5 Sensory Play Activities to Help with Haircuts

When we work with children who find haircuts difficult, firstly, we talk to the parents to establish their child's experience of hair touch and cuts. When we meet the child for the first session, we play with a variety of toys, and during play we try hair touch, introducing brushes, combs and play scissors, making observations as we play. 

There are two factors to therapy: 1) Sensory play for a sensory issue relating to hair touch and cuts or 2) Behaviour-orientated (with sensory) play. Of course, both go hand-in-hand as a sensory issue will lead to the avoidance behaviour, so we treat them together. Using sensory play, we focus of the responses the child has made during our play time observations.

So how can you play at home or school to help your child cope with hair touch and hair cuts? 

Our objective is to help children cope by using therapeutic play which brings the enjoyable activities and the undesired activities (hair cut/brush) together. 

Hair touch and Brushing:

1) Begin by using your hands, and then the back of the brush - introduce the bristles at a later stage. What you need to gain at first is confidence and trust.

overcoming fear and gaining confidence

Introduce a routine of hair touch and brushing every day. It's a little easier (especially with boys) to leave the hair alone if your child hates having it done. But treat it like tooth brushing, once you do it every day it (hopefully) becomes a part of your routine that can be coped better with.

Have a play time brushing a dolls hair, teddy or your own/siblings hair. Use different brushes and combs if possible, and encourage your child to brush their own hair as much as possible. Have a distraction, such as TV or a dvd playing, so they have their hands free, but something to reduce the focus of the activity.

'Snipping' play dough

Hair Cuts:

Once you have achieved brushing, introduce play scissors. We use the word 'snip' instead of 'cut' - and play with a range of sensory play activities.

2) Play Dough snipping - make or buy play dough, use scissors to snip the animal or head shapes that 'grow' hair when pushed through. 

3) Rainbow Spaghetti - boil spaghetti, then rinse and add food colouring and a little cooking oil. Use or mix different colours and then introduce the play scissors. 

Make Rainbow Spaghetti

4) Paper Plate Heads - draw faces on paper plates and leave space for hair on top. Add googly eyes and color them in adding wool or just snip away at the top of the plate to create hair. Then snip away at the hair and talk about hair dressers.

5) Head Massage - try a firm head massage to help with sensory issues - sometimes a firm massage can feel better than a light touch, and works towards de-sensitizing the scalp. You can try this just before having a hair cut.

In between the play activities, do some brushing/combing. For example: 3 minutes of play with whatever they want, and then 3 brushes - or as many repetitions with the brush as your child will tolerate. Give lots of praise, then back to play time for another 3 minutes.

Adjust the play time/hair time ratio to suit your child, and introduce rewards, stickers, bubbles, drink etc in between the two. 

So, for example: 1) Play time for 3 mins then 2) Hair time for 1 min 3) Reward, and back to playtime again.

Remember, the hairdresser will use a comb, so try to introduce one. Practise combing hair in different directions, and hold your child's hair between your fingers as if you are a hair dresser. All of these actions will help your child feel more comfortable in the salon.

For more advice, you can contact Claire at: info@hometrain.ie

Or visit www.hometrain.ie to find out about our Social Skills Groups.

Understanding and Delivering Group Work to Children and Pre-Teens with Special Needs

 

Understanding and Delivering Group Work

to Children and Pre-Teens with Special Education Needs

 

Why is group work with special needs effective?

Structured group work with children and adolescents is known to be effective, be it in the classroom, counselling/ therapy group, or social skills groups such as ours. For children with social and special education needs, the effects of group work are not soley recognised through increased social and language skills, but include improvements in cognitive, emotional and behavioural development.

 

To design and develop groups that accommodate children's developmental needs, we must first understand the basic principles of group work.  These include group process development and group dynamics at each age.

The Group Leader’s instructing, activities presented, and the outline of each curriculum apply generally to group work with children and pre-teens. However, some aspects will be adjusted by the Group Leader to account for children with special education needs, and how they individually process, and respond to tasks and follow direction.

 

Important points to remember for group work with children with special education needs:

 

1) Children form bonds with peers in a structured environment, one that enables them to interact freely and develop skills without pressure.

2) Groups enable (older) children to understand that their ways, ideas, thought processes and concerns are not unique to them.

 

3) Through appropriate structured activities, children explore their experiences and feelings through play, learning new skills by observing others and identifying with each other.  

 

"Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action."

Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory, 1977.

 At Hometrain, our groups follow principles of small group work, and the Group Leader uses a range of appropriate interactive approaches to support and promote children’s learning.

