Tuesday, July 7, 2009
So What is Joint Attention???
So what is joint attention? Joint attention occurs when you reference an object, person, or thing, (pointing, looking) drawing the child’s attention, and the child is able to refocus on that same object, person, or thing with you. Joint attention is one of the most important aspects of autism treatment. If you are caring for a child with autism, or whom you suspect has autism, it is highly recommended you get a professional therapist, specializing in autism to help the child, family and you. There are some simple things you can do to help children with autism. Encourage them, teach them to ask for things they want or want to do and then whenever possible and appropriate, quickly meet those requests. Encourage reciprocal communication (i.e., you make a request and they respond appropriately, they make a request, you respond, and then they make a request for more). Remember communication can be something as simple as glances, pointing, signs, or words; though you would not want to let a child capable of asking with words get away with a simple glance.
Autism Spectrum
Often when people talk about autism, they talk about the autism spectrum. Really, there could be 10 or more disabilities identified over the next 20 years. Two segments of the spectrum are autism and aspergers. Autism is usually marked by a lack or great difficulty with joint attention and aspergers is usually marked by great difficulty in interactions and social situations.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Talking to Parents About Autism Action Kit
"Today, 1 in 150 American children is diagnosed with autism. As an early childhood educator, you may be the first to notice when a child is not meeting typical developmental milestones. When this happens, you need to talk to the parents and urge them to have their child screened.
Now there are materials available to help you prepare for this important conversation. The Talking to Parents About Autism Action Kit contains the tools you need to initiate this critical dialogue. Having this conversation with parents can make all the difference in a child's life! Please review. Please click here to discuss or ask questions".
Now there are materials available to help you prepare for this important conversation. The Talking to Parents About Autism Action Kit contains the tools you need to initiate this critical dialogue. Having this conversation with parents can make all the difference in a child's life! Please review. Please click here to discuss or ask questions".
Friday, March 27, 2009
The teen thing
In some ways, providing care for children with Autism is not too dissimilar to providing care for other children, with the exception that it requires more and sometimes significantly more patience and effort and what may typically be a spontaneous response from many children will be more guarded and difficult from a child with autism.
Perhaps you can think about it this way. A child with Autism is sort of like many teenagers, in their own world, wanting little to do with their family, and non communicative. If you were a parent of such a teenager I might recommend you get into their world and spend time with them there. This does not mean that you would engage in illegal, immoral, or unethical activities. I would not want you to start smoking pot or taking other drugs and attending inappropriate parties with your teenagers. I would want you to perhaps read some of the books they are reading so that you can discuss it with them, play some of the appropriate games they are playing, and learn about things they are interested in. Eventually you might be able to get your teen to have his or her friends over to your house for an appropriate party that while you are not right in the same room all the time, you can keep an eye on and assure that it is safe. You would want to find out what kid of food and legal drink they really like and provide if for the party. As you find out what their interests are and you learn more about their interest, instead of trying to show that you know a lot, you might ask them intelligent questions about the subject. Eventually they just might be interested in things that interest you and you might have a real relationship again.
Perhaps you can think about it this way. A child with Autism is sort of like many teenagers, in their own world, wanting little to do with their family, and non communicative. If you were a parent of such a teenager I might recommend you get into their world and spend time with them there. This does not mean that you would engage in illegal, immoral, or unethical activities. I would not want you to start smoking pot or taking other drugs and attending inappropriate parties with your teenagers. I would want you to perhaps read some of the books they are reading so that you can discuss it with them, play some of the appropriate games they are playing, and learn about things they are interested in. Eventually you might be able to get your teen to have his or her friends over to your house for an appropriate party that while you are not right in the same room all the time, you can keep an eye on and assure that it is safe. You would want to find out what kid of food and legal drink they really like and provide if for the party. As you find out what their interests are and you learn more about their interest, instead of trying to show that you know a lot, you might ask them intelligent questions about the subject. Eventually they just might be interested in things that interest you and you might have a real relationship again.
