All About Autism

[sharonkhoo]

Snow24:

How can we prepare a child for group class of 12.Where he can sit and listen to the teacher for at least 30 mins and not distrupt the class? I tried to verbally reminded him before class but when he attend the class previously he will forget about the reminder and walked ard in class, go touch the whiteboard, lie on floor etc.

Whatever you want your child to be able to do, you have to start at home, at whatever level he can manage, and work towards your goal in small, incremental steps. I don't think there is any other way. For any child, NT or ASD, verbal reminders ahead of time to do something they have not mastered will be ineffective. If you want your son to sit and pay attention for 30 mins in a class, you have to ask yourself whether he can do that at home when there are fewer distractions, he has one-on-one attention, and when an activity is more interesting. If he can't do that, then it is not likely he will do it in a class. It's not so much that he forgets your instruction as that he is not able to sustain his attention. It's like someone telling you to run continuously until you have finished a marathon - if you can't, you can't!

If your son can sit still and pay attention for 5 mins, then you can start there and work towards 10 mins, then 15 mins etc. Role-play \"class\" with him at home, with you acting \"teacher\" and him sitting on a chair as he would in class. Do similar activities to give him practice. Don't try to reach 30mins too soon and have him \"fail\". It's better to start with achievable targets and give him the experience of success and praise. If there are things in the class which are interesting and distracting to him, maybe bring him early and let him have a chance to explore a bit before the class starts? Or have the same things (eg whiteboard) at home for him to get familiar with?

Alternatively, start by letting him do whatever interests him as long as it requires sitting still and on task - eg. colouring, jigsaws, Lego, doodling etc - and extend the time he stays on his seat gradually till he can do 30 mins. But it has to be an \"active\" activity, not watching TV or using an iPad.

Others have mentioned the possibility that your son may have low muscle tone which makes it hard for him to stay on his seat. If that is the case, take him outside to playgrounds, walking, swimming etc a few times a week to build up his muscles. You can play some games with bean bags, balls etc at home too as these activities can build up muscle control. Hope this helps.

[Niu2009]

Hi Snow 24,


Have you gone for any therapies? You better work tigether with Therapists. I did know some parents do intervention themselves but need a few hours per day. My own opinion, for Asd kid can’t sit still, ABA and OT will help.

[Snow24]

Hi


Child is lacking in confidence due to social interaction and communicative problems.He find things difficult and does not want to try as he is afraid of failure. How to improve his self esteem and to continue doing the thing he deemed difficult.

[Snow24]

Niu2009:

Hi Snow 24,


Have you gone for any therapies? You better work tigether with Therapists. I did know some parents do intervention themselves but need a few hours per day. My own opinion, for Asd kid can't sit still, ABA and OT will help.

Hi Niu 2009

I am doing table activity with child at home to improve his attention span.

I have not try ABA.Anyone has good ABA to recommend?

[sharonkhoo]

Snow24:

Hi


Child is lacking in confidence due to social interaction and communicative problems.He find things difficult and does not want to try as he is afraid of failure. How to improve his self esteem and to continue doing the thing he deemed difficult.

You may have to scale back on your expectations to where he is comfortable. This may be well behind others of the same age, so you have to be prepared to be out of sync with everyone else. Start where he can experience successes and praise, and VERY SLOWLY increase the difficulty, always staying just around what he can achieve. Preferably, he should experience many more successes than failures. I also found that talking about my own failures and how I persevered when I was young, or even in day to day things, helped. Don't talk about eventually succeeding; emphasise persevering and trying even when you failed.

[pinkamoon]

Snow24:

Hi


Child is lacking in confidence due to social interaction and communicative problems.He find things difficult and does not want to try as he is afraid of failure. How to improve his self esteem and to continue doing the thing he deemed difficult.

Hi Snow24,

Like what many mummies here have suggested, if your child has difficulties sitting down and paying attention, it is unlikely that he will do it right in the short term.

It is good that you have detected the root of his problem. You understand that he faces problems in language (communicative and comprehension) which in turn affects his social skills and confidence level. By going to the root of the problem will help.

