The Importance of One-on-One Time

What an amazing article!  Please read and enjoy.  It will change your perspective on working with your child.

http://www.mindspring.com/~dgn/childart.htm

Peers and Playing Together

Hi Everyone!  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted.  Got a little overloaded for a while.  But I'm back!  I thought I'd post something that might help those working to get kids playing with each other.  It's a response to a question a parent had, but I figured it might help everyone.  She was asking about trying to get her child playing with other kids when all he wants to do is play with his own toy and ignore everyone else.  Here's how I tried to advise:

"Sounds like you've got a tricky situation.  That's common - toys are more predictable, more motivating and less emotional than other kids sometimes   

The first thing I would do is start at the basics.  He won't be able to work with other kids if he's struggling with just attending and engaging with you as an adult.  So, start out by following his lead, joining him in play and getting him sucked into you.  What is he doing with his toy?  How can you join him?  What might help you become an equal player with that toy?

Then, what I would do is expand that into a fun, predictable, cause and effect game.  So, if he's playing with a train, get another train and roll it next to his.  Once he starts watching you and sort of joining with you - copying you or making you copy - then you have a nice little interaction going.  Then, start something predictable.  Take that train, zoom it up above your head while you turn in a circle and then crash it down dramatically.  Do it again and again until he begins to laugh and join you and do it himself.  As you do that, you are creating a routine that he can follow and something that is still interactive and playful between the two of you.  It's still just you and him - forget the rest of the world.  Make sure as you're interacting you're using lots of motivating gestures and tons of affect and drama - this will help him better attend and it will get the other kids going, "Who is that AWESOME lady?!  She seems so fun!"

After you have a game established with your child taking turns or imitating with you and getting more and more engaged, hand another kid a train and say, "betcha can't copy us!"  Suddenly you have three of you zooming your trains in the air, spinning around and crashing down.  Don't worry about your child attending to that other friend yet... just keep them both interested in you.  Slowly the game may change.  Maybe this time you zoom it in the air and then crash down on top of it, looking for it in a silly, puzzling way.  You may have both of them try to find it and you laugh and laugh together.  Then, you have your child do it - sit on his own train!  Ha ha, so funny!  Then, let the other kiddo do it.  Ha ha, so funny!  Pretty soon you're in a turn taking thing where he is actually waiting for that peer to take his turn.  Slowly, over time you'll be able to fade yourself out and just direct the two.  Recognize this will take a while.  Initially you may need to spend a lot of time just having your child engage with you.  Then, you can slowly add peers step by step by step :)"

Utah Symphony and Opera

Just a heads up if you want to register to go to this:


A Concert for Children with Autism and their Families Utah Symphony | Utah Opera offers an annual concert for children with autism, and their families. We present this concert because we know that many families cannot attend cultural events together because their autistic child (children) acts in distracting ways. We feature our Opera Resident Artists with the Utah Symphony on the Capitol Theater Stage in a special concert where everyone understands the difficulty of keeping these children quiet in their seats. This concert is FREE but registration is required.  Register below for the 2010-11 event.

Go here:http://usuoeducation.org/special_needs for more info :)

The "W" in Christmas

 Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even  overspending.

 Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.  My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's Winter Pageant.

 I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production, unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his Teacher, she assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation.

 All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.  Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down.  Around the room I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats.

 As I waited, the students were led into the room.  Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor.  Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

 Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.  So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

 Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.  Those in the front row - center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.

 As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C.  Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

 The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W". The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake.  But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".  Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.  A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen..  In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

 For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

         "C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

  

And, I  believe, He still is.

 Amazed in His presence....humbled by His love.

 Again, HAVE A BLESSED HOLIDAY SEASON.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Autism

As many of you know, I am deeply embedded in the world of autism. This morning, I had a parent send this to me and whether I'm emotional or crazy or what, I don't know, but I sat here and cried. What a beautiful depiction of autism. And more than that, how wonderful it is that people are appropriately and factually spreading information, positivity and help about autism throughout the world. Do me a favor? Send this to someone you know who many not know about autism so when they come across it, they can judge positively.

Profiles of Autism in LDS Congregations

I saw this little video and thought it was very insightful.  Figured I'd pass it on.  Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/2271944