Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Free Social Stories For Autistic Children - What Are Social Stories?

By: Autism Advisor

Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Social stories are one of the techniques the are used in children with Autism. Although such is completed in a structured way for children with Autism it is a technique that has been spent for centuries. Parents own constantly talked and illustrated imminent situations in an endeavor to ease the children's fears. Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Many times social stories are written with the childs' name as the name of the person in the story. For some children this seems to be an easier way to talk about themselves. It is almost like talking about a child like they are someone else. On some level a child with Autism does seem to understand that the story is about them.

A social story to describe future behavior will help a child with Autism calm their fears as well. More importantly it can help shape their behavior. The story does not have to be long or complex but it does need to show the child what a parent expects to happen and what a parent expects the child to do. Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Many non-verbal children like to listen to stories. One of the suggestions is to write the story. Try to keep it to one page. Read the story to your child and give a copy to them. It may well surprise a parent that the non-verbal child wants a copy.

Keep in mind that we do not always know how much non-verbal children understand. They may be able to read some or part of the story. The only caution in this process is to be careful with children who eat paper. Free Social Stories For Autistic Children

Social stories can also be used to go over past behavior. The twist with this type of social story is that you can change what your child did in the past in this new story. Of course in this way you can supply information about behavior in a way the child can 'get it'. Don't let your love ones suffer anymore! Lead them out through Free Social Stories For Autistic Children program now!

About the Author

Feeling lost without solutions? Free Social Stories For Autistic Children is a proven Autism Solution for your Child.

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State of Arizona and Alexicom Tech

The following is an email I received that I wanted to share with my readers.

It is with great pleasure that we announce that the State of Arizona's Developmental Disabilities Division (DDD) has given their approval for Alexicom Tech to be bundled with a computer for review and consideration the same as any other AAC device as a possibility for those people who need AAC assistance. If Alexicom's bundled system is recommended through the DDD Evaluation process and the person qualifies for the DDD program, then DDD will purchase both the computer and the Alexicom service in the same manner as any other recommended AAC device.

We feel this step forward will provide great opportunities to the people who use AAC technology. It will allow these people to benefit from a system that provides greater access to Augmentative Communication as well as information and programs at large. This process in return will benefit the State of Arizona by saving money and allowing that money to be spread to more families in this current financial crunch.

To find out more check out our website at www.alexicomtech.com.

Sincerely,
Jerry Little
Business Manager
Alexicom Tech

Learning with The Price is Right for the Nintendo DS

My son loves The Price is Right. He has been watching the show since he was a toddler. As he got older, he started noticing the games in the stores. He discovered the television game, the computer game and the Wii game. He would insist that I buy each one until he had a complete collection of The Price is Right game types.

He would try to play them, but they would be too difficult for him to pick up quickly. When I bought him the Nintendo DS to use for his TapToTalk, he kept trying to get me to buy the Nintendo DS version of The Price is Right. I made him wait until after Christmas.

As luck would have it, he was given two of The Price is Right games. They are two different versions, 2008 and 2010. I was relieved. Buying for my son at Christmas is difficult. When family members asked me what he wanted, I always included this game on the list. Because of this, he ended up with one from my husband’s side of the family and one from my side of the family.

I am pleased to announce that he can play it on the Nintendo DS. Both my husband and I take turns sitting with him and teaching him how to play the game. In a day and a half, he has picked up on lot. He prefers the newer version better. The pricing games are a little easier for him to do.

I am extremely proud of my son. It requires a lot of skills to play this game on the Nintendo DS. It works on his eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. Improving his skills with the stylus and selecting pictures on the little screen will help improve his communication skills when using the TapToTalk on his Nintendo DS. It is also great to watch him having so much fun doing.

Boardmaker Plus! v.6 Giveaway Winner

I am very happy to announce that the winner of this giveaway is:
Shari@aPsychMommy ... 35


Congratulations! You have 48 hours to contact me or I will have to pick a new winner.


For another chance to win, you can visit Mayer-Johnson and sign-up for their emails. New subscribers to their email will be entered into a drawing for Boardmaker Plus! v.6.

Build-A-Bear Makes a Connection

My son doesn't like to use the touch screen to communicate. He doesn't like to touch it with his finger because of his extreme sensory aversion issues he has with touch. He can do it, but he doesn't want to. Because of this, getting him to touch the screen to play games, communicate, or anything else has always been difficult. He hasn't figured out how to use the mouse yet. I've always believed that he just needs the right motivation and he would be a wiz on the computer. Today, thaks to Kim at Accidental Mommies, we have found the right motivation.