These include:

·         Play, and playful instruction. Making little demands on children on arrival, increasing instruction and interactions throughout the session.

·         Attention to the activities and learning environment for the children.

 

 

Group Leaders:

The activities in our Curriculums provide the Group Leader with a range of teaching perspectives which they will adopt for both the whole group, and each child.

The Group Leader:

·         Understands children as unique individuals: their interests, motivations, reactions to experiences, language and emotional development.

 

·         Achieves the aim of matching children’s needs and the curriculum being taught.

 

·         Encourages children to undertake activities that require a good deal of guidance and support which they may, under other circumstances, feel unable to achieve.

 

·         Using appropriate language, and create opportunities to use relevant communication techniques such as signs and PECS for each child. Especially in the case of very young children.

 

·         Older children, benefit greatly from interactions and opportunities to ask questions of the Group Leader and Support Staff. This is part of Curriculum 3, in the ‘Radio Show Interviews’ activity. These are designed to develop children’s social competence. Curriculum 3 uses role play and drama activities to model desired behaviour, skills and scenarios.

 

·         Small groups allow the Group Leader to respond in a range of ways to handle difficult behaviours sensitively and in ways that might not be possible or effective in a whole class or 1-1 scenario.

 

·         Talkative children can be helped to listen to peers, while withdrawn children, and particularly those with language difficulties can be given greater opportunities for participation. This includes prompting, and being offered time and space to respond.

 

·         Small Groups enable the Group Leader to determine how children understand a particular task or activity. In a group, identifying children having difficulty understanding a task can be noticed easier than in a classroom situation.

 

Group Leaders in small groups continually assess children’s learning and development. The Group Leaders and Support Staff participate in all activities with the children.

 

·         Use 1-1 and circle time to clarify understandings and purpose of the activity.

·         Observe the child’s attention by listening to them, observing their behaviour and posture and thinking/reflecting on their reactions.

·         Are sensitive to the child’s attempts to request help and by responding to requests for activities and reinforcers.

 

 

·         Respond to the child’s efforts, and make way to change/simplify the structure of a task or activity.

 

Teaching Special Needs:

 

You could try simply sitting in a circle with a group of children who mostly have ASD, and spend ten minutes trying to get them to sit and talk. Would this work in a meaningful and effective way?

What is likely to occur? After 3 minutes, you will have a room full of individual children entertaining themselves in solo play. Then chaos as you attempt to re-group them.

 

Children learn by doing, which is why our curriculums are play-based. The ideal learning scenario for children who have special education needs, is where the Group leader actively engages the children in activities or structured play throughout each session.

All 3 Curriculums are constructed with 2 hourly sessions of planned activities, with a variation of teaching approaches throughout. What is important, is that the type and nature of play used has a purpose.    

We begin with playtime, then 1-1 teaching, circle time, big and small group activities. Each session has a theme woven into the structure of the session. Each activity and section has a purpose, the Group Leader delivers each task or activity with the purpose evident throughout their structure.

 

As the age group’s increase, the level of structure and is gradually reduced (Bednar, Mel nick, & Kaul, 1973). Older children become less impulsive, and the relationship of structure and the nature of teaching changes. When and how to do this will be evident to the Group Leader as the cohesion and the group dynamics change over time.

 

The 3 Curriculums included in the manual ‘Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups’ are:

Pre-Schoolers 3-5 Years

School Age 6-9 Years

Pre-Teens 10-13 Years – ‘The Nest’ Drama Group

 

Our group work protocol for children with special education needs includes outlines for play activities as effective intervention.

Detailed Activity tables are included, and Template Activity Programmes are provided for Group Leaders to develop each Curriculum.

 More details about Hometrain Social Skills Groups can be found here: Social Skills Groups

 

References for further Group Work Study:

Yalom, L D. (1995). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (4th. Ed.). New York: BasicBooks.

Association for Specialists in Group Work, (ASGW) formed in (1973). George Gazda.

Website: http://www.asgw.org/

Social Learning Theory, developed by Albert Bandura, 1977.

 

  

 

Group Leader Training Workshop

 

You're Invited!

 

 

Group Leader Training Workshop

 

Register your place now

 

Saturday 25th May 2013 at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15

Registration and Membership Packs @ 1:30

Welcome Packs with Manual, Membership and Introduction

- Claire Whyte

 

Training Session @ 2-3pm

Manual on CD-ROM

Using your manual 'Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups'
- Claire Whyte

Running Social Skills Groups
- with talks from Group Leaders and Support Staff.

