Autism and Learning with Dolls

L, age 2 1/2, and in the process of being evaluated for autism ( all the signs are there), had a great time learning about body parts yesterday. He never really seemed to care before, at least not when we worked together. But yesterday he found a doll that made sounds and was fascinated.

I found it interesting that when the doll made laughing sounds he laughed as well, and when the doll made crying sounds he hugged it. So cute, and gave a little insight into his perceptions of emotions. As he played I would verbalize that the baby is laughing or baby is crying, baby is sad.

After he had sat near me and played with the doll for awhile he began to interact with me, so I started pointing out the dolls nose, ears, mouth, etc. I would point to the dolls nose and say "Dolls nose" and then tap his nose and say "L's nose." Then move on to ears, mouth, eyes, etc. He loved it. When we moved on to hands, feet, etc. he would double over laughing. For variety we would also point to my nose, my ears, and so on. We kept it light and playful,  laughed a lot and had a great time while grabbing a teachable moment and making the most of it.

Special Needs Links

Here are a few things I've read recently that I've found interesting and wanted to pass along.  Each of these posts is good food for thought and I hope you enjoy them.

Alexandra Rohde: Celebrities With Bipolar Depression - Leading a Normal Life?

Stuart Duncan - Austism From a Father's Point of View: Stimming:What Is It? Why Do Autistics Do It?

Life With My Special Ks: I Don't Have Down Syndrome All The Time . . .

Living With RAD: RAD and Social Issues

When Love Was Not Enough: Parenting Our RAD Child: - Choosing Life

Daily Adventures at Rose's House Saturday July 17, 2010

Amanda is just loving Little Red, the guinea pig. Technically this is Doug's pet, but . . . we'll see.

Don't you just hate it when vacuum cleaner belts break?

A little math practice.

Coloring pictures to go with our Bible lesson - Jeusus Baptism.

Some imaginative play.

Perler beads remain a huge favorite with the older kids.

We had a good, fun day. More adventures tomorrow.

Daily Adventure at Rose's House Friday July 16,2010

Gluing the story cards and coloring the picture from our Bible lesson this morning.

Here Tristan is showing some of the other boys some card tricks. In the background is my wonderful helper.

We were treated to quite a concert today when the kids made microphones out of Legos and sang into them at the tops of their lungs.

Gianni, CJ and I played several rounds of Go Fish this afternoon.

Amanda finally saved enough money to buy the new cage she wanted for her pet rats so Doug took her to PetSmart this afternoon to get it. Then, after dinner, she and Doug put it together.

The rats love it. It's about four times bigger than the one they were in.

This was not in the plan, but somehow the trip to PetSmart also resulted in a new pet to add to our menagerie.

Meet Little Red, the guinea pig.

The cat was very interested in this new addition.

And so were the kids.

She's supposed to be Doug's pet but we'll see how that works out with Amanda in the house.

It's been a busy interesting day. More adventures on the way tomorrow.

Establishing Learning Centers

There are two points to consider when planning a learning environment that includes learning centers.

1. How will it be customized to include the learning styles of each participant?

2. How will the planned activities and the child's environment compliment one another?

Typical learning centers to consider are blocks, housekeeping, art/writing, table toys (manipulatives), sensory table, library, music, science and computers. Life skills, social skills, risk taking, and responsibility with freedom are important lessons children are learning while using centers and interacting with each other. Children should feel that this is a place where they can trust and feel safe.

There are a number of points to consider when setting up learning centers.

1. Separate noisy areas from quiet areas.

2. Each area should be clearly defined. Children need to know where the boundaries are for the toys that belong in each learning center. Traffic patterns should naturally flow in a way that keeps children from interrupting each other and also discourage running.

3. There should be enough space in/at each learning center for more than one child to play comfortably.

4. Resources near each play area should be relevant to that area.

5. Ensure that caregivers can clearly see into each area.

6. Each learning center should be accessible to each child regardless of handicaps or disabilities.

7. There should be plenty of storage for the supplies needed in each learning center so that the children are able to keep things reasonably neat without too much difficulty.

When setting up learning centers remember that this does have to be expensive. Dividers can be created by hanging a curtain, or by putting up and office cubicle divider. Art shelves can be made from inexpensive materials or purchased second hand. Just remember to make sure surfaces are washable.

An organized and properly arranged environment makes it easier for children to choose constructive activities. An organized environment also makes it easier for the children to play in an orderly way and to keep their surroundings neater. Some things to remember are to makes sure all toys and materials have their own storage space. Make sure items are within easy reach of the children and are easy to put away again. Ensure that the learning centers are easy to get in and out of.

Pay attention to what children play with a lot and what they seem to be losing interest in. Often even minor changes to the learning center, such a slight rearranging, or a few inexpensive new toys or supplies can spark new interest.

Learning centers are a fun and creative way to give children a learning experience customized to their needs and interests. I hope this article has given you some inspiration in creating learning centers for the children in your care.

Daily Adventures at Rose's House Sunday June 6, 2010

My laptop decided to be difficult the last few days and Doug has been working with it trying to get it to work properly again. I'm finally back online again but not sure how long it will last. I just may get a new laptop yet.

We've missed a lot of church lately because of the number of kids we have on Sundays. But we decided that is going to have to change so today we took them all with us. We had ten children (including ours) between the ages of 3 months and 13 years old. It was interesting. 

We were almost ready to go when one of the children decided to meltdown after I discovered he had stolen about ten  pieces of gum from one of the the other kids and then lied about where he got it. After tearing a piece of paper to shreds and throwing it in the floor, knocking over a chair, and punching and biting me,  accompanied by a lot of bizarre laughter and disturbing comments, he finally calmed down. He did lose quite a few privileges though in the process. While all this was going on I was wondering if we had made the wrong decision to try to take him to church this morning. I found myself trying not to laugh during the service when he stood up during the praise time and said he was thankful for friends and family. It's just amazing how fast the moods and behavior can change for him.

The rest of the morning went well with the exception of losing the baby's pacifier (finally found it after church) and lots and lots of spit up from the baby caused by his acid reflux. It seemed a little worse than normal today.

I was so grateful that most of the younger kids settled down and took good naps after lunch. That was a much needed treat and allowed me to recharge my batteries a little.

We spent most of the evening relaxing on the front porch and now the little ones are in bed.

Daily Adventures at Rose's House

Today has been busy and fun.

It was a hot and humid day and when Doug came home this evening he put in our air conditioners. This is an old house and does not have central air so we use window units. He put three in downstairs and one upstairs. We may get a few more if this turns out to be a hot summer. Last summer was very cool and we really didn't need them.

This coloring activity is such a hit with this group of kids. Having the entire table covered with paper and being free to create as small or large a work of art as they want is so much fun.

We had a lot of fun playing with the number puzzles and practicing counting to 10.

And chased an ant.

Both this morning and this evening we played animal match with some of the cards from the Memory game. I hold one set of cards in my hand with a matching set laid out on the floor in front of me. Then one by one I show the kids a card and ask them to find the match, or the one that is the same. They also enjoyed just looking at and talking about the cards.

There was an impromptu game of Ring Around the Roses that made us all laugh.

And fun on the computer.

Austin and Gabe were playing with dice and drew a crowd of observers.

Kaleb enjoying some snuggles. He also loves this swing that Austin put together for him.

The kids colored in their Mommy Bird books. It's a really cute little printable book that I found here and Amanda helped me put together.

And a little building to finish off our day.

More fun coming up tomorrow.