Where it all began!

 As a mother of 5 children, two which had been diagnosed with Autism/P.D.D (Pervasive Development Disorder), I had spent months researching what the diagnosis of Autism even meant.  I wanted to know how to treat it, what to do while waiting for an actual diagnoses and how to get my children the best therapy that I could find.  At the same time I was on the 'hunt' to figure things out, I also had to deal with the emotional rollercoaster I felt I was on.   Truthfully, rollercoasters were always that ride that I would go on, sometimes wishing I could change my mind half way through that upward hill, but knowing that once I got to the top, I could just scream and make those fears disappear as quickly as they came.  My journey at times has felt like I am back on that rollercoaster.  Screaming at times because it seems so frustrating at times but always getting back on knowing that I will make it through it!

I am not a doctor or psychologist.  I like you, am a parent of a child with autism.  If you are not a parent but are reading this, maybe you have a sibling, cousin or friend with Autism.  Regardless of the reason, you are now reading this and hopefully my story will enlighten you and give you the strength to know that you are not alone.  

Prior to having children, I was a Registered Nurse working in different hospitals and eventually in a High School where I took a job working in a Classroom with Developmentally Challenged Students.  I loved my job and was always eager to learn about these amazing children that I had the pleasure of working with.

All of the information that I write about is a part of my journey.  The story of what it was like (and continues to be like) in understanding and coping with having a child with Autism. Hopefully some of the information I will share with you, will make your journey a little easier.  The most important thing to take out of this will be to know that you are not alone!  

Keep reading to learn more about Autism.....

The beginning of Summer Camp

 I am so happy that we continue to stay open!  We were fortunate to stay open throughout the Pandemic which was a life saver for many of our parents.  As a parent of a son with Autism, I can tell you that closing down would not have been beneficial.  Learning online was not an option for most of our students and therefore let's just be THANKFUL that we were able to help out our families.

Camp started on the 28th of June and wow, what a great week we had.  We split our campers into age groups and skill levels.  Though you will never find 2 kids with ASD the same, we do try to keep kids that have similar skill sets with each other to ensure that groups can be run more easily.  Students that have higher needs, will be paired accordingly but we will always try to give them as much individual attention as they require to keep them motivated.

This year we made camp t-shirts for our kids using the Cricut!  Yes, in fact, we used Cricut Design Space to help us design what we wanted on our shirts, we purchased the iron on materials we required, cut them out and voila! Great shirts!  

Let's get on with it........ Camp is and should always be a lot of fun.  We keep it fun by breaking up the day in small periods to allow our students just enough time to practice skills before feeling like they are working too hard.  It is important to remember that your kids/campers should be reinforced often otherwise they may feel they are working too hard.  When I say fun, that doesn't mean not educational.  Most of our campers do not know that we are keeping their minds active while playing.  Here is an example of some activities that we may participate in....

Sample of our Schedule

9:00-9:15am            Campers arrive and go to their lockers

9:15-9:30am            Campers have found their rooms, put away their snacks and lunch bags and used the

                                bathroom.  At this time, we take part in "calendar" (morning calendar activities). We talk                                    about the weather, the days of the week, the season etc.

9:30-10:00am         Social Skills Daily Activity

10:00- 10:15am       Snack

10:20-11:15              Outside if weather permits. Physical Activity, team building

11:15- 12:00             Life Skills Activity

12:00-12:45             Lunch and Social Games

1:00-1:30pm             Activity

1:30-2:00pm            School Readiness 

2:00-2:15pm.           Snack

2:15-2:45pm           Journal Activity

2:45-3:00pm           Clean up

Scheduling my school week

 

When scheduling my week, I like to be prepared.  I arrange my weeks ahead of time so that I have everything ready or close to ready prior to starting each day.  

How do I set up my sessions throughout the school week?

 

All my students work through Math, Reading Comprehension, Language, Science, Social Studies etc.

We also include Social Topics and Life Skills.

Since I use alot of curriculum from TAH, my life is so much more organized!!

Once I do my pretests, I am able to get a clearer understanding of where they are all at in terms of skills.  I will also use the ABLLS-R to determine specific Language skills that I feel are extremely important in teaching communication.

I did spend money out of my pocket however I felt that is was easier to print up the books necessary for my kiddos that they could work on throughout the school year. Example: I printed up 2 copies of Level 2 Math, 1 copy of level 1 Math, 1 copy of level 3 etc….

I did this with each book that I knew I would use.  I took the initial assessment sheet and printed this up and placed into an assessment binder.  All of the kids I work are in one binder so everything is together.

I ensure to pretest all students on the level they are on and keep everyone as structured as possible. Example: if I have 6 students and I have broken them down into the 3 different levels, they all work on the levels that fit the needs of the student but they all do the same amount of sheets per day.

 

Example: Lets’ look at Functional Math Unit 4 from TAH

Students 1 and 2 are on level 1 math (see here)

Students 3 and 4 are on level 2 math

Students 5 and 6 are on level 3 math

I started all of them on Unit 4  (example), pg 1 and 2.

On Tuesday they are on Unit 1 page 3 and 4.

It takes approximately 2 weeks to finish a unit (I then do a post test).

I teach all of my students to the best of my ability, then I split the groups up and work with each individual group using hands on teaching before to ensure my students understand the skills.  I set up IAS bins (independent activity systems) that my students can work on and I have an IPAD station for the students to work on as well.

 

I like to spend a lot of time encouraging communication amongst my students. We work a lot on 'WH'questions. 

