autism games

What I Did This Summer

2011-08-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

My summer began late in May when my parents came back from their annual winter trip to California. They stayed longer this year because my dad was not feeling well enough to drive back across the country. He and Mom visited with all of their grandchildren in California but it was hard for him and he rested more than he visited at each home. Finally, my parents decided to come back to Minnesota

Making Choices with Interactive Musical Video

2011-05-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

The underlying principle for how I choose or create games and activities is: I pick/create some activity that has a lot of predictability about it (this is the hook that snags the attention of a child with autism) and then teach a single concept by varying some aspect of the activity. In addition, I am always looking for a sensory payoff for the child to make the activity interesting--some

Playing in the Dirt

2011-05-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

I am a gardener now but I began a happy relationship with dirt as a child of dirt tolerant parents. This week I watched children playing in a park sandbox and thought "this is a pale imitation of the experience a child can have while playing in good rich black dirt". I was transported back several decades to the yard where I grew up and to the summer when my dad bought a big mound of rich black

Dirty Fruit and Naked Babies: The Dark Side of Toys

2011-04-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

I once heard that the pretend play area in most daycare centers was a collection of "dirty plastic fruit and naked baby dolls". This description brought to mind the toy basket in my living room when my children were young. We had a large plastic laundry basket filled with toys. That basket always caused me discontent. My children spread them around the house daily but rarely played with this

Alison Hietala Lee

2011-04-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

My heart is shattered by the news that Alison Hietala Lee, a beautiful, bright, capable, curious, loving, unique young woman has slipped away from this world as she gave birth to her daughter. What a loss. What a loss. I can't find words to describe the grief that I feel and my time with Alison was brief. A few short years. Just long enough for me to fall in love with her lovely spirit and

Video Modeling New and Strange Activities

2011-03-31T17:16:00.000-07:00

A video model is a video clip made to show a child what is going to happen or what the child should do. One of the best reasons to make a video model is to help a child through new and strange situations. Many of the things we do with and to children must seem very strange. We talk most children through these new things, offering encouragement, reassurance, and explanations verbally. The

My Child Has Autism, Now What?

2011-03-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

My friend and colleague, Dr. Susan Larson Kidd, published her first book recently! My Child Has Autism, Now What? Ten Steps to Get You Started. At the clinic, where I work, we were all happy for her and so we hosted a book signing event at a local art museum. I had the opportunity to introduce Dr. Kidd and this meant thinking about her, her work, and our relationship. I will say a few words

Thinking about Children in Japan Today

2011-03-15T14:47:00.001-07:00

Earthquake/Tsunami relief organizations: Save the Children: http://bit.ly/eOve24 Red Cross: http://bit.ly/i4H6gj Oxfam Japan: http://bit.ly/hkEzZd

iPhone or iPod Touch Solution to Shopping Tantrums

2011-03-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

What if every time you went to a store with toys, your child believed that he or she must, absolutely, have a toy? I hear this or a similar story so often that I asked the last parent who told me his shopping woes if I could repeat my advice on my blog. So, I will tell this story with one delightful little boy named Aaron as the pretty much real character in the drama but substitute any young

My Second List for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2011-03-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here are the five skills that I often start with as I teach parents to become better communication partners to a child with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Learn to read your child's behavior as communication and respond to what your child is trying to communicate rather than to what your child does. Example: You take a toy away from your child and he or she hits you. You respond by saying "That

My First List for Parent of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2011-02-28T07:57:00.000-08:00

When I start working with a new child and that child's parents, here is a list of goals that I usually try to hep parents accomplish within the first six months. Daily Life Changes: Find and learn to create good learning environments. Many environments compete with you and win your child's attention when you are trying to play or interact with your child. Some children can pay attention to a

The Magic of 21st Century Puppet Tiering

2011-02-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

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Theater In Life Enhances Memory

