Lego Social Skills Club...

Many of our children struggle with social skills, initiating and maintaining social conversations, and developing friendships among peers their own age.

I came across this short video and thought it might be an idea that would be helpful to families. Perhaps it could be adapted to fit your child and their needs and interests (Legos, Star Wars, Polly Pockets, etc).

DIY Activities/Games

Finger Friends from Fave Crafts

Sponge Towers (like Jenga but cheaper and quieter) from Toddler Approved

Milk Jug Ball Catcher from Lakeshore Learning

Adapted Puzzles from Tots -N- Tech

Sensory matching game from Dandee

Indoor Scavenger Hunt printable cards from Kristine Mckay Designs

Emotional Animals charade game from Swetter than Sweets

Marshmallow Popper idea from Come Together Kids

Color Scavenger Hunt from Crafts ~N~ Things for Children

Another great card holder idea from Domestic, But Not Martha

I simply adore this adapted action figure idea from Tots -n- Tech

Teens With Special Needs & Facebook

I really enjoyed this article by Terri Mauro of About.com. Here's a little bit about it....

Most parents have a wary relationship with social networking when it comes to their kids. We've all heard about cyberbullying and young people doing dangerous things without realizing. But for your teen with special needs, social networks like Facebook can be an easily supervisable way to tiptoe into the world of typical peers without having to actually deal with them in person. With proper supervision, Facebook can be far less treacherous than your average high-school hallway or lunchroom. Here are five reasons why you may want to consider setting up a Facebook account for your child.

1. It establishes an online identity.
2. Having friends feels good, even when they're virtual.
3. You can help your child socialize.
4. It reinforces useful skills.
5. It's an age-appropriate activity.

Read the full article here.
Other food for thought: Help Your Teen With Special Needs Stay Safe on Facebook.

Some Great Resources & Ideas

I am so excited that Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs put together a list/review of Android Apps for children with special needs. I use that operating system and I'm sure many of you do! I'm excited to try a few

I absolutely love this conversation starter idea from Adapting Creatively for non-verbal children. So easy and simple, yet so effective and important!

Technical Assistance Center on Social and Emotional Intervention (TACSEI) is a great resource. I especially like their "Making Life Easier" series, which includes printable sheets to help with day-to-day activities such as bedtime, running errands, etc.

Resources for Social Skills

Effective Social Skill classes are hard to come by. And, often times when you find a group therapy class, it might be out of reach if your insurance won't cover group activities. We've been at this for ten years now and have only been a part of two or three successful groups. We've found Group Social Skill therapy to be a bit of a catch 22. Either your child is in a group with kids just like them and they all struggle with interaction, or you are in a group that has more typical functioning kids and your child isn't experiencing true pressure to interact. What to do? What to do?

A lot of the time, what ends up happening, is a parent is left to their own devices. Instead of a clinical environment, a lot of interaction at home, church, school, and in non-therapy settings like the grocery store or dentist's office becomes your therapy gym. Almost any location or setting can be converted and used to practice therapy skills.


Jackson has just started another Social Skills Therapy group. Because Jackson is getting older and has more ability and confidence, we are hoping this group will be beneficial. Jackson's therapist gave us the following resources. We thought we'd pass them along. If you have other effective at home resources, please leave them in the comments. Other parents are sometimes our best resource.


1. A great website for lots of resources and ideas:
http://www.socialthinking.com/

2. "You are a Social Detective" by: Michelle Garcia Winner, Pamela Crooke, and Kelly Knopp
http://www.socialthinking.com/
(Fantastic book about social thinking written for kids and teens.)

3.Video modeling DVD's and other resources to help kids model appropriate skills and behavior.
http://www.modelmekids.com/

4. What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming OCD (What to do Guides for Kids), Paperback (April 14, 2007) by: Dawn Huebner and Bonnie Matthews. (Amazon)

5. What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide... by: Dawn Huebner. (Amazon).

Brain Development 101

I've received a lot of emails and questions regarding a post that I wrote earlier about a therapy program that I have on my daughter at home. For those who live in California, if you are interested, Donna Bateman will be coming in January to do a seminar. Attending this seminar would more clearly answer any questions you have. If you can come, it may be worth the $90 for you. At the seminar I attended, there were people from Sacramento who had driven up for the day. If you are interested in having your child evaluated, I would contact Donna to schedule that, or even just talk to her to get a feel for it all before even deciding if you want to go to the seminar. I'm just putting it out there for you all. Here is the flier that I received (a little altered to fit into a blog format here) from Patty Ezell (who is the contact person here in the Bay Area). Who knows? This could be what you're looking for...or you could think it's a load of hay. If you're on the fence about it, she comes to this area roughly every 6 months, and you can always call her or Patty...or me.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are ready to get back into the swing of things again! :)

Is Your Child Struggling With . . .

Hypersensitivity

Autism/Asperger’s

Inattentiveness

ADD/ADHD

Developmental Delay

Social Struggles

Learning Difficulties

Inappropriate Behavior

Anxiety

Motor Skills

Poor Eye Contact

Impulsiveness

We Invite You to Attend

Brain Development 101

Saturday, January 29 9 am to 5 pm

Community Church, 3536 Monroe Street, Santa Clara, CA., 95051-1419

Course Objectives: By the end of the seminar, you will understand:

* how a child learns

* the root cause of most learning problems

* the seven main areas of brain function

* the order in which the brain learns all functions

* the significant milestones of brain development

* how to support and stimulate the healthy development of the brain

* what you can do TODAY if a child is not developing properly in some area

* the joy of understanding a child and participating in their development & learning

Donna Bateman, Neurodevelopment Specialist and mother of eight children, will lead you through the Integrative & Developmental Progression Chart. Learn about the aspects of a child’s physical, emotional, social, and neurological development and your critical role.

