I watched this video the other day and found it to be very insightful. This is an Occupational Therapist explaining sensory integration and modulation - very important components to understanding our kid's behavior's and perceptions. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Meet and Expand
I was reading in "Engaging Autism" today (a spectacular book... I recommend everyone read it), and I came across this quote:
1. We forget to determine or are unable to determine where their level of existing abilities currently are.
How easy it can be to forget to really determine a child's existing ability. We look at their peers and think, "they should be like that." Or, we look at their age and think, "This is what they should be doing." Or, we look at our expectations and think, "I want them to be doing this." But, how important is it to get reality in a child's baseline. Yes, sometimes it hurts as a parent or teacher to face it. But, without starting where they're at, they'll never get where we want them to go. This is also usually most effective if done in a team. Ask parents. Ask others who have worked with them. Ask professionals that might be able to help. Read about what stages a child goes through to develop to something. Pray. All of these things help to get an accurate picture of where a child really is... and therefore what you can expect of them and where you can start with them.
2. We move too fast and expand expansion to be immediate and not gradual.
Development is HARD. It can be LONG. It can be EXHAUSTING. Although kids are very fast learners, that doesn't mean a child will develop a skill overnight. Just today I was working with a parent who said to me, "We've been working on this the whole summer (three whole months!) and he hasn't gotten ANYWHERE!" First, he has. But, you forgot to look at and remember his baseline. You're not giving him credit for where he's been compared to where he is now. Secondly, three months? You get up everyday and run 3 miles... every. single. day.... and then tell me how you feel in three months? You may be hitting your goals a little more, but it takes WAY longer than 3 months for the skills, muscles, endurance and mastery to appear. See the little steps. And have patience. Each step is gradual. Each skill is built on a slow foundation that will be able to hold up further learning. Enjoy the journey and don't forget to see the gradual incline for what it is - WONDERFUL improvement!
3. We lack creativity in expansion and expect rigid and predictable changes.
So, we know where a child's at and we know it's probably gonna take more than overnight to get there. Where's the FUN!? If you're feeling like your child is stuck, you're not having enough fun! Sure, you may do the same thing a BILLION times... so find a way to creatively change the flavor of it. For example, a client of mine was obsessed with camping. He wanted to play camping all the time - he would put up a tent and they would pretend to cook over the fire and sleep in sleeping bags, etc. Apparently this was happening incessantly and there was no other forms of play. So, we started where that child was at. His mother said, "I think pretend play is hard for him, so he finds ways to make it safe. That's why he likes camping - he can make a safe little tent." I thought about that for a moment and I realized that if we were gonna start where he was at, we had to start where he was safe - with a tent. Okay, so... how are we going to expand this pretend play and yet still keep the tent? After a bit of brainstorming together, we came up with a whole list: Make a space shuttle out of the tent, make a cave out of the tent, make an umbrella house out of the tent, make a dog kennel out of the tent, make an underwater aquarium out of the tent.... you see where I'm going with this. Suddenly, with a little more creativity, we were able to expand on what was already working for him and his pretend play became more imaginative, with more language and more cooperation. Space turned out to be just as fun (and just as safe) as camping.
So, friends, keep the creative juices flowing! Turn your brain loose! Get out of the box and think about things differently than you ever have before. The more you practice this, the better you will get and the easier you will be able to support your kiddo.
Anyway, just a few words from the moon, where I flew with a beautiful little friend of mine today in his brand new space shuttle tent :) Happy day!
"The key to expanding children's ability to be secure, calm, and regulated in the shared world is to meet them first at the level of their existing abilities and then gradually expand out from that base of security." -p. 75I thought it was a lovely quote and a great reminder. While working with a child and his wonderful Mom today, I found that there were three common problems I see among adults working with children and trying to expand their abilities:
1. We forget to determine or are unable to determine where their level of existing abilities currently are.
How easy it can be to forget to really determine a child's existing ability. We look at their peers and think, "they should be like that." Or, we look at their age and think, "This is what they should be doing." Or, we look at our expectations and think, "I want them to be doing this." But, how important is it to get reality in a child's baseline. Yes, sometimes it hurts as a parent or teacher to face it. But, without starting where they're at, they'll never get where we want them to go. This is also usually most effective if done in a team. Ask parents. Ask others who have worked with them. Ask professionals that might be able to help. Read about what stages a child goes through to develop to something. Pray. All of these things help to get an accurate picture of where a child really is... and therefore what you can expect of them and where you can start with them.
