs and tweezers can also develop strength.

Cut between two lines Have your child cut between two straight lines that are about 1cm apart (or one thick solid line). Gradually decrease the distance between the lines and add curves and simple shapes


Cut out motivating shapes Our son loves street signs. His scissors skills really improved once he started drawing and cutting out street signs. These signs were posted all over the house. We also took pictures of highways exits and cut them out and made a map. This was another motivating activity that got a lot of scissor practice. Pick your child’s favourite foods, TV characters, toys etc. to help get them excited about doing the activity.


For more information and resources check out Canchild.ca (Scroll down to resources for JK/SK)