Questions and Answers

Practical Workshop @ 3-4pm

1st Event of the Group Leaders Network!

'Social Skills Activities for Groups'

Group Leaders will work together creating activities for Social Skills Groups, covering a range of topics suitable for different ages and abilities. All materials provided.

 

Presentation of Activities.

 

There will be time for more Q's and A's after 4pm, and a small selection of toys and equipment available for Group Leaders: free to take for use in their groups.

 

Saturday 25th May 2013 at The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15

 

Registration Fee is €150 - includes Training, 1 year's Membership to the Group Leader's Network, the Group Leader Manual 'Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups'

 

Important: Closing Date for Registration is 3rd May

Register your place now



 

More about the benefits of becoming a Group Leader: http://www.hometrain.ie/leaders/

More about Hometrain Social Skills Groups: http://www.hometrain.ie/group/



10 FAQ's about being a Group Leader

Hi – I’ve been meeting up with and chatting to many of you who are planning to be Group Leaders for Social Skills Groups.

Here are 10 FAQ’s that I have come across, and might be useful to read:

 

About being a Group Leader:

1)      What does the €150 fee include? The €150 covers your training workshop, the manual ‘Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups’ and a year’s membership as a Group Leader.

2)      Do we pay Hometrain anything else – i.e. from our takings/income from our groups? No, once you have bought your manual and membership, you do not pay us a cent from your income. The Group Leader is responsible for the finances of their own groups.

3)      What is the next year’s membership? The following year’s membership is just €50.

4)      What does membership include? Posting your information, and advertising of your group and news on our website. Having an @hometrain.ie   email address for parents and other group leaders to contact you. Also having the support of the Group Leaders network, including Claire Whyte, Groups Co-ordinator to help you set up and run your groups.

Membership also includes regular additional teaching resources on our Pinterest boards, and via emails from Claire. This will include arts and crafts, seasonal events and network events. The free resources on our website are always available.http://www.hometrain.ie/resources/

5)      What about insurance? We have a deal with our insurance company to provide public liability insurance for groups at a small fee to Group Leaders. This is yet to be confirmed, but possibly around €50.

6)      Are there any other resources available to us as Group Leaders? Yes, there are plenty of paper resources in the manual that you print from the CD-ROM. We have a small amount of games, puzzles, sports equipment and toys that can be shared out on 25^th May to groups that need it. The equipment will be brought back the following year and exchanged with other Group Leaders.

7)      Can I set up more Groups? Yes, once you have the manual, you have curriculums for 3 different groups. You can have as many groups as you feel you can manage. Some Group Leaders take on others to help if they have more children than they can teach.

8)      Will there be any other Hometrain Groups in my county? The first person to organise a group is important to us, and any other Group Leaders in the same county will be given the option to either: 1) Set up their group in a different area  or 2) Join forces with the existing Group Leader, developing the service provided with a new group, possibly in a different age category. Groups are listed by County: http://www.hometrain.ie/group/

9)      What happens after 25^th May? All new groups leaders then get their @hometrain.ie address, and their groups are advertised straight away. Claire will then link in with each of you to help in any way and we have the summer months to get you ready to start in September.

10)   Can I have the manual now? No, it’s preferable to wait until 25^th May when it’s presented. Most of your questions will be answered on 25^th and it’s better that all new Group Leaders get the same information at the same time.  Claire is available from now to meet and discuss  running groups, and to answer any questions you have.

For more about becoming a Group Leader: http://www.hometrain.ie/leaders/

To book your place and pre-order the manual 'Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups': https://www.hometrain.ie/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=81

About the Manual 'Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups'

I am so delighted that this May 25th, we launch this manual which is a definitive guide for all our Group Leaders. It begins with how to set up your groups, how to use the 3 curriculums, with activities and resources for each section.

As the Groups Co-ordinator, my role is to support Group Leaders in setting up and running their groups, providing and sourcing information, and developing the Group Leaders Network.

It was my job to write and research the manual. I have year's of experience in groupwork of different kinds, across a wide cross-section of the community, and Hometrain Social Skills Groups have been running for four years. We have a great reputation among parents, and have referals to our service from HSE and Enable Ireland.

In order to replicate our groups in other areas, I wanted the manual to be practical - a 1-stop-shop for our Group Leaders - and to include everything I needed to run a group elsewhere.
The contents page includes:

Introduction and Contents:

How to set up your groups.

Ideas and protocol for planning your groups.

Section 1:

Curriculum outlines and activities for pre-schoolers 3-5 years.

