Autistic son - your ideas will help more than you think.?

Question

My little boy is three and is autistic. He gets six hours of therapy a day but it is at a special needs school.( not home based where I can watch) I'd like to do things at home with him to keep him interacting with us (or else he falls into his world for the remainder of the day) but I want it to be really fun for him. He likes to chase us around and ride on our back, but how do I practice more imaginary play with toys. The ball is our biggest challenge. He'll throw it, but not to us...any ideas on these subjects are appreciated.

Answer 1

I have an autistic son who is now 20. We had the same problems, try this. Instead of throwing the ball start with soccer and kicking the ball into a net, then stand in front of it, then progress to throwing the baseball into the net and then stand in front of it. Also kick the ball back and throw the ball back and have him catch or stop in. I'm sure i don't need to tell you to use a soft ball not a real baseball. Also we used a look at me  method with the sign for look at me, and now my son has gotten used to looking at people's faces instead of away. Good luck and you are free to ask me ? I'll try to help.

Answer 2

hopefully teh school will hlp you with this

for ball play you need 2 people--

one to prompt him--1 to catch the ball

are you using ABA?

if so----

physically help himto throw teh ball-and than reward him with soemthing he really likes---

after doing that for a while--back off--only help him a little--maybe support his elbows and have him throw by himself---and reward him when he is successful

after a while let him try by himself--and reward him when he is successful....

Answer 3

Have you read Son Rise by Barry Neil Kaufman? The author talks about how he and his wife devised a way to reach their autistic son by joining him in his world - and how that succeeded in bringing the boy out of his autism.

Read the book. You may want to try the same things with your son, even if not at the same level of intensity. So when your child rocks, you rock with him. When he twirls, you twirl, too,

Answer 4

i don't know the severity of your child but my son has a DX of aspergers so it has come easier for me .But you may want to look into a book called  

1001 Great Ideas for Teaching and Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Good Luck.

Oh By The way My Mom worked with a child who she would take colored socks On laundry day and every laundry day and when they was matched in colors she would let the child roll them and unroll them over time he got what colors went with witch match.also string cherio's sounds simp;e enough to us But the joy the get when there neckleclace is done is priceless and the hole's on the cherioes are big enough for lil hands .Just watch the eating of the string...

Answer 5

When he throws the ball, is it close enough where you can run to get it?  If so,  run to where the ball is going, so you can get behind it and "catch" it. Then make a big deal "Oh, Mommy got the ball!  WOO HOO..."  roll or throw it back and when your son get is, again "OH TOMMY!  You got the ball! WOO HOO"  If you make it really animated, he'll want start to want to see the show and make the connection that if the ball gets to you, you'll respond.  Eventually you can fade your reactions back as he makes the connection to throw the ball to someone.  

I have to say, my son, who does not have autism, never really had much imaginary play, ever.  He was always physical.  Nothing wrong with that, and interactiong and keeping your son engaged is more important than trying to get imaginary play at this point.   You can always say "I'm a horsey...neigh..."  or "I'm a big fire truck" and make siren noises when he's on your back.   Those will help to open up imaginary avenues since your son knows you're not a firetruck or a horsey.

I've used the rest of this answer before, others who answer have seen it plenty, but it is pretty helpful for those with young children recently diagnosed with autism.

The best "therapy" my daughter has had has been me taking her EVERYWHERE with me, constantly teaching her, exposing her to new things, changing up her routines.

We had early intervention which was good, and some in home ABA, but it was poorly run and more burden than help. She's never required formal OT, but that might be because she's always given herself the OT she needed with our trampoline and swimming pool. A trampoline (with safety net and padding) is an EXCELLENT form of OT that not only helps with coordination and muscle strength, but it's FUN. Other kids will love it too (if you have any), and can be used to help the child with autism interact more.  My daughter did go to a really good preschool for children with autism, starting at age 3 for five days a week, 5 hours a day.  

1) No matter how young your child is, start using social stories! Get used to making them up on the fly. Get familiar with the format. Go to http://www.thegraycenter.org/ to learn more and to see samples. Basically, a social story is a script for your child to help them understand proper behavior in a situation, give words to the different feelings they might have, and give them a resolution/solution. Since social situations are so difficult for our kids, they need concrete information to learn to navigate. They don't work immediately, but do soak in over time and make a difference.