2. We move too fast and expand expansion to be immediate and not gradual.
Development is HARD. It can be LONG. It can be EXHAUSTING. Although kids are very fast learners, that doesn't mean a child will develop a skill overnight. Just today I was working with a parent who said to me, "We've been working on this the whole summer (three whole months!) and he hasn't gotten ANYWHERE!" First, he has. But, you forgot to look at and remember his baseline. You're not giving him credit for where he's been compared to where he is now. Secondly, three months? You get up everyday and run 3 miles... every. single. day.... and then tell me how you feel in three months? You may be hitting your goals a little more, but it takes WAY longer than 3 months for the skills, muscles, endurance and mastery to appear. See the little steps. And have patience. Each step is gradual. Each skill is built on a slow foundation that will be able to hold up further learning. Enjoy the journey and don't forget to see the gradual incline for what it is - WONDERFUL improvement!
3. We lack creativity in expansion and expect rigid and predictable changes.
So, we know where a child's at and we know it's probably gonna take more than overnight to get there. Where's the FUN!? If you're feeling like your child is stuck, you're not having enough fun! Sure, you may do the same thing a BILLION times... so find a way to creatively change the flavor of it. For example, a client of mine was obsessed with camping. He wanted to play camping all the time - he would put up a tent and they would pretend to cook over the fire and sleep in sleeping bags, etc. Apparently this was happening incessantly and there was no other forms of play. So, we started where that child was at. His mother said, "I think pretend play is hard for him, so he finds ways to make it safe. That's why he likes camping - he can make a safe little tent." I thought about that for a moment and I realized that if we were gonna start where he was at, we had to start where he was safe - with a tent. Okay, so... how are we going to expand this pretend play and yet still keep the tent? After a bit of brainstorming together, we came up with a whole list: Make a space shuttle out of the tent, make a cave out of the tent, make an umbrella house out of the tent, make a dog kennel out of the tent, make an underwater aquarium out of the tent.... you see where I'm going with this. Suddenly, with a little more creativity, we were able to expand on what was already working for him and his pretend play became more imaginative, with more language and more cooperation. Space turned out to be just as fun (and just as safe) as camping.
So, friends, keep the creative juices flowing! Turn your brain loose! Get out of the box and think about things differently than you ever have before. The more you practice this, the better you will get and the easier you will be able to support your kiddo.
Anyway, just a few words from the moon, where I flew with a beautiful little friend of mine today in his brand new space shuttle tent :) Happy day!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Eye Contact
Ahhhh! I love this!
http://pdresources.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/encouraging-eye-contact-may-disturb-autistic-kids-thinking/
http://pdresources.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/encouraging-eye-contact-may-disturb-autistic-kids-thinking/
Friday, February 15, 2013
Things The Princess Bride Taught Me About Autism
Had a friend share this with me. Thought it was clever and had some good advice. So I figured I'd share. Enjoy!
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765622139/17-things-The-Princess-Bride-taught-me-about-autism-parenting.html?pg=all
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Block Play
Was introduced to this blog and tmblr and I LOVED the videos and ideas on it for using blocks in your play. Check them out!
http://theblockroom.blogspot.com/
http://k1classroom.tumblr.com/tagged/block-building
http://theblockroom.blogspot.com/
http://k1classroom.tumblr.com/tagged/block-building
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Living with Autism
For those of you who may have just had a child diagnosed with autism or with any other challenge, or for those who know someone with a child with a disability - I recommend you watch this beautiful video. This is compiled by Clear Horizons Academy - a school for children with ASD and other learning difference in Orem, Utah - as well as the Autism Resources of Utah County Group and the Autism Council of Utah. I know many of these families and have seen their battles. They are strong and lovely and I gain such courage and strength from simply interacting with them. I think we would all be well to follow their advice and take their words to heart. Enjoy!
If you would like to know more about Clear Horizons Academy or have access to their free training and resources, please visit: clearhorizonsacademy.org.
If you would like to know more about Clear Horizons Academy or have access to their free training and resources, please visit: clearhorizonsacademy.org.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Einstein Never Used Flashcards: Play!
I was reading this chapter from the book "Einstein Never Used Flash Cards" by Kathy Kirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff. I was delving in to Chapter 9: Play: The Crucible of Learning. It was AMAZING! It went all through play and how it develops and how it can help kids.
Sometimes we don't think about play as the crucial component to development that it is. And, we REALLY don't think about play in the tiny, development steps that seem to come so quickly and naturally to kids. I really liked the way this book laid out the specifics of play - how it's important from the tiniest glimmers of play to the two hour long dramas our preschoolers put together.
