I'm just curious if there are certain things that cause tantrums with your child? What is it that sets your kid off? For my wife, it's leaving the toilet seat up. : )

Do you have routine or ways to avoid these triggers?

I'm just curious what kind of vacations you and your family have taken? What has been your favorite vacation? Did you fly? What did you do on the vacation? As usual, answers will be graded...

Basic matching is one of the first lessons taught in an ABA program with kids with Autism. Generally a therapist will start with “nesting items” such as bowls or cups. You put one bowl on the table and hand the other bowl to the child. Then you teach the child to “match” the two items.

Dear Parents,For some reason I'm fighting with how I want to begin this blog, so I think the best way is to jump right in....My beautiful son Liam was born January 27th, 2007. I began to worry that something was wrong when he was only 5 months old. Liam hit all his milestones very late, which for a 1st time Mom can be upsetting and frustrating, but for me I always had this nagging feeling that something else was wrong. Of course, the general.."He's just a baby, you put too much pressure on him, all 1st time Mom's worry like you do" would come from everyone I talked to about my concerns. Liam never really made eye contact with me, he never turned to his name, he didn't crawl until he was 14 months, he had unbelievable feeding issues when it came to solid foods, and although he liked having me around it seemed like he didn't care whether I was there or not. It wasn't an issue of Liam hitting milestones or not.. it was all the things I mentioned put together plus a gut feeling that made me bring this up to Liam's Doctor when we were there for his year well-baby visit. She told me that I worry too much and that Liam is just fine. I'm almost glad now that she pissed me off so bad, because it lit a fire. My gut instinct was now screaming at me to get Liam help. I thought, if she doesn't want to listen to me I'll find someone who will. I immediately called up the Doctor that I had when I was a little girl and BEGGED, SOBBED, and PLEADED for him to see Liam.  read more »

   A common challenge with children and adults with autism is their ability to communicate. Many a parent and therapist will tell you that Picture Cards are one of the best tools to aid in communication with individuals with Autism, whether the individual is verbal or non verbal.

Many people with autism tend to be visual learners. While some people respond to the spoken word and others to the written word, people on the autism spectrum often learn and communicate best with pictures. For some individuals with autism, pictures are the only way they can let you know what they want.

If your child has no spoken language, you can use pictures to figure out what they want and help them let you know that desire. Here are a few examples:

1.       You may take pictures of various foods that your child enjoys, attach magnets to them, and put them on the refrigerator. This way, when your child is hungry, they can go to the refrigerator, and point to the appropriate picture, or even take it off the refrigerator and bring it to you.  read more »

Integrating Your Child into the Classroom

When you first begin your one-on-one intensive teaching program with a child with Autism or Developmental Delay, the environment is very structured. Often one child will sit alone at a table with one teacher or therapist. The teacher and student are just a few feet away from each other, to minimize the outside distraction.

As a child progresses, the teaching sessions will gradually become more natural. Perhaps the teacher will stand up and walk around the room. Instructions which were once short, concrete sentences may become longer, multi-part directions. This new structure is intended to simulate a classroom environment, where children must attend to a teacher who is at a distance, working with the entire classroom.

A good way to move toward this integration process is to use items which are familiar to the child from their one-on-one, structured environment, in new and different ways. Accordingly, while the instructions and style of the lessons may be different, the materials used will not pose an added distraction.  read more »

I'm just curious what kind of computer or video games your children like to play? What is your kid's favorite video game? It seems now days kids don't want toys, they want to sit in front of a screen. Do you set a time limit for video games?

I have a 5 year old son who has autism, But my main scare with him, is that he is a head banger.... He has broken all the windows in my house just by headbutting them. Does any one out there have any ideas that I might be able to use???

Thank you
Kari

I'm just curious what kind of help or care you get when you need someone to watch your child? Do you have a particular friend or family member who often helps you out? Would you trust a regular old babysitter? Any tips that you can share with other parents?

I'm just curious what kind of Christmas gifts you think are appropriate? What has been your kid's favorite Christmas gift? I'd like to get everyone's feedback and maybe start a nice list of gifts that can be a resource for parents of autistic children.

I'm just curious what kind of books you like to read to your children? What is your kid's favorite book? When I was a kid I could not get enough of Where the Wild Things are, and I still love this book.

I'm just curious what kind of television or movies your children like to watch? What is your kid's favorite thing to watch? Is there anything that you try to get your kids to watch or not watch?

We  thought we had a great idea!  It looked like it was helping.  We all had the best intentions, believe me. Here's what happened:

  JohnPaul, who is 13 and has autism, does have impulsive reactions when he is angry.  I don't think he can even identify in his own mind that "Son of a gun, I'm angry!", but he definitely does get angry at times, and his reaction is usually one that a much younger kid would have - hitting or calling the person he is mad at insulting names, or throwing something (usually something small).  Since he likes to draw, one of his sisters had an idea to have him draw a picture that would express his angry feelings.  He came up with a good one.  He drew a picture of her (he was mad at her), with a speech bubble coming out of her mouth saying "I'm Therese, and I'm a weenie".

Wow!  The picture diffused the anger, and plus he got a lot of positive attention for the drawing.  OK, he likes this form of therapy, so for the next few weeks, whenever he gets riled at someone at home, he draws pictures and then tapes them in a prominent place for all to see.  But they turn violent.  He's mad at his other sister, so the picture is of him laughing smugly while she is electrocuted with Christmas lights wrapped around her.  He gets mad when I insist he must take a shower, and then an entire series of comic book vignettes appears on the fridge involving me in a guillettine, me falling thru a trap door, me getting run over by a truck...while he stands nearby.

Whew.  The last straw was the picture of his younger sister's bottom being roasted in the fireplace.

OK, the tantrum rate has gone way down, but the sadism level has gone sky high.  read more »

I'm just curious what kind of bedtime routine you and your children have? Sometimes it can be tough to get any kid into bed and sleeping. What tricks and tips do you have that you can share with other parents?

I'm just curious what kind of food your children like to eat? What is your kid's favorite thing to eat? Is there anything that you try to get your kids to eat or not to eat? I'd like to get everyone's feedback and maybe start a nice list of foods that can be a resource for parents of autistic children.