How Experience is a Splendid Thing!

How do we let a child know what a dog looks like? Well, by showing him a dog and by telling him that what he is looking at is a dog! However, children with autism may have difficulty accommodating the fact that dogs look differently or that there are many different kinds of dogs.  Showing the child pictures of different dogs may aid in accommodation of the idea that there are more kinds than that one dog he had been exposed to. Thus this brings us back to the importance of categorization- when teaching a child to categorize the different kinds of dogs (for example, big dogs vs small dogs or dogs of different breeds) facilitates the gathering and locking in mentally of information regarding dogs. 

As discussed in the previous post about choice making, information is crucial in the process of choosing. Not just children with autism or other special needs but all children and all adults – everyone – have to rely on their past experiences to retrieve what they know and like about something in order to choose what they prefer. 

Of course, it may be so much easier to make a choice when presenting the items in front of the child. However, the purpose of not presenting the items - if you remember from the previous post – is to encourage thinking. Furthermore, at times it is difficult to present the selection available or allowed within sight due to several reasons such as it is impractical to bring out the items from the pantry and playroom and line them up in front of a child whenever a choice has to be made. Furthermore we want to teach the child to initiate thinking and communication. Yes, a child may get tempted to try a piece of tasty looking candy or she may get excited over a cause and effect toy being demonstrated in front of her. But the real world is a place that, most of the time, demands people to rely on their past experiences to initiate choice making.  

Also, a child’s ability to make use of more complex language in making choices depends on their degree of exposure to various experiences. Think the difference between “I want biscuit” versus “I want to eat chocolate biscuit” or “I want ball” versus “I want to play basketball”.  Thus this leads us to the following formula – 

Experience →Thinking → Choice (motivation) → Language (Communication)

Simply put, positive experiences motivates a child to think on how to get the preferred item or activity that he wants and language is the common tool used to achieve that goal. In other words, experiences that are meaningful play a huge role in eliciting communication from a child whether he is verbal or nonverbal (understanding the fact that nonverbal children always have other options of communication available to them). 

There are so many reasons why we must conscientiously, purposefully and constantly expose our children to various new experiences. The above examples are just a few. It is time we as adults take more responsibilty and action in engaging our children with activities and information we often take for granted as we were growing up neurotypically. We must also not forget that taking time out to enagage our children with activities that create positive experiences helps in the cultivation of positive relationships between the adults and the children. Surely positive relationship is another key to increased positive behaviour towards learning!

If you like what you have read today, please help spread the words around. And please do bookmark this blog and come visit regularly for teaching and autism based content. Also, do not hesitate to email me with any feedbacks or questions. I will also be adding more contents to my website. However for now, you may still want to visit it to find out more about the services that I provide.

Till the next post, I wish you and your children all the best. :)

Teach your Child Through Music

Does your child love music? Are you searching for an avenue to expose your child to more positive experiences and new skills acquisition? Fisherman Music School (Singapore) may be the place for your child!

From what I gather, the school is currently planning to open up sessions for children with autism and special needs. It will be a great opportunity for these children to be exposed to new experiences via music based instructions as music is one of the many mediums out there that are helpful in promoting social and attention skills.

For more information about the special needs program, please contact the school directly by visiting their school's website. Or email them here.

Please do not hesitate to fish for more information as I believe this is one opportunity not to be missed as there are not many music schools in Singapore that provide such a service!

Till then, I am signing off till the next post which will be up very soon. Do come back for an informative visit and spread the good words around.

Regards and to you, the very best. :)

Encourage Thinking Through Making Choices

This post, I have decided to look at how making choices in our daily lives facilitates thinking and how allowing children to make informed choices about what they enjoy or desire might encourage thinking. 

However, first we have to understand why we think. We think because the result or outcome is meaningful to us. As we get older, the opportunities for us to think increase. We no longer and should not rely on our parents to think for us. To be independent, we have to initiate thinking.

So, how do we encourage thinking? We could do so through everyday events and activities. For example, during art and craft, instead of listing out the things that you want the child to draw, read out a scenerio for the child to think of what could be drawn. For example, instead of saying to the child, "Draw a sun, a boy and a dog", we could say, "It is a sunny day. A boy is bringing his dog out for a walk in the park".  Instead of telling the child what colours to give to the pictures, ask the child to choose what he or she wants the colours to be. It doesn't matter if the sun is green or the trees are black. It is about being encouraged to taking the initiative to make a choice on his or her own.

Thus, making choices is a great avenue to encourage thinking. Life is all about choices -what to eat, what movies to watch, what activities to engage in, when to take a shower, ETC - and this is also why life is all about thinking as well. Simply put, to make a choice, we have to think. Our days are made up of many minor events linked together to make meaning. We wake up, brush our teeth, go to work, get off work, meet our friends, go home, take a shower, brush our teeth then go to bed - all little events linked up together to make a day meaningful. This is why choices are so important because they motivate us to think so as to move our daily life forward.
Making choices does not just involve choosing the things that are available within sight, they are also things that are not within reach at the moment or more abstract concept such as activities not carried out yet but could be if we choose to do them. Encourage or teach your child to make a choice by not offering what are available within sight -

Adult: What do you want to do now? (If child is having difficulty knowing what options are available, suggest, "Do you want to play, eat, read, drink...?)

