Sensory-based activities may help some children with autism stay focused on a task.
Children with autism may have sensory integration problems that make it hard to focus on school work and come up with the right answer. Some therapists use sensory activities that may help children with these problems. For example, children may swing slowly on a swing or bounce quickly on an exercise ball. Usually the children enjoy the sensory activities very much. The researchers wanted to find out if a reward system would motivate children to give correct answers to some questions. Three children (ages 6-7) were offered a choice of sensory activities to do before a session. That activity would then be their reward for answering 12 correct answers. The session started when the therapist asked the child to open their workbook. As their task, children were then asked to identify pictures of community helpers and safety. The children earned a token for every correct answer. They needed to earn 12 tokens in order to get the reward of going on the swing or the exercise ball. The researchers added an interspersal procedure by mixing questions that the child clearly knew the answer to with others that they might need to learn the answer to. The sensory activities as rewards helped two of the three children give correct answers when asked to identify what was in the picture. The interspersal procedure also helped motivate children to give the correct answers.
Twitter
Facebook
By Email
RSS Feed
Please comment on this autism topic.
Responding to movement therapy
Mar 15, 2011 by AnonymousPlease consider an outstanding movement exercise that works
the whole body which is riding a horse. My hope is that some
day Autism Movement Therapy(Music & Dance) well do a demonstration
at a therapeutic riding center where several movement rhythm therapies
can come "Together" for the benefit of the student.
Thanks, Phil Waigand "THE BEAT"(Heart Hoof Drum) Arlington, TX
Responding to rebound therapy
Jul 24, 2010 by AnonymousThe phrase "Rebound Therapy" was coined by the founder, Eddy Anderson MCSP, Cert Ed, in 1969 to describe the use of the moving surface (bed) of a trampoline in order to provide therapeutic exercise and recreation for people with a wide range of special needs.
Rebound Therapy is used to facilitate movement, to promote balance, to increase or decrease muscle tone, and to aid relaxation and sensory integration. It is also used to improve fitness and exercise tolerance and to improve communication skills.
It is popular in special needs schools and is becoming increasingly popular in mainstream schools with a special needs unit; partly because the trampoline is a piece of apparatus that virtually all people, regardless of their abilities, can access, benefit from and enjoy.
The UK body for Rebound Therapy is “Rebound Therapy dot org” who state that in addition to the benefits listed above, it is an ideal vehicle for cross curricular teaching activity; with the potential for teaching such things as numeracy, colour recognition, positioning (left, right, backwards, forwards, clockwise and anticlockwise), communication, social awareness and consideration of others.
They further state that the unique properties of the trampoline offer ample opportunities for everybody to enhance movement patterns.
The work is intrinsically motivating and enjoyable and returns high value in therapeutic terms for the time and the effort involved.
The fact that the activity is so enjoyable can enable it to be used as a motivational aid to learn. Many teachers also report increased concentration and willingness to learn in the classroom following a Rebound session.
“Rebound Therapy dot org” are responsible for the development and provision of certificated staff training courses for schools and centres throughout the UK.
The courses have received approved status from the Professional Development Board for Physical Education which is supported by afPE.
More information about Rebound Therapy and staff training courses can be found on their website: www.ReboundTherapy.org
Their email address is: info@ReboundTherapy.org and telephone no is 01342 870543
Summertime blues
Jun 30, 2009 by dankohnSummer drags on, but I have just realized that school will start again in less than two months with absolutely no improvement in Thomas’ attitude about starting first grade. As I’ve said before, Hayley is more than prepared, so we at least can concentrate our efforts on Thomas’ transition. I’m going to try to help out in both Hayley and Thomas’ classrooms this coming year so that at least he will have that constant. I’ll only be able to help out for half of the day, I am assuming, because I’m not sure that the first grade teacher will be as agreeable to having Hayley along as Mrs. H. was. Who knows…maybe she’ll be okay with it, but even so, that would be a long day for Hayley and a long day for me. I’m hoping to help out with Hayley one morning per week and Thomas’ classroom another morning of the week.
I have a lot of other personal things on the radar screen that have to happen before school starts, though. My sister’s bachelorette party and shower will be July 31 and August 2, respectively, and I’m hosting the bachelorette party at my house. I’m not sure where Jonathan, the kids and the dog will be that night, but it won’t be here. I’m pretty confident that those things will fall into place fairly easily. What I’m really biting my nails about over here is the trip to Disney. It’s looming very large on the horizon and I’m wondering if I can really pull this whole thing off. I tend to be forgetful about packing lists (which I’ve already started making and revising – like I completely forgot about pajamas for anyone, for instance) but I’d rather remember them now than at 30,000 feet. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone else spend the first few hours of a trip away from home trying to remember what you’ve forgotten? I just know I’ll be a wreck during the days leading up to this vacation. And it’s ten whole days long – plenty of opportunity to forget stuff. Can I actually do this right? Can I actually take my family on a vacation across the country involving airports, transportation and unfamiliar areas? I nearly left for my honeymoon without a single pair of shoes to wear – except the shoes I wore with my wedding dress. Imagine trouncing around Disney in a pair of white satin Cole-Haan pumps with big bows on the toes. I did look like Minnie Mouse, sort of, the morning after the wedding when I realized that we’d have to make a stop at home for sensible walking shoes. But it’s that kind of thing that always makes me sweat. One good thing is that I never forget anything that’s absolutely vital like medicines.
