How To Help Your Autistic Child Develop Social Skills

In this article I am going to tell you how to help your autistic child develop social skills. The reason I am going to tell you how to teach your child this is because with the right tools and strategies, you can help your autistic child reach their full potential when it comes to communicating meaningfully with others.

In this article I am going to teach you

• How to turn normal every day activities into fun, learning events
• How to make interactions with your child more meaningful
• How to engage with your child and keep conversations going and
• How to teach them something without appearing to be in teaching mode

Every day events such as meal times, bed time, bath time and travel time can be turned into a fun time where you can interact in a meaningful and productive way with your autistic child.

For example at meal times you can talk to your child about where different foods come from and encourage them to plant and tend to some seeds.

Face your child if possible and ask open-ended questions that encourage your child to answer. Stress certain words, speak slowly, say less so your child does not have to process too many pieces of information

If your child appears stuck or fixated on one topic, talk to them about what they are interested in but then introduce a new idea such as "I wonder what the dinosaurs' favourite food was?

Then give them time to answer and follow with something like "mine is ravioli" and change topic to something about different foods to buy for dinner etc.

This way your child does not notice you have switched topic and almost by distraction you will engage them on other subjects.

Keep bringing the child back to the topic you want to talk about unless it becomes very clear they simply are not interested at that time. If this is the case try later!

Books can also be used for teaching social skills especially ones that are visual, imaginative or have a clear story or lesson to be learned.

Get your child to follow along with what is happening with each character and help them with understanding why some character is saying, what they mean or are thinking and what is really happening in the picture between the different characters.

Using visual aids such as pictures or drawings or even writing words will help explain to your child what you mean when you seem to be at a stalemate.

How To Determine The Best Autism Treatment For Your Special Needs Child

In this article I am going to tell you how to determine the best autism treatment for your special needs child. The reason I am going to tell you this is because each autistic child is unique and has different strengths and weaknesses so there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to determining the best autism treatment for your special needs child.

In this article I am going to teach you the questions you need to ask first to determine the best autistic treatment for your child the types of autism treatment for special needs children, and how to determine the most appropriate autism treatment tailored to meeting your child's needs.

When considering an autism treatment, it is important to ask yourself the following questions which will help point you in the right direction.

1. What are my child's strengths and weaknesses?

2. What is the main concern I have that I want to address for my child?

3. What is the main skill I want my child to have, that they are lacking at present?

4. What activity does my child like that could possibly be incorporated into a treatment?

When you can answer all these questions you will then be in a better position to look at an autism treatment that best suits your child.

The types of autism treatment available include Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), verbal behavior intervention, Gluten Free (GF), Casein Free Diet (CF), occupational therapy (OT), Sensory Integration Therapy, Relationship Development Intervention, Speech therapy, PECS, TEACCH, and Floortime.

Some of the above therapies address behavioural issues, developing social skills and communication. Other therapies are for sensory issues, motor skills development, emotional problems and dealing with food intolerances/sensitivities.

To select the best autism treatment for your child, you need to do your research and ask questions of the specialists working in this field. The program you select needs to address what is covered in the numbered bullet points above.

Try to observe a therapy taking place even if it's a video presentation, talk to other parents of special needs children, and ask how the treatment is structured and how progress is measured.

See if this program meets the needs identified for your child and ask for an estimated timescale for achievable targets and objectives. You need to be confident that the therapy selected will fit in with your child's needs and abilities work with their strengths and develop areas in which they are week.

Do not be afraid to ask for feedback and regular progress reports so you can gauge how your child is responding to the autism treatment. This way you can assess whether a different treatment needs to be sourced.

How To Implement Teaching Strategies And Training For Autistic Kids

In this article I am going to tell you about implementing teaching strategies and training for autistic children. The reason I am going to tell you about this is because autistic children often have a limited learning style and struggle to adapt to new ways of learning information such as in a classroom setting.

In this article I am going to teach you

• how to recognise the learning style of your child, and
• how to help your autistic child adapt to a new learning style

Learning to recognise the learning style of your autistic child is the first thing you need to identify before you try to introduce any more new concepts for training your child.

For example your child may process information visually so looking at pictures, reading books and looking at how something is done will help them learn new information.