This morning, I was over on her site checking out her giveaways. My son came in and wanted me to get a movie out for him. I did. He then went straight for the computer and sat down. I thought that he did so because he wanted to play the movie on my computer. That's when it happened. He saw something on Kim's site that caught his attention. Something that turned out to be amazing. It was an advertisement for Build-A-Bear. He touched it. Yes he did. All by himself.

At the Build-A-Bear site, he started navigating around using his finger and with no prompting from me. He found cute little cuddlies and he found the Party tab. He tried to schedule himself a party. I got him away from that and clicked on Games. He selected the Fluffed and Fabulous game. Talk about fun. He had a blast with that game. I've never seen him like this before. It was amazing.

Thank you Kim and thank you Build-A-Bear for opening up this door for my son. This is such an amazing breakthrough for him. I absolutely can not express in words how much this means to me to have been able to watch my son do something that deep in my heart, I knew he could do. Thank you so much.

Autism and Advent

written by Erin Jameson

Developing communication skills with young autistic children presents itself with many challenges and hurdles. Young autistic children understand and cooperate best when multiple senses are stimulated. Children with behavior and communication difficulties are often visual learners. Making learning and communication fun is the ideal and most beneficiary way to develop these skills.
Thinking of fun games that involve communication, memory, explaining, coordination etc. will create a less stressful and threatening environment which in turn will promote learning.

The Christmas Advent Calendar is a great place to start. The calendar is online and it’s free. Each day there is a new game/activity that is great for young children.
The games draw on the following skills: memory, cooperation, higher thinking, art, and creativity.

Some examples of games you’ll find include:

· Christmas Trees & Candy Canes (Chutes and Ladders)
· Coloring Pages that can be cut out
· Mazes
· Word searches
· Memory Games
· Trivia

The advent calendar is now running. See it at: http://www.optimalprint.co.uk/christmas-advent-calendar

Mayer-Johnson's Boardmaker Plus! v.6 Giveaway Closed

Last year, I wrote up a review of Mayer-Johnson’s Boardmaker Plus! v.6. You can read that here. Boardmaker is a software program that you can use to create schedules, communication boards, picture labels, augmentative device picture board templates and much more. I first heard about this program from the therapists and teachers that were working with my son. This was more than five years ago. I started off with one of the older versions and was able to get the v.6 last year.

I am so happy to be able to give one of my readers the chance to win a Boardmaker Plus! V.6. It retails for $399 and you can get one for free if you are the winner of this giveaway. With a picture library of over 4,500 pec symbols, 600 sample boards and 94 interactive templates, you can get started using this immediately. Plus, if you have a touch screen on your computer, this version comes with the capability of assigning sounds to your pictures.


Mayer-Johnson has a variety of products that you can purchase to help your child with communication. I recommend going over to their site and browsing their pages. They have books, games, classroom tools as well as the high tech and low tech communication devices. You will find just about everything you need to meet your child’s communication needs. Good luck with this giveaway. To keep up with new and exciting offerings from Mayer-Johnson, you can follow on Twitter, @mayerjohnson or Facebook
www.dynavoxtech.com http://www.dynavoxtech.com



This Giveaway will run from November 5, 2009 to November 20, 2009. The winner will be announced on November 21, 2009. This giveaway is for USA and Canada only. Below are rules for entering this giveaway. Good luck.

MAIN RULE – Leave a comment telling me who you would give this to(or if you are going to keep it for yourself. (remember if this rule is not followed then no others will count)

You can get extra entries by doing any or all of the below:

1 Extra Entry - Stumble this post and leave your Stumble name (I will be checking) in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Follow @mayerjohnson on Twitter and leave your twitter id in a separate comment
* 1 Extra Entry - Twitter this giveaway and leave your twitter name in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Follow my blog let me know in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Subscribe to my RSS feed via email and let me know in a separate comment
1 Extra Entry - Write a post on your blog linking to my blog, and let me know in a separate comment


Disclosure: This is not a paid review and I am not getting paid to do this giveaway. The Mayer-Johnson products that I own were paid for by me or my son’s insurance. Mayer-Johnson is providing the prize of one Boardmaker Plus! V.6 for the winner of this giveaway and they will ship it directly to the winner.

Books By Tara Help Autistic Children

Introducing…..Books By Tara!


