Being proud of yourself

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Many people believe autistic children can not go to college, somehow we think they are not able to keep up with the demands of school and that they are not capable of becoming independent. My daughter, which is away at school has been reading my blogs and the other day was telling me that in her school there is one student that autistic. He is very kind, sweet, always holds the doors for others, but from his body language she was able to see that he was different as he rocks his body and by the way he asks some questions. He is very popular in school and everyone loves him, I understand that its can be easy, but I am sure he is getting help and so far according to my daughter he is doing fine.

Because autism is growing in America, there are many studies being done in the hope of helping them become independent and successful in society. It has been a pleasure for me to blog about autism and learn how autism is positively changing. The autism spectrum is big and among them there are many that have gone far in life and prove that they can be part of society. Autism can be very challenging, but many "aspergers" children can go really far in life as they very brilliant individuals.

Trying new food

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Studying the five senses in class has been a wonderful experience. Every week one of the senses is introduced by the teacher. As a motivation she brings something to get their attention. For the hearing sense she played the piccolo, the sense of touch she read a book on hands and the students learned the different things they can do with their hands. This week we are doing taste. She brought lemons, apples, oranges, bananas, and pears. Each kid were given a piece to try, to our surprise 2 students loved lemons and ate their pieces as if they were pieces of candy later they ask for more. Among the students there is one in particular that is hard for him to try new food which is common for some autistic children.

William's mom has really hard time when it comes to introduce new food to him. He likes donuts, crackers, popcorn, cookies and bananas. If you notice the pattern it has to do with texture and how food feels in the mouth. He has made a lot of improvements on his selection of food, but we have to be persistence. Well that day he ate a little piece of apple and some orange segments, we all clapped for William and he smiled. Ms. Olson, the teacher takes her time with him everyday during breakfast and lunch to make sure he tries something new everyday, there is not success all the time, but most of the time he tries and he is eating more varieties, Patience conquers all.

Finding time to chill

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Joan is a young mother with an autistic kid, he is 7 years old, she is 27. She brings the kid everyday to school, she stopped working when he was diagnosed autistic at 2. She is not the typical young mother with a kid. She is always tired and never goes out. Bringing the child to school is a breather for her as she has some time off during the school hours. She is a good mother and never complain, but its getting to her.

Taking care of a special need child is not an easy job. Autistic kids can be challenging, needing understanding and patience at all time. Its very important for parents to take some time off and not to feel guilty when going to the movies or out to eat, on the contrary it is good to do things that make you feel good and recharge energy for which the kid is going to appreciate better.

Talking to Joan the other day I suggested that she should go back to her hobby of painting or maybe find a part time job, she would make a little money and feel that she is making something good for herself.

Autism and life skill

Teaching autistic children life skills to me are more important than academic skills. Autistic kids have difficulty dressing up, eating or trying new food, writing, grooming, tying shoe laces, zipping up jackets etc. This simple tasks can be very frustrating for them. The goal at school combine with parents is to work toward getting the child independtent and not to depend so much on adults.

The school and home have to provide the proper setting in which the kid would feel confident and supported by the adults around him/her. Fine motor skills activities are one of the basic activities that can help them. For any child with disabilities especially autistic children the simple act of holding an object is a monumental task. Eye-hands coordination skills is not totally developed, so easy activities such as, paying with sand, water, toys would set the base line for them to work toward reaching their goals, always remembering that every child is unique and that we all learn at our own pace, patience and tolerance is the key.