I was excited to read about the steps in pretend play as it made me think more specifically about the kiddos I work with. Are they playing? Are they playing as complexly as I expect for their age? How can I better support more complex play and spontaneous ideas?
Anyway, check this out (and for more details and rich examples, I recommend you check out the book from your library and read away!) :
Pretend Play Development (and how Language Development Coincides):
1. Child pretends by copying the real life function of the toy (i.e. drinking from a cup)
2. Child adds drama and "self-pretends" (i.e. drinks from the cup with big slurpy sounds and mmmmm sounds after)
3. Pretend play can include others (i.e. child drinks from cup and then helps Elmo to take a sip).
4. Child uses play gestures in combination (i.e. child takes a drink from the cup and then eats a slice of bread)
5. "Hierarchical Pretend" - child has an organized, hierarchically
The cool thing about this, was that they found all these steps developed along with the language. So, for steps 1 and 2, kids were only speaking in one word phrases. For step 3, the child was starting to direct language. Step 4, child was combining language (i.e. "eat cookie") and for Step 5, child was taking in 2-4 word sentences. Neat.
Then they also went through social play. They found:
1. Kids treat each other like objects - parallel play - end of first year
2. Cooperative play (13-14 months)
3. Kids start to take on roles (age 2)
4. Kids establish play routines with their roles and themes (3-4 years old).
Anyway, so cool, right? Just thought I'd share these cool little steps and encourage you to go read chapter 9 and learn more details about the importance of play in development :)
Friday, January 11, 2013
Success
I was reading this great book about learning. It's called "The Growth of the Mind." I came across this quote in reference to how we teach, considering individual difference and motivating, developmentally appropriate lessons, as well as our measurement of a child's skills. Thought it was lovely.
"A child's success is not accurately measured by how quickly she learns, or whether her method resembles that of others, but by how well she learns when taught in a manner suited to her needs. Our school's failure to educate masses of children fully capable of learning is not the result of over emphasis on unearned self-esteem or touchy-feely frills but from reliance on a model that ignores the nature of the learning process." -Stanley Greenspan, The Growth of the Mind, p.213.
"A child's success is not accurately measured by how quickly she learns, or whether her method resembles that of others, but by how well she learns when taught in a manner suited to her needs. Our school's failure to educate masses of children fully capable of learning is not the result of over emphasis on unearned self-esteem or touchy-feely frills but from reliance on a model that ignores the nature of the learning process." -Stanley Greenspan, The Growth of the Mind, p.213.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Parenting from the Inside Out
If you're looking for a good book to read, I just finished "Parenting from the Inside Out" by Dan Siegle. What an AMAZING book to help you better understand the way we as a parents and caregivers may be affecting our children both positively and negatively. I really appreciated the gentle way Dan helps us learn to be self-reflective and change ourselves in order to be better for our children. LOVED it. A few gems from the book?
"Children don't need us to be fully available all the time, but they do need our presence during connecting interaction. Being mindful as a parent means having intention in your actions. With intention, you purposefully choose your behavior with your child's emotional well-being in mind. Children can readily detect intention and thrive when there is purposeful interaction with their parents." -p. 7-8
"Communication that involves an awareness of our own emotions, an ability to respectfully share our emotions, and an emphatic understanding of our children's emotions lays a foundation that supports the building of lifelong relationships with our children." -p.57
"When parents have conversations with their children in which they reflect on the internal processes of people's minds, children begin to develop mindsight. If parents focus only on their children's behavior and do not consider the mental processes that motivate that behavior, they often end up parenting for short-term results and do not help their children learn about themselves." -p.231
Anyway, hope you grab it from the library and eat it up! It's just lovely :)
"Children don't need us to be fully available all the time, but they do need our presence during connecting interaction. Being mindful as a parent means having intention in your actions. With intention, you purposefully choose your behavior with your child's emotional well-being in mind. Children can readily detect intention and thrive when there is purposeful interaction with their parents." -p. 7-8
"Communication that involves an awareness of our own emotions, an ability to respectfully share our emotions, and an emphatic understanding of our children's emotions lays a foundation that supports the building of lifelong relationships with our children." -p.57
"When parents have conversations with their children in which they reflect on the internal processes of people's minds, children begin to develop mindsight. If parents focus only on their children's behavior and do not consider the mental processes that motivate that behavior, they often end up parenting for short-term results and do not help their children learn about themselves." -p.231
Anyway, hope you grab it from the library and eat it up! It's just lovely :)
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