2010-12-22T16:03:00.000-08:00

Before we had cameras, we found ways to enhance our memory for events that we wanted to remember forever. There is no better example of this than a wedding since many parts of a wedding celebration were created long ago. For a wedding, we don costumes, write or read scripts, read poetry, create sets, add food, music and dancing. For a wedding, we create moments unlike any ordinary moments and

iSuppports for Children with Autism: Cookie Doodle Language Therapy 2

2010-12-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

The Last Five of Ten Ways to Teach Communication Skills Using Cookie Doodle iPad App (See previous blog post for the first five) Watch the video below first and then see ideas for using this app to teach communication skills. 6) Planning and Sequencing In order to learn how to make a plan, it is helpful to plan the same kind of thing over and over. I ought to know how to pack

iSupports for Children with Autism: Cookie Doodle Language Therapy

2010-12-05T08:27:00.000-08:00

Ten Ways to Teach Communication Skills Using Cookie Doodle iPad App. I invite you to watch the video below first before reading about some of the learning objectives you might target while using this app. 1) Joint AttentionWith many young children who have autism, it is difficult to establish Joint Attention (JA is when two people are doing, looking at, feeling, intending the same

iSupports for Children with Autism: Photo-Sort and iCommunicate

2010-11-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

My first goals for helping parents start to use the iphone, the ipod touch or the ipad to support their child with communication are: 1) Teach parent to communicate with a child using inexpensive programs (apps) that can be put on the ipod touch, the iphone, and/or the ipad. Many parents have purchased one of these devices because they already use photos or picture symbols with a child and want

iSupports for Children with Autism---Rules for the Computer

2010-10-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

As I post a series of blog posts on ways to use the i-Phone, the i-Pod Touch, and the i-Pad with children, I worry that I am going end up promoting too much screen time for children who are already vulnerable to spending too much time on the computer. In an effort to guard against this, I will direct your attention to an article that I wrote a few years ago on the topic of setting rules for

iSupports for Children With Autism----Grocery Shopping

2010-10-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

The easiest way to use an iphone or ipod touch to support a young child with autism is to put useful photos on the device. I will show you more about how to put photos on the device in a organized way in my next post but here I will show you an example of how the device can be used while grocery shopping.

i Supports for Children with Autism------Basic Concepts

2010-10-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

I am excited to start a series of blog posts on using the iphone, the ipod touch, and the ipad with young children who have autism. For the past couple of months I have been working with an ipad, and an ipod touch in our clinic and helping families use these tools in their homes. My experience with these tools does not make me an expert but already I am finding so many possibilities that I

Willow Marsden's Video Blogs

2010-10-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have just spent a fascinating afternoon with Willow Marsden via her Video Blogs. She explains on one video blog that she knows she is pronouncing Asperger Syndrome wrong but she does not like the hard G so she is going to say it the way she likes--with a soft G. It is a tiny little detail and just for the record, I too think the soft G sounds better. Like so many little details that Willow

Five Years Ago, Autism Was Different

2010-09-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

I had conversation with a parent, not long ago, where I told her that I thought she was right, her daughter did appear to have a mild form of autism. She appreciated the confirmation of what she believed to be true. Doctors and educators who recently evaluated this little girl did not agree with us. "But, there is not a right or wrong on this question" I said. "Five years ago" I told her, "I

The Disposition to Communicate

2010-09-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

Communication is not simply a set of speech and language skills, it is a complex social behavior that occurs or does not occur based on a number of factors. I have been thinking about this lately and trying to sort out the important factors that keep me communicating with others or get in the way of communication. Extrapolating from my experience, I am thinking also about what keeps children

Never Wait to Have Your Child Evaluated for Communication Problems

2010-08-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Guest Post Teri Kaminski Peterson, M.S. CCC/SLP Author of The Big Book of Exclamations ARE YOU WAITING TO SEE IF YOUR CHILD WILL OUTGROW WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS A DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY OR DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS? Have you shared your concerns and feelings with family members, friends, and/or your family physician, and been told "GIVE IT TIME" "JUST WAIT AND SEE" "THEY'RE TOO YOUNG TO BE

Making Mealtime Fun Again

2010-08-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Nicole Lampi MA, SLP, Guest Blogger Our babies' first experiences with foods are fun and exciting. Out come the cameras, videos, lists of favorites for the baby books. We rejoice when our babies have spaghetti in their hair, and celebrate those first pieces of birthday cake on their hands. From the time our children are born, our job is to nourish them, body and soul. Sometimes I

The Wedding

2010-08-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter is married! We managed a sunrise wedding for 180 people on the beach. That was quite a feat, let me tell you. After months of planning, they walked away as a married couple and I felt joy for them and for me as well. I have completed the most important job in life--parenting our children into adulthood. Now, my husband and I are on to the next phase in life. I am