If they respond by learning using their auditory senses, then listening to someone teach, listening to a recording or to music will stimulate them to learn.

Alternatively if they are kinaesthetic learners then they respond to touch and will need movement breaks and a certain amount of "practical demonstration" for information to sink in.

Most people use at least two of the above to process information where as autistic kids seem to focus mainly on one learning style to the exclusion of the other two.

These are the areas that need to be developed and how they are developed will depend on the learning style to be worked on.

For example if your child is a visual learner, try talking about what is happening as it is happening and check periodically for comprehension. This will encourage them to develop their auditory skills where they will learn how both are related and used to learn.

If you child learns more through physical stimulation, try to incorporate visual and or auditory elements into the training so that they learn to respond to different stimuli.

If your autistic child fixates on something; to break the deadlock incorporate their interest into a story by starting off talking about what they are interested in and then deviating slightly by introducing a new twist such as "that train looks the fastest I have ever seen, I wonder would that train take us to the Zoo?" (and then talk about the Zoo).

Be persistent in trying to introduce new ideas to your child to open their minds to new things.

The above provides a general guide to implementing teaching strategies and training for autistic children, use this information to help your child learn to the very best of their ability.

Other Health Impairment: When Does Your Child With a Medical Diagnosis Need an IEP Instead of a 504?

Other Health Impairment is a disability category under the United States federal law, The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Many parents are unaware that their children with chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome are eligible for an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Just having one or more of these diagnoses does not make a child eligible for special education; the disability must also adversely affect your child's educational performance.

Many children have one or more of these diagnoses and function quite well at school and have no need for a specialized plan. In general, school personnel have worked hard to learn how to accommodate the needs of children with health impairments. Many children with health impairments are put on a Section 504 plan based on the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This is not the same thing as an IEP. A 504 plan usually offers the child accommodations to help them be more successful in the general education setting. 504 plans may be adequate for many children with health impairments. However, there are three conditions that often markedly affect children's educational performance; attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Tourette syndrome.

Many schools will put children with these three disorders on 504 plans first, rather than assessing them for special education. If your child only needs accommodations, then a 504 plan is great way to assist your child, with a health impairment, to be more successful and to not be discriminated against. If the 504 plan is working then there is no reason to look for alternative solutions. However, if your child is on a 504 plan and their behavior is not improving and you believe their educational performance is being significantly affected by their disability you may want to request a special education evaluation.

IEPs are much more comprehensive than 504 Plans. Accommodations are only one part of an IEP. IEPs also include annual goals and objectives tied to the core content standards and specific service delivery from special education teachers and/or related services personnel (such as Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists and Behavior Specialists). Although they are both based on United States federal laws with similar procedural safeguards, students who exhibit significant behaviors related to these disabilities are usually better served with an IEP. If your child does not qualify for an IEP, then a 504 Plan would be the next best thing. If you decide to request a special education evaluation, put it in writing. Each state has laws in effect pertaining to how long after the school district receives the request that they need to meet with you to have you sign permission for an evaluation to begin.

No Shame on You

As the dad of a 13 year old autistic boy, this is advice I would give to a younger me.

You feel some shame for your sons condition. Don't. There is no shame in being disabled. This should be obvious but it is not.

I had an interesting discussion about shame with a friend. They talked of feeling shame. They suffered through an illness and now there are things they can no longer do physically. They are now disabled and were ashamed to admit it.

Society has conditioned us to feel shame if we deviate at all from the status quo we see in the media. If you don't look like Megan Fox or George Clooney, you should be a little embarrassed. But if you, God forbid, become disabled through an accident or illness, you should feel shame. Not sadness over loss, but out and out shame.

You're disabled? You should hide.

You should tell no one.

Don't open up to others about what you are going through.

Life is always grand, we never go through any difficult times.

Fake it till you make it.

That is my least favorite one. I understand where it comes from. But if you fake it and then never make it, you're just a faker. Nice advice. Just lie to everyone and most importantly to yourself, forever. Great.

When I look around and see people with giant Cheshire cat grins on their faces, I always wonder: Real or replica, blissful or bitter?

People feel shame in disability when they should not. You should not feel shame for being something you did not chose. It is what it is.