Since you are reading this, your life has probably been touched (or more likely “profoundly changed”) by a child diagnosed with autism. Mine too! My introduction to autism came first as an Early Childhood/Special Ed. teacher before my youngest son, Jake, was even born. Shortly after Jake’s first birthday, he began showing all the tell-tale signs of autism. Eventually he was diagnosed on the severe end of the spectrum, and my journey which began with my students continued at an even deeper level with my son. Through this journey of connecting, learning, and celebrating; Books By Tara were created. Here’s how it happened in a nutshell.

The deceptively simple skills of being able to attend, learn, communicate, and function even at the most basic level can be very challenging for kids on the spectrum to acquire. Through the Son-Rise® Program I learned to stop fighting for my son’s attention and instead pay attention to it. What does he attend to? He frequently finds everyday details, ones that used to escape my attention, absolutely fascinating! Looking together at photos, illustrations, objects, etc. without pressuring Jake to interact often results in more interaction! Sometimes during these relaxed, connecting moments he breaks through his communication barriers and new words pop out! I feel like I’m winning the lottery!!! One of the first times this happened was looking at a photo of a child with a box on his head in Tana Hoban’s Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue? Time after time we had studied this photo together silently, and I really had no idea exactly why Jake found it so interesting. Sometimes I’d comment briefly, “He has a box on his head, that’s so silly!” Jake would occasionally comment back in his usual simplistic, echolalic style “head” or “box”. Excited to have him say anything, I’d celebrate, “Exactly! There’s the box on his head!” and point to it telling him how great he was doing talking to me. Then I’d wait silently for his turn in the interaction. Imagine my surprise when he said super clearly, “Can’t see.” WOAH! He did it! He told me what he’d been thinking about!!! “You’re RIGHT, you brilliant boy! Way to tell me that! He can’t see with a box on his head!” Wow. An interesting photo can be a powerful interactive tool and language promoter if used in a fun, relaxed way. I wanted more.

After years of spending hours and hours scanning old magazines and calendars for just the right photos to make interactive books and games to use with Jake, I received a camera for my birthday. The first book by Tara was born - HOLES. Now I can get pictures to highlight those concepts and activities that most kids find fascinating such as WATER, going through the automatic Car Wash, and making a Jack-O-Lantern. Each book has 19 or more pages of interesting objects and scenes. Big 8X10 photos freeze-frame our fast-paced world to allow as much time and repetition needed to support those non-verbal connections as well as communication breakthroughs. The real life images make these books appropriate for any aged individual to enjoy them, hopefully with an adult who cares deeply and wants to connect at whatever level he/she is able. Interaction is a gift in which we can all learn from each other.

Currently there are 7 titles available, and many more are in the works. Please visit http://www.booksbytara.com/ to find out more. Here you will find testimonials and even more extensive reviews from both parents and professionals. You can also look inside some pages of an actual book. Articles regarding how to invite interaction in positive, effective ways are available to support those who are blessed to interact daily with someone on the autism spectrum. Don’t forget to sign up for the FUN, free eNewsletter for on-going information and updates!

I sincerely appreciate Tammy for this opportunity to introduce the books to you. Our children can be the most amazing teachers and sources of inspiration. Let www.BooksByTara.com bless you on your journey towards connecting, learning, and celebrating life with that special child. By supporting each other, we all learn and grow together. ~ Tara


Language development is more than words;
It starts with connections that can not be heard.
http://www.booksbytara.com/

Tips for Using TapToTalk

This is my final post for my TapToTalk review. I wanted to cover a few tips about using it and what kind of albums to design. If you missed the other two posts, you should go back and read them first. The first one TapToTalk Communication for Autistic Children
and the second is TapToTalk and Our Reactions.


When you first use the TapToTalk on the DS Lite, you may notice that you are only getting picture and sound. There is a “text” feature to the program that you may find helpful to use with your child. When you push the letter “A” on the DS Lite, the names of the pictures will show up on the screen.

This can be helpful in establishing identification of the written word to the picture for your child. It help’s my son to see the words, so he knows what the picture is going to say when he touches it with the stylus. My son can read and has a great memory. Once he has used one picture, then he knows what it will say the next time he needs to use it.

The problem with this, is that I am always changing and adding to his album. I have even started creating a second album. I’ve loaded it onto his memory card and he now has two albums to choose from. I did notice that on the DS Lite, when you are working with more than one album, the last album accessed is the one that comes up the next time you turn on the DS Lite. All you have to do is push the “start” key and it will display the pictures of the albums you have stored on the memory card.

