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Katelyn Leavitt

Have Dedicated places for learning and being calm. You could have a space for playing, a space for reading, and place to color. Children with autism like routines and sameness so this helps to have that feeling.

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Establish a Structured Routine

People with ASD need routine and thrive in structured environments

Visual Supports

These kinds of things can help with communication and also with structure.

Sensory-Friendly Spaces

a lot of children with ASD have high sensory issues so making a place where they can go can help them have a sort of safe place

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Social Skills Groups

Social skills groups offer an opportunity for people with autism of all ages to practice their social skills with each other and/or typical peers on a regular basis. Many groups follow commercially available social skills curricula.

Effective Social Skills groups should*:

Provide structure and predictability

Break down abstract social concepts into concrete actions

Simplify language and group children by language level

Work in pairs or groups with cooperation and partnership encouraged

Provide multiple and varied learning opportunities

Foster self-awareness and self-esteem

Provide opportunities for practice so that skills are used beyond the group in real life settings.

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Caitlyn, Morgan, Aubri

Prompting is a cue designed to get a student to perform a specific behavior in promoting students achievement.

School: This can get your student back on task or set them up to get their tasks done. This also can help them know explicitly what they are supposed to be doing.

Home: This can help your child get their basic needs done whether it is brushing their teeth or just eating lunch. This can help them learn how to accomplish these things and learn new skills.

Community: This can help is they have a job. This can be employed for effortless learning of the skills they will need for their job.

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Using Personalized Teaching Stories

People with autism benefit from having information presented visually, such as a chart, a booklet, or an electronic device. Using personalized teaching stories provides a visual aid for people with autism to know what to expect in different situations and to learn what is expected of them in these situations.

Through pictures and simple language, these stories can make everyday social situations more predictable for people with autism, as well as giving them strategies for navigating these situations more effectively.

Personalized Stories:

* Going to a Restaurant Help our students know what to expect when they go to a restaurant.

* Going to the Store Help explain what to expect when your family goes to the store to your child.

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ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORTS--Alyssa Haderlie

Clear and constant schedules, like the list of activities and times completed in a school day posted on the whiteboard. When teaching a lesson, staying consistent with how the lesson is taught so the student knows what to expect.

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Challenging Behaviors Tool Kit

As you learn to think like a detective about your child's behavior, your observations (or the FBA) are likely to show that behavior occurs at specific times, with certain people or in particular environments. You and your team will need to tune in, learning to recognize the signs of increasing tension, anxiety or frustration that eventually lead to challenging behaviors.

Often there is a ramping up, or escalation period, and learning to recognize that early and using many of the approaches here can help to calm a situation and prevent behavioral outbursts. Sometimes these signs may be very subtle-red ears, a tapping foot, heavier breathing, higher pitched speech-but it is essential that everyone on the team responds to the importance of tuning in and working towards de-escalation.

Changing the environment can often reduce behavioral episodes. Expand situations, relationships, places and opportunities that are successful. If possible, try to adjust or avoid situations that are triggers for challenging behavior. Incorporate ways to reduce frustration and anxiety and increase understanding. Below are some things to consider when working to create a more successful environment.

Tips to create a successful environment for your child

Organize and provide structure: Provide clear and consistent visual schedules, calendars, consistent routines, etc. so that the person knows what is coming next.

Inform transitions and changes: Recognize that changes can be extremely unsettling, especially when they are unexpected. Refer to a schedule, use countdown timers, give warnings about upcoming changes, etc.

Use Visual Supports: Pictures, text, video modeling and other visuals are best for visual learners, but they are also critical because they provide information that stays. The ATN Visual Supports Tool Kit provides a step-by-step, easy-to-understand introduction to visual supports. Provide a safe place and teach when to use it: A calming room or corner, and/or objects or activities that help to calm (e.g. bean bag) provide opportunities to regroup and can be helpful in teaching self-control.

Remove or dampen distracting or disturbing stimuli: Replace flickering fluorescent lights, use headphones to help block noise, avoid high traffic times, etc.

Pair companions or staff appropriately for challenging activities or times: Some people are more calming than others in certain situations. If going to the store with dad works better than with mom, focus on that and celebrate successes.

Consider structural changes to your home or yard: These changes might address some of the specifics of your situation to increase independence or reduce the risks when outbursts occur. Making Homes that Work includes a range of potential changes that can be made to reduce property damage, improve safety, and increase choice and independence.

One of the barriers that we often find for children with autism in toilet training has to do with the condition of the bathroom itself. Often times we find that people with ASD can be very tactfully defensive so the space itself needs to be as neutral as possible. There needs to be enough room around the toilet so people don't feel too confined. It is really helpful if the space is warm and you address other types of sensations around the toileting experience. For example, is it cold, is there a fan running, is the light too bright, or not bright enough? You can sometimes help encourage people to use the toilet if the bathroom is a friendly place for them to be.

- George Braddock, President, Creative Housing Solutions LLC

Read more about promoting a safe environment in the Autism Speaks Challenging Behaviors Tool Kit.

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Adapting Your Environment | Autism Speaks

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Things to consider when working to create a more successful environment and minimize challenging behaviors.

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Demonstrate appropriate social interactions through your own behavior

Model social interaction, turn taking and reciprocity.