Best Services
Many children with autism can show significant improvement with the right intervention at the right time. If you read through the two recommended lessons at the top, you will probably now know of resources you can contact for assistance. Many countries around the world provide services for children with autism. Academicians and service providers in the UK and Australia as well as many other countries have and continue to do great research and provide great service to children with autism and their families. If you are not able to locate resources, please click here and let me know where you are looking for services for and I will attempt to find them for you.
The best services will provide support to the child care center when applicable, and training and support directly to the parents and other family members.
The best services will provide support to the child care center when applicable, and training and support directly to the parents and other family members.
The Rocket Ride
Imagine you accidentally stumbled into a rocket ship (I realize it is hard to imagine how this might occur but please humor me). The rocket ship takes off at incredible speed and leaves our solar system (fortunately there is food and water aboard) and in a few short days the ship lands on another planet automatically opening the door. Still somewhat shocked and dazed you peer out and see some very strange aliens with what appears to be four eyes, hands, and tentacles. They notice you looking out of the space ship (after all the ship made a great deal of noise when it landed) and begin to approach. You of course, have no idea what to expect, for all you know you landed on Aunt Gazeldalipsnor and they are furious. As quickly as possible you attempt to close the door (but can not) so you retreat back further into the ship and begin to pace back and forth, talking to yourself, wondering what you are going to do, obsessing about how you could possibly get back to your world repeatedly asking yourself what you are going to do and avoiding any possible glances at the open door. After what seems like hours, you decide to take a peek out of the door and see an even larger crowd of aliens gathering. Many are looking and pointing up to the sky and some are looking and pointing in another direction. They are making an unrecognizable shrill sound that though you did not believe it possible, causes you even greater anxiety. You do not dare look at what they are pointing to and immediately, with a gasp, return to even quicker pacing and repetitively asking yourself, “what am I going to do?”
After a while longer, one approaches the door and through the corner of your eyes you see an extended tentacle with what appears to be an oozing pile of goop. Immediately you turn away and return to pacing. Unfortunately you are near exhaustion and are not able to accelerate your pace. The alien places the goop on some sort of plate on a table just inside the space ship, and leaves. Nothing explodes and after a while, partially out of sheer exhaustion, you sit on the floor in a corner and begin to flap your hand uncontrollably. Strangely this seems to comfort you and eventually you fall asleep.
The following morning you awake and look for food but find that you have already eaten all that was previously stored. You glance at the goop and consider it might be food but can not bring yourself to taste it but notice a rather fascinating gadget on the wall of the ship and pick it up to study. It has a most interesting design and when you push certain buttons a screen appears. This is REALLY cool! You can do all kinds of things with it and all the rest of this strange place seems to just disappear as you focus on this fascinating gadget.
After a while you notice that you are very hungry even to the point of hurting a little. On the table you notice some additional items but have no idea how they got there. There is a sweet smell and you pick up a small firm but supple item that smells particularly sweet. Bringing it to your mouth you touch it with your tongue and though not a particularly good taste it doesn’t have a bad taste either. You are hungry enough that you bite down a little and a delicious juice oozes out into your mouth. Immediately you bite down and chew this item and get a great sensation as it moves down your throat. There are more and some others to try so you continue to eat what you like until you are not as hungry and notice that some of the aliens are still outside the door staring at you. This freaks you out and you immediately return to pacing which though exhausting, also helps you to calm. After pacing for some time, you again pick up the gadget and loose yourself in the things you can make it do.
This same routine continues for many days or months, you are not sure as everything seems to flow together including the anxiety that is almost your constant companion. Without the calming activities you have discovered, which have occasionally been interrupted by the aliens, you explode uncontrollably, your anxiety being so high.
One day, one of the aliens approaches you with some additional foods, making a strange noise and pointing to the food item, while you are eating, you glance at the food and the alien and being extremely hungry and recognizing the food as particularly delicious, you take some from the plate held by the alien but quickly return to pacing and then playing with another interesting gadget you had become aware of just a few days or weeks ago.
