It is certainly challenging – if not impossible – to monitor what a person is doing 24/7. Parents, teachers, and others report the need to keep a constant watch on some individuals with autism in order to prevent injury and to protect breakable or potentially dangerous items around the house or school.
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We are continuing a conversation about teacher attitude – about welcoming students with autism into a typical classroom. In the podcast “Teacher Attitude 1,” we talked about the first of three basic principles for educators to consider when welcoming students with autism into the classroom. In this podcast, we will continue the discussion.
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Every student – whether they have specific disabilities or not – has their own unique learning style and personality. The teacher’s job becomes even more complex when autism is added to that mix of individual differences. We will look at three basic principles for educators to consider when welcoming students with autism into the classroom. [...]
How can we prevent injuries when an aggressive youngster with autism participates in a group activity? What can we do to stop a child from biting anyone sitting close during circle time in early childhood? What are our options for dealing with a pre-teen who reaches out to scratch or grab anyone who sits within [...]
Do you ever feel like you are engaged in a constant battle of wills? Let’s look at a strategy for increasing cooperation and compliance, even with the most strong-willed youngster diagnosed with autism. This proactive process turns a battle of wills into a win-win situation for all involved.
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A mom was puzzling over the differences in the personalities of her two sons with autism. One of the boys responds best to strict, specific instructions, and the other only responds to gentle, sweet coaxing. Mom said, “People who don’t know our family think I speak too harshly our oldest son and that I spoil [...]
What exactly do we mean when we tell a youngster we expect them to be good? What does a teacher mean when she reports a student was good in class? How can a person with autism who interprets words and phrases quite literally respond to a stern instruction from an adult to “be good” in [...]
Several families and teachers have posed questions about kids and adults with autism who constantly flush toilets. This obsession not only wastes water, but it also distracts our friend with autism from interacting with other people and disrupts the classroom or family routine.
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If anything is on her desk or table at school, a teen with autism sweeps them onto the floor with her arm. She does the same when sitting at a table at home or in a restaurant. Needless to say, her knocking items to the floor causes major problems. Let’s look at a plan for [...]
What options do we have when a student with autism screams loudly and scratches his arms when unexpected announcements are made over the loudspeaker in the classroom? Or when a youngster sneaks into the kitchen at night and eats whole jars of peanut butter? How can we help a person who inadvertently distracts her fellow [...]
Among other things, sudden loud noises or constant murmuring can be attempts by youngsters with autism to communicate, to get attention, to avoid chores, to protest changes in routine, or to irritate other people. But sometimes repetitive noise-making seems to be more of a habit or a “stimming” activity.
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For a variety of reasons, some individuals with autism occasionally make loud, startling sounds that do not seem to be attempts to communicate. Others talk out loud, absent-mindedly mumbling repetitive nonsense phrases or bits and pieces of conversations or movie scripts. The sudden outbursts or constant chatter can disrupt others at home, school, work, and [...]
Sometimes our patience meter malfunctions and the most insignificant issue can get blown out of proportion. When we feel our patience growing short, we might want to glance at the gauge and recognize the need for taking a break. Let’s look at some tips for preventing overload and for keeping our patience meter at a [...]
Some individuals with autism want to make connections with other people, but need to learn how to carry on appropriate conversations. Because the art of conversation is complex, we need to pinpoint what specific skills are missing. One key conversation element some individuals with autism lack is that of talking about the topic at hand. [...]
Some individuals with autism are easy to love. They are easy-going, compliant, and self-reliant. But others present significant behavior problems or need help with self-care or otherwise drain our time and energy. It certainly doesn’t seem appropriate to complain about an individual with special needs, but sometimes, in reality, we reach the end of our [...]
In the first half of this series about Taming Tantrums, we are looking at one option for helping our friends with autism who displays very explosive behavior. In this case, the youngster, an 8-year-old with normal language skills and emerging reading skills, had a temper tantrum every time his therapist left after music therapy session. [...]
A professional music therapy colleague wrote about a student who displays very explosive behavior when she leaves after a home-based therapy session. The therapist is looking for some ideas for decreasing the tantrums and for equipping the family with some effective strategies for dealing with similar issues at home.
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We tend to look at communication simplistically, inadvertently lumping individuals into one of two categories: (1) verbal or (2) non-verbal. But, in reality, communication is a very complex process, and a breakdown at any point on the language highway can cause deficits in communication. And the intricacies of autism can impact language skills even further. [...]
When we compare our youngsters with autism with their more typical peers, we may discover that some of the issues we struggle with every day may be common with all kids in that age range. Although autism may, indeed, magnify some issues, the fact remains that nearly all parents struggle with the annoying attitudes of [...]
Sometimes the most effective way to deal with tenacious and potentially harmful habits is the “cold turkey” approach. In the long run, we want to implement strategies to teach more appropriate behaviors. But, meanwhile, it is often necessary to take some immediate, cold turkey steps to prevent serious problems from arising.
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