Walk Now for Autism Speaks

This Saturday, my husband, our son and I will participate in a 5K walk for Autism Speaks. This will be our third year walking and the second year that we have joined with my school district's early childhood program to raise money for this organization. It is a truly amazing experience, seeing the thousands of people walking toward the common goal of finding out what Autism really is. I not only talk the talk, daily, but by donating I will be walking the walk, literally and figuratively. If you want to find out more about Autism Speaks  here is their website:

http://www.autismspeaks.org/

If you want to donate to our team here is where you can go:
http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/search/searchParticipants.asp?ievent=993444&lis=1&fname=Mary&lname=Matthews

I enjoy taking my son to swim with the Special Olympics. He has always loved being in the water, but as a young child he was never able to master the art of swimming. He was so overstimulated by the experience of being in the water, that he could not focus on what his teacher was trying to teach him. I was surprised to see how well he swims now and am so glad that I didn't give up on his swimming lessons. For those of you who are not aware, children with disabilities can begin in the Special Olympics at age 8 years

What's the Difference:Speech, Language and Communication

Ever school year I have parents ask me why their child does not receive Speech services with the school district. I explain that the district makes this determination when the child is assessed and may determine that the child's language ability is commensurate with their cognitive ability.

An example of this is a four year old child who functions (has a cognitive ability) at a 24 month level; this means that there is a two year delay in development. If the child has language abilities of a 24 month old, then their language abilities are commensurate with their cognitive abilities. When this is the case my school district places the child in a language rich classroom environment to stimulate their language development and increase their vocabulary. 

Once the child demonstrates a higher level of language ability, then they can be reassessed for Language, Speech and Hearing services (LSH). This may occur once the teacher and/ or parent decides that the child has a large enough vocabulary for the Speech Therapist to reassess.


I have listed some common speech terms to help parents better understand what the school district is saying when they discuss speech therapy and speech and language disabilities.

Terms related to Speech Therapy

Communication- the most general of the terms, implies a transfer of knowledge, ideas, opinions or feelings.

Speech- the vocal or spoken production of language and as such is the fastest and most efficient means of communicating.

Language-a formalized method of communication consisting of 1.) the signs and symbols by which ideas can be represented, and 2.) the rules governing these signs and symbols.

Echolalia- a condition in which an individual repeats words or phrases previously heard. Delayed echolalia can occur days or weeks after initially hearing the word or phrase.

Vocabulary

Voice- the pitch, pitch patterns, range of pitch, vocal quality, loudness or loudness patterns of speech.

Fluency- refers to speech that moves along easily and without undue interruptions. An example of a fluency disorder is stuttering.

Articulation-the actual movements of the speech organs that occur during the production of various speech sounds.

Pragmatics- the method of using language to communicate effectively in a natural context, focusing on considerations like eye contact between speaker and listener, how close to stand, taking turns and selecting topics of conversation.

These were from Speech, Language and Hearing Disorders, a guide for the teacher, by Barbara J. Hall, Herbert J. Oyer and William H. Haas, Allyn and Bacon: Boston, 2001

That time of the year

I was talking with my husband today, telling him that things at work are going to get very busy. This is the time of the school year when most students have their triennial/ transition IEP's. These IEP's occur in the spring to determine a child's placement when they are transitioning from the Early Childhood Special Education Program to the Kindergarten through 12th Grade program. These IEP's are different from annual IEP's because the child is re-evaluated by a psychologist to determine if the child still qualifies for special education services and if their placement is appropriate for the next school year. 

I brought this topic up with my husband, because of a comment a psychologist made. She said, "I don't know why these re-evaluations are needed. It is obvious that the child still has Autism and still qualifies". Not much of a deal on the surface, however, it is the federal law and the child has the civil rights to this re-evaluation. This is not something that should be taken lightly.

I speak from my own experience. My son did not receive a triennial evaluation from the time he was diagnosed in 1994 till I demanded it in 2005. His IEP team would still meet and discuss his eligibility, but there was no attempt to actually assess his level of ability. I think, as a parent, that the team and I did my son a big disservice. We brushed aside what was his right by law, because, "It was plain to see that he was still autistic and needed services". I hope that other parents learn from my mistake and do not allow school districts to skip over these assessments to save time or money. It is truly for your child's best interest and it will show you where the child really is compared to their same age peers. This is crucial information the IEP team needs to plan for your child's academic future.

Seeing art through new eyes

As I mentioned in my bio, I am a preschool teacher and right now my students are learning about things that go. As part of the unit on transportation I have them make a book of various vehicles. Well my students are young (3-5 years old) and their idea of how the pages should be done an mine are not always the same, nonetheless I let them have their way.

The result I now realize is that our bulletin board looks like the morning traffic report, "Dump Truck spills it's load on the 57. Single car crash blocking two lanes of traffic on the northbound 15." Sometimes finding humor in the small things helps you keep a positive perspective on life.