I have used the started album as an album for general topics like “I want to go” and then the choices, “I want to eat” and then the choices. Of course, the ever important “I have to go to the bathroom.” I then created from scratch another album for talking to people. These choices include “I want”, “Will you play with me” and choices of things, and several others. I am still building this up as we are going.

This is one of the reasons that having the membership to the TapToTalk website is important. You can go into the Designer Login and add, take out, modify and create new pictures and albums. It’s also easy to use once you have watched the video tutorials. (I really love them. I learn better by seeing vs. reading). They also have a support team you can contact if you are having problems or just have a question.

In case you are still wondering, I love TapToTalk. I want to thank Lenny Greenberg of TapToTalk for sending me this product to me for free to review and for setting me up with a free three month subscription to their website. I have tried to cover everything with this review. I didn’t want to leave anything out. If I did, just leave me a comment. I’ve tried to get my son on web cam using the TapToTalk, but he doesn’t like to sit still to be recorded. I will try again when we get into our home schooling routine.

TapToTalk and Our Reactions

If you didn’t read yesterday’s post about TapToTalk, click here to go and read it. Then come back and read this post. Yesterday I wrote about the TapToTalk StarterKit and the design process of for setting up your albums. Today, I want to share how using the TapToTalk has affected our family, especially my son.

My mom has a Nintendo DS Lite that she keeps at the house for the grandkids that come visit. My daughter loves playing it when we go there to visit. Mom was going to give this to us for my son to use the TapToTalk on, but my husband and I decided it would be best to go out and buy one for our son. This way, when we go visit, our daughter can use my mom’s DS Lite to play games and our son would be able to communicate with his.

I love the stylus that comes with the DS Lite. It allows my son to choose pictures without using his fingers. Since my son hates using his fingers to touch (because of his sensory aversion issues) the stylus is an important necessity in making this a successful communication alternative for him.

The stylus is small, another good point and the screen on the DS Lite is very sensitive. This means that my son doesn’t have to apply pressure to the screen to activate a picture with sound. Another great thing about the DS Lite, is that it is fast becoming a common accessory for young kids. Carrying his around does not set him apart from other kids. In fact, it helps him blend in. It is also light and easy to carry.

My husband and I felt that it was important to purchase the protector case for the DS Lite. The last thing we want to do is replace the DS Lite every time my son drops it. Face it, kids drop things. It happens, and to think that it won’t is like sticking your head in the sand.

My son loves communicating with the TapToTalk on the DS Lite. He does so independently. This is such an awesome accomplishment for him. He had become so dependent on taking someone’s hand and using it to communicate. He has always hated using his own finger to type or touch the computer screen. We could get him to do it, but he would always resist.

It had gotten to the point that I honestly believe that he has determined that the only correct way to type or use the computer touch screen is by using someone else’s fingers. (grabbing their hand and guiding the other person’s finger across the keyboard or computer screen).

Since we started using the TapToTalk, he has been independent with communication. We made it clear right at the start, that he had to use the stylus himself. He did try to give it to us and take our hand to communicate, but no one lets him get away with that.

The first time he used this was to communicate what he wanted to eat and drink for supper. The smile on his face was amazing. He answered quickly and was rewarded with what he wanted. Since then, he has used it to tell us how he feels and where he wants to go. I am still building up his library of pictures and his albums. You can have up to ten albums loaded onto your TapToTalk memory card.

Final post will be tomorrow. Please come back to finish reading my review of TapToTalk.

Random Thoughts Tuesday

I thought I would try out this meme today. It's from The Un Mom and is a list of random thoughts.


1. I can always count on my daughter to fight against getting up for school, because she is too tired. On the other hand, I can always count on her coming into my room on the weekends at the same time to wake me up.

2. I need to get to work organizing the dining room in preparation of homeschooling my son. We will start officially Nov. 2.

3. I finally got around to washing my husband's clothes. I was so proud of myself for getting all the laundry done over the weekend, until I realized that I forgot to wash hubby's.

4. The TapToTalk cartridge and memory card will arrive via the mail this week. We decided to buy the Nintendo DS Lite (which it runs on) instead of borrowing my mom's. It's going to be great that my son will be able to use this to talk with us.

Break My Heart Tears

My reaction to my kids crying is completely opposite for either child. My daughter will cry over anything. The wrong tone of voice or being told no will set her off. I have gotten to the point that my reaction to her crying is to cringe. If she hurts herself, than I feel bad. Otherwise, I just send her to her room to get over it.

