Autism Spectrum 10 things you should know
10 things you should know about the autism spectrum
What would you add? Have you say at our discussion page on Facebook called AutismTalk
10 things you should know about the autism spectrum
autismtalk
We’re Partnering With The Mighty – A better service for people on the autism spectrum.
AutismTalk has a new partner
We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership that will bring our resources in front of The Mighty‘s wide-reaching readership. Autism Talk will now have a growing home page on The Mighty where people can get involved with us.
The Mighty is a story-based health community focused on improving the lives of people facing disease, disorder, mental illness and disability. More than half of Americans are facing serious health conditions or medical issues. They want more than information. They want to be inspired. The Mighty publishes real stories about real people facing real challenges.
We’re dedicated to helping ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder stories on The Mighty’ in their lives. With this partnership, we’ll be able to help even more people.
We encourage you to submit a story to The Mighty and make your voice heard.
Here’s an example of the kind of stories on The Mighty: This Is My Definition of ‘Hyperlexia’
Special Needs Children and Common Core. Is Common Core effective for children with special needs such as autism? Please take part in our discussion blog.
Special Needs Children and Common Core. Is Common Core effective for children with special needs such as autism?
Autism and emotional connections
As some of my more regular readers with know I have been running an occasional blog post series called autism and education. You can here the previous posts here.
As the father of an eight year old boy on the autism spectrum I take the whole issue of special needs education very seriously. So I was very interested in the whole area of Common Core State Standards Initiative and how (if at all) it benefits those students, such as my son John, with special needs.
To those not based in the USA (where the Common Core curriculum is used in the vast majority of states) the initiative is defined as “an educational assembly in the United States that details what K-12 students should know in English language arts and mathematics at the end of each grade. The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and seeks to establish consistent educational standards across the states as well as ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit-bearing courses at two- or four-year college programs or to enter the workforce.”
So, in fact, it does have some similarities with the UK’s national curriculum.
Okay so how does this impact upon those students who have special needs?
Last week I asked our online discussion group AutismTalk if they felt that Common Core was suitable for student with special needs ( and children on the sutism spectrum in particular). I have to say that I found the results quite remarkable.
First of all the sheers numbers who replied suggest the subject is of great interest. Secondly the almost negative view of Common Core from our members.
Angela is pretty typical when she says “My 10 yo aspergers son is highly intelligent, has 136 IQ and he has meltdowns because he doesn’t feel it’s necessary to show three ways to get the answer for one problem. I doesn’t not set well with children with ASD…they want to answer a problem and move on. It boggles my mind why they do this in schools. Our children don’t need common core system…get rid of it!!!”
“I think Common Core for all children is useless. No child can be a “cookie-cutter kid”, especially not a special needs child. Thankfully my son is in a specialized classroom so he isn’t subjected to it. But, my two mainstream daughters are, and there are mainstream kids struggling with this new system because all kids learn differently.” is Nicole’s view.
But, on the other side, Marilee felt “common core hasn’t been here in NY that long and I am all for it. Because I’ve seen how much easier this pain in the $$$ way makes the transition to high school and college math. So while more steps are taken now, the math most kids get to and fail are easily learned because of the extra steps. Of course parents need to utilize common core classes so their able to help with homework and their own comprehension.”
Because of this I do think it is of value to open up the discussion a bit further.
So what do you think of Common Core?
It would be great if you could use this blog to share your thoughts and comment on the views of others. To do so please use the comments section here.
As always we would ask you to be charitable in your dealings with others on this important matter.
Many thanks in advance!
This is so moving. Just look at the children with Medical Helmets when they have been painted. So cute!
Cassie – shares a picture of her son Seiger
Last week I was giong through Facebook preparing some posts for our group AutismTalk. (Do join us if you have any interest in special needs or ASD). Because I support various different pages and groups by timeline gets filled up with all sorts of stuff.
But that day I found myself moved by a particular picture from the excellent page Stop Discrimination against Special Needs. They had shared one of those wonderful posts which are both moving and show that challenges faced by youngsters will serious medical conditions or special needs.
I forwarded a post which showed a before and after poster of a very young child who has to ear a medical helmet. In the first picture it is plain white. In the second it shows the medical helmet after it has been painted in the style of a pre-war motorcycle helmet. And our readers loved it.
In fact a few of them shared the photographs of their children with medical helmets.
We thought that they were both really cute but also a great way of promote awareness.
If you like them please feel free to share the page. If you have a picture of your own child with a medical helmet please feel free to share using the comments box or send to us at info@patienttalk.org.
Many thanks in advance.
