My son loves video games! He has been playing on them since he was tiny, as his big brother has a Playstation. We also have a Wii, some old Nintendo consoles and some DS handheld consoles.
It is common for kids with ASD to become addicted to videogames. I think part of it is the freedom that they get from playing a character in a game. The can do all sorts of things that they cannot do in real life! Whilst I feel it is important to monitor the amount of time my son spends playing these games, I think the benefits can be enormous:
The games help his co-ordination as he learns to use combinations of buttons to achieve his on-screen goals.
The games help him to socialise with others in a multiplayer seting at home and give him a common ground with other children. He has to learn turn taking and sharing with his siblings.He talks about the games with other children at school, which helps his verbal and social skills and helps to break down barriers.
Games help him with maths and reading skills. He plays a Mario game and the character's speech comes up on the screen. He has to use his reading skills to tell what they are saying. This makes reading more fun for him than if he was in a formal school setting. The games also help his maths skills, as you may have a goal to collect a certain amount of objects, so he is making calculations in his head based on that goal.
Video games get a lot of bad press, but the right games, used in the right context, can be an real boost for an ASD child.
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Friday 24 February 2012
Shut the Door.
Apopligies for not updating the blog. My son spilled a drink on my computer keyboard!
Asperger's and Autistic children often have obsessions. My son has a new one: shutting doors.
He cannot cope if a door is left open, and if the kitchen cupboard doors are open he has to shut them all.
The other morning, he screamed at his sister because she did not shut the kitchen door after herself.
One of the great things about having a child with ASD, is the amount of funny questions that they ask. This really brightens my day. Yesterday, we were walking back from school, when my son asked:
"Why doesn't Mario have any nostrils?"
Strange but true....
Asperger's and Autistic children often have obsessions. My son has a new one: shutting doors.
He cannot cope if a door is left open, and if the kitchen cupboard doors are open he has to shut them all.
The other morning, he screamed at his sister because she did not shut the kitchen door after herself.
One of the great things about having a child with ASD, is the amount of funny questions that they ask. This really brightens my day. Yesterday, we were walking back from school, when my son asked:
"Why doesn't Mario have any nostrils?"
Strange but true....
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Board Games
The kids have been off school this week, so a lot of my time has been devoted to entertaining them. Last night we played some board games and it was really interesting to see how my son interacted.
With an Asperger's child, you cannot use a literal term, such as "roll the dice", as they will literally roll it along the floor rather than throw it, as they take every phrase at face value. I have to really think about what I am saying when giving instructions.
When we were moving around the board, my son really struggled with how many spaces to move, or the idea of moving from the same place that he left off. The idea of in-game money really confused him, as he has no concept of money or the value of money, or the fact that if you give a high amount of money you can have change.
There is no doubt that regularly playing board games with an ASD child can help the parent to see where the child has difficulties that need to be worked on, and along with a play setting, they can work together to help overcome these difficulties, which will have an impact in independent living skills in later life..
With an Asperger's child, you cannot use a literal term, such as "roll the dice", as they will literally roll it along the floor rather than throw it, as they take every phrase at face value. I have to really think about what I am saying when giving instructions.
When we were moving around the board, my son really struggled with how many spaces to move, or the idea of moving from the same place that he left off. The idea of in-game money really confused him, as he has no concept of money or the value of money, or the fact that if you give a high amount of money you can have change.
There is no doubt that regularly playing board games with an ASD child can help the parent to see where the child has difficulties that need to be worked on, and along with a play setting, they can work together to help overcome these difficulties, which will have an impact in independent living skills in later life..
Friday 10 February 2012
The Red Beast
Last week. I posted about a book that I was going to buy for my son to help with his anger issues. The book was great!
I posted the following review on Dooyoo about the book:
I posted the following review on Dooyoo about the book:
"We all have a red beast inside us.
Most of the time it is asleep, but it can be awoken, and when it wakes, its eyes and ears shrink and its mouth gets really big and loud.
