Social Behaviours of Children with Autism 1: The Challenges in Communication

What are some of the challenges faced by children with autism when it comes to communcation and social interaction?

Scenario 1:
Jeff is 7 years old attending primary one. Although he has the desire to talk to his peers, he always has difficulty initiating conversations with them. His peers think that he is weird as he is always talking about things that don't make sense to them or he will be regurgitating the same comments everytime he tries to strike up a conversation with them.

In this case, although Jeff is socially aware of the pleasure in seeking companionship, he does not possess the mental flexibility nor social skills to keep up with the demands of a social setting. Furthermore, his understanding of social interaction is very basic - talk to someone and that person will talk to you. He is unaware of the many intricate details that come along with conversation due to his inability to process abstract concepts. These include emotions and the mental processes of individuals - how do they like being talk to, what kind of things they like to talk about, how they might react to certain topics or people and ETC.

Scenario 2:

John has a couple of friends in his class who would try to include him in their play activities whenever they could. There are times when John plays well with them although he does experience difficulties in catching up with them during conversations. However, John also has many episodes of temper tantrums and meltdowns resulted from various instances such as losing in a game and sudden changes in the games' objectives or rules. As a result of these episodic meltdowns, John's classmates are at times apprehensive of including him in their activities. 

Here, we see a child who is unaware of social rules and having difficulties controlling his emotions when things do not go the way he expects. As discussed in previous posts, behaviour is a reaction. Everyone will have a reaction, but the level of it depends on how we are able to control our actions that may be detrimental to us and the people around us. That being said, learning to express one's feelings calmly is a skill and concept that needs to be taught and practiced. Children with autism may take longer time than others to master such behaviour because the idea of having to put aside the immediate emotion they are experiencing is very abstract as compared to acting out instantly once an emotion is experienced. Furthermore, as above, because a child with autism has difficulty thinking in another person's perspective, they may see little reason in not expressing their immediate emotions through action. Finally, as many children with autism have difficulty expressing their emotions, acting out may be the next best option to show how they are feeling at the moment.

Scenario 3:

Henry likes playing by himself. Whenever other children try to play or talk to him, he would either ignore them or walk away doing his own things. Even if he is within the group, he tends to keep to himself doing his own play instead of joining in. At first, children were intrigued by his lonesome and "hard-to-get" personality. However, as time goes by, they lose interest in engaging him in their activities and go seeking out other more responsive new friends. 

In this scenario, the child seems to not understand the meaning in communication or social interaction. Play is very basic to the child and he is happy to be self engaged. Social understanding is at a minimal as he finds no need to engage the attention of others as long as his interest is fulfilled. He find no meaning in the world of others as he has not been exposed to the benefits of social interactions. Fundamental skills such as langauge joint attention may also be lacking leading to low interest in the world around him through expression of language and social cues.

Scenario 4:

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.

In this case, it will be more of public education that is lacking. Often, students with autism in classroom get little support from the adults because they belong to the minority in a culture where the majority's well-being are being looked after first. Of course, that is not to say that all students with autism are being neglected in the classroom but it does show time and again that it requires substantial amount of resources such as manpower and educational materials in place to provide adequate assistance to the students of the minority. In this scenario, the classmates could be informed about what autism is about and how it may affect the langauge and communication skills of their classmate who has autism. Yet, discussion about autism in open settings remains a stigma to many adults, resulting in a 'don't ask, don't tell' attitude. This in turn allows the children with autism to be misunderstood as misfits within a classroom setting which in the first place, should be supportive and encouraging of learning and equipment of life skills.

In the upcoming post of this series, we will be looking more into these above described scenarios. What can be carried out to deal with the challenges faced by these children? If your child is facing any difficulties described above, what strategies and teaching methods can be put in place to help your child to develop better social and communication skills?

Till then, if you have any concerns or suggestions, please email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com. i look forward to your correspondence.

Regards,

Daven

www.triumphantkids.com

 

Flexible Thinking Series 3: Role Reversal

Role reversal encourages children with autism to adopt the role of an inquisitor, cultivating a skill necessary for daily living. The goals are many and include for the child to

1) master confidence in initiating communication instead of being prompted to be engaged in communication
2) develop interest in things and people around her
3) understand social rules and cues that facilitate more spontaneous partaking in activities with peers
4) develop better language skills through verbal and social interaction.
5) develop problem solving techniques by learning to ask questions and by demanding a response for the question posed.

And of course, challenges the child to think from another perspective, in another person's position. Children with autism often have difficulty putting themselves in another person's shoes as a result of rigid thought patterns that rely heavily on routines and structures. It also allows the child to feel a sense of achievement for being able to be in charge in the completion of a task. It puts the child in a limelight without too much expectations placed on them.

Role reversal activities
Mastered tasks. Provide sentence strips as visual cue and script to read from then while delivering instructions to the adult.

Play pretend. Taking turns to tell each other what to pretend. For example, "Mum, pretend that you are a chimpanzee!"