As you are investigating this new gadget you suddenly realize that the same alien who brought you the extra food is sitting inside the ship by the door investigating the same type of gadget as you. You quickly return to what you are doing.
Over time experiencing many of the same things that have occurred with food, you notice the same alien investigating a similar gadget to what you happen to be investigating at the time and one day you notice the alien getting the gadget to do something that you had never seen it do this is slightly intriguing but you return your focus to the gadget and again find yourself immersed in the gadget to the exclusion of everything else and this is comforting. Some days later you notice the alien’s hand moving towards the gadget you are investigating and the alien does something that makes the gadget do something new this is a shock but the new thing is so intriguing that you imitate what the alien did and the gadget does it again.
Days and weeks pass and you become aware that you are less anxious with the presence of the alien and start to accept a couple of others and even start to feel less anxious as they interact with you and show you new things you can do with different gadgets.
A few days later you find yourself gesturing to the alien to show you how to do something with one of the gadgets you even repeat the sound you know associate with one of the particularly delicious foods that had been provided and almost magically the alien brings you more of that food. Perhaps you can get things you want or need from these aliens. This communication continues to grow and you begin to enjoy these strange beings. Occasionally you still have feelings of anxiety but you are no longer constantly anxious and you even begin to wonder out of the rocket from time to time and notice the aliens pointing to a building not far away and a hill and other creatures on the hill. You also notice the warmth that comes from a glowing object in the sky and it makes you feel comfortable and even a little more relaxed.
As increasing activity, interaction, and even communication with the aliens grows, you one day notice the shiny outside of the rocket ship and realize it reflects the image of other things around you. You can see the building in the distance and when you move in another direction you can see some of the aliens you have become comfortable with, then you are shocked, you see yourself, and you look just like the aliens.
After a while longer, one approaches the door and through the corner of your eyes you see an extended tentacle with what appears to be an oozing pile of goop. Immediately you turn away and return to pacing. Unfortunately you are near exhaustion and are not able to accelerate your pace. The alien places the goop on some sort of plate on a table just inside the space ship, and leaves. Nothing explodes and after a while, partially out of sheer exhaustion, you sit on the floor in a corner and begin to flap your hand uncontrollably. Strangely this seems to comfort you and eventually you fall asleep.
The following morning you awake and look for food but find that you have already eaten all that was previously stored. You glance at the goop and consider it might be food but can not bring yourself to taste it but notice a rather fascinating gadget on the wall of the ship and pick it up to study. It has a most interesting design and when you push certain buttons a screen appears. This is REALLY cool! You can do all kinds of things with it and all the rest of this strange place seems to just disappear as you focus on this fascinating gadget.
After a while you notice that you are very hungry even to the point of hurting a little. On the table you notice some additional items but have no idea how they got there. There is a sweet smell and you pick up a small firm but supple item that smells particularly sweet. Bringing it to your mouth you touch it with your tongue and though not a particularly good taste it doesn’t have a bad taste either. You are hungry enough that you bite down a little and a delicious juice oozes out into your mouth. Immediately you bite down and chew this item and get a great sensation as it moves down your throat. There are more and some others to try so you continue to eat what you like until you are not as hungry and notice that some of the aliens are still outside the door staring at you. This freaks you out and you immediately return to pacing which though exhausting, also helps you to calm. After pacing for some time, you again pick up the gadget and loose yourself in the things you can make it do.
This same routine continues for many days or months, you are not sure as everything seems to flow together including the anxiety that is almost your constant companion. Without the calming activities you have discovered, which have occasionally been interrupted by the aliens, you explode uncontrollably, your anxiety being so high.
One day, one of the aliens approaches you with some additional foods, making a strange noise and pointing to the food item, while you are eating, you glance at the food and the alien and being extremely hungry and recognizing the food as particularly delicious, you take some from the plate held by the alien but quickly return to pacing and then playing with another interesting gadget you had become aware of just a few days or weeks ago.