2)Understand that people will stare when your child is having a tantrum. People aren't necessarily mean, but they're often ignorant about autism. People will offer you all sorts of unsolicited advice on how you should handle the situation at hand. I've heard everything from "She needs a nap" to "It's ok to spank her you know" as well as some really awful obnoxious comments. How much you tell others is your personal choice. My daughter would never pass as "typical" so I've always been open about things. I've educated many in my community about autism. You need to learn to develop a thick skin, and to shut out the world around you to focus on your child. Don't be afraid to get down on the ground with your child when out in public and they're really upset. Stay calm and focused on helping your child. It gets really easy to tune everything else out, and it's kind of amazing. When you act this way, you actually get more understanding from strangers. They can tell by your actions that you've got the situation under control (whether you do or not) and are not a neglectful parent with a bratty kid.

3)Take your child EVERYWHERE that you can. YES it's very hard work, but if you think of it as therapy, which it is, you'll understand the importance. Expose your child as often as possible to a variety of situations. Use the social stories to explain in their terms what they're experiencing. The more often you can do this, the better. Again, this is HARD WORK! But so worth it. If it's really really hard, don't make it a grocery shopping trip, but just a trip to buy milk or cereal. One or two items. Involve your child in the process, take your time, and make it a total learning experience. My daughter used to have rituals to get through the grocery store. She'd pick one small broccoli floret to nibble, two aisles over she'd touch several cans, or re-arrange the baby foods. Then we'd grind a small handfull of coffee beans which she would carry around and sniff. She'd do this every single time as a way to control the chaos surrounding her. I let her have her comfort rituals, so she had some sense of control, but I would also push her to learn and interact. I'd talk for her when strangers interacted with her, telling her "When someone says ........, you say ......." so she would get the scripts that matched different greetings. People would understand that I was teaching her and most would be pretty good about it. There were plenty of teaching incidents that most people didn't get, but I trudged through. Keep the focus on teaching your child appropriate behavior. Eventually it will get in there!

Finally, in terms of self preservation and sanity, I offer advice specifically for parents.

Two of the biggest hurdles you face as a parent of a child with autism are Milestones, and Mainstream. These are self inflicted hurdles that will trip you up every time if you're not careful.

First are Milestones....they pop up out of no where sometimes, sometimes they're predictable. They'll trip you up, knock you down, and throw you for a loop. There's the birthday, family Easter Egg hunt, another child's birthday party, Christmas....any event where you have a preconceived idea of how a typical kid would react, how you hope your kid would react. It seems to get harder before it gets better. You keep hoping for your child to get it...the difference between your child and same age peers starts as minor but becomes glaring as your child gets older and it just hurts. THEN you finally get to a place of aceptance and understanding. You change your expectations. Who said you have to wait till the middle or end of a birthday party to open presents, why not open them as guests arrive? Is there some rule book on how a birthday party for your child should proceed?....save the battle and enjoy the moment!

Second are Mainstream expectations...I remember when Kimberley was first diagnosed. I was told, "She's so smart, so high functioning, she'll do really well" I read "Let Me Hear Your Voice" and was inspired. I knew she'd be Mainstreamed by Kindergarten. When that time came, mainstream wasn't an appropriate choice, and I found the perfect placement for her where she thrived. STILL, it was hard to accept that she wasn't in mainstream. Here she was age 5, and STILL had autism, still requried so much help and accomidations to get through her day...where had I failed? The failure was the belief that Mainstream = Cure or at least victory of some sort. I came to understand that it's more important for my child to enjoy school and be successfull in school than to push for mainstream before she's ready.

My daughter, now almost 10 is a pretty delightful kid most of the time. She's still no where near passing as "typical" but most people would not guess autism. She's very independant, resourceful and creative. She goes to a mainstream class independantly for Science and Math, and is well accepted by her peers. Each child is individual in their needs and accomidations, but for my daughter, this has been the most appropriate path

Answer 6

Don't give up on playing ball with your child.. keep practicing with him every day.. over time, he will be able to do it just like any other child.. it's just that a child with autism needs more time for that because he needs more routine and structure and there's none in playing a ball! so keep practising... do things that are fun for him.. make sure there's a variety in the activities that you do. Otherwise, he can get bored. Check with the therapist on things that you can do. Oh yes, get the book "brain gym". It gives you plenty of ideas... lots of activities you can do with your son and they will help him improve in a lot of areas, hand eye co-ordination... focussing, communication of the 2 brains.. and lots.! check it out. :)

Answer 7

http://www.melmark.org/services/melmarks...