Child: I want to eat.

Adult: What do you want to eat?

Child: Hmm...

Adult: Come on, think. What do you want to eat? (Offer options verbally if child is really having difficulty).

Child: Potato chips!

Adult: Good! What flavour? We have ....

Child: Barbeque!

Of course, the child must have tasted barbeque flavoured chips before to make an informed choice. It is no use getting a kid to choose the flavour of chips when he or she does not know what flavour means. This brings us to the importance of exposing our children to new experiences. To make choices that we really want, we have to have the information. Without information, we are just making choices for the sake of making them. That will impede thinking. Information allows us to think and then to make choices. With no information, there is no thinking and with no thinking, there is not choice making and even if there is, the choice has no meaning to the child and thus, the event has no meaning to him or her.

And how do we encourage a non verbal child or a verbal child who lacks the capacity to communicate effectively with speech to make a choice from a selection that is not presented before him or her? A communication book with pictures or word cards of what he or she likes and know about may be helpful in allowing him or her to express his or her wants. As above, the child has to be exposed to as much information as possible to make a meaningful choice.

Thus, essentially this post's discussion will bring us to the next topic of discussion - exposing your child to various experiences and information. If you have any prior questions or feedbacks regarding this next topic you need help in addressing to on the blog, please do not hesitate to contact me at davensim@triumphantkids.com. Also, please do visit my wesite www.triumphantkids.com to find out more about the services that I provide.

Why the Triumphant Kids Blog is set up.

There were a few reasons why I set up the Triumphant Kids Blog and one of them was to attempt advertising my early intervention services to parents of children with autism. However, as I gradually am adding content to the blog, I have come to realize and understand how important it is to share what I know to everyone who needs the information as much as, and most of the time, more than I do. Updating the Triumphant Kids Blog on a consistent basis (although this blog is still new and the amount of content is still low) reminded me of my conviction and belief in what I want to achieve for parents and their children with autism. Thus, please read on as the following are my visions of what the Triumphant Kids Blog can contribute to the autism community no matter how tiny my efforts are compared to so many passionate and giving parents, caregivers and professionals out there.

Why Triumphant Kids Blog?

Because every children possess the rights and capability- when given the relevant learning strategies and tools- to be empowered towards a brighter future that enables them to lead happy and purposeful lives.

With the information provided on the Triumphant Kids' blog, it is with belief that parents and caregivers will be given more knowledge about how to impart to their children the fundamental skills and concepts in everyday life and learning. And as parents and caregivers hold the key to their children's success. When given appropriate and relevant information, they are empowered to steer the well being and education of their children towards excellence.

No matter who you are, where you are from, the emotions and struggles that all parents and caregivers of children with autism go through are universal. Thus, this blog dedicated to you and your children, will strive to contribute as many teaching strategies and relevant autism based information as possible because I truly believe that all children have the ability to reach their fullest potential when given the right assistance and resources and all parents should be given the peace of mind that their children can achieve in life. Together we can effect positive changes in your children's lives and not forgetting, yours.

Thank you. :) And as usual, any feedacks, suggestions and comments on any topic and posts shared in this blog are welcomed. I hope that the Triumphant Kids Blog becomes a platform where people within and without the autism community can come together and share whatever knowledge and questions that they have.

Social skills and concept: Why Your Child Needs to Learn Them and How

This post, I am going to discuss some of the challenges faced by children with autism during activities in group settings. This is an important topic to address as very often, parents and caregivers are faced with the frustrating question as to why their children are not interacting 'appropriately' with the rest of their peers or classmates.

Very often, children with autism have difficulty coping in group settings that require them to keep up with the social cues and rules accompanying the activities. Various behaviors ranging from non-response to temperamental meltdowns are then observed within the setting. Parents become worried and anxious about the fact that their children not keeping up with their peers or that their children's difficult behaviours are "not normal". Teachers who observe such behaviour over a period of time may also suggest pulling the child out from the group for the benefit of the smooth running of future sessions. This can then result in further frustration and helplessness felt by the parents as they are quite certain for now that their children do not "fit in" with the rest of their peers.

Why Do Children With Autism Behave in this manner?

Many children with autism require time and patience, to be gradually eased into a setting for group activities by being taught the social rules, cues and skills not easily understood by them. Many social skills that are easily picked up by people who are neurotypically developed are often taken for granted. Most adults think that "if  I am able to do this when I was this age, then my child must have no problem doing it too". However, very often, we as adult do not understand autism as well as we should or wish to.

Many children with autism are easily affected by the disruption of routine and group activities usually increase the possibility of such situation as there are many people doing a few different things simultaneously. A child with autism might find that he has little control over the situation as compared to when all the classmates are sitting at their own desk listening to the teacher and following instructions. 

