My oldest is 7. He is autistic, developmentally delayed, totally non-verbal, has seizures, medical issues, and appears to have mild cerebral palsy. (I only list this to give an idea of his challenges since they impact my hs choices for him.) He is able to walk, run and climb on playgrounds but doesn't understand safety (has tried to jump off picnic tables and high objects even though he really isn't able to jump). He does recognize and can receptively identify letters and numbers 1-20. He can use the computer and play simple preschool games once shown how. He loves to carry around books and look at his favorite pictures. (He will actually break the books and tear out his favorite pages to carry around.) He LOVES music and will push the same buttons on musical toys over and over and over again as he walks around trying to hum the tune. He gets very worked up (he is an auditory "stimmer") and will actually become physically aggressive if allowed to play for an extended period with a favorite toy, and then asked to stop to do something else.
His receptive language skills are very limited from what we can tell. He does not follow two-step instructions and can only follow one-step instructions with lots of modeling and practice. He can dress himself with some assistance but is not potty trained and we are not sure he will be able to accomplish that due to his muscle involvement and cognitive limitations - it is an ongoing effort that we see little to no progress with so far anyway.
He gets physically aggressive if he doesn't want to do something - he will hit, slap, kick, etc. to try to avoid doing undesired tasks. He has the same reaction if something is too easy or too hard. (I think anyway - in the past I have asked him to show me if he knows something so that we can put it away and do something else, and he immediately showed me each answer correctly after having been randomly guessing and appearing to not pay attention - I believe I was asking him to identify shapes that day.)
He doesn't seem to enjoy games. I do ask him to play preschool level games with me and his younger brother (3 1/2 years old, also autistic) and he will sometimes play fairly cooperatively and take his turn with prompts to help him along, and he will sometimes do everything he can to get out of it.
He doesn't enjoy cooking or arts and crafts. He hates having his fingers dirty and can only eat pureed foods so gets very suspicious of anything not pureed and will try to push or throw it away.
He is vision impaired and while he can do lots of things like stringing beads and other fine motor activities he does it a lot by feel rather than sight.
He will take walks with us outside but his stamina varies and is impacted both by his muscle issues and his seizure control, which varies greatly. He does enjoy being outside so we do this as often as possible.
He enjoys toys, books, etc. on a preschool level - loves Barney, Teletubbies, Baby Einstein, and similar shows and websites on the computer.
We are in a state that requires testing starting in 2nd grade and he is currently registered as a first grader. I know we can choose an alternative test for kids with special needs, so I'm not too worried about that.
We have done work with Handwriting Without Tears, which he seems to like ok but his fine motor control is poor and even though he knows the letters it is very difficult for him to write them. We don't spend a tremendous amount of time on this.
We do yoga exercises each day, and he likes those. We modify them or assist him through them as necessary. He also loves chasing a ball back and forth and playing in water.
I read to him each day and we spend time outside playing as much as possible, weather permitting. Our yard is not fenced so I prefer to go to local parks, as it's actually easier for me to supervise the kids there and my oldest is also a runner so I look for parks away from the roads. (We are on a very busy street corner.)
One of my challenges is that while he absolutely loves music and would spend the day carrying around a boom box I think if he had one, my 3 1/2 year old is much more sound sensitive and hates if anyone sings, completely melts down if someone turns up the volume too loud on the computer or radio or whatever, and although also autistic is totally opposite in many ways from his older brother, who will crank music as loud as possible and love it.
Anyway, sorry to write a novel. My oldest absolutely loved the Verbal Behavior (ABA) program that he did for a little over a year when he was about four years old, and made great gains with that, but I am not able to implement that myself anymore and we don't have the money to hire someone to come in and run it with him. He does have a Discreet Trial computer program that he likes and he is picking up many preschool skills from that, but is not always able to demonstrate understanding away from the computer. (He tends to memorize the answer to a particular question quickly on the computer but if the same thing is presented in a different way he has to then memorize that correct answer rather than being able to answer correctly based on the previous model, if that makes sense.)
I am feeling kind of stuck as to where to go with him. Like I said, he loves being read to, but I think all he hears most of the time is jibberish - he really doesn't seem to process oral language well, but enjoys the time and attention given when we read to him. It doesn't seem like an effective way for him to learn academic or other skills. However, with very familiar favorites (like Goodnight Moon and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) he is able to follow along and find the correct pages as I read it or as he listens to a recording, so I think he must understand some spoken words anyway.
