|
1. Make every moment count. Everywhere
you go, carry reaming items and put those
items in your child's hand. Talk or
sing about them. Ask questions and if no answer
(or not able to), then prompt answers or give the
answers yourself. If you are really
busy, just tell your child to hold on to it, stand/sit
down on the floor and look at it.
2. Take a PLAY BOX (toys/books/flash cards, etc.)
everywhere -
Put one in the car, for sure, but also take several regularly
rotated items and put them
in your purse or a special bag. The child will see the
bag and possibly become familiar
enough with it to seek out new items from
you while waiting somewhere. This is fun for
everyone. In driving long distances, it is
hard for most children to be patient and "wait".
Driving short distances is sometimes tough, too, and usually
there are a LOT of these in
a typical family's week. Put a toy or book or single flash card
in your child's hands.
Make sure that it is stuff that can easily
require interaction from you but not be too
distracting while you are driving.
3. Frequently change what is in the child's hands.
Then s/he can't just get fixated on the
item and/or totally bored. When driving
and coming to a stop sign, take the item away
and put another one in his/her hands.
4. Talk - talk - talk -- about what is in his hands,
so there is always some form of
communication going, no matter how basic
or advanced your child's education is at any
given moment in time. While you are driving, talk about
the item in his/her hands. Try to
elicit a response - ask questions, etc. Ask questions and
model the answers/statements
so that the child practices language
EVERYWHERE at every opportunity. Rotate the
toys he/she has at every opportunity. At a stop sign,
take that one away and put another
one in his/her hands. Then talk about the new item. If
there are other children in the car,
get them involved in the discussion as well. If there are
songs related to the item, sing
them all together. Do not put the radio
on and say nothing ANYMORE.
This is valuable time.
Make use of it.
5. Get verbal interaction going with everyone in the
car-- get him to repeat words, answer
questions, ask him to point to body
parts (or make a game with everyone in the car,
someone in a line-up, etc. so that s/he can see and copy
--
"OK everybody -- touch your nose, etc.)
6. Engage other children in a group activity
anytime and anywhere you can. Parents of
other kids usually do not mind if you take
single opportunities to engage their child in
conversation while waiting somewhere. Ask your
ASD child "Look at that little girl -
what color is her coat?", etc. Or get them
both to look at something and tell you what
it is. This is peer interaction.
Take those brief single moments presented to you, or
create them as you go, and use them to full advantage.
7. For those busy family times where no one
is "on" your ASD child - Admit it.
You can't do it, so get someone else on the
job. If you have older siblings, assign a
rotational 10-minute toy/ play task or some gross motor
games (hopping, jumping, and
tossing). Or if you must invite or hire local neighborhood
children or teenagers to come
over for the dead time period - even
if it is just for half an hour. They come cheap
(maybe for free), they can come over right away and walk
home. You just have to
ensure that you plan appropriate and simple play activities.
Every minute of every day counts.
Filling in every moment of "dead-time" with productive learning and social
interaction is
what generalizing is all about. In order to learn your
child needs to interact with the
environment but your child cannot yet do it on his/her own.
Like everything in your child's education, however,
this needs a PLAN OF ACTION.
If you add up all the minutes of dead time and then
add up all the hours, just think about
what else could be practiced and learned during that time.
|
|
--"Sister Fights For Autistic
Brother"
Massachusetts Sun Chronicle Tuesday, January 18, 2000
Written by James A. Merolla
An autistic man becomes prone to violence and is found to have a non-functioning
large
intestine. Two years later a simple blood test reveals he has food
intolerances.
--"We Cured Our Son's Autism":
Parents Magazine Friday, January 28, 2000--
This cover story article is in the February 2000
edition.
Written by Karyn Seroussi.
--"The Virus and the Vaccine":
Atlantic Monthly - February, 2000 Friday, January 28, 2000--
A simian (Monkey) virus known as SV40 has been associated
with a number of rare
human cancers. This same virus contaminated the polio vaccine administered
to 98 million
Americans from 1955 to 1963. Federal health officials see little reason for
concern.
A growing cadre of medical researchers disagree.
By Debbie Bookchin and Jim Schumacher.
|
|
In the effort to pinpoint genes implicated in autism, chromosomes 7 and 13
are emerging
as strong contenders. Several groups worldwide have
now published results of genomic
screens, the latest of which is a collaborative effort by five U.S.
universities
(S. Barrett al., "An autosomal genomic screen for autism"
American Journal of Medical Genetics
[Neuropsychiatric Genetics], 88:609-15, Dec.
15, 1999).
In individuals from 75 families affected by autism,
researchers found evidence of mutations
on chromosome 13 and supported results from an earlier
study implicating chromosome 7.
Co-author Susan L. Santangelo, a genetic epidemiologist at
New England Medical Center
and assistant professor of psychiatry at Tufts University Medical School,
affirms that several
genes ultimately will be identified.
The study's next step is a follow-up analysis of
100 more families, focusing on promising
genomic regions. Santangelo predicts the number
of genes finally found will be
"no less than three and hopefully,
no more than 10".
If there are 10, it will make it very difficult
to find any one of them.
(on toPage 4 )
|