The child may be experiencing  sensory problems or distractions. The noise of an activity group such as children chattering and voices exchanging feedbacks across the room might be too disturbing for the child's sensitive sense of hearing or perhaps too much movement of people around him may cause discomfort and thus a sense of insecurity.

The child may also be experiencing a feeling of inadequacy. Not being able to understand social cues and rules as quickly as the other children do might cause a sense of insecurity within the child leading to frustration and emotional meltdown.

The child might just dislike being in a social setting or a setting that is too crowded for his liking and he does not know how to express his dissatisfaction. It could be a learned behaviour to cry and struggle before saying "No, I don't want to do this" for verbal children but when probed further as to why, their limited range of vocabulary  and the lack of emotion understanding often hinder them in adequately expressing how they are feeling at that moment. In this case, they are being termed as being "difficult" and thus leading to more feeling of frustrations as the adults fail to take further steps in understanding how the child feels exactly. Or for a non-verbal child, crying and struggling would usually be a common way for them to say no. Of course, there are also the non-responsive children who choose non-violence as a form of protest!

What Can We Do to Encourage Learning of Social Skills?

Parents and caregivers can teach the basics at home. Very often, a child can learn effective, basic social concept in the home setting with the participation of his or her parents and caregivers. As the home is less intimidating than an outside setting such as the school, the child can practice following social rules and cues at home before venturing into more demanding settings such as a small size social group catering to children with special needs or bringing the child into the community such as the park so that he or she may have more chances of interaction with other children. However, rememer that patience is key and the child needs to be gradually eased into group settings, no matter how small the size or how casual the nature.

Parents and caregivers can play games with the child at home to teach social skills and concept. Have the child's silings or other children relatives to join in the fun. Have other adults to join in the games. However, please be reminded again to begin slow. Start by playing with one adult, then two and gradually introduce more participants into the play. The increase in people participation could be over a few days, weeks or even months. Do not rush. The most important aspect is to keep the child engaged and interested.

Games are a fun way to teach different concepts to children with or without autism. However, according to the child's understanding level and coping capacity, format and rules of games should be tweaked at times.

Why is playing games important?

1) Teaches the child to follow basic rules and instructions.

2) Teaches basic turn taking which is another essential skill in everyday living for everyone no matter what age. We will discuss more about turn taking for our next topic.

3) Practices concentration skills.

4) Prepares the child for social interaction through understanding of and response to social cues.

5) Trains reaction time and speed of response.

6) Works on visual spatial and receptive skill.

7) Teaches reciprocity such as turn taking and role reversal.

8) Prepares the child towards a routine that is more school structured like. For example in Kindergarten or child care where there are more group based activities such as games and 'music and movement'.

That is all for now about learning and teaching social concepts. I shall discuss more about this in future posts. So do keep coming back to visit to find out more. If you have any suggestions or feedback regarding today's and past posts, please email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com. Please do visit my website www.triumphantkids.com for the services I provide as well.

Types of Categories and How to Teach Them

Last post I discuss about the importance of learning to categorize. Thus what are the types of categories  we can find in our everyday life that we can use to teach the children the skill of categorization? Here are just some of the few suggestions for you to explore teaching your child.

Types of Categories:
1) Basic categorization by assigning items to their respective broad categories. For example dog, lion and owl are all animals.

2) Categorize items according to their attributes such as colours and shapes.

3) Categorize items according to their use. For example food is for eating, toys are for playing and clothes are for wearing.

4) Categorize items according to where they can be found.

5) Categorize items by their sub categories. For example fish, turtle and octopus are animals that swim. Sub categories can be further developed based on the above groups. For example, broccoli, long beans and lettuce are all vegetables but they are also green food.
All the above groupings could be combined with one another to create a sorting category. Another example will be clothes we wear on a sunny (attribute) day versus clothes we wear on a wet, cold day.

How to teach categorization.
There are many methods to teach categorization. Other than the following suggested methods, you can come up with more interesting and fun ways to teach your child about categorization.

1) Matching and sorting.
Have 2 to 3 set of pictures on the table. Hand the child a card to match to the same category it belongs to. For sorting, place a small pile in front of the child and get him or her to sort the cards according to their respective categories.

There are other methods of sorting and matching. Can you think of a couple?

2) Labelling of items individually while assigning them to a category. Inform the child that you are going to talk about animals. "Let’s talk about animals. Tell/show me some animals". Place pictures down individually under the heading of the category together with child and label the animals together. Prompt is faded once child displays ability to label items independently. To test if the child understands concept, ask the child to label items without picture cues.

3) Walk around the house and look for items belonging to a particular category and then write them down. "Let’s look for furniture around the house. What furniture can we find? I see furniture! The chair is furniture." ETC.

Of course there are so many wide ranging ideas to teach categorization. If one idea doesn't work, don't give up. We can always work around an idea to make it suit the child's learning level.

If you have any suggestions or feedback about today's post, please do not hesitate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

Also do visit my website, www.triumphantkids.com to find out more about the services I provide.

Categorization: A Fundamental Skill

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!