His health does not allow him to be in a classroom setting, so putting him in school is not an option even if we wanted to, which we don't.
We work on other life skills at home and he enjoys getting out in the community for things like grocery shopping. He has a computerized speech device that he uses to request certain toys, ask for favorite foods, etc. He is able to navigate through 2-3 different screens and several different categories to find the picture of what he wants. He is not able to communicate more abstract thoughts or feelings. Developmentally he appears to be somewhere between an 18-24 month level in most areas, although at times he seems higher like with his computer abilities, and some days he seems a little lower.
Any ideas on how to proceed? He loves routine, and is willing to sit and work with me for 30-45 minutes at a time if we are following a familiar routine. (We will often do his yoga exercises, then do some chalkboard activities to work on crossing midline and his pencil grip, then sit down and do some reading, some HWOT, and finish up with his computer program, which takes about 45 minutes if he is feeling cooperative, 15 minutes of which is his computer program at the end.) He loves anything computer related but if left on his own will find video clips of his favorite shows and watch those over and over.
What might you be working on with a child like him? When I look at the school districts standards I feel like I am leaving so much out. He's such a mix of abilities that really seem to vary from day to day, but I also know that all the academic skills in the world aren't going to help him if he is not able to communicate his knowledge to others and interact with the world, which is his biggest challenge really. He does not receive speech therapy because he was discharged from it when they felt he could navigate his computer independently. I don't feel like our PS therapist options are worth pursuing based on past experience so we work with him at home and consult occasionally with an autism specialist (behavior specialist) who used to work with him privately doing that ABA program, but funding for that program has been cut recently so we will not be able to use her services anymore, or we will have to pay $150/hour to do so, which we can't afford.
Anyway, I'll quit since I'm not sure I'm making much sense. Just looking for any thoughts, how you might approach hs a child with his needs, anything really. I'm going through a spell here where I'm not feeling totally confident lately, especially having two kids with autism but with such opposite personalities (and of course a baby/toddler age son to help as well!)
ETA: We do belong to a homsechool group and we attend those functions whenever possible. He does enjoy field trips and outings to the park but does not interact with anyone there, other than he might want me to hold his hand or carry him sometimes. He likes running back and forth with other kids but does not try to engage them in play and will mostly separate and do his own thing. He needs a tremendous amount of assistance to play any games or do activities requiring more advanced motor skills.
TIA!
His receptive language skills are very limited from what we can tell. He does not follow two-step instructions and can only follow one-step instructions with lots of modeling and practice. He can dress himself with some assistance but is not potty trained and we are not sure he will be able to accomplish that due to his muscle involvement and cognitive limitations - it is an ongoing effort that we see little to no progress with so far anyway.
He gets physically aggressive if he doesn't want to do something - he will hit, slap, kick, etc. to try to avoid doing undesired tasks. He has the same reaction if something is too easy or too hard. (I think anyway - in the past I have asked him to show me if he knows something so that we can put it away and do something else, and he immediately showed me each answer correctly after having been randomly guessing and appearing to not pay attention - I believe I was asking him to identify shapes that day.)
He doesn't seem to enjoy games. I do ask him to play preschool level games with me and his younger brother (3 1/2 years old, also autistic) and he will sometimes play fairly cooperatively and take his turn with prompts to help him along, and he will sometimes do everything he can to get out of it.
He doesn't enjoy cooking or arts and crafts. He hates having his fingers dirty and can only eat pureed foods so gets very suspicious of anything not pureed and will try to push or throw it away.
He is vision impaired and while he can do lots of things like stringing beads and other fine motor activities he does it a lot by feel rather than sight.
He will take walks with us outside but his stamina varies and is impacted both by his muscle issues and his seizure control, which varies greatly. He does enjoy being outside so we do this as often as possible.
He enjoys toys, books, etc. on a preschool level - loves Barney, Teletubbies, Baby Einstein, and similar shows and websites on the computer.
We are in a state that requires testing starting in 2nd grade and he is currently registered as a first grader. I know we can choose an alternative test for kids with special needs, so I'm not too worried about that.