Update on Stage Play Acting Classes for Children with Autism

2010-07-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

A full year has passed and some of our young actors in Stage Play Acting Classes have completed two, ten week sessions of weekly acting classes. Now, some of our students are mid-way through a third set of acting classes and here is what I see happening: Our young actors are able to shift roles in our short scripts, playing different parts, as you can see in the clip above. In the clip above,

Great Single Button Messages

2010-07-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

I am always on the lookout for verbal messages that I can program into a single button, voice output device. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, a single button voice output device looks like this button (with the picture coming from this website): The child pushes the button and it says whatever verbal message you have recorded into it. It is a simple way for a

Getting Ready for a Wedding

2010-07-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

I have not found much time for blogging lately because I have been preparing for my daughter's wedding. Malika and Joe are going to be married at sunrise on the beach where we live--half a mile down the road. It sounded like a simple charming idea to have a wedding here in our own neighborhood, and it still sounds charming but it does not seem so simple anymore. Three weeks away, tomorrow, and

Translating and Supercharging Your Child's IEP

2010-07-03T10:49:00.001-07:00

Learning a Route Game

2010-02-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

Young children with autism often appear to be living in the perpetual now with a mental focus that is only the width of one sensory experience at a time. If the child is seeing then seeing is all. If the child is touching then nothing but touch exists. The child sees a stick on the ground and picks it up looking intently at the length of it. But if the child then notices a bright patch of

The Wonderful Aimee Mullins

2010-02-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

I watched two videos of talks by Aimee Mullins on TED recently. Both were inspiring and worth watching. I have embedded the most recent first but I don't know which talk I liked better. This is the second video and I watched this one several times over. It had an impact on my dreams--literally and I will talk about that at some time in the future. Enjoy.

Machines That Talk

2010-02-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

A machine that talks for a child who has autism is called several different things: Augmentative Communication Device, Voice Output Device, and many are referred to by either the name their manufacturer gave the device or by the name of the company that sells the device. There are simple one button devices where the child pushes one button and the device says whatever is recorded on it. Other

The Many Faces of Autism

2010-02-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

Guest Post

Follow Up to Whole Brain Teaching

2010-02-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

I got such passionate responses (both negative and positive) from readers of this blog and especially my colleagues here at the Scottish Rite Clinic that I think if might be interesting to continue the discussion. I thought I would link a video of the system being used in a Kindergarten class where there is a slightly more natural interaction style and it is easier to imagine how a real class

Power Teaching

2010-01-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a video demonstration of a way of teaching which could be modified somewhat and work with children who have ASD. I use the strategies of movement, emotion and Key Phrases already. I think the speed might be hard on some kids with ASD but there is virtually no time for a child to lose attention. I think I will give this idea a bit of a try. Watch this video and let me know your

Green is For Talking Time!

2010-01-29T08:49:00.000-08:00

Guest Post by Tamara Pogin MA Speech Language Pathologist I have never met a parent who has NOT at one time or another had a child pulling on their leg and interrupting an adult conversation. It is hard for children to learn how to NOT INTERRUPT. These skills involves learning to WAIT and NOT TALK. Here at the clinic, we are often teaching children how to WAIT. Every therapist here can be

A Black Shadow or a Beautiful Reflection

2010-01-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

Almost every day there are moments with kids that give me pause. Something happens that elicits a sudden curiosity--where I know that something important has just occurred but I need to think and feel about it for a little while before I begin to understand. If I take the time to think about these moments, they yield insight. Yesterday, a moment stood out when a little boy, Nathan, ran to my

Explain Yourself, Tahirih

2010-01-20T21:39:00.000-08:00

Every time a new graduate student starts an internship with me, I begin by explaining what I do. A new Intern started today. You will meet her, I am sure, since I always twist their arms and get Interns to write a guest blog post here. I actually didn't do much more than that one hour explanation today, as I was not feeling well and went home to sleep and feel sorry for myself the rest of the

Shrinking Vocabulary and Contentless Conversations

2010-01-13T14:01:00.000-08:00

On my way in to work today, I heard a story about the shrinking vocabulary of this generation. Over the last few generations the shrinking vocabulary of young people has been lamented often and blamed mostly on television. In today's report, a British researcher studied young, Internet savvy teenagers and determined that as a generation they have a shrinking vocabulary due to excessive Internet