When we went to Peoria this past weekend for that wedding, I realized that I sent Thomas along to Grandma’s house with only one pair of socks – the ones he was wearing. That wasn’t a big deal and Grandma just washed them when they started walking around by themselves, but still. I tend to forget things and it’s terrifying me. When it was time to get dressed for the wedding on Saturday, I had a horrible moment when I thought that I had forgotten to pack Jonathan’s suit pants. He would have had to wear his plaid casual shorts with a shirt and tie. Anyway, the kids had fun at Grandma’s and Hayley wanted to stay an extra night, but Thomas wanted to come home and we couldn’t impose on Grandma any longer than was necessary. We did have a nice weekend away although we were somewhat unimpressed with downtown Peoria. It was great to see my family, though. We always have a great time at family weddings. My family always asks us in these situations when we feel it’s best not to travel with the kids, “Where are your kids?” They ask in a manner like we’ve obviously forgotten them somewhere and should alert the authorities at once. I usually have some flippant response like, “Oh, they’re home with the dog.” Hilarity ensues.
Thomas has a neurologist appointment coming up on July 14, but I may have to change it because I usually work on Tuesdays and his appointment is at 3 p.m. Given how many minutes behind the neurologist is usually running, I would never make it for a 5 p.m. shift. Maybe I can switch it to a morning appointment. I’m not sure that I have a lot to discuss with her this time. I’ve given up bothering the doctor with complaints about how Thomas doesn’t stay in his bed all night. I’m convinced that it’s all behavioral because Hayley does it now too. I don’t think it has anything at all to do with autism. Life at home with the kids has been very trying lately, mostly because they fight all the time and the weather has still been not very conducive to getting out and having fun away from home. We were able to go swimming a few days last week, but that was it. Just getting away from the house for some diversion every day is a great thing, but it doesn’t seem like we have many good (inexpensive) options. They still love swimming, so that’s great. But even the park seems to bore them more and more these days. While we enjoyed swimming during the very hot weather last week, the weather has turned cooler again and rather cloudy with rain threatening every day. Tomorrow (as every Wednesday) is our shopping day which usually makes me break out in hives. It’s always a toss-up. They’re either good or they aren’t. Either way, we have to get more food into this house every week! But they fight in the grocery store too and I find myself having to exercise extreme restraint to not put them in a time-out in the glider chairs in the baby section. Sigh.
I’ve been trying to get the kids to keep practicing reading and writing, and I think I might pull the “homework” card on them. I might say that we have to finish homework soon – for school in the fall, so that they’re ready. I’m almost certain Thomas is not going to fall for it. Hayley loves to draw and write still, but it has always been such a struggle to get Thomas to try writing and reading. We’ll have to come up with some sort of reward system, I guess.
Like Disney World isn’t reward enough!
Repetition...Here I go again!!!
Jun 7, 2009 by AnonymousThis week was much like many others in the respect that I was going through a period of feeling totally overwhelmed with life in general and my emotional pendulum was yet again swinging from one extreme to the other, a phenomenon my family have long since chalked up to mom having “one of her days.” Nothing extremely out of the ordinary actually. I had been asked to submit again further documentation to my insurance company to substantiate the need for my son’s ongoing speech therapy. I had requested and received home work material for the expressed purpose of practicing hard won skills so as to ward off the ever present monster in the closet; regression. I had intended yet again to organize files, stow away winter clothes, check the fit of summer clothes, etc., etc. And then it hit me. As I checked emails, twitter accounts, my space pages and face book…it hit. This emotion that was at once akin to emotional vertigo and short of a panic attack. The overwhelming enormity of all that goes with caring for a child with ASD. It was a feeling that I could not quite place the night before as I watched my son struggle to perform math problems that we had been working on all year and still seemed to just escape his grasp. It was the feeling of clawing your way up a mudslide. It was the feeling of being stuck in one place while the world seemed to move around you. The repetition of it all in an effort to gain some minuscule ground and trying to find contentment in that. When that realization came, with it came the self-loathing. How could I possible feel tired of it, resentful, angry…and if I did, what must he feel?
In reading submissions from others on line and parents that I have personally connected with, I have come to one conclusion; the drive to protect, nurture, and see that our children flourish is all consuming. I have met some truly awe inspiring parents with children on the spectrum and have found evidenced in them immeasurable strength. But almost universally I have found that the same strength that drives us alternatively burns us out. We are called upon to wear so many hats that we find ourselves filled to overflowing. I have sought alternative ways to deal with this sense of feeling overwhelmed…therapy, exercise, prayer and mostly that works. I have learned to reprioritize my life. No longer is it most important that my house be spotless. There are days when I feel it would pass inspection by the Board of Health…barely. No longer are my finances handled with the precision of a calculator wielding accountant…thank goodness for online payments! The laundry may not be done to Martha Stewart’s standards…(ok, did that pile in the corner just move by itself…it’s small, I think I can take it!). Point is I am doing the best I can. Today. And maybe tonight in the solace of my beloved shower I will cry, long, shoulder wracking, hiccup inducing, eye swelling cries that will leave my eyes red and puffy as only my favorite shampoo can. I will toss and turn and watch another episode of Law & Order with one eye on the clock, and then sleep the sleep of a parent whose mind will not be still. Tomorrow is a new day, a new fight, a new challenge. A bus pulls into my driveway and his voice sing-songs on its way out through the closing door…”bye mom, love you” as it has every school day this year. I smile and realize repetition ain’t that bad.