We have done work with Handwriting Without Tears, which he seems to like ok but his fine motor control is poor and even though he knows the letters it is very difficult for him to write them. We don't spend a tremendous amount of time on this.
We do yoga exercises each day, and he likes those. We modify them or assist him through them as necessary. He also loves chasing a ball back and forth and playing in water.
I read to him each day and we spend time outside playing as much as possible, weather permitting. Our yard is not fenced so I prefer to go to local parks, as it's actually easier for me to supervise the kids there and my oldest is also a runner so I look for parks away from the roads. (We are on a very busy street corner.)
One of my challenges is that while he absolutely loves music and would spend the day carrying around a boom box I think if he had one, my 3 1/2 year old is much more sound sensitive and hates if anyone sings, completely melts down if someone turns up the volume too loud on the computer or radio or whatever, and although also autistic is totally opposite in many ways from his older brother, who will crank music as loud as possible and love it.
Anyway, sorry to write a novel. My oldest absolutely loved the Verbal Behavior (ABA) program that he did for a little over a year when he was about four years old, and made great gains with that, but I am not able to implement that myself anymore and we don't have the money to hire someone to come in and run it with him. He does have a Discreet Trial computer program that he likes and he is picking up many preschool skills from that, but is not always able to demonstrate understanding away from the computer. (He tends to memorize the answer to a particular question quickly on the computer but if the same thing is presented in a different way he has to then memorize that correct answer rather than being able to answer correctly based on the previous model, if that makes sense.)
I am feeling kind of stuck as to where to go with him. Like I said, he loves being read to, but I think all he hears most of the time is jibberish - he really doesn't seem to process oral language well, but enjoys the time and attention given when we read to him. It doesn't seem like an effective way for him to learn academic or other skills. However, with very familiar favorites (like Goodnight Moon and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) he is able to follow along and find the correct pages as I read it or as he listens to a recording, so I think he must understand some spoken words anyway.
His health does not allow him to be in a classroom setting, so putting him in school is not an option even if we wanted to, which we don't.
We work on other life skills at home and he enjoys getting out in the community for things like grocery shopping. He has a computerized speech device that he uses to request certain toys, ask for favorite foods, etc. He is able to navigate through 2-3 different screens and several different categories to find the picture of what he wants. He is not able to communicate more abstract thoughts or feelings. Developmentally he appears to be somewhere between an 18-24 month level in most areas, although at times he seems higher like with his computer abilities, and some days he seems a little lower.
Any ideas on how to proceed? He loves routine, and is willing to sit and work with me for 30-45 minutes at a time if we are following a familiar routine. (We will often do his yoga exercises, then do some chalkboard activities to work on crossing midline and his pencil grip, then sit down and do some reading, some HWOT, and finish up with his computer program, which takes about 45 minutes if he is feeling cooperative, 15 minutes of which is his computer program at the end.) He loves anything computer related but if left on his own will find video clips of his favorite shows and watch those over and over.
What might you be working on with a child like him? When I look at the school districts standards I feel like I am leaving so much out. He's such a mix of abilities that really seem to vary from day to day, but I also know that all the academic skills in the world aren't going to help him if he is not able to communicate his knowledge to others and interact with the world, which is his biggest challenge really. He does not receive speech therapy because he was discharged from it when they felt he could navigate his computer independently. I don't feel like our PS therapist options are worth pursuing based on past experience so we work with him at home and consult occasionally with an autism specialist (behavior specialist) who used to work with him privately doing that ABA program, but funding for that program has been cut recently so we will not be able to use her services anymore, or we will have to pay $150/hour to do so, which we can't afford.
Anyway, I'll quit since I'm not sure I'm making much sense. Just looking for any thoughts, how you might approach hs a child with his needs, anything really. I'm going through a spell here where I'm not feeling totally confident lately, especially having two kids with autism but with such opposite personalities (and of course a baby/toddler age son to help as well!)
ETA: We do belong to a homsechool group and we attend those functions whenever possible. He does enjoy field trips and outings to the park but does not interact with anyone there, other than he might want me to hold his hand or carry him sometimes. He likes running back and forth with other kids but does not try to engage them in play and will mostly separate and do his own thing. He needs a tremendous amount of assistance to play any games or do activities requiring more advanced motor skills.
TIA!
