Chat Packs

Have you seen these before? They make a couple types of them and this could be used for older teens and adults.

I think they are about $10 and I found mine at a local Hallmark store actually. There are about 156 cards in each box.

Here are some examples of conversation starters:

"What is your favorite saying or quotation?"

"What is the best $100 you spent in your life?"

"On a scale of one to ten (with one being not at all and ten being very much so), how superstituous are you?"

"If you were making a list of the five things (not people) that make you hapiest in your life, what five things would you write down?"

"What is the most interesting course you have taken in school? On the other hand, what is the most boring course you have ever taken in school?"

As you can see, they are can be pretty light hearted and spark conversations. Our job is to make sure our kids know when it is appropriate to introduce a conversation starter like these.

You could say, "Hey check out these fun questions I found" and then proceed with the question, making sure there is a lull in conversation, you are making eye contact with your friends and that you are smiling because these should be fun!

Parenting Through to Adulthood

Hello Parents AND Educators! In the next few years there is going to be a tsunami of kiddos on the spectrum coming of age....and that is the next area to be explored.

Much like the "Boomer Generation" coming of age when there weren't enough pediatricians (now there are) to today when there aren't enough gerontologists. We need to start planning on the future for our kids when they are 13, 14 or 15!

I cannot take credit for this next post.....I am passing along wonderful information from Michelle Garcia Winner and her site: www.socialthinking.com. She has developed a series of articles on teens and adults with Aspergers that are a wealth of gold.

Here is her first article: "Parenting Through to Adulthood". I will try and link to the article directly:

http://www.socialthinking.com/what-is-social-thinking/michelles-blog/352-parenting-through-to-adulthood

Her information is pragmatic and you can pick and choose what will fit your individual situation and family. I will continue to have links for her other articles over the next few Mondays.

Happy Reading!

Overreact

o·ver·re·act

intr.v. o·ver·re·act·ed, o·ver·re·act·ing, o·ver·re·acts

To react with unnecessary or inappropriate force, emotional display, or violence

When my eldest daughter was in first grade, she came home soooo very proud as the class had been discussing animals and their characteristics.

“MOM! I KNOW exactly what animal you are! We talked about it in class today!”

My slightly embarrassed and yet thrilled reaction was to think “aww, bet it is a soft cuddly bunny or a sweet little puppy” Guess again....

“A WEASEL! Wanna know why? Because a weasel has no patience, will fight to the death to protect its young and is pretty funny looking.”

She does still live in this house and has suffered no ill effects from her all knowing pronouncement. (Although in my defense of appearance, I was sleep deprived, and in the beginning of the autism diagnosis of her younger sister)

I sometimes overreact. There I said it. I overreact; sometimes internally and heaven help those around me, sometimes externally. Often enough that it has become a family catch phrase “going weasel”. (this means look out, mom’s about to blow!)

We need to try to explain to our kids that sometimes their autism causes them to overreact to sensations/noises/lights/textures/smells that typical folks handle just fine. Sometimes it is "escalating" much too quickly, and sometimes it is just the level of reaction. Both can draw unwanted attention and appear as "atypical" or "bad" behavior.

The key is to NOT overreact -- or teach your child to recognize when they are overreacting and help them "reel it in". We used the story of the boy who cried wolf. If you continue to overreact to small things, how will we know when something really huge is bothering you and worthy of an overreaction? We have also used the "what do you really think this situation is on a scale of 1 to 10?" approach. Examples of a "worthy" 8 or 10 might help. We have fewer and fewer "8 and above" now. The Yellowstone Volcano erupting would be a 10. Spilling a glass of milk ...1 or 2!

Help your child by showing how YOU react when things don’t go as expected, or a loud noise startles you....they can practice what their reactions should be.

My children now practice NOT “going weasel” :) Now if they can....surely there is hope for me?

Valentine's Day

When our kids were in elementary school, they had a party on to celebrate Valentine's Day. Don't know if that is still the case now.

Seems like there aren't enough hours in the day for teachers to teach without an interruption for a party, convocation, in-service meetings, etc.

SOOOO, if your classroom is still having class parties, what can be done to help your child have fun during the party?

Some things to consider:

NOISE: Does loud noise bother your child or do they just block it out? Maybe they could attend the party for a short time and then head to the library or resource room for a break?

FOOD: Some kiddos can't tolerate different candies, textures, flavors. Maybe you can find out ahead of time if there will be a treat and what it is. Sometimes you can send in your child's own treat for them to enjoy.

GAMES:

Again, a parent disclaimer....I hate school games, especially when I (as classroom parent/helper) have to come up with them. Make sure the games can be easily explained and aren't too difficult for your child to understand or participate in. With competitive games, the pressure can be overwhelming, especially if your child is the one that doesn't help the team win!

And finally....VALENTINES:

See if you can get a class list ahead of time to help address the valentines. Some teachers just suggest sending 30 valentines with no "to" names and your child's name written in the "from". This helps our kiddos who might have poor motor skills and all the extra writing may seem like extra homework! So you might actually be the one doing some of the writing...and that's ok! :)