Finding the Right Autism Therapy Program or Service for Your Child with Autism.

One of the most stressful tasks that a parent of a child with special needs is finding the right therapy service or program. Very often parents are presented with quite a few options out there that seem and sound effective for the treatment of children with autism. However, usually things may not be what they seem or sound like. And when the seemingly most effective program doesn't work out as expected, many parents become despondent and stressed out. In fact stress is the number one factor affecting many parents of children with autism. So what should you look out for when choosing a suitable therapy program for your child?

Here are some suggestions that you may consider when selecting an autism therapy service for you child. Or if you are already engaging your child in a therapy program, you may just want to make sure that some of these factors continue to be in place so that you continue to receive the results you would expect from the autism therapy program you hired for you child.

• Is the centre, company or therapist providing the autism therapy service reliable? Does the company have a good track record with its clients. Have there been positive referral from parents who have accessed their services for autistic children before?
  
• While you may have good reviews from other parents and professionals about a particular centre or company, you may want to enquire about the therapists available as well. Again, do parents generally have good reviews of any therapists in that centre in particular? How will the therapists reccomended to you be experienced and professional in dealing with your autistic child's learning needs and goals?

• Are you involved in the program delivery to your child with autism? In other words, are you being kept constant inform of your child's development and the progress of the program. Are you being consulted on the various issues that you may be concerned with? Do your therapists and/or consultants take your opinions into considerations and work out soultions based on your concerns and feedback? Are the therapists and the service providers consistent and regular with their reports on your child's progress and learning goals and in their correspondence with you?
  
• Are the therapists working with your child able to build a good and trusting rapport with your child? In other words, does your child feel comfortable working with the therapists or does your child feel intimidated by the therapists' presence? Of course there are children who just do not like to work with other adults but parents should pay attention if the discomfort is of extended periods of time with the therapists are not trying methods to ease things for the child.
   
• Do your child's learning needs and issues match the services that you are accessing? Do the service provider's goals set for your child match his learning needs and issues?
  
• Do the programs of the autism service complement with other programs you are accessing? In other word, do services that you access encourage a holistic approach to learning? At times we have professionals who claim that their programs are the only effective services provided, discouraging parents to seek other professional opnions or to do away with any existing services that they are accessing. Be very wary of claims such as "scientifically proven", "clinically proven" or "only therapy with scientific evidence" because to date nothing is proven that autism can be totally treated by any one approach. Furthermore, while there may be researches with promising results, they do not represent a significant sample size of the autistic population. Researches done on less than a hundred (or even less than that!) of children do not represent enough the numbers of autistic children around the world. In fact, National Research Council (a committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences, NRC, 2001), concluded that the current state of research in ASD suggests that there is no evidence that any one approach is better than any other for children between 1 and 8 years old.
  
• Finally, the one most important aspect is, are you observing any significant gains and progress in your child after accessing the service for a period of time?  Are your concerns being addressed and given solutions that worked for you and your family?

What are some of the challenges you face when seeking a suitable autism therapy program for your child? I would like to hear from you! Email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com to share with me your many concerns regarding providing education for your child with special needs wherever you may be. Maybe you can provide some suggestions for other parents on what to look out for providing an educational structure for their children with autism. Whatever it is, your opinions and feedbacks are greatly appreciated. :)  

Till the next post, with deepest regards.

P.S: You can also leave me a message through my website www.triumphantkids.com!

References:
National Research Council (2001). Educating children with autism. Committee on
Educational Interventions for Children with Autism. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. (www.nap.edu)

The Many Benefits of Play for Your Child With Autism

There are many benefits associated with play. Here are some examples of gains your child with autism may achieve through play -

• It encourages two way communication. As play is a shared experience between at least two people, a child is motivated to establish or to respond to interaction with his peer or another adult.  For example, when blowing bubbles, the adult withold from blowing the bubbles until the child initiates desire to see more bubbles by saying "bubbles" or by tapping the adult and looking intently at him or the bubbles.
• Play helps build meaningful relationships. Play allows a child to have a common goal with the person he is playing with. Also, play gives the adults the opportunities to find ways and methods to draw the child into a shared world so that they can teach him skills through common interests.
  