 I purchased these on amazon. 

https://www.amazon.ca/Galapara-Learning-Resources-Assorted-Recordable/dp/B07QFZ2PXS/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=hand+buzzer&qid=1614461936&sr=8-13

 
The students love being challenged in games and this was a great way for me to teach my students to respond to questions.  Each student is able to hit the buzzer when they know the answer to the question.

 

Lastly, All of my students work for weekly reinforcements. Before Covid, we would go to get a treat such as ice cream, now we make our own things. It helps that we have a small kitchen.  You just need to think a bit outside of the box.

 

 

 

Reducing Negative Behaviours

 Your child is screaming to gain access to something they want.  Sound familiar?

For many of us, this is a daily occurrence. It can be exhausting, both physically and emotionally. As a parent you would love to stop the screaming, so it is easy to give the child what they want because it makes them stop.  Think about when you see someone in a candy store with their 5 year old.  The 5 year old sees their favorite candy on the way out and grabs it in hopes that the parent buys it.  So many parents just buy the candy because it is easy.  It is not to expensive, it isn't too big and what's the big deal!

Sounding like something you have seen.  Maybe that person is you.  Regardless, it has happened to all of us at least.....once.  After reading this scenario, you begin to think, I would never do this. I would just tell my child no.  It is easier said then done! 

So how do we get our child to learn that they can not always get what they want.  Lets start with the same scenario.  When taking your child into the store,  it is great to set some ground rules. 

For example:

You want to go in to grab a couple of items and you tell your child if they are good they may pick one treat. Make sure to define what 'good' means.  This may look something like this:

Good Behaviour = no screaming, no crying or whining and staying beside parent at all times in the store = candy of choice

Bad behaviour = screaming, whining, crying, not staying with parent = no candy

By setting boundaries, you provide  your child an understanding of what behaviour you expect.  Even if your child does not understand the boundaries, it reminds you of what you expect from your child.

This sounds easy right? Wrong. The reason being is that now you go directly to the store and your child starts screaming because they want those cool looking crayons that are in the isle.  They keep screaming and you decide you are not going to give in to the screaming.  Strangers that do not know anything about your, begin to look at you.  The stares become more evident and you feel as though you need to get your child to stop screaming because you do not want them to think that you have some 'spoiled' kid who can't control themselves.  You want to run out of the store and hope to never see these people again. Remember, these individuals have likely gone through exactly the same as you. 

If you are caught in this situation, take a deep breath, know that you can do this.  If you can, pay for the items you went in there for,(without the item your child was screaming for), and walk directly out of the store, with your child and ignore the behaviour.  By walking out of the store, your child's behaviour may escalate. This is very common.  By ignoring the screaming you are trying to extinguish the behaviour you do not want to see.  Do not provide any attention to the behaviour.  Keep your child safe at all times, but do NOT talk to them at this time. Once your child calms down, move on.  If you stick to the same strategy, your child will begin to learn that screaming does not end in a reward.

If your child is non-verbal, has Autism or other Communication Delay try using a visual.  The visual can look simple such as the following.

 Stay tuned for more......

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Dealing with Behaviours

How ready do you think your child is to start back in school?  Let's face it, school has been closed for several months and for many of our kids, they may struggle with going back to a class of rules, lots of other students, being given demands and most of all, just being away from you as their parent.

It is not uncommon for students to have a fear of school but once you add everything that has gone on over the past several months it would only make sense to ensure they are prepared for their school day!

If you feel that your child may have some difficulties with the overall transition back to school, this post may be helpful for you.

It is important to begin getting your child ready and prepared.  

Well, how do you start?  With my son with Autism, we have always shown him a schedule of what the month looks like.  For many kids, they need structure.  Whether you have a diagnosis or not, it is a great way to stay organized.  

A schedule can have pictures or textual cues to indicate what is coming up for the day, the week or month.  In our classrooms, all of our students have their own schedules.  This way they can learn how to manage their own time and learn how schedules work.  We print up their schedule and place it in a sheet protector so that you can easily change the schedules without having to always laminate new sheets.  Don't get me wrong, I love to laminate so you need to do what works best for your students.

Teaching Ideas

It should not matter is your child is in school or at home during this Pandemic.  You can always continue to teach.  Teaching is not just for a classroom.  Teaching is done everywhere.  The sky is the limit!

If you have a young child  just diagnosed with Autism,  you may be looking for information on;

• treatment options
• funding options
• how to teach language skills
• how to understand your child's needs 

The list goes on.

If you have a child in school that has difficulties due to Autism, Learning Deficits, Down Syndrome, and other Communication or Cognitive Delays, you may be researching information on;

• teaching in school
• will my child be better in a small class or in the regular sized class
• will my child ever to go College
• will my child ever get a job
• how will I afford therapy for my child

This site is geared towards supporting you, as parents, caregivers, support workers and/or teachers on how to be more prepared in your day to day teaching.  It may be the skills you teach at home, in the playground, in the community or at school.  Teaching is an ongoing process.  It is meant to challenge us at times and to seem easy at other times.  

https://www.exceptionalmindsmatter.com/2020/07/teaching-ideas.html

Welcome to my blog

This year has been quite a year.  With Covid-19, we have all had to adjust to a new way of life.  With no clear ending in sight, schools will look so different this year.  It can be hard enough for students to manage the start of a new school year, but our kids have been out of school since March Break.  Lots of parents have had a difficult time accessing support and so many of our kids had a difficult time learning online.  For many parents, online learning may not have even been an option.  Just know that it is never to late to get more support for you or your child.  Where there is a will, there is a way!
Even though it was difficult, we kept going.  As educators we continue to strive for the best.  As parents, we try to make our kids lives easier.  So together we stay positive (at least, we try) and we will continue to find ways to keep our children engaged and educated!