To improve the self esteem, he must first be confident at doing something which he is confident in and gets lots of positive feedback. There is no way a child will be able to do something difficult and be motivated to persevere. Even adults give up easily. Many mummies have given very good advice and I think you can seriously consider some of the points mentioned.

Like my son, when he was with the childcare, he was opening and closing doors, lying on the floor, washing hands in the toilets. These were the things he enjoyed doing. I tried to increase the OT sessions but the more my therapist pushed him, the worse he became. He started screaming in school and even washed his hands in the toilet bowls! :yikes:

As he had a teaching support teacher in that particular childcare, she worked with him 1-1 2 times a week for an hour and provided me with a lot of feedback and help. I also sent my helper to shadow him to keep track of his behaviour. You may want to consider having someone to shadow him. Having a person to teach him (1-1) may help.

I also worked on his diet as I have mentioned the other time. So everything counts. As far as I know, the behaviours our children exhibit is just a symptom of their underlying condition. So as a parent, we have to really look deep enough to find out what is the real root cause in order to help them.

Below is taken from Son-rise web page:

If your child is unable or unwilling to participate in activities of daily living (i.e., brushing teeth, using the toilet, personal hygiene, preparing own meals, dressing self, etc.).

Guiding Principles:
*All people (children and young adults) move toward that which is enjoyable. If these activities are seen as pleasant, our children will move toward instead of away from them.

*People require time to learn—it is worth investing time to help your child acquire new skills.

*Applying the Principles for Autism EducationTake these activities \"out of the closet.\" Teach these activities ongoingly throughout the day. Rather than only doing them during very busy times of the day (i.e., when trying to get your child out the door so they don't miss the bus), take other opportunities to slowly teach these skills.

*Give attention to and celebrate all family members who successfully participate in these activities (i.e., \"Yay daddy! You put on your own jacket!\").

*Give big, exciting reactions to any signs of interest or willingness in this area (i.e., if your child looks at the toothbrush, if he puts his shirt on backwards, etc.).

*Make it fun! (What? Brushing teeth fun? Yes! Brushing teeth can be fun!)

*Be flexible regarding timing. If your child moves away from brushing his hair, rather than force or push it, wait 10 minutes and try again.

Hope it helps.

[Niu2009]

Hi snow24,


I am not sure whether you child was just detected, but seems you are quite new here. Like the experienced parents said you must find the root of the problem instead of the behaviour itself. Like attention span, maybe due to different issues such as muscle tone, sensory issue or compliance. If you want to help him, must find the reasons. If is sensory issue, just sit there do some work won’t help.

[Snow24]

Hi

My child was lying down on the floor under the table when his classmates are sitting on the floor listening to teacher.I don’t know how to tackle this. He need 1 to 1 guidance in class to do worksheet currently .Most of the time he doesn’t want to do worksheet in school.

[sharonkhoo]

Snow24:

Hi

My child was lying down on the floor under the table when his classmates are sitting on the floor listening to teacher.I don't know how to tackle this. He need 1 to 1 guidance in class to do worksheet currently .Most of the time he doesn't want to do worksheet in school.

It looks like your son is not yet able to cope with the classroom setting. If there is no-one there to teach him the appropriate behaviours, then it seems to be quite a waste of time. Can you, or someone else, shadow him in class? Or at home, give him intensive guidance and practice in the behaviours you want him to learn until they become habitual? Sending him for appropriate therapy classes may be helpful too.

[Gifts from Heaven]

Snow24:

Hi

My child was lying down on the floor under the table when his classmates are sitting on the floor listening to teacher.I don't know how to tackle this. He need 1 to 1 guidance in class to do worksheet currently .Most of the time he doesn't want to do worksheet in school.

Hi Snow24,

how old is your child? does he stay there for the whole time while his classmates are on the floor? what does the teacher do? is he listening though he is under the table? is he ok to sit on a chair if he don't want to sit on the floor?
mine did that when he was around 4 in an enrichment class. He would crawl out after a while, like 10 mins, and sit on a chair. But he was listening to the teacher all the time. He kicked the habit when they moved to doing all their activities on the table.