Communication

All Articles in the Category ‘Communication’

Social Stories about COVID-19 for Your Children

The uncertainty due to the current coronavirus pandemic can be very overwhelming and confusing, especially for children with Autism and other developmental disabilities. Parents may be wondering how to talk to their child about COVID-19 and the changes it has caused in their daily routines, such as:

Why do I have to wear a mask? Why are you wearing a mask?

Why do I need to wash my hands more frequently?

Why can’t I play with my friends?

Why am I home from school?

Why are you working at home? Why are you unable to work at all?

Social Stories are a great way to communicate this information with your child in a safe and comforting way. They can help manage emotions and challenges due to these changes, and encourage appropriate behavior and responses.

The following social stories have been compiled to help support you and your child due to this challenging and unknown time.

 

 

Autism 203:  The Visual Pathway in ASD: Explicit Teaching Methods to Promote Social Communication

This month’s Autism 200 series class is Autism 203:  The Visual Pathway in ASD: Explicit Teaching Methods to Promote Social Communication

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Ask Dr. Emily – Helping With Transitions and Visual Schedules

Welcome to the February edition of Ask Dr. Emily!

We often receive questions that we want to share with all our readers. To help with this, Dr. Emily Neuhaus, a clinical psychologist at Seattle Children’s Autism Center, will share insights in a question and answer format.

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Autism and Visual Supports in the Pool

boy in water (3)Swimming is such an iconic and fun activity for the summer, but can be overwhelming for some with autism because of all of the unfamiliar sensations, actions and directions.

We’re accustomed to using visual supports to help with novel experiences and this is no exception.

You can think “visual” in the pool – you just have to think visual and waterproof!

Here are five ways you can make the pool a success this year:

  1. Swimming lessons for children with disabilities

  2. Brush up on water safety

  3. Visual schedules: Take pictures of each step: getting ready, swimming, playing.  Use them before getting in the water  or waterproof them by laminating and sticking to a pool noodle, or consider getting a floating, waterproof iPad case:

    The Waterproof Store

    Amazon

  4. Social stories: Think about social encounters that may happen at the pool. You may want to involve motivating special interests such as favorite characters (anyone from Nemo to Thomas the Train can enjoy the water). Describe what to do if the situation gets overwhelming (ask for help, wear earplugs or goggles to decrease sensory overload)

  5. Video modeling: To increase new skills and establish routine, consider videotaping a day at the pool for your child to review ahead of time. This doesn’t have to be your child, but can be you, a sibling, a friend or even a video on swimming on YouTube.

 

More Resources:

 Swimming with Autism

Visual Supports For Summer Swims

 

 

Tips on AAC from SLPs – Resolve to Get Visual

AACResolve to Get Visual: Five Tips on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs).

It’s the beginning of a new year and a great time to resolve to kick off 2016 by implementing visual supports for all kinds of learners, particularly those with ASD. It takes a little elbow grease but the outcome is worth the investment. Plus, it doesn’t have to be any more complex than getting your own day planner ready for the start of a new year. Here are five can-do reminders that address common barriers to diving in to AAC from Jo Ristow, SLP at Seattle Children’s Autism Center.

AAC is NOT always high-tech (such as the iPad). It’s true, high-tech AAC can be an investment of dollars and time but AAC can be as cheap as pencil and paper or a good printer. You already have all the tools you need to start. While iPads and apps have revolutionized the field, AAC predates iPads by many years. Plus, there are some advantages to low-tech AAC – nothing needs to be charged, it’s more portable, less expensive, can go with you to the pool, and no one wants to steal picture symbols! Not every kid needs an iPad but every kid needs a means of communicating. One child I work with uses a portable dry-erase board. It can be that easy.

 AAC doesn’t have to be difficult to learn. AAC runs the gamut from high-tech, cutting edge programs to extremely simple and accessible picture and written supports. Just think visual. Can you draw smiley and frowny faces to talk about feelings? Can you print out three clip art pictures to offer choices? Can you use visuals that you already use in your own life such as a calendar or planner to support your students’ communication and understanding? If so, you’re on your way to using AAC! The most important thing is to just start trying to use visuals in your lessons and expand from there. Aim for a robust language system, but starting small is better than not starting at all.

Also, remember that our students benefit from our mistakes. I rarely have to directly teach a child to use the backspace button on a high-tech AAC device because they see me doing it so frequently that they learn from my mistakes. And searching fruitlessly for a vocabulary word is a nice way to naturally demonstrate behavior-regulation strategies such as taking a deep breath, modeling self-talk, and being persistent. Or sometimes it is a great way to model words like “Whoopsie!” “This is hard!” or “I’m frustrated!”

AAC is not that different from traditional therapy. Good therapy skills transcend the tools you’re already using.Techniques such as modeling, expanding utterances, and providing communication temptations are all at play in AAC. You basically have to remember to point to visuals while using the traditional techniques.

More students than you might think benefit from AAC.We all use AAC in our lives. When’s the last time you picked up a phone and called someone? Today we tweet, text, IM, email. Think how emojis enhance your message! Studies show that kids who don’t talk benefit from using AAC and AAC may jumpstart verbal ability. For those who are verbal, AAC can increase the quality of their communication whether it’s speaking in longer sentences or communicating for different purposes such as asking questions or sharing ideas.

AAC doesn’t have to be a lot of work to implement. It’s true that the success of the AAC user depends a lot on the adults in their environment using and modeling but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. In this age of technology, accessing pre-made AAC is as simple as running a Google search and hitting the PRINT button. The high-tech devices are more and more robust and evidence-based in their organization of vocabulary, so it is often a matter of creating a few buttons and trying it out.

Like all New Year’s resolutions, it’s ok to start small and measureable and work your way towards something that could make life a lot easier. Who knows where you’ll be this time next year!

Some handy websites for AAC:

For tons of resources and ideas: http://praacticalaac.org/

For lesson plans and activities: https://aaclanguagelab.com/

For recommendations from an AAC master: http://janefarrall.com/