As you are investigating this new gadget you suddenly realize that the same alien who brought you the extra food is sitting inside the ship by the door investigating the same type of gadget as you. You quickly return to what you are doing.
Over time experiencing many of the same things that have occurred with food, you notice the same alien investigating a similar gadget to what you happen to be investigating at the time and one day you notice the alien getting the gadget to do something that you had never seen it do this is slightly intriguing but you return your focus to the gadget and again find yourself immersed in the gadget to the exclusion of everything else and this is comforting. Some days later you notice the alien’s hand moving towards the gadget you are investigating and the alien does something that makes the gadget do something new this is a shock but the new thing is so intriguing that you imitate what the alien did and the gadget does it again.
Days and weeks pass and you become aware that you are less anxious with the presence of the alien and start to accept a couple of others and even start to feel less anxious as they interact with you and show you new things you can do with different gadgets.
A few days later you find yourself gesturing to the alien to show you how to do something with one of the gadgets you even repeat the sound you know associate with one of the particularly delicious foods that had been provided and almost magically the alien brings you more of that food. Perhaps you can get things you want or need from these aliens. This communication continues to grow and you begin to enjoy these strange beings. Occasionally you still have feelings of anxiety but you are no longer constantly anxious and you even begin to wonder out of the rocket from time to time and notice the aliens pointing to a building not far away and a hill and other creatures on the hill. You also notice the warmth that comes from a glowing object in the sky and it makes you feel comfortable and even a little more relaxed.
As increasing activity, interaction, and even communication with the aliens grows, you one day notice the shiny outside of the rocket ship and realize it reflects the image of other things around you. You can see the building in the distance and when you move in another direction you can see some of the aliens you have become comfortable with, then you are shocked, you see yourself, and you look just like the aliens.
Caring for Children with Autism and Aspergers
Before taking this course, it is recommended that you take both the Child Development and Inclusion course. These courses will provide you with important information and alert you to valuable resources. (If you are taking this course for child care hours, you only need to make three comments or two comments and one question.)
There are three common indicators of Autism. They are:
Unusual and repetitive behaviors and/or narrow obsessive interests
Poor communication &
Poor social skills, to include:
Lack of or difficulty with joint attention &
Significantly to extremely guarded interactions.
Do not diagnose Autism on your own, if you suspect a child may have autism, the earlier s/he is identified and diagnosed and receiving appropriate intervention the better. Please refer the child (if your own) or the child’s parents to a qualified medical practionaire, psychologist, or early intervention practionaire who can diagnose Autism. If you do not know who to contact, look at the reference information under Child Development. If you still do not know who to contact, click here and ask for additional information. If you live in the United States , there may be resources that can help you to better provide for the needs of the child and help him or her develop to their best capacity. If the child enters a program or is already in a program there are a number of well researched quality program indicators that you and the parents should be aware of.
From the perspective of the child with autism; (some of these ideas are borrowed from Dr. Richard Solomon of the PLAY Project
There are three common indicators of Autism. They are:
Unusual and repetitive behaviors and/or narrow obsessive interests
Poor communication &
Poor social skills, to include:
Lack of or difficulty with joint attention &
Significantly to extremely guarded interactions.
Do not diagnose Autism on your own, if you suspect a child may have autism, the earlier s/he is identified and diagnosed and receiving appropriate intervention the better. Please refer the child (if your own) or the child’s parents to a qualified medical practionaire, psychologist, or early intervention practionaire who can diagnose Autism. If you do not know who to contact, look at the reference information under Child Development. If you still do not know who to contact, click here and ask for additional information. If you live in the United States , there may be resources that can help you to better provide for the needs of the child and help him or her develop to their best capacity. If the child enters a program or is already in a program there are a number of well researched quality program indicators that you and the parents should be aware of.
From the perspective of the child with autism; (some of these ideas are borrowed from Dr. Richard Solomon of the PLAY Project
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