No, I haven't gone completely mental! The book, The Red Beast, is a book designed to help autistic and Asperger's kids cope with anger. I have a son with Asperger's and I bought this book on the recommendation of a lady who works for a local autism charity, when I was telling her about an incident that my son had at school, where he bit a child who was bullying him.
The book is in simple language, with bold pictures to illustrate the story. The illustations were actually done by a young man who has Asperger's himself, but has gone on to have a successful career as an illustrator and winning an award for creative excellence.
The story is about a boy called Rufus, who has Asperger's. One day, he is playing outside in the playground, when a ball hits him in the stomach. Rufus reacts angrily, and in the picture, you see him turn into a red beast, who hits out at the boy who kicked the ball.
The story then explains techniques that the techer uses to help the red beast shrink and get smaller and go to sleep, so that rufus can go back to normal, things like squeezing a stress ball and popping bubble wrap. Another strategy is counting slowly to 20, and as he does, you see the beast shrink and fall asleep.
At the end of the book, there is a section for parents and teachers, showing good ideas for anger management that have been tried and tested.
My son loved the book, but having a rather literal brain, he couldn't quite understand the bit about having a red beast inside us, as he took it literally! The techniques in the book worked really well though, especially the couning, and I say to him "make the red beast small" and he will count slowly until he is calm.
He took the book to school and the teacher used it in a lesson with the whole class.
I really like this book and I think that it would be useful for any child with anger issues, not just kids with Asperger's, as the ideas in the story could be used on anyone, even parents!
The lady who wrote the book is a parent of an autistic child, and she is an expert in special needs education.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has a child with anger issues.
Summary: A great book for angry kids!"
Most of the time it is asleep, but it can be awoken, and when it wakes, its eyes and ears shrink and its mouth gets really big and loud.
No, I haven't gone completely mental! The book, The Red Beast, is a book designed to help autistic and Asperger's kids cope with anger. I have a son with Asperger's and I bought this book on the recommendation of a lady who works for a local autism charity, when I was telling her about an incident that my son had at school, where he bit a child who was bullying him.
The book is in simple language, with bold pictures to illustrate the story. The illustations were actually done by a young man who has Asperger's himself, but has gone on to have a successful career as an illustrator and winning an award for creative excellence.
The story is about a boy called Rufus, who has Asperger's. One day, he is playing outside in the playground, when a ball hits him in the stomach. Rufus reacts angrily, and in the picture, you see him turn into a red beast, who hits out at the boy who kicked the ball.
The story then explains techniques that the techer uses to help the red beast shrink and get smaller and go to sleep, so that rufus can go back to normal, things like squeezing a stress ball and popping bubble wrap. Another strategy is counting slowly to 20, and as he does, you see the beast shrink and fall asleep.
At the end of the book, there is a section for parents and teachers, showing good ideas for anger management that have been tried and tested.
My son loved the book, but having a rather literal brain, he couldn't quite understand the bit about having a red beast inside us, as he took it literally! The techniques in the book worked really well though, especially the couning, and I say to him "make the red beast small" and he will count slowly until he is calm.
He took the book to school and the teacher used it in a lesson with the whole class.
I really like this book and I think that it would be useful for any child with anger issues, not just kids with Asperger's, as the ideas in the story could be used on anyone, even parents!
The lady who wrote the book is a parent of an autistic child, and she is an expert in special needs education.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has a child with anger issues.
Tuesday 7 February 2012
We Need more Room (part 2)
The lady from Occupational Therapy came yesterday to see whether we would qualify for a disabled facilities grant to gain an extra bedroom. It was a bit like jumping through hoops and many of the questions seemed designed to trip me up:
Me: "My son is causing his older brother probelms at night. He keeps disturbing him during the night and refuses to go to sleep without him in the room".
OT: "If he refuses to sleep without his brother in the room, what is the point of him having his own room?"
Here is another example:
Me: " I thought maybe the best place for an extra room would be downstairs, coming off the living room."
