Jun
12
Children with Autism are notorious for wanting to line things up. I often see Occupational Therapists working with the child to interrupt this behavior and do something more creative with the items. I can understand that as a way to stretch them to think and behave differently but I think it is important to balance …
May
08
Children with Autism thrive on routine. When Sophia was very young, she hated to brush her teeth and a melt down occurred every time I made her do it. As we started to develop a visual schedule for her daily routines, we added a card for teeth brushing. Like flicking a switch she was now …
May
08
When designing a bedroom, more specifically a sleeping space, for your child with Autism or Sensory Integration Disorder, it is important to keep the following tips in mind. 1. CONSIDER ENCLOSURES: Consider a canopy or custom-built bed as an enclosure. It limits the visual stimulation of other things or people in the room and tight …
May
07
Next time you are in your kitchen, sit down on the floor and put yourself at the same eye level as your child. Now imagine you are hungry. What do you see? What do you smell? Where are the dishes, snacks, water? On one hand we desperately want our Autistic child to gain as much …
Jan
12
Visual timers are special clocks that show time through the red space that is left on the clock. In this example, there are 20 minutes left (shown in red). Using a small battery, the red disappears as the clock ticks. Saying “we are going to leave in 5 minutes” is very hard for a child …