Just like pretend play but this one teaches the child reading skill as well. Have a pile of action verb word cards face down on the table. Take turns to flip one over and then deliver the instruction to the follower, "Dad, sing". Praise each other for the correct action done. Make mistakes sometimes so that the child can correct you, "No, try again".

Asking questions/ playing detective. The "Hide the Treasure" game. Take turns hiding puzzle around the room and asking each other "Where is the puzzle piece"? Praise and reward each other for puzzle pieces found.


There are many other tasks and activities that teach role reversal. Can you think of some? Why not send me some suggestions to my email at davensim@triumphantkids.com?

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


Till the next post of the series, with deepest regards,
Daven.



www.triumphantkids.com Email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com

Motivation is Key!

Very often, we ask the question, "How to we encourage learning?"

Thus for this post, I shall discuss with you the key to encouragement of learning - Motivation.

The Rationale Behind Motivation .

We all are motivated in one way or another to fulfill our duties in life. We work for a salary. We complete our assignment on time to score a good grade. We go back to school for higher learning to achieve better career opportunities. We work through the hours, waiting for time to knock off. Everyday we are motivated by different kinds of reinforcements to keep us working or fulfilling our duties no matter who we are.

The token system is one of the most common form of reward structures that is being used by professionals and parents. Actually, everyone uses it in one way or another. The token system may exist in our daily life in more abstract forms. For example, we work to earn money and the salary we accumulate can then be spent on things we like or want.

Why the token system?
1) Children need to know what they are working for. Many children with autism who have no understanding of time will need more concrete information on when and how they will be able to get what they want.

2) The token system also facilitates the learning of rules. Following rules is another abstract concept. It cannot be seen, felt or touched. It is a concept that many people fail or refuse to follow if there exists no consequences. There has to be motivation in order for rules to be followed. For example to win a game and feel good about yourself or to win a prize, you will have to follow the rules of the game you are playing. So to feel happy getting what he has requested for, the child needs to follow the rules by earning all the tokens first.

3) Teaches delaying of gratification. Very often we are faced with children who simply can't wait. It is not that they can't, but because they refuse to. Impatience is a reaction to a situation in which you cannot get what you want when you want it. And patience is not an innate virtue we are all born with. Instead, patience is a behaviour we learn, practice and maintain throughout our lifespan. Teaching your child to be patient is key if you want your child to do well in all aspects of his or her life. In an upcoming post, I am going to discuss how a reward structure can facilitate teaching patience.

4) Encourages your child to think. In a previous post, we talk about how making choices encourages your child to think. If you have missed that post or need to refresh your memory, click here. Also It encourages flexible thinking.  As the child get familiarized with the token system and how it functions, the adults can tweak the system around to help the child accommodate different forms of reward structures. We will be talking more about reward structures in the upcoming post.

So be sure to visit this blog real soon as I will be discussing the various form of token systems and reward structures that you could use to help motivate your child.

Till then, if you have any queries or comment, please do not hesitate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.
Also, please do visit my website to find out the services I provide.

Deepest regards,
Daven

Incidental Learning

Incidental learning is perhaps one of the most effective teaching strategies. It allows the child to learn in a non-pressurizing environment and helps him to learn about generalization- adapting the skills that he knows in any setting that he is in.

However, very often we as adults miss out on the many opportunities presented to us for carrying out incidental teaching. We are so entrenched in our own learning system that education happens only in the classroom, that we fail to see the natural environment as a valuable teaching tool.

Natural environment versus controlled setting.

A controlled setting is an environment that is manipulated so that activities within it can yearn results that are not affected by external factors. For example, a lesson is held in the classroom so that students do not get distracted by outside noises and thus may concentrate better.

A natural environment contrary to a controlled setting, involves activities held outside of a manipulated setting. For example, instead of conducting the sketching lesson in class, the art teacher brings her students to the park to complete their drawings.

While there are advantages in learning in controlled settings, we tend to overlook the positive effects a natural environment has in many aspects of education. One of the merits of a natural environment is the opportunity for incidental learning. For example,

1) A community visit to the zoo is fun for the children but it also teaches them about animals and the various concepts that are associated with the animals.

2) A grocery shopping trip can be more than just stocking up on home necessities but also be a lesson about social rules (queuing up, wait for turn),  different categories of items and money counting skills.

3) Playing a game with the family teaches about following rules, social cues and manners and encourages social interaction such as sharing.

4) Going to the gym not only promotes gross motor skills and motivation but also provides opportunities to teach action words and verbs.

The possibilities and advantages of incidental learning in a natural environment are endless. Of course, incidental learning can be done in a controlled setting too. However, there are so many things the natural environment has to offer. Why restrict ourselves and our children to just the structured and standard routine? In fact, we want to inculcate a sense of flexibility in our children's daily life as discuss in my Flexible Thinking Series and the natural environment is always a helpful ally in achieving that goal.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions that you would like to share with me and other readers out there , please do not hesitate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

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

Sharing and Turn Taking: How to teach?

Last post, I discussed about the importance of sharing and turn taking and how some children might have difficulties following thorugh with these skills. Today, I am going to go further and suggest some strategies on how to inculcate these skills.