For information and registration contact Patty Ezell at 408-362-9780 or patrealee@gmail.com Please bring a lunch for a “working” break.

Cost is $90 per couple (normally $125) which includes materials.

Donna can be reached at http://www.parentswithpurpose.com/

Giving Our Kids A Voice

Having a child who "looks" pretty typical and yet isn't able to communicate or interact in a "typical" way is often challenging and frustrating to the parent and the child. Speech delay, apraxia, social and emotional delay and a communication disorder are all part of our life.

Although, our world does allow for little snippets of celebration. Such was the case a few years ago when Jackson participated in his Kindergarten graduation program. First hallelujah - he braved the stage and sitting with the other children. Second hallelujah - he didn't cover his eyes or try to hide his face. And third - he got up to the mic and gave his part. Sure it was only a few words of his assigned sentence, in a broken, staccato, high pitched, Jacks voice. But, he did it. He had a voice.

Getting to this point in our lives took some effort. Well, actually it took a lot of effort and A LOT of therapy. Early Intervention and private therapy were key. Over the last ten years, Jackson has made great strides in his ability to communicate and interact. Are things perfect? No, we still have a long way to go.

However, if I could share some of our experience with another parent who has a child who struggles with communication disorders, I would want them to know about these tools. Speech therapists use them, and they may not be a crazy new thing to most of us out there, but.... just in case; ....just in case there is someone out there who may be looking for good tools, then this post is worth it.

1. Jackson was almost 4ish before we really heard any good verbalization. One thing that truly jump started his talking was PECS (picture exchange communication system).

You can google away to find out the nitty gritty info about PECS. Or, ask your therapist about PECS if they haven't already brought it up to you. There are also specific protocols to use in order to train your child to use these cards. However, while we used the protocols at first, we found Jackson caught on to the pictures fairly quickly. Before we knew it, we were phasing out the cards and moving on to actual verbal words.

PECS taught Jackson he could use a card to communicate his needs. He could also group the cards to form sentences and more complete thoughts. The format also helped his behavior. He learned he needed to "talk" in order to have his needs met. This was not an instant thing. It did take time and patience, but the result was worth it.

2. I think one of the reasons why PECS was so successful for us was because of Jackson's knowledge of sign language. These are really popular now, however the Signing Times videos helped our whole family get on board and actually learn and implement the signs.

One quick example: The setting: Family pictures with the WHOLE extended family. The issue: A REALLY fussy, three year old, Jackson. Problem identified: Jackson signed the sign for CAT. He saw a cat in the bushes. The cat was the reason for the major melt down. If he didn't have sign, we never would have known or been able to fix the issue.

There are also videos available for autism, and various syndromes. If you've looked at these before, it may be worth a second glance to see what's new.

3. Speech generating devices. A friend of ours, who also has Jackson's syndrome, 7q11.23 Duplication, has a bigger portion of the duplication. She has been non-verbal for most of her life. In addition to sign, she uses a communication device, such as a Dynavox. It is a pricey piece of equipment. However, now with the use of touch phones, many applications are available that mimic the devices' capabilities. Proloquo2Go is only one example.

4. In addition to actual speech therapy, there are several tools that are helpful outside of a therapeutic setting.

Thinkin Things

Builds core cognitive thinking skills while letting children have fun at the same time. It assists with auditory processing, learning to follow directions, memory, and provides thought provoking activities.

Teach 2 Talk

Jackson wants to make friends, but often times, the anxiety surrounding social situations is so overwhelming it is nearly impossible to socially interact. These programs provide children with training and tools necessary to navigate social settings. While Jackson still struggles in this area, knowing the "rules" of social situations gives him some place to start.

Mindwing Concept

Once Jackson learned to talk, the struggle of communicating didn't end. Communication disorders often transfer over to academic areas, such as writing. These products help children learn how to develop narrative thinking skills that can be used in not only verbal situations but also in narrative writing. Yes, eventually we have been able to hear more than "Good" when we ask about his day at school. Answering a simple question may be easy for us, but it is completely overwhelming when apraxia and communication disorders are in play.

Earobics

Not only helps children with reading, but assists with auditory processing, sound rhymes, sound blends, and articulation. Reading is the gateway to academic success. There are also articles indicating that reading fiction may help with building social skills. So many things are interrelated and have cross over benefits.

5. Review the IEP

By reviewing your child's IEP frequently, you will not only be more in tune with the goals your child is working on at school, but you'll have them in the back of your mind during daily interactions. Speech goals differ from other academic goals because you're able to "work on them" at all times of the day. Ex: "Jackson, throw away the dirty napkin. Throw... Th.... Th...." (making the "th" sound.) "Now it's your turn."

In addition to more home practice, being very familiar with all aspects of the IEP and its goals is a HUGE benefit to your child. What better way to be their advocate than to truly know their IEP and making sure what is outlined as a goal is really happening and being implemented.

There are so many tools. Not all of them cost money. With the exception of Thinkin Things and Earobics, almost any language program could be adapted with little or no cost. Google and the Web is full of ideas from moms and dads who know and understand our dilemmas.

Good luck, and I would love to hear any of your favorite speech tips and tricks. I'm sure there are many things you've been doing that we haven't yet tried.