Guest guest Posted September 8, 2005 Report Share Posted September 8, 2005 Hi Everyone: One of the things that has worked for Ray is not getting stuck on doing everything exactly as it is traditionally done. For example, I really tried to follow the Social Story concept exactly and I used Boardmaker symbols for the most part. I got frustrated by an inability to find symbols for things I needed but there were symbols for slang and swear words. A friend loaned me a digital camera and I started making my own symbols and visuals. I started doing visuals for every activity. They are similar to a Social Story but more detailed in terms of the sequence (order) because Ray needs that and I found that it helped train caregiving staff too. The consultant we had at the time said they were too long and that Social Stories should be short or we would lose his interest. So I redid them to " do it right " but he was not nearly as responsive as to my detailed ones. I learned that you have to do what works for your child not worry so much about " doing it right " - it is right if it works for your child. I was doing this for home not school initially. However, I was sort of proud of the visuals and took one to an IEP meeting. My first one was really primitive but when I shared it jaws began to drop. The IEP team had not been very believing that he could do things I was claiming he did. The visual was the steps involved in feeding the horses. The Autism specialist and others made a comment about how independent he was and began to see him in a different light. They made appointments to come out to the house to observe what he could do. If you want to see a sample of this visual it is on my website http://www.parentingyourcomplexchild.com/FeedingHorseStory.html. I wanted to share it now with school beginning because when it is difficult to get the team to see that your child is more capable than he demonstrates in school, they are helpful. Ray has an MRI today and may need to go back for surgery. If I am unresponsive to replies I may be away from the computer for a while after tomorrow. Hope school is going well for everyone. Peggy Lou Lighthouse Parents www.parentingyourcomplexchild.com www.lighthouseparents.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.