A brief list of terms parents should know about Sensory Integration Dysfunction

     When my own son was in preschool the school called an IEP meeting to explain to me that he had SI Dysfunction and needed to be assessed to determine whether he was eligible for treatment. They used a lot of strange words to describe his condition, but essentially ended up describing many of the problems he experienced throughout the day, from motor planning to avoid bumping into obstacle to hypersensitivity to sounds and food and hyposensitivity to movement. I was told about the book, The Out of Sync Child by  Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A. It is an excellent reference on this disorder, though written more for therapists than parents. I have provided some frequently used definition below.

Glossary:

Hyper-sensitivity - oversensitivity to sensory stimuli, characterized by a tendency to be either fearful or cautions, or negative and defiant.

Hyposensitivity-  undersensitivity to sensory stimuli, characterized by a tendency either to crave intense sensations or to withdraw and be difficult to engage.

Motor Planning- the brains ability to conceive, organize and execute a sequence of complex physical actions.

Occupational Therapist- this is an individual who works with children who have impairments in fine and/or gross motor skills, Daily Living Skills or have Sensory Integration Disorder.

Proprioception- a sense that informs us of the position of our body parts. 

Self-Stimulatory Behavior (Stimming) - actions used solely to stimulate one’s own senses, such as body rocking and finger flicking. Theories suggest that “self-stims” serve to reduce sensory overload and increase concentration. Sometimes self stimulatory behavior can create an arousal state. Other examples include hand flapping, toe walking, spinning and echolalia. 

Sensory Integration Dysfunction- the inefficient neurological processing of information received through the senses, causing problems with learning, development, and behavior. Also called sensory integration disorder and sensory integrative dysfunction

Vestibular- pertaining to the sensory system located on the inner ear tha governs posture and balance.

Tips on Toilet Training

Some things that parents ask about are:

• When do I start a Toilet Training Program?
• How Do I Start a Toilet Training Program?
• How to I get my child to stay in the bathroom long enough to be successful?
• What if my child won’t stay in the bathroom without tantruming?

When to start:

Many parents think that this is related to a particular age,” My son is 3 years old, so I need to start toilet training him.” This is not necessarily true, especially with children who have developmental delays or sensory issues. Instead look for cues from your child before you start the program. Do they stay dry for 2-4 hours at a stretch or even over night? Do they get upset if they have a dirty diaper? Do they come to you with a clean diaper when they want to be changed? Do they hide when they have a bowel movement? These are all cues that your child is ready to start a scheduled program.

How to start:

It is never too early to start this process. You can prepare your child for eventual toilet training without actually putting them on the potty. This is a good practice as some children do not have positive associations with a bathroom. They may see it as a place that means I get wet, then I am dried off, stuffed into pajamas and my teeth are brushed. If they don’t like bathing or need an adult to brush their teeth, then the bathroom might not have a lot of happy memories for them and they might object to being it their. What is important is that the child learns that this is not only a room for bathing and brushing teeth. To help them see this they need other people to model proper toileting behavior, so they might observe a parent, sibling or other close relative using the toilet and learn that this is just a natural part of life. It is also important to create an environment which encourages the child to linger so that they have more time to be successful.

Creating an environment:

This may be as easy or as complex as you like it to be. Some suggestions that work for me include posters of favored characters, books to look at, handheld games or toys all to distract them from the monotony of waiting. You may also decide that you want to reinforce/ reward your child when they are successful so you might have a special treat or prize (m & m’s are popular, a stamp, stickers) that you have placed where the child can’t get to it. However you decide to do this is up to you, there is no right answer. One word of caution though, do not punish the child when they have an accident. Everyone has accidents or makes a mistake, that is part of learning and you want them to continue learning to be toilet trained. I recommend that if your child has an accident deal with it as calmly and pleasantly as you can and encourage them that next time they can be successful.

Making Adjustments:

Some children, no matter how nice an environment you create, do not want to stop what they are doing to go all the way to a bathroom. To address this I suggest that you place the potty chair in the room they spend the most time in. When my kids were little this was the living room. I understand that some adults will object to this as being unhygienic or inappropriate, but the goal is for the child to be successful at toileting and as they are you will begin to move the potty chair closer and closer to the bathroom so that eventually it is in the bathroom and the child will not have noticed. They will have developed the habit of using the potty chair where ever it is. For those friends and relative who think it is unhygienic, let them know that you show the child how to properly clean to potty chair, and that it is never left dirty. If they still object offer them the opportunity to take over the toilet training.

The Plan

I want to help parents  by giving them tips and ideas on how to help their children with Autism.
 
Two things I want to cover in this blog:

Toilet Training- ( this is where I got the name) including:

• when to start, 
• how to keep the kid on the pot
• what to do about accidents
• getting all the family members on board with the program

Parent Education- 

• Who may be involved in a child's education
• what the new lingo means
• where to go for support

 And so it starts....