• It teaches language skills. Doctor Stanley Greenspan, the founder of Floortime Therapy, urged parents and professionals to reap the benefits of the value in playing with their children with special needs. The Floortime Therapy focuses on observing the autistic child's playing patterns and how we can follow the child's lead so as to try and draw him into a shared world with the adult who is then able to impart more complex language skills in a calm and assuring environment provided to the child. Doctor Greenspan explained that emotions are the gateway to intelligence development. As play is a tool to help understand the child's behaviour and therefore, emotion, the adult will have better success in teaching complex langauge and communication skills to the autistic child through play.
• It motivates joint attention. Joint attention is the shared focus of two individuals on an object. The focus can be done through following a gaze or by pointing and gestures. As joint attention is shared focus, it also means that there is the intention of sharing with each other, be it in a form of object (a toy), activity (a game) or an idea (let's find a way to get that cookie in the jar!).  When someone lacks joint attention, meanings of objects and events could be lost due to the lack of focus on the surroundings. When something does not mean much to a person, the motivation to carry out an activity based on the context of that surrounding will be absent. Thus it is crucial to teach and develop joint attention skills for children with autism as it will aid greatly in their social growth. Other benefits of joint attention intervention include improvements in language and communication skills.
  
• Play motivates children with autism to express their emotion in a comfortable and less stressful environment. Children are able to learn to express their emotions in an environment that they feel safe and around people that they can trust. Play also enable to child to be reinforced in a more natural manner such as feeling of joy and happiness when engaged in an activity with another adult. Play therefore build meaningful relationship with people whom the child can feel comfortable relating to.
  
• Play motivates problem solving. Children are more willing to find ways to achieve states of positive emotion such as joy and happiness when they constantly experience the plesasures of play. Thus, they will find solutions to problems that deter them from gaining such states of happiness. For example, a child who is excited by the moving train on the track will try to engage the attention os the adult who is holding onto the train.

What are some of the benefits of play that you can think of? What are some games you play with your child to teach the many functional skills and knowledge in life?

Email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com for further discussions and feedback.
Visit my website www.triumphantkids.com to find out more about the services I provide in Singapore.

Videos: TED Talk by Temple Grandin

This is one talk not to be missed. Temple Grandin speaks about autism and being autistic. Not just that, but also why this world needs autistic people. Children with autism can achieve and not many people can express that as succintly as Temple Grandin. Enjoy and be engaged!

I do not own this video, TED does.
:)

 To learn more about Temple Grandin, visit her Bio Profile page on Ted.

To watch more inspiring TED videos, visit the official website.

Social Behaviours of Children with Autism: Dealing with Challenges 4

This post, we look at the final scenario brought up in the Social Behaviour series. Let us recap:

"Jessica is often being teased by her classmates for talking weird. Whenever she tries to initiate a conversation with them, they will try their best to shun her. These incidents lead to her possessing very low self esteem . She loses confidence in keeping up with her social skills as she reasons that people are going to make fun of her anyway if she tries. She begins to keep to herself more not just in social settings but also at home. This has resulted in other behaviours such as fear and anxiety attacks to be in new surroundings or when surrounded by new people". 

We have talked briefly about how the lack of common knowledge in what autism is may have contribted to the absense of understanding towards the autistic child's social behaviour in public and around others. This common knowledge while is teachable, is often not shared with the public and people involved in the lives of children with autism. When other children and even adults are unaware of what being autistic entails, these people generally inteprete their assumptions of others based on their own mental models. In other words, if the general public (you and I included) sees someone not behaving according to the norms accepted by the general public, he or she is considered as 'weird'.

The school and classroom should be a supportive and encouraging environment for learning and equipment of life skills. How then can we make it so for our children with autism?

• Teachers could seek out more information about autism so that they can be equipped with the knowledge about the issues faced by people with autism. Geared with the relevant information, teachers could then deal with their autistic students in a more empathic manner.
• Teachers who hold the information about autism can then share what they know with their students so that everyone in class understand more about autism.
• There are parents who are at a loss as to help their children who are not coping well in school as well. Thus, parents should also seek out more information on how to cope with the issues relating to school for children with autism. They can then impart the knowledge and strategies to their children who may be able to adopt these strategies to deal with the challenges they face in school.
• Parents and teachers could meet up for a short session of sharing and discussion about the challenges and issues faced in school by the child with autism and everyone involved in his learning environment. They could also exchange ideas and opinions on what they have gathered and learned from the information that they have read up on. They may then be able to cooperate in areas on how to relay such information to the younger children to develop their understanding of their role as classmates and peers of children with autism.
• Parents of other children and classmates should also be informed about autism so that they too have a better understanding of what autism is about. Parents should be encouraged to help impart these knowledge to their children as well, inculcating a sense of understanding and respect towards their peers and learning buddies.
  