Iceberg Fun

2010-01-11T13:28:00.000-08:00

Nancy Johnston's Iceberg Play area has been a hit this week at the Scottish Rite Clinic. She froze a couple of bowls of water colored with blue or green food dye each night and then set these Icebergs up in the water table. They lasted all day and entertained many children. With a few polar bears and penguins, the setting was complete. One week, the children spent time squeezing various colors

Authentic Chinese Food

2010-01-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

When I was in New York one time, the menu at the Chinese Restaurant that we visited was not the same as any I had ever seen before. I love Chinese Food--at least the version of it that I know. In this restaurant, however, we were the only non-Chinese looking people in the building and that seemed like a good thing until we saw the menu. It was in Chinese. We asked the waiter to translate

Teach the Language Children Want to Learn

2010-01-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

If you want your child to learn new words and new ways to communicate, think about teaching language that is powerful. Teaching a child to say "Frog" with What's this called? is the most common kind of language teaching that I see parents do. A child with some form of autism is less likely to willingly participate in this kind of language learning than typical children and even if he or she can

Happy Holiday!

2009-12-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

I wish you all a Happy Holiday. I will be taking a break in posting on this blog until January 4th. I am going to go see this Elephant. See you in 2010! Tahirih

It is Hard to Keep a Secret

2009-12-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

Here is the most delightful blog post ever on keeping a secret when you are a kid: Cookie Keeps a Secret

Recycled Holiday Present

2009-12-16T22:56:00.000-08:00

This is a recycled blog post that seems timely again as people are trying to find a good present for a child with autism. In many households, there will be presents that come packaged in Styrofoam. My ever greening conscience makes me feel pretty bad about packaging like Styrofoam but if you have it, at least this is something you can do with it. Be sure that the child you give this to is old

Calling Is a Song

2009-12-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

Demonstrating language for children who are not yet talking or who are just beginning to talk is most effective if adults use very few words and even easier if they use language that catches and holds a child's interest. Limiting your language use to talking about things that are right in front of you and your child is also important. Some ways of communicating involve using language that has a

Adele Diamond from Speaking of Faith

2009-12-12T17:27:00.000-08:00

SoundSeen: In the Room with Adele Diamond from Speaking of Faith on Vimeo.

Helping Children with Autism Through the Holidays

2009-12-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

During the holiday season, we at the Scottish Rite Clinic for Childhood Language Disorder use the holidays to facilitate language development by teaching holiday vocabulary appropriate to each families cultural traditions. Our therapists do things like cooking with kids using visual recipes, writing letters to Santa with kids using Writing with Symbols, planning with children what they could

New Autism Games is Organized by Language Level

2009-12-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

Below is the Index of Games Collections on the new Autism Games Website--organized by language level. I hope this will make it much easier for users to find games this way. I have not finished all the pages. I have lots of game clips that still need to be linked into these pages. But this is the framework. The game pages are linked below--click and try any one that catches your fancy:

Play Can Broaden a Child's Interests

2009-12-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

The mission of this blog and the Autism Games website is to promote play between parents and children with autism. Children with autism often get stuck on narrow themes and interests and play is a wonderful, happy way to help children broaden those interests. Below is a section from the Introduction section of the Autism Games Website on this topic. Here is an example of how to broaden a

Receptive Language Means Understanding Language

2009-12-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

It is very common for a child with autism to have difficulty understanding language--even children who can use quite a bit of language may not understand language well. I often encourage families to spend less energy on trying to get a child to talk and more energy trying to help a child understand language. So how can you help your child understand language? On the new Autism Games Website,

Teaching Children to Take Turns

2009-12-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

Before asking your child to "take turns", you can show your child what a "turn" is. Here is a game clip where the adults are taking turns, rather than the child, and the child is able to see what it means when it is someone's "turn" and how one person's turn is followed by another person's turn and then back again to the first person. Your child may not realize that he or she will ever get

New Autism Games Website Launched

2009-12-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome Visitors! Please Come In to see my new Autism Games Website! Still on Tahirih's Imagination Lane at www.autismgames.org

What Are YOU Looking At?