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Split into three groups, pick one of these strategies from the text book and find specific strategies to comment on. Use other resources, like the internet, to support what you find in your textbook or about strategies that fall under your category. Place 3-5 posts under your strategy and be ready to share!

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Home Base Plans: Behavioral Management

Utilize token economy apps like iRewardChart or Choiceworks to reinforce positive behaviors and track progress toward rewards. Implement a First-Then schedule to help the child understand the sequence of tasks and expectations. This creates a home base of how behavior should be managed for the child, and gives them a structure.

Piper Phillips

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Back to Blog Home

October 02, 2023

by Alyson ShafferM.Ed. BCBA Owner

Implementing home-based autism plans and utilizing applications can be beneficial in providing consistent support and intervention for children with autism. Here are some ideas recommended by Solving Autism for home-based strategies and applications that parents can use to help their children with autism:
Visual Schedules and Timers:
Use visual schedules to outline the daily routine and activities. This can help the child understand what to expect throughout the day, reducing anxiety.

Timer apps can be used to visually represent the passage of time and prepare the child for transitions between activities.
Communication and Language Support:
Communication apps like Proloquo2Go, TouchChat, or PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) can assist non-verbal or minimally verbal children in expressing their needs and wants.

Practice and encourage the use of gestures, sign language, or augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to aid communication.
Social Skills and Play:
Social skills apps like Social Stories Creator, Stories About Me, or Model Me Going Places can help teach social cues and appropriate behaviors.

Engage in interactive play with the child to model and reinforce social skills, turn-taking, and cooperation.
Behavior Management:
Utilize token economy apps like iRewardChart or Choiceworks to reinforce positive behaviors and track progress toward rewards.

Implement a First-Then schedule to help the child understand the sequence of tasks and expectations.
Sensory Integration:
Sensory apps like Sensory Baby Toddler Learning or Sensory Play can provide sensory stimulation or relaxation based on the child's preferences.

Create a sensory-friendly environment at home by providing sensory toys, calming areas, and noise-reducing headphones.
Educational Apps:
Numerous educational apps cater to different learning levels and subjects. Look for apps that align with the child's interests and needs, such as ABCmouse, Khan Academy Kids, or Starfall.
Fine Motor Skills:
Fine motor skill apps like Dexteria or Handwriting Without Tears can help improve hand-eye coordination and writing skills.

Engage in arts and crafts activities that promote fine motor development, such as coloring, cutting, and playdough.
Self-help Skills:
Use apps like Choiceworks Calendar or First Then Visual Schedule to assist in teaching self-help skills like dressing, brushing teeth, and washing hands.

Establish routines and use visuals to prompt and support the child in completing daily tasks independently.
Parent Training Apps:
Some Apps are designed to provide parent training, offering guidance and strategies for managing specific behaviors or challenges. Examples include Parenting Hero and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy.

Remember that each child with autism is unique, and not all strategies or apps will work for every individual. It's essential to observe your child's reactions and progress and adjust the approaches accordingly. Additionally, consult with professionals, such as behavior analysts or therapists, to ensure that the interventions align with the child's specific needs and goals.
Parent Support Groups:
Solving Autism is now offering Parent Support Group sessions at our clinics to help educate parents with these plans and additional programs.

" US Resource Options for Autism by Solving Austism

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HOME BASED PLANS FOR PARENTS with KIDS with Autism

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Back to Blog Home by Alyson ShafferM.Ed. BCBA Owner Implementing home-based autism plans and utilizing applications can be beneficial in providing consistent support and intervention for children with autism. Here are some ideas recommended by Solving Autism for home-based strategies and applications that parents can use to help their children with autism: Visual Schedules and Timers: Use visual schedules to outline the daily routine and activities.

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Makayla

"Pair companions or staff appropriately for challenging activities or times: Some people are more calming than others in certain situations. If going to the store with dad works better than with mom, focus on that and celebrate successes."

Find those people that will help students thrive. If they do better with one person over the other try to have them interact with that person as much as possible.

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Acting out social scenarios in a safe environment allows students to practice communication skills and problem-solving in social situations.

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(DTI) - This is typically done with pre-school students. This is typically like classical conditioning where students are given a command or a signal for something and they need to be completed in order to receive a reward.

Home - this could be implemented in the home where the parents can use that to have them know what to do at specific times, even to keep them safe.

School - This could help in schools by helping the students know what they need to do at specific times and follow procedures.

Community - This could be helpful in the community by helping the student know how to be safe (tornado alarms and such)

By: Caitlyn, Aubri, Morgan

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Caitlyn, Aubri, and Morgan

Priming:

Parent, para-professional, teacher, or a trusted peer reviews the content that the student will go over in a future activity/prior to a lesson or activity done by the student. Priming provides the student with a lessened amount of stress and anxiety put towards a lesson or activity.

Effects on the home...

-Priming can be done in the home and provide the student with more preparation without the stress of school. The parents will be sacrificing their own time to learn and teach and review the material. The home could inherit some of the added stresses.

Effects on their schooling...

-The student will be impacted in their in the sense that the teachers and the content will be fully impacted on the student as they will be able to communicate better in the classroom and participating in class discussions. The understanding of the content will come easier.

Effects on their community...

-There may be instructions and skills that are reviewed in which will impact the students social life within their community.