• Parents of children with autism on the other hand, could also teach their children more about social rules and understanding and following social cues. Effective communication is a two way street. Having autism is no excuse for not learning to paying attention to other people's social needs and expectations.
   

Everyone has a role to play in making the learning environment a safe and happy place for the children to be in whether they are autistic or not. While it may be a lot harder to make it so for children with autism, it is not impossible. Mindsets have to change and public education has to be in place. Very often, every adults believe that everybody else is responsible to make the right things happen. What results from this is the lack of empathy and understanding between schoolmates, classmates and peers, leading to cases of bullying and social outcasting of individuals deemed as 'weird' or socially inept.

Betrand Russell expressed this phenomenon adequately - "Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd.” If we do not educate ourselves, and then the younger generation about autism or about any other special needs, then bullying and social discrimination will become more commonplace in time to come.

Recommended Readings:

 My Friend with Autism: Enhanced Edition with FREE CD of Coloring Pages!

My Friend with Autism is the exceptional result of parent Beverly Bishop’s determination to educate her son’s classmates about autism, thus helping her son fit in at school. A peer narrator explains that his friend with autism is good at some things and not so good at others—just like everyone else! In an informative, positive tone, he addresses issues such as:

• Sensory Sensitivity
• Communication Differences
• Unique Ways of Playing
• Insistence on Routine

The Autism Acceptance Book: Being a Friend to Someone With Autism

The Autism Acceptance Book is an interactive, educational, and character-building book that introduces children to the challenges faced by people with autism while also supporting their personal journey toward appreciating and respecting people's differences. This book offers educational information, conversation-starters, and engaging exercises that invite children to "walk in someone else's shoes" as they learn to treat others the same ways they would like to be treated themselves.

Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew

Winner of an iParenting Media Award and Finalist in the 2006 ForeWord Book of the Year Awards! Ellen Notbohm’s first book, Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, was a shot heard throughout the worldwide autism community. The unique perspective of a child’s voice is back to help us understand the thinking patterns that guide their actions, shape an environment conducive to their learning style, and communicate with them in meaningful ways. 

Helpful chapters include:

• Learning is Circular: We are all both teachers and students.
• We are a Team: Success depends on all of us working together.
• I Think Differently: Teach me in a way that is meaningful to me.
• Behavior is Communication: Yours, Mine and Ours.
• Teach Me “How to Fish”: See me as a capable adult and hold that vision.

The New Social Story Book, Revised and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition: Over 150 Social Stories that Teach Everyday Social Skills to Children with Autism or Asperger's Syndrome, and their Peers.

Winner of an Outstanding Literary Work of the Year Award by the Autism Society of America, this 10th Anniversary Edition of The New Social Story Book offers over 150 of the most requested Social Stories, each one professionally written by Carol Gray. But it doesn't end there Carol also teaches you how to write Social Stories yourself! Years of experience and trial-and-error have led to updated Story guidelines. Carol explains her fine-tuned process in the included ten-step learning module The Social StoryTM 10.1 Tutorials perfect for parents and teachers!

If you have any questions or feedback, please email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com. Also, do visit my website www.triumphantkids.com to find out more about the services I provide.

Till the next post, best regards,
Daven. :)

Social Behaviours of Children with Autism: Dealing with Challenges 3

In the third scenario of the Social Behaviour series, Henry is a boy who is contented playing by himself. Any attempts from peers and other young children to engage him socially are usually met with non response.

To recap in this case, the child basically has little social awareness and no clear understanding of the benefits in social interaction. Play is also mostly basic and self directed.

What then can be done to encourage more awareness in the social setting and the people around him? And what skills can we help develop so that social interaction becomes more of a natural event for the child?

