Guest guest Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 Hi , Welcome to the group. This is a great place to get help with the day to day challenges we each face. In regards to the difficulty you are having with transitioning Tucker from one activity to the next, this is a very common in children with ASD. It¹s a communication issue and visual communication can really help. Have you tried using visual schedules? A great reference book to implement them is ³Visual Strategies for Improving Communication-Practical Supports for Home and School² by A. Hodgdon. It is a simple, easy to follow aid and it has helped us more than anything else. For example, I used to tell my daughter it was time for dinner and then end up dragging her to the table. Now I say it as I sign it, and I then I hand her a little picture schedule of her sitting down, saying grace and eating. All three together seem to just click and it works like a charm. We also use this method at school to transition between the library, gym, cafeteria, etc. If she sees a picture, then she gets it. It¹s her language. Tucker may also benefit by being in a classroom that bases all communication on a visual model. As far as self-stimming goes, I say do what works for you. The experts who tell us we must eradicate all stimming do not have to live with a child under extreme emotional duress. I¹ve adopted more of a management program rather than total removal of her stim items. If I take them away, the more important they become to her and the more her behavior unravels. She uses stimming to calm down, center herself and has learned to put it away when there is work to be done. Over the years her specific stim item has evolved to a dish towel rolled with scientific precision around a toothbrush. She will roll and reroll it until it provides the perfect dangle. It¹s her life and her way of bringing order to it and if it makes her happy, then it makes me happy. I hope this helps. Therese Mom to 13 yo DS-ASD Tucker has some obsessive compulsive tendencys...how do you deal with > tamtrums? When he insists on doors being closed or a certain sibling > sit next to him or play with him and loses control when you say " no " > to whatever the situation is. He sometimes hits, pinches or > scratches whoever seems to be in arms length. He does have sensory > problems, he also has a mild-mod hearing losses, wears hearing aids > when able to tolerate. What about sensory integration, brushing, > swinging - does it help? Tucker has problems attending to tasks > (unless it's his agenda then he attends well--alone) He does'nt like > to include me in alot of play, We've been using Greenspans floor-time > to try to get him to let us in... it has helped, but how do I get him > out of the therapy unit without a fight or into the house for dinner > without having to lug this 70 lb. child (you should see my biceps!) > Has anyone had success using tryptophan to help increase seratonin > levels to help behavior? For the most part Tucker can be very loving > and sometimes very social, he's not as spacey now that he is on the > gfd, but still engages in some self-stim. behavior...how much do you > allow? Sometimes I feel like he " needs " it to unwind. I think he is > able to learn and do so much more then what we can get him to do but > all of this " stuff " is in the way and we just want to help him to > communicate and deal with his frustrations and learn how to self > regulate if possible. > monica > > > > > -------------------------------------------------- > Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of > our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including > them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives for our > list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ > -------------------------------------------- > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 , we learned ages ago not to use the word " no " for (now 41, DS, hearing impaired (2 aids), Autism (diagnosed last year). also had a strong reaction to the word " no " . No is reserved to very specific times when something requires a strong no as safety reasons. Otherwise, we sign " later " , " future " , " one hour " , " one week " or whatever time it may be. We may be in a store and he wants a certain thing, we can tell him " ____ months Birthday " , and he will be fine. , for as long as we can remember, has twirled a ball in a sock around a stick (dowel that Dad had to cut just right length), also a metal whistle on a string he twirls around his finger again it has to be just the right length of string. Another is a Slinky, cut in half that he moves up and down or around. Usually he does these things while watching TV, riding in a car, takes when we visit his siblings. He takes the whistle on the string to workshop as it is easy to put in his pocket and will often twirl it when there is down time or the need arises. Since it never interfered with any thing he was doing no one really ever said not to have him do these things, even at work. The consultant we had evaluate this year said that is his way to self organize and he needs the sensory input as a way to calm his brain. Before we knew this everyone just knew that was and what he liked to do. He may take the whistle in his pocket to church but never had a need to twirl it there but when we get in the car he does. Louise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 In a message dated 6/2/2004 12:03:25 AM Eastern Standard Time, mlingalls@... writes: For the most part Tucker can be very loving and sometimes very social, he's not as spacey now that he is on the gfd, but still engages in some self-stim. behavior...how much do you allow? Sometimes I feel like he " needs " it to unwind. Hi , As usual, Therese offered wonderful suggestions. Visual schedules are very important to kids with ASD. Another thing I have noticed since Maddie was as young as two, is that she needs time to process what it is you are asking of her. If I show her the tub picture and hold out my hand, it may take as long as 5 minutes before she offers her hand and comes with me. My mother always told me I was a very patient individual...thank goodness!!!!! When using Floortime, remember that Greenspan endorses actually using the stim item or fixation item as a way to reach the child. I know this worked well with Maddie. She was in her own little world for such a long time, but when she saw her big sister dangling a sock, HEY, she noticed!!!!!!! The key is to then expand on that and always follow the child's lead. It takes time, but Maddie is so much more engaging than she used to be. I remember her SI OT, who is the QUEEN of FT, telling me that over and above everything we do with Maddie, comes ENGAGEMENT. Engagement is crucial to relationships...a Greenspan mantra!! As far as tantrumming, we have always used redirection. Maddie just doesn't comprehend consequences. If we have to take something away, it is always replaced with something she can have. Hope this helps. Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 i see you are trying greenspan,which is great, have you tried a more targeted beavhioral management program. has a team at the univeristy hospital of psychologists, they used methods not meds, but we also use a psychiatrist for meds which hlep wit the behavioral management. We have been doing this since he was 3yrs old and have made tremendous gains becuase of it. There should be a team or similair program either at a university hospital or specialty clinic if you getthe excpetional parent magazine they have yearly issue that have names and addresses of places that speciallize in things to do with disabilities for each state. I would check into this as targeting the behaviors and what is causing them and then the long road to correcting the beavior, it does pay off in the long run. As for the stimming most of our kids do this in one for or another. We let nthan do it to a degree, to help him wind down and relax, but with behavioral management and consistancy he has learned to put them away weh its time to work etc, and then he may get them out at certain breaks etc. As for hedbanging nathan still does on occasion but he has learned the couch is softer than the walls or the floor so he is safer when he does it, just ruins my furninture. Often it just takes a stimulant such as ritlin to calm him completely. but meds work differently on each child. shawna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2004 Report Share Posted June 2, 2004 oh yes the picture scheduls are a dream, nathan doesnt function without his. Im thinking of getting him a big year wall calender so i can show him when schools starts again, etc, if he can see it all at once it makes more sense to him. have the weekend off will be paying officemax a visit. has even figured out how to change the velcro pics to a prefered activity,lol so we had to go to having him print out his schedule each day and crossing off as he went, the little stinker. shawna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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