Now, my son is a different story. I can count on one hand the number of times he cries within a year's time. It has to be really bad for him to cry. My reaction to his tears is to hold him and do whatever I can to make him happy. This is not always the best reaction, though. Especially when the tears are because he is not getting his way.

Take our last episode. It was Sunday night. I tend to forget how sensitive his hearing is. He can hear any conversation going on in any room in the house. I told my husband that we needed to go to the store to get school snacks. We also agreed that we would do it the next day, because it was late. I also made the mistake of stating what we would buy, because I had a coupon for it.

It was to be my son's favorite snack, Rice Krispy Treats. Well, he heard us talking. Keep in mind, it was late, the kids had already had their baths and were in their pj's. My son came out, with his shoes on and carrying our keys and phones. He wanted to go. We told him several times that we would go the next day. He wouldn't give up.

Finally, hubby had to discipline him. It was only a light spanking. Just enough to let him know we were serious, and that we would not change our minds. Well, my boy got the message. He realized we were not going to take him to the store that night. The tears started to flow. He started crying the big crocodile tears. My heart broke. I held him and told him it would be ok. I told him we would go tomorrow.

Finally, he settled down and went to bed. The next morning, when hubby got up to get ready for work, so did our little boy. I guess I should have told him exactly when the next day we would go to the store. Needless to say, when I got the kids on their buses Monday morning, I got my things together and went to the store. I had a very happy boy after school. When he got home, he went straight for the pantry and saw his snacks.

Tap To Talk

I've been waiting for the chance to share this with you. Communication devices can be so expensive. They can also draw unwanted attention to our child. Ever wonder why they can't make a device that is reasonably priced and your child would be happy to carry around?

Tap To Talk isn't a communication device, but it is the next best thing. It is a communication software program that turns a handheld Nintendo DSi or DS Lite into an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. When you subscribe to TapToTalk, you will receive the TapToTalk Starter Kit that includes the TapToTalk game cartridge and a standard memory card to copy pictures and sounds from your computer. The subscriptions start at $99.95 for a year.

Here is their YouTube video. If you are in need of a communication device, check this out first. Especially if you already have a Nintendo DSi or DS Lite.

Board Book Albums

Today, we have a guest writer, Laura Miranti. She is sharing her business and how her Board Book Albums can help with communication. - Tammy, Administrator of AutismLearningFelt

















My name is Laura Miranti and I recently started my own business offering a new product that I created. I am sharing the information with you because I believe that it may help your child’s learning and development. Here's our story:

A few years ago, when my daughter Lucia was a year old, we realized that she was somewhat behind her peers in meeting certain developmental milestones. We began working with a physical therapist and an early learning specialist. It’s amazing to see how much progress Lucia has made! At age 2, she started walking and trying to say lots of words,although most of them we still could not quite make out. The early learning specialist (who is like a speech therapist, but works with children before they begin to talk) suggested that I find Lucia a photo album to put photos of her family, toys, and other familiar objects in her world. When I was unable to find a kid-friendly photo album, I came up with the idea to create a board book photo album. The Take Your Pix (TM) photo album was born! This album has been a wonderful learning tool for Lucia. She loves to turn the pages and look at photos of her family, toys, and other familiar objects in her world. Studies have shown that until the age of two, young children only have object recognition with photos. This means that before the age of two, they can not relate a drawing of an object with the actual object, but they can relate a photo of the object with the actual object.

My hope is that many children will enjoy our Take Your Pix (TM) board book style photo albums (patent pending). Kids with autism, speech delay, or other special needs may find it particularly beneficial as a learning tool, or just something fun to create with their own favorite photos. Our albums encourage speech development as well as fine motor skills. They can also be used with the PECS communication system used by some autistic children. Our albums are also ideal for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients who may find the thick pages easier to handle than the thinner pages of traditional photo albums. Take Your Pix (TM) albums are great for scrapbooking, kids crafts, baby and wedding shower gifts, and grandparents' gifts. The possibilities are endless!

Board Book Albums offers a chunky board book style photo album that can be used by small children, big kids, and adults alike. The "Take Your Pix" photo album has sturdy pages, into which photos can be inserted from an opening in the top of the pages. Unlike other albums, our albums have thick sturdy pages that are perfect for little kids to handle (like the kids chunky board books). We have also added notches on the page edges to facilitate page turning. We hope that you and your children enjoy them as much as we have. Please visit our website at www.boardbookalbums.com for additional information or to place an order. Call or email us for wholesale pricing.