The Big Debate: Video Games in the Bedroom

I know that this is a subject that polarises people. For a long time I was strictly in the "No TV or video games in the bedroom" camp.

I didn't like the idea of the kids having games in their rooms because I thought that they would spend too much time on them and also that the screen would stop them sleeping so well.

However, after much pressure from my son, I have finally given in.

The problem was that we had one TV in the living room and the kids were rotating taking turns on the games consoles. This meant that we never got time to actually watch TV on it and there always seemed to be games running. Having 3 kids, this often led to agitation and arguments. The other problem was that we have quite a few older games consoles, so I would be constantly swapping between the Playstation, Wii and Nintendos.

Anyway, the little one was asking to have a TV in his room so that he could have one of the older consoles connected to it to play games. I asked around on freegle and someone very kindly gave me a little portable TV.

He absolutely loves it. Of course, I am going to impose time restrictions on it, but so far there have been no problems. For some reason, the kids have all been co-operating a lot better whilst crammed into his box room playing on the old console. It also gives him some control and independence.

So far, so good.

Autistic kids love video games, and like 'em or hate 'em, they are a part of life these days. The games we buy are all kiddie-friendly, usually racing games or sports games. I would never buy violent games for him.

Life is a bit more peaceful. My son has his own space and territory. His room is somewhere he can get away from things if they get stressful. I know that not everyone agrees with video games and TV's in the bedroom, but in our case, it works. and it gives us ALL some respite.

NAS Parent to Parent Service

I just thought I would post this useful information about the National Autistic Society Parent to Parent Service.

The service is a helpline run by volunteer parents who have experience with autism. They can give help, advice and a non-judgemental listening ear. Volunteers are based all over the UK, so parents don't have to share information with someone local if they do not wish to.

The service offers complete anonymity and can direct users to the appropriate services so that they can get help.

The number is 0808 800 4106

Parent to Parent is a UK-wide confidential

telephone service providing emotional support

to parents and carers of children or adults with

autism. The service is provided by trained parent

volunteers who offer telephone support from their

own homes. The Parent to Parent volunteers are

based across the UK, so parents don’t have to

share information with someone in their local area

Parent to Parent is a UK-wide confidential

telephone service providing emotional support

to parents and carers of children or adults with

autism. The service is provided by trained parent

volunteers who offer telephone support from their

own homes. The Parent to Parent volunteers are

based across the UK, so parents don’t have to

share information with someone in their local area

Autism Friendly Film Screenings

Now the school holidays are upon us, we have the tricky task of entertaining the kids. This task is even more tricky when your child is autistic, as the sensory overload can sometimes be too much.

I had an email from our local Parent partnership the other day and it was all about autism friendly cinema screenings. I think these are a great idea as my son often finds cinema frustrating. There are too many adverts and the noise is too loud and scary. We had to take him out of the cinema once because he was screaming and crying because of the volume levels.

Autism friendly cinema screenings have these special features:

1.The lights will be on low
2.The volume will be turned down
3.There will be no trailers at the beginning of the film
4.You'll be able to take your own food and drinks
 5.You'll be able to move around the cinema if you like, although no running is allowed.

If you live in the UK, there is a dedicated website showing where all of the special screenings are due to take place nationwide. The site is called Dimensions and the link is here.

SMART Targets

An IEP is a document that parents and teachers work on together, creating up to 3 short term goals for the child to work on.

The goals are expected to be SMART, which means:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time Related.

In other words, the goals shouldn't be vague things like:

"Jimmy must improve his letter formation"

Rather, it would be:

"Jimmy must work on writing the letters a, e i, o and u over the next 8 weeks."

It is also a good idea for the IEP to include an idea of what help can be given and how often and also how progress will be measured.

The parent, teacher and child will sign the IEP and everyone gets a copy to keep. The child may be given a "Child Friendly" version.

Stimming

Not heard of stimming before?

Well, most of us do it!

If you tap your toes, drum your fingers on the table, bite nails or shuffle around when bored or nervous, then you are stimming!

Autistic people do it a lot. When my son was younger, he used to stim by tapping parts of his body with his hands. He did grow out of that behaviour, but sometimes does it if he is very angry or frustrated. Apparently, about 10% of people with autism stim.

This weekend, he started a new one. He started drumming the furniture with his hands. Sometimes he gets quite loud. I don't mind it too much, but it can get a bit disruptive if we are trying to watch TV, or if we are out and about in public.

There are lots of good articles on the internet about stimming. Here are a few of them:

http://autism.wikia.com/wiki/Stimming

About.com article


http://myspecialsweetpea.com/stimming.html

I am not overly worried about his stimming habits and if they help him calm down, then I don't have a problem with it.

Friends at School

Up until recently, my son was a loner and spent playtimes wandering around by himself. I was so concerned that I asked the Senco for help and she helped to set up a "buddy" system at school.

He is now interacting with the other kids really well. I mean REALLY well. He has become Mr popular all of a sudden.

Part of his meteoric rise in popularity is his love of Playstation games. he is obsessed with Skylanders and all the kids like to talk about it at school. Of course, my son is the expert, so now everyone want him to come over and bring his skylanders to their houses.

Now I have a new problem. The idea of him going to the other kids' houses.

On the one hand, I think it would be great. it would help his social skills no end.

On the other hand, I am going to have to explain to the other moms that his behaviour can be a bit unpredictable, he is prone to meltdowns and gets very anxious. Oh, and he is a very fussy eater.

Of course, there is the chance that the other moms will refuse completely and won't want the hassle. I suppose I always have the option of letting their kids come to my house instead.

Volunteering at School

Helping out at school is a great way for me to see my son in his "natural environment". I can see how well he interacts with the staff and other pupils. I have found it a real eye-opener.

The teacher asked me to help out in maths today because they were doing money again and my son really struggles with money.

In one task, he had to add 25p and 10p. He managed to add them up, but was then asked to find the coins to make a total of 35p. He grabbed a 20p piece but then looked puzzled, as there obviously was no 15p coin. He grabbed a 1p and a 5p and put them side by side. "15p" he said proudly.

He presumed that because there was a 1 on one coin and a 5 on the other coin, that it would total 15p if he put them next to each other.

I hope that we will be able to work on this together more in the coming weeks, as understanding money is such a vital life skill. At the moment, it is a complete mystery to him.