Kerry share this great photo of a medical helmet
Jenipher’s child gives some useful advice about medical helmets
Mikayla says” Wish I would of known about this sooner #lovemyboy #helmetlove “
Sami – shares “My Son Happy as can be with his camo helmet”
Autism and Challenging Behaviour Part 13 – Nail Cutting. How can to persuade an autistic child to have their toe or finger nails cut?
Autism and emotional connections
For the nearly a year now we have been running a series of blog posts which we have called “Autism and Challenging Behaviour“. These have varied from how to deal with meltdowns to going having a haircut.
In fact I’ve used it to get advice on issues relating to John our 8 year old son with ASD.
Last week in our Facebook page AutismTalk one of our readers asked the very reasonable question “anyone have trouble cutting your childs toe nails?”.
With well over 200 responses I thought this would be a great opportunity to share some of the tips shared by our other readers.
If you have any suggestions it would be great if you could use the comments box below to tell us more.
So here goes (and my apologies to anyone we have missed out) :-
“My 6 yo asd adhd sounded like we were trying to cut a limb off when we were cutting his finger and toe nails so I did them when he was asleep. Now he cuts them himself with nail clippers (under our supervision). He feels grown up, it’s far less stress for us all and the job gets done. Xxx”
“Its a sensory processing problem. Can get better through therapy. My 5 yr old is same way. Hes about to begin his therapy.”
” My son is now 15 and finger and toe nail cutting were always a problem. Unfortunately he has solved it by now biting them but the trauma of fighting gets too much after the many years. He hates hair cuts and grew his hair long. Then one day I told him he needed to have it cut and he had it cut to zero! Now he keeps it short by letting me give him regular trims but only when he is Sat in the bath. These sensory issues are traits of autism and we learn to cope with them along side our child as they grow. As we find a coping mechanism for one trait another trait appears. Good luck to you all xxx”
” I have a kicking 2 year old. He loves deep pressure and general “horseplay” and I discovered when he needed ear drops that I could roll him in a blanket like a burrito and he actually enjoys it! I use burrito boy method for lots of things now, including toe nail trimming! He just laughs and thinks it’s the greatest thing ever.”
“I feel for you, it’s so hard, like no one else would believe……our support team told us to brush toes or fingers first with a medium texture brush….perhaps toothbrush or something ( u can get sensory brushes from America) but that seems to send the right messages to the toes and fingers to expect pressure…..hope that’s some help. Good luck, keep going, we all hear you.”
“I only do my sons after a bath so his nails are soft. And with some reassurance and promising i wont hurt him. He lets me do them while singing 12345 once i caught a fish alive etc. Xx”
“My son is 5. He is okay when I cut his finger nails but his toe nails is torture for him so I do it when he is watching tv or playing with his tablet. Washing hair has gotten better but he doesn’t like it when I’m pouring the water on his head. I tell him to cover his eyes and I try to rinse him off as quickly as possible and dry his face first when done. I think it helps too that I use a handheld shower head since it rinses the hair a little quicker. Good luck! I forgot to mention that having a visual schedule helps a lot. Try reminding him a day before that you will be cutting his nails and take a picture of you cutting his nails and show it to him next time to remind him and prepare him.”
“We used to. Then I told him that when he’s sleeping tiny monkeys poop in his finger nails and toe nails. Lol now when its time to cut his nails he is thankful that we’re cleaning out all that monkey poop”
“Just keep doing it on a regular basis build it into a routine and he will accept it mostly but if like mine still has off days lol just repeat repeat repeat youll get there in the end also offer a bribe i find that works usually something he likes good luck”
” Try using a nail file its way less scary for the child. I work in a day centre”
“Try massaging arms & legs firmly then gradually making your way down to hands & feet if the child is old enough explain & let them watch same with hair washing, put a mirror in the bathroom firm massage helps with the sensory & it would make our lives easier.. Mine is 14 now & he does his own, life gets better with time.. Goodluck.”
” Counting helps my daughter. So for example letting her know what number I am on and how many more we have left. She use to scream and kick and try to get away. Now counting she doesn’t. She understands the process behind counting so maybe that helps her mind understand!”
So what are your tips? If you have a question you would like to ask our group about autism and challenging behaviour why not write to info@patienttalk.org.
Many thanks in advance!
| JenP | When my son was younger numbers calmed him, so first we’d count out each toe as I clipped, but sometimes that wouldn’t be enough. He also loved Thomas The Tank Engine, each main character engine had a number painted on its sides, so we combined the trains and numbers and cut each nail in order. I would name each train in order of number to matxh each toe clipped. Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon = 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. Kept his concentration and thinking of sources of happiness. |