Sharing
Establishing sharing as a habit is one of the most common and unobtrusive way to teach a child about sharing. Allowing the child to understand that sharing occurs everyday in life helps her to ease into the habit of sharing and giving.

1) When it is meal time, put the child's favorite food on a common plate from which everyone share.

2) When offering the child a piece of goodie, ask the child if you can have a bit too. Do this consistently but not persistently. Once child is comfortale most of the time agreeing to share, even with a third or fourth person, lower the frequency of asking to the minimal of just occasional.

3) Let child see others sharing their food - dad is giving a slice of his steak to mum. 

4) Whenever you are eating something that you know your child might like, ask her if she wants some and if she does, tell her that you are going to share with her. Always pair the word "sharing" with the action of giving to make the idea of sharing more concrete for the child.

5) Praise the child for sharing although you might want to fade that social prompt over time to make sharing look more natural than demanded.

When a child is reluctant to share, be patient and demonstrate to her the importance of and fun in sharing. Some children are more reluctant than others but that does not mean that they can never learn to share. Sharing is a habit that can be established over time so do not give up on teaching them this essential and fundamental skill.

Turn Taking
Teaching "my turn" versus "your turn" is probably one of the most popular strategies used to teach turn taking. However, at times it can be rather tricky teaching this concept as some children get mixed up over the rules of possessions ("my" versus "your") easily. Thus phase by phase teaching of "my" versus "your" may be advisable at times depending on the child's level of understanding.

Thus, start by teaching "my turn". Allow child to see that the person who says "my turn" gets to play with the toy. There may be instances when a child identify "my turn" as "only me". Physical and  gestural prompt may be needed at this stage - "no, (gently push hand of child away) my turn (pat yourself on the chest then take your turn on the toy. The child's is prevented from touching the toy while you play with the toy)". Then immediately after you had your turn, prompt the child to express it is his turn and push the toy towards him to gesture to him that it is his turn to play. Once child is able to understand that whoever says "my turn" gets to play, then it might be easier to teach the child to express "your turn".

I think that should be enough information for the time being. If you however want more suggestions such as on how to further teach the concept of "your turn", please do not hesistate to email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

Till then, please do come visit this blog for more information and teaching ideas!

Sharing and Turn Taking

Sharing and turn taking form another part of our daily lives whether we like them or not. To form and maintain social relationships, we have to share and turn take. Sharing and turn taking often go hand in hand because sharing leads to turn taking. For example, if we want to share a toy, we have to take turns with one another to play with it.

Children with autism often find difficulty sharing and taking turns.

Why is it that children with autism (or even children in general) have difficulty understanding the process of turn taking?

1) It could just be a phase of growing up. Not just children with autism but most children in general may not see the necessity of waiting for something that they want - "if you want something, just take it". The ego of a child does not consider the feelings of others no matter how one may reason with them. This is just a phase of growing up developmentally for children. but this does not mean that we let it be, dismissing the behaviour as something that could right itself over time. the right behaviour should be shaped over time so that the child does not fall into the habit of not wanting to share or turn take because all this while nobody has taught her the importance of doing so.

2) The child is too impatient to delay gratification. This is sort of like the above reason but the child has grown out the stage of not wanting to share and turn take by now. At this stage, the child has developed a habit of instantly having what they want as they learned that they can get what they want if they want.

3) Sharing and turn taking are very abstract ideas. If I give my toy to another boy, will I be able to get it back if I want to? how long do I have to wait until I get my toy back?

4) Because the concepts of sharing and turn taking are abstract for the child, she finds little to no meaning in sharing. Also as children with autism usually do not find social interaction intrinsically rewarding or outwardly exciting, sharing and turn taking become of lesser value to them as compared to having their favourite toys all to themselves.

5) Thus turn taking is a concept that requires certain prerequisites  to make it meaningful for the child. Learning to wait and understanding the theory of "my turn (I play)" versus "your turn (you play) are essential in making turn taking seem and feel more concrete to the child.

6) Empathy. Sharing and turn taking requires a certain degree of empathy and the emotions associated with it. Children with autism who are mostly already having difficulty understanding and expressing their own emotion might thus find the needs and wants of others irrelevant.

7) The idea of possession. Why do I have to pass my toy to another boy? It is my toy!

8) Thus rigidity might be the issue as well - "Mum packed the cookies for me, not for anyone else. It is wrong to let other people eat them because they are for me".

There are more than the above reasons as to why children with autism do not share or turn take. It is often fundamental to observe the child very closely so as to identify the causes of such behaviour. It is also important to not label a child as "selfish" or "greedy" just because he is unwilling to share or turn take. All of us as we were growing up learn or were taught to share and turn take one way or another, directly by adults or indirectly by circumstances. Thus children with autism are no exception in that they too need to be taught how to, although the lessons may need to be modified at times.

Next post (jump to post by clicking here), I shall suggests some ideas and strategies for teaching turn taking and to encourage sharing. If you do have any counts and suggestions before that, please email me at davensim@triumphantkids.com.

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.

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.