Why do we suffer in pain, silently? Alone. Quieted by the shame. Why do we feel shame at all for suffering from a disability we did not chose?

We don't (and shouldn't) feel shame about your height, bone structure, skin color, or race, things we didn't decide. No one chooses disability.

In that way my son is lucky. He does not have societies baggage to deal with, shame is not something he struggles with. We have no shame in being who we are.

He could run through a Walmart, butt naked screaming and feel no shame. (Being Walmart, no one would even give him a second look, come on people, its Walmart).

Oh to be like my son and be yourself 100% of the time and feel no shame.

Inclusion in Mainstream Schools for Children With Learning Disabilities

In this article I am going to tell you how inclusion works in mainstream schools for children with disabilities. The reason I am going to tell you this is because inclusion can work very well for most special needs children.

In this article I am going to teach you

• The advantages and disadvantages of inclusion for children with learning disabilities
• The factors to consider before your child joins the same classroom as other "regular" students
• How to assess a successful inclusion program for your child with learning disabilities

There is a legal need to give an education system to children with disabilities in the "least restrictive environment".

As a means of interpreting these requirements, mainstream schools try to accommodate students with special needs or disabilities and integrate them into the classrooms along with their "normal" peers as much as practically possible.

To do this, they first need to consider the level of disability and effects of the disability on the child, and consequently the potential impact on fellow students and teaching requirements.

Inclusion can bring about a win-win situation for all students where special needs children can learn social skills from their peers. They will also receive the same or a similar education as them, and the typical mainstream students will get to appreciate diversity, learn empathy and build mutually rewarding friendships with other special needs children.

However, inclusion may not always work well. For example a student may be disruptive, need more help than other students, and the teacher may have to spend more time with that student while the rest of the class receive less attention and teaching time.

The class may also be distracted by the special needs student and the teacher may struggle with limited ability in dealing with special needs children.

Before your child is included in a mainstream classroom setting, it is important to decide in advance how your child would respond to a greater number of children in the classroom, a faster pace of teaching, and how they would interact with their regular peers who have always been in mainstream education.

For successful inclusion of your special needs child, the school needs to have a number of educational components in place. These include having a curriculum that is language based and a form of teaching that progresses throughout the day and achieves measurable goals.

The curriculum for children with learning disabilities must also address multiple skill development and record pertinent data, with frequent review and change where necessary.

By considering the above factors, you will be able to make an informed decision about what would be the best educational option for your child. I wish you the very best of luck with educating your child no matter what option you chose.

Making The Most Of The Special Education Process For Educating Special Needs Children

In this article I am going to tell you how to make the most of the special education process when it comes to educating your special needs child.

The reason I am going to tell you this is because it is so easy to become overwhelmed when it comes to matters concerning the education of your child and finding your way around the special education process.

In this article I am going to teach you

• The main mistakes that parents of special needs children make in the Special Education Process
• How to make sure that you get the most out of the Special Education Process

Firstly, the main mistakes parents make in the special education process are mainly around poor record keeping and not understanding what they are signing or agreeing to. Withholding information, misinterpreting information and making ill-informed decisions are other mistakes that parents tend to make.

As a parent, not only do you know your child better than anyone else, but there will be some information that can only be gathered by specialists. This information will be very necessary for special educational people to access to decide the best education plan for your child.

If you are unsure of anything, you need to ask for clarification and be very sure of the understanding of anything you are asked to sign as it is very hard to get some things overturned or amended when you formally agreed in writing.

Do not feel under too much pressure to sign something you have not had a chance to read in full or if you feel you are not quite sure if you have understood correctly what the implications are if you do sign for something concerning educating special needs children.

Poor communication with the school or difficult relationships with educational personnel resulting in decisions being made for your child whether wrong or right also cause great distress for parents who are trying to find their way around the special needs process.

To make sure you get the most of the special education process, it is vital you keep correct and up to date records about your child and agree to have your special needs child take part in relevant and important educational and developmental assessments.

Having your child assessed is never easy but it is so important if they are to get the most from the educational system they are either part of or will form part of.

It is also vital to keep up a professional relationship with all relevant special education staff and not to withhold information which may be pertinent to your Child's educational welfare.