As parents, we all want our kids to do a good job in all their pursuits. And as parents, we want to give our kids access to all kinds of activities in hopes of finding something that they will enjoy and excel. For parents of special needs children - whether autism, learning disabilities or behavioral issues - we want those things all the more. Parents of special needs children are always in search of therapies, classes and activities to expose their children to new experiences in hopes of improving their skills, self-esteem and opportunities. Some such programs are designed to provide a very controlled environment with 1:1 child to adult ratio to address behavior, attending and compliance issues. These programs are great, but sometimes parents choose for a variety of reasons (cost, time, availability, etc.) to send their children to less restrictive programs, especially those with typically developing peers. In those types of situations, 1:1 aides are not provided but parents may still be required to "shadow" their children. For example, I teach arts and crafts classes to special needs children in a variety of settings - some are in school/therapy settings (strictly...
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activites, autism, mainstreaming, shadowing, special needs
Posted at: 02:32 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
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My husband and I had been extremely stressed. There was so much going on, too much in fact. We have two sons (9 and 4), a menagerie of pets, two temperamental cars and a very messy house with a mortgage. My husband has a stressful job and I had just returned to work, part time. And my oldest son has autism. A few months ago, he started to have problems at school, which caused us great concern. We know, with autism, new challenges at home or at school routinely pop up. This time it had been at school. The catalyst for my son’s unhappiness could not be easily figured out. There are always the “usual suspects” such as change of staff, change in programs, allergy season, weather, and so on. Sometimes we cannot to figure it out, which makes the situation all the more disconcerting. All we knew was that he was no longer happy going to school (a marked change). So my husband and I started once again the process to vet out and fix the problem. Appointments with doctors. Meetings with...
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autism, children, meditation
Posted at: 04:26 PM | 2 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
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