OT: "You can't put your child downstairs to sleep. He might need you in the night."
Me. "His older brother could sleep downstairs, freeing up the upstairs bedroom".
OT: "No. The room has to be used by the person it has been built for."
In addition to the paperwork and questions and approval by panel, I also need to produce a report from a psychologist to back up my request. It sure ain't easy!
On the plus side, my son had a MAJOR tantrum while she was there, so she got a good idea of how bad his behaviour can be and how it affects everyone.
The request goes to panel in a few weeks so watch this space....
Me: "My son is causing his older brother probelms at night. He keeps disturbing him during the night and refuses to go to sleep without him in the room".
OT: "If he refuses to sleep without his brother in the room, what is the point of him having his own room?"
Here is another example:
Me: " I thought maybe the best place for an extra room would be downstairs, coming off the living room."
OT: "You can't put your child downstairs to sleep. He might need you in the night."
Me. "His older brother could sleep downstairs, freeing up the upstairs bedroom".
OT: "No. The room has to be used by the person it has been built for."
In addition to the paperwork and questions and approval by panel, I also need to produce a report from a psychologist to back up my request. It sure ain't easy!
On the plus side, my son had a MAJOR tantrum while she was there, so she got a good idea of how bad his behaviour can be and how it affects everyone.
The request goes to panel in a few weeks so watch this space....
Monday 6 February 2012
We Need More Room!
We live in a 3 bedroom house and have 3 children, 2 boys and a girl. The boys share a bedroom.
There will always be friction when kids share a bedroom, but sharing with a child with ASD can cause even more friction. My oldest son is 11 and has little time or patience for his little brother with ASD. I feel quite sorry for both of them. My oldest son can be quite nasty at times, but I can understand his frustration, as his little brother is very clingy towards him and will not settle in bed without his brother being in the room. Unfortunately, this means I have to send them to bed at the same time, which does not go down with my older son, who thinks he should have a later bedtime.
Another issue is that the little one keeps getting into bed with his big brother and clinging to him, because he gets very anxious and scared at night. He cries out a lot too. This causes my older son to have a lot of difficulty sleeping and in the morning he is exhausted.
I have contaced the local Occupational therapy department, and a lady is coming round this afternoon to see if anything can be done with our home to provide extra space for the boys, or just a quiet area where one of them can go to get away from the other. It is quite a complicated process, and after the initial visit, I am also going to have to provide an official assessment from a doctor or psychologist, backing up my request.
I am not sure how feasable it will be to gain an extra room. The layout upstairs will make it awkward and the only other option is to build onto the back of the house and lose some of our garden. It may be better for us to consider selling the house and renting a bigger place, as we could not afford to buy a 4 bedroomed house.
I will update the blog as and when I get any news.
There will always be friction when kids share a bedroom, but sharing with a child with ASD can cause even more friction. My oldest son is 11 and has little time or patience for his little brother with ASD. I feel quite sorry for both of them. My oldest son can be quite nasty at times, but I can understand his frustration, as his little brother is very clingy towards him and will not settle in bed without his brother being in the room. Unfortunately, this means I have to send them to bed at the same time, which does not go down with my older son, who thinks he should have a later bedtime.
Another issue is that the little one keeps getting into bed with his big brother and clinging to him, because he gets very anxious and scared at night. He cries out a lot too. This causes my older son to have a lot of difficulty sleeping and in the morning he is exhausted.
I have contaced the local Occupational therapy department, and a lady is coming round this afternoon to see if anything can be done with our home to provide extra space for the boys, or just a quiet area where one of them can go to get away from the other. It is quite a complicated process, and after the initial visit, I am also going to have to provide an official assessment from a doctor or psychologist, backing up my request.
I am not sure how feasable it will be to gain an extra room. The layout upstairs will make it awkward and the only other option is to build onto the back of the house and lose some of our garden. It may be better for us to consider selling the house and renting a bigger place, as we could not afford to buy a 4 bedroomed house.
I will update the blog as and when I get any news.
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