Some Great Websites - For Activities, Worksheets and More

Over the past couple of weeks I have had a few parents ask me about websites for resources for their children.  Now to be fair I am not talking about websites for information on Autism but websites with worksheets, games, activities and some just that are just for fun that their children might enjoy.  So I thought it would be fun to share some of the websites we use at spectrum.

Themes:
http://www.dltk-kids.com/
http://www.littlegiraffes.com/
http://www.first-school.ws/
http://www.kinderkorner.com/

Worksheets:
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
http://www.kidslearningstation.com/
http://www.softschools.com/

Other (has multiple activities):
http://funschool.kaboose.com/
http://www.thekidzpage.com/
http://fun.familyeducation.com/

Just for fun:
http://www.starfall.com/
http://pbskids.org/
http://www.poissonrouge.com/ - find the link to english and then click on the fish in the heading to pass the main page
http://www.thewiggles.com.au/au/playground/


We use all of these websites for different activites, worksheets and games.  Please note that sometimes we do modify activities we find on the internet for the abilities of our learner or to better suit our programming goals but this list does have a good variety of ideas so everyone should be able to find something they need.

Have fun.

Anne

Adapting the Environment – Design changes you can do at home

All people experience the world differently. I for example can hear at a frequency that many others cannot. As a child I hated visiting one local store. I would cry and say it hurt my head while covering my ears. My parents thought I was making it up to avoid visiting the store. One day, while complaining in the store, the store clerk told my parents they had a silent alarm. It was at a frequency that most people could not hear. However, a few people like myself could and complained about it “hurting their heads.”  After this, my parents did not require me to do errands in this store with them. If I had not had the language to explain to my parents and the clerk my problem, they may have continued to make me go there and I would have continued to suffer.

It has been suggested that many individuals with autism have different sensitivities to environmental stimuli that most other people are not bothered by and therefore suffer as I did with the alarm. It is often challenging to determine what the problem is because many people with autism aren’t able to clearly communicate what is bothering them. Their lack of ability to communicate may lead them to engage in less than desirable behaviours such as rocking, humming, escaping, covering their ears or aggression.

Recently I had the opportunity to discuss this with a designer who shared with me some suggestions for designing a bedroom for an individual with autism. These suggestions are taken from Mostafa, Magda: An Architecture for Autism: Concepts of Design Intervention for the Autistic User. Retrieved from: ArchNet, and can easily implemented at home.

1.A monochromatic color scheme in a room instantly produces a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere.

2.Cool colours such as blue or green may be soothing.

3.Having lights on a rheostat (dimmer) switch allows the individual to adjust the light to meet his/her needs

4.Some more common household furnishings may provide sensory benefit. A memory foam mattress may offer compression and proprioceptive input. Chairs with a swivel glider or rocking mechanism are an easy way to introduce vestibular stimulation.

5.Solid fabrics and floor covering may prevent the eyes from fixating on potentially distracting patterns.

6.Installing a swing may provide various sensations.

As a behaviour analyst I know that we cannot change behaviour, we can only change the environment that supports them. Making these sort of simple environmental changes, may have an impact on the individual with autism’s behaviour.

Happy Designing!

Kristen

CONGRATULATIONS TO SPECTRUM'S LYNNE THIBODEAU WHO IS NOW OFFICIALLY A BCBA!!!

Your Attention Please!

Years ago when my son was first diagnosed with autism, I heard the words “joint attention” and only had a vague idea of what it was all about.  People told me to engage my child, share in activities, have fun, get silly, look at books with him, sing—all things any parent would do with any child.  What I didn’t know then was what to look for and how to work on joint attention.

What is joint attention?

Joint attention is a social behaviour and a pivotal skill necessary for imitation, attention, reciprocation, play and language skills.  Both the parent and the child share their attention on an object or an activity in the environment and in typically developing children, you will begin to see this between 9 and 15 months of age.  It is important to develop as it encourages the value of interaction with people.  Joint attention can take two forms:  responding and initiating joint attention.  In responding to joint attention, the parent is looking for the child’s attention to a particular object or activity.  For example the parent says:  “Look at the kitty!” and the child alternates his or her gaze from the cat in the room to the parent and back to the cat.  This is shared attention, where the gaze alternation could occur several times while the two are looking at the cat. With initiating joint attention, it is the child who makes a bid for the parent’s attention by pointing to, indicating (through gestures, vocalizations or words) or showing something of high interest and checks in with the parent to see if the enjoyment is mutual.

How do I work on joint attention?

Much depends on your child or learner’s preferences.   Joint attention can be as simple as you activating the buttons on a toy and the child looks to you with a look that says “do it again! That was fun!” or you can indicate an expected response in a book (“there’s the pig. A pig says “oink, oink”) to show the child something you know is of interest to him or her (“Look!  Arthur is riding his bike with Buster” as you watch an episode of Arthur).  Your response should always suggest the fun of the shared moment with encouraging looks, comments and repetition of the action or a similar one.  You know you have it when your child or learner practically begs you for your attention by looking at you expectantly, by pointing to the object of interest and seeing if you are paying attention too.  You should create several moments like this throughout the day:  during play, at bath, bed time, during meals.  It’s a great way to make momentary connections with the child and it’s a pivotal skill for promoting communication and language.

Remember, a look is worth a thousand words.  When the look comes through joint attention, it just feels like magic!

Debbie