2009-11-30T18:02:00.000-08:00

Here is another selection from a page on the new, soon to be published Autism Games Website from the Advanced Games Section: Cariboo Cranium is a game that we have used in our clinic to integrates pointing into a more complex thinking game. This game is meant for children who are able to understand a complex set of rules and it is often harder to teach than it appears on this video clip.

Structuring And Presenting Games

2009-11-22T19:59:00.000-08:00

Below is a preview page from my soon to be launched New and Updated Autism Games Website: From the Parent Tips Section In order to entice your child into playing with you, you need to understand how to structure a game so that your child understands what you are doing and wants to participate. I work with many parents who struggle with this part, even after seeing the video clips of the

Congradulations Sandy Nelson

2009-11-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

I want to give a shout out to my friend, Sandy Nelson because she has just become an American Citizen! I am proud to share country with this amazing woman. Ours is an International family venture as well with two of the Busheys becoming citizens and, the news of Sandy brought back some fond memories. We have a special term for people like Sandy, coined years ago by our then three year old

Working on a New Website

2009-11-08T22:48:00.000-08:00

In the near future, I will need to move my website, Autism Games, (not this blog). Google, my generous and appreciated host, is not planning to support Page Creator, which is where I have my website now. They will move my website for me, at some point, but the links will not all work and I will need to go in to the new host location, Google Sites, and fix it up. In preparation for this, I

Drawing Faces--New Video Model Clip

2009-11-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a new video model of a great game called Drawing Faces. I post video clips of games on YouTube for this blog and my website and people must stumble upon them unaware of why I am posting. From such accidental viewers, I get some uncomplimentary comments. To say the least. No video clip of mine has elicited more ridicule than my Drawing Faces video. (No I am not providing the link to

HOT!

2009-11-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

Capitalizing on Your Child’s Interest

2009-10-26T10:49:00.001-07:00

By Nicolette Helling & photojournalist Harry Baker, FOX 21 NewsDULUTH

Stage Play Acting Classes Start Again

2009-10-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

We are starting our second ten week session of Stage Play Acting classes next week. Our summer pilot program was a success in ways we anticipated and in ways we did not. As we start a new set of classes, we hope to build on our success and try some new ideas. This session we will have a new Acting Teacher, Ali Finstrom (pictured). Ali is a trained actress and volunteered during the last

How to Talk to a Children with Autism

2009-09-30T04:53:00.000-07:00

We talk to children for many different reasons. Sometimes we are just chatting to ourselves and don't really expect the child we are talking toward to respond--in which case, you need not modify the way you talk at all. Hopefully, more often, we actually want and expect the child to respond to what we say. Here is where it gets tricky if you are talking to a child with autism. The

How Children Learn Vocabulary

2009-09-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Vocabulary is not filed away in the brain like it is in a dictionary, of course. I don't have the foggiest idea how words are actually stored in the brain but I do know that children gradually come to learn the meaning of words through experiences that occur when the word is spoken. Vocabulary knowledge is really a complex set of associations between the sound of a word and memories, related

Social Ritual at Mealtime

2009-09-13T21:14:00.000-07:00

Dinnertime was a ritualized event as I remember it from my childhood. This was true for many more families in that era. My father sat at a particular place at our table. My mother and grandmother cooked our food from basic ingredients, often from our garden. In my particular family, children had to eat anything that was green on our plate but from that point on it was up to us to select what

Home From Vacation

2009-09-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

I am home from a lovely three week vacation in Europe. I spent most of the time at my daughter's new home in Leiden which is in The Netherlands. She has taken a teaching position at the American School of The Hague. We biked to her work some mornings, her dad and I and Serene--sometimes in the company of other newly hired American teachers. We helped her put up bulletin boards in her

A Ship's Captain

2009-08-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

I remember reading a book, a long time ago, called The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey and ideas from this book took hold of my imagination and became a metaphor that I have revisited. In the book, Helva is a young captain of a spaceship. She is born with severe physical handicaps but is exceptionally intelligent so she is put on some kind of life support system and then encapsulated in a

Stan's Birthday Play

2009-08-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

A group of our Stage Play Acting Class students are in a week long camp this week. They are working on a play, written by Kate Horvath for these students. The acting buddies, older and more experienced actors are reading the scenes for our students in the following clips. I am posting this for the students in Stage Play Acting Camp so that the students can practice at home:<