1:
Joint Attention and Eye Contact
Joint attention is the shared focus of two individuals on an object. The focus can be done through following a gaze or by pointing and gestures. This diagram illustrates simply but clearly what joint attention means.  http://eigsti.psy.uconn.edu/jt_attn.html
As joint attention is shared focus, it also means that there is the intention of sharing with each other, be it in a form of object (a toy), activity (a game) or an idea (let's find a way to get that cookie in the jar!). When there is little or no joint attention, sharing becomes a concept alien to the child.
When someone lacks joint attention, meanings of objects and events could be lost due to the lack of focus on the surroundings. When something does not mean much to a person, the motivation to carry out an activity based on the context of that surrounding will be absent.
Thus it is crucial to teach and develop joint attention skills for children with autism as it will aid greatly in their social growth. Other benefits of joint attention intervention include improvements in language and communication skills.

How Do We Teach Joint Attention?

• We can teach joint attention in a one to one setting, at the table top by encouraging the establishment and maintanence of eye contact. The purpose of the eye contact is to develop the awareness of the person, the person who is going to share the information of an object or activity with him. There is no need to insist on eye contact by telling the child to look at you. Instead, find ways to engage the child so that eye contact becomes a prerequisite before something interesting happens. For example, in order for you to release the top from the spinner, the child has to at least gaze in your direction. Once the child is able to initiate that gaze consistently, then increase the demand of the prerequisite to a brief eye contact and ETC. Another example will be tickles. Some children who are not sensitive to touch enjoy being tickled. Press your thumb and second finger gently together and then ask the child, "Where is the bee?" Make a flying motion with your "bee" while making a buzzing sound. For the first round, give the child a tickle without any expectation. Subsequently, wait for the child to establish eye contact before delivering a tickle.

• We can teach the child to respond spontaneously to 'look' at an object that might be of interest. For example, using the tickle example, after you made your "bee", tell the child, "Look! What is this?" or "Look! (Pause and wait for child to direct his attention to your fingers) A bee! Buzzzz....".

• We teach the child to respond to his name. Once he's able to respond to his name spontaneously on a consistent basis, include the 'look' drill. Make the learning incidental by bringing the drill away from the table top. We can always do this while outside whenever we see something that might be of interest to the child.

2:

Games and Activities
Games and activities are always  a great way for tool to teach social awareness and interaction. Couple these with joint attention intervention and you may be able to see results soon. Children with autism need constant reminder to be engaged with their surrounding and the people around them. Here are some references that may give you some ideas on what activities you can get your child involved in together: 

101 Games and Activities for Children With Autism, Asperger and Sensory Processing Disorders by Tara Delaney is divided into10 chapters covering such areas as engagement, communication and social sense. It is a book that supports learning through play with loads of creative ideas.

Play to Grow! Over 200 Games Designed to Help Your Special Child Develop Fundamental Social Skills by Bryn Hogan provides additional ideas that put fun and education together in an equation. Acquistion of social skills and understanding has never been more exciting! Click on the link for a sample read.

3:
Play Dates
Once your child is at least comfortable with being engaged in activities with you and other family members through joint attention intervention and games play, it is time to introduce some playmates to mingle around with in the child's own turf, that is, in the comfort of his own home. Of course, an adult or two will have to be the facilitator/s for the play date so that the children will not lose engagement. Getting the children involved is fundamental in making the play date a success. Do not fret if the children are not interacting or really playing spontaneously with one another during the first few sessions. Getting them warmed up to the idea of having one another's company is the key priority beofre anything else. I suggest getting more ideas from other parents or professionals on what activities can be organized for the children during the play dates. You can also turn to references such as:

Peer Play and the Autism Spectrum: The Art of Guiding Children's Socialization and Imagination by Pamela J.Wolfberg. This is a comprehensive guide to creating a interactive and fun learning experience for your child and his peers. Lots of ideas for organizing activities in a peer group setting. Click on the link for a sample reading of the book!




Well, that's all for this post on dealing with the challenges in the Social Behaviour series.
Do you have any questions regarding the suggestions listed above? Or do you have any comments as to how to provide some tried and successful solutions to the challenges listed by the above scenario? Please do not hesitate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

In the next post of the social behaviour series, we are going to carry on providing suggestions for the problems brought up in the fourth and last case scenario. So please do come and visit soon!

Regards,
Daven
www.triumphantkids.com