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from Parents
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Written by Carol
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Since Adrian became too big to pick up, visiting with family has been a challenge. We gave up long ago trying to go to other places to visit family. We spend our entire time following him around to be sure he's safe and doesn't put others or their property in danger. It's exhausting and it usually ends up that we see very little of the people we've traveled to visit.
Since most of our family members live a good distance away, the only way we can see them is if they make the trip to see us. But even that can be a bit stressful. Adrian typically looks for some extra attention when people come to our house. He'll do things he knows are against the rules and usually doesn't do just to get our attention away from our guests. My husband and I often end up tag teaming so that one of us can keep Adrian occupied while the other gets a chance to visit.
This past week we've had an unusual number of family members visiting. Adrian has pulled out some old tricks including stealing my grandfather's cane and trying to pinch the baby to see him cry. As glad as I am to have family make the trip to see us, I'll be glad when I no longer need to worry about guests and their effects on Adrian's behavior.
How do you handle visiting family? |
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Written by Carol
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We've been through 11 years of this autism thing. But recent events have got me wondering if we're ready for what's still to come. Our pediatrician reminded us at our appointment yesterday that it's not unsual to see an increase in aggression with adolescent boys with autism. I knew that but really hadn't given it much thought. I just figured we'd deal with it when we got there.... like every other stage we've been through.
But these past few weeks have been rough and I'm starting to wonder if I should be more worried about what's coming next. If you haven't gone through the teen years yet, are you worried? If you've been there done that, what do the rest of us need to know? |
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From Professionals
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Written by Laura
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This next site is much like the first, only it focuses primarily on articulation of speech sounds.
I modify each of the games in order to suit the needs of each individual student.
For example, if my student is working on a speech sound in the final position of a word at sentence level, I will have them put the word into a sentence, while focusing on their production of the target speech sound.
My students are SO motivated by these interactive games that they will work for hours and not even realize that they are doing work!
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from Parents
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Written by Carol
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This past week Adrian hit the window one too many times and it finally shattered. Thankfully, he walked away unscratched. But it made us think.
First it made us think about how these past few weeks we've seen his compulsive and aggressive behaviors increase dramatically. Sometimes it takes something big like this to knock us out of our usual day to day mentality and see the bigger picture. My husband and I talked about it and we decided it was time to head to the doctor to discuss how best to help keep Adrian safe during this time when his hormones seem to affecting his ability to control himself.
But then I started looking around ... and thinking back. We've often compared Adrian to Stitch from Disney's Lilo and Stitch. Adrian's always loved the adorable alien and it sometimes seems that Adrian, like Stitch, is simply programmed for destruction.
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from Parents
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Written by Carol
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That was the title of the presentation I took part in with Upstate Communication Resource for the NYS Governor's Expo on Assistive Technology. It really describes how I feel about the power technology has for so many people with disabilities.
On the panel with me was a speech therapist who works with kids with disabilites. She uses audio scanning with many of them. I'd heard of this before but the video she brought of kids actually using it was absolutely amazing. They listened to choices read to them and, using various methods, hit a switch to choose what they wanted to say. Without this method of communicating, these kids wouldn't be able to communicate at all. Can you imagine?
There were also two on the panel who were actual augmentative communication users. Both were able to give prepared speeches with their dynamic display devices. These were very intelligent, wonderful people who wouldn't have been able to talk, let alone make a whole speech, without this technology.
As I watched them, I couldn't help but wonder if years from now that might be Adrian. I hope so. And I guess that's one of the more important ways these devices change our lives... they give us hope. |
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