Very often, we tend to take the skills we have for granted and being able to categorize is one of them.
Category matching is one of the essential skills in everyday life. Many things we do everyday rely on mentally categorizing items or events. For example, grocery shopping- knowing which aisles the things on your shopping list belong to - and traveling - knowing which bus direction you should be taking for a particular trip.
In fact, the importance of categorization goes beyond the basics. More abstract skills such as being able to think flexibly, requires categorization skills. To be able to blend well in a social group setting, an individual needs to understand that sometimes, routine could be disrupted. During play time for example, children might choose to substitute the materials of a particular game for another. Flexible thinking in this case is required for any child to understand that we can use the hula hoop like a skipping rope or use a skipping rope for tug of war game.
One can never stop stressing the importance of flexible thinking. Flexible thinking may help lower the stress level of a child when he or she understands that there are more alternatives to one set of rules. For example, if we cannot find crayons to colour a picture, maybe we could use colour pencils or even paint instead. It may seem like a very ordinary event to us but to some children with autism, slight change of routine could result in high level of unwanted stress and even meltdown. Being able to think flexibly may help to relieve them from these stressful situations.
Categorization may also be useful in learning about safety and one's own well-being. For example, although an abstract idea, a child may learn, as he or she grows up to discriminate between good and bad behaviours of other people so as to have a better idea of who is an ideal peer to stick around with and who is not.
Categorization also extends to the grading system thus facilitating the regulation of one's own behaviour. For example, the volume of one's voice is dependent on the places he or she is at. Quiet places like the library and the theatre requires the lowest volume which is whisper and busy places like the market may allow a much higher volume level.
The importance of being able to categorize although being taken granted by most of us may be a skill that needs hard work to be mastered by many children with autism. Once mastered, we must always practice and maintain the skill with them, expanding on the repertoire of how this skill can be utilized in various ways and situations. More often than not, by practicing this skill with them, we too may learn a thing or two about being mentally and emotionally flexible ourselves!
If you have any suggestions or feedback regarding today's post, please feel free to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com
And please do visit my website www.triumphantkids.com to learn more about the services I provide.
Next post, I am going to discuss about ways we can teach categorization (jump to post by clicking here). Please come visit soon and spread the words around if you like what you have been reading on ths blog so far.
Cheers!
Category matching is one of the essential skills in everyday life. Many things we do everyday rely on mentally categorizing items or events. For example, grocery shopping- knowing which aisles the things on your shopping list belong to - and traveling - knowing which bus direction you should be taking for a particular trip.
In fact, the importance of categorization goes beyond the basics. More abstract skills such as being able to think flexibly, requires categorization skills. To be able to blend well in a social group setting, an individual needs to understand that sometimes, routine could be disrupted. During play time for example, children might choose to substitute the materials of a particular game for another. Flexible thinking in this case is required for any child to understand that we can use the hula hoop like a skipping rope or use a skipping rope for tug of war game.
One can never stop stressing the importance of flexible thinking. Flexible thinking may help lower the stress level of a child when he or she understands that there are more alternatives to one set of rules. For example, if we cannot find crayons to colour a picture, maybe we could use colour pencils or even paint instead. It may seem like a very ordinary event to us but to some children with autism, slight change of routine could result in high level of unwanted stress and even meltdown. Being able to think flexibly may help to relieve them from these stressful situations.
Categorization may also be useful in learning about safety and one's own well-being. For example, although an abstract idea, a child may learn, as he or she grows up to discriminate between good and bad behaviours of other people so as to have a better idea of who is an ideal peer to stick around with and who is not.
Categorization also extends to the grading system thus facilitating the regulation of one's own behaviour. For example, the volume of one's voice is dependent on the places he or she is at. Quiet places like the library and the theatre requires the lowest volume which is whisper and busy places like the market may allow a much higher volume level.
The importance of being able to categorize although being taken granted by most of us may be a skill that needs hard work to be mastered by many children with autism. Once mastered, we must always practice and maintain the skill with them, expanding on the repertoire of how this skill can be utilized in various ways and situations. More often than not, by practicing this skill with them, we too may learn a thing or two about being mentally and emotionally flexible ourselves!
If you have any suggestions or feedback regarding today's post, please feel free to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com
And please do visit my website www.triumphantkids.com to learn more about the services I provide.
Next post, I am going to discuss about ways we can teach categorization (jump to post by clicking here). Please come visit soon and spread the words around if you like what you have been reading on ths blog so far.
Cheers!
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