Curriculum outlines and activities for Pre-School 3-5 years

Section 2:
Curriculum outlines and activities for 6-9 years.

Curriculum outlines and activities for 6-9 years 4

Section 3:

Curriculum outlines and activities for pre-teens 10-13 years. 5

 

 

 

Then also: 

1) Undesired behaviours - how to work with different behaviours effectively in a group setting.

2) Writing reports - what to include, what not to include, how to write and evaluate. 1

3) Keeping records - which record to keep and for how long.. 1

4) Staff and finances - finding and working with support staff, organising payment. . 1

5) Networking with other members - how to get invloved, share your ideas, exeriences and good resources.. 1

6) Administration Forms and Useful Resources - Everything you need to help set up, print and run your groups! Posters, Code of Conduct and Mission Statement are all here.

There are also useful sections on Play and Groupwork.

The manual has been created on a CD, so Group Leaders can print all admin and resources straight away, and not have to spend hours photocopying. It also means that updates can be added easily - such as further programmes, resources and Summer Camps.

I am sure Group Leaders will enjoy the manual - 'Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups' - it does exaclty what it says on the cover!

Any further information about our manual and how to become a Group Leader can be found at: http://www.hometrain.ie/leaders/
 1

Group Leaders Network - Social Skills Groups

We are looking for New Group Leaders Nationwide to start their own groups! Could this be you?

Hometrain's Social Skills Groups are play-based communication and social skills groups for children. They are for 3-5's 6-9's and 10-13's - (10-13's is a new, drama based curriculum)

The 25th May, 2013 is our first National Network and Training Event, where we will be launching our Manual 'Teaching Hometrain Social Skills Groups' - which covers everything you need to know about starting and running your groups, including curriculums for 3-5's, 6-9's and 10-13's.
It also includes all admin forms, advice and information for starting a group.
All new groups will be supported and advertised free on our website - where parents go to find groups in their area. Group Leaders also get their own @hometrain.ie address, so people contact you with this email and it helps keeps your group life seperate from your real life!

The Manual

1st Group Leader event is 25th May 2013

At 25th May Workshop, will cover all aspects of running your own group, you will meet other new Group Leaders and listen to our existing Group Leaders talk about their groups.
We will introduce the Group Leaders Network, and how to share interesting info with others and use our Pinterest Boards


To pre-order your manual, your first year's Group Leader Membership and attend the workshop in Dublin on 25th May please go here.

The reason for th network and the manual together is that I started groups four years ago, and appropriate resources were few and far between, and I made many of my own. The Programmes of Activities make up much of the curriculums here in the manual, and the resources and printables back up all the teaching. As a Group Leader, you will undoubtedly have your own resources to add - which is great!

Group Leaders will be invited to use, and post items of interest on the relevant boards, i.e. found a great colouring page for your group? You pin the link to the colouring page board for everyone else to use. Had a great idea for a game? Pin up the idea on the Teaching Social Skills board.
The Pinterest boards are:

1. Teaching Social Skills
2. Colouring Pages
3. Arts and Crafts
4. Everything else!

You can view these now at our Group Leader page: http://www.hometrain.ie/leaders/

The Group Leaders will meet every year to develop the network, meet and discuss ideas, and get to know each other professionally.
It's going to be great!

Please contact me for a chat about any aspect of our groups/leaders: info@hometrain.ie

Claire.

How to Ask For Help!

Q 1) When did you last ask for help?
I mean really, actually ask for help.

Not 'Help me unload the dishwasher' or 'Help me put the shopping away' but real pratical help.

And by help I mean any time you need help- help with work, business, ideas, housework, life, anything.

Q 2) When could it have been better if you just braved it and asked?
If you picked up the phone and asked.

I've a husband, a business, four kids (including baby twins) a new iPhone app to market, and a heap of other stuff to do.
We're all trying to do well in business, and have access to a wealth of great contacts and networks, but we often miss out on a major FREEBIE - HELP and ADVICE!
This year I've had to LEARN to ask for help to manage home life and business....not in my nature. But by doing this, (admitting I'm not super-human) I realised that people have been delighted to be asked, I've a better business, closer friends and I am more human as a result of picking up the phone!
Here's 5 reasons why and how:

1) Networking - Linkedin, Facebook etc look at the people around you in business. If you see their profile, and wonder how everyone else is doing great, you'd be mistaken. We are all in the same (or similar) boats. Be freindly and polite, do ask for advice and help, but respect people's time also.

2) Asking for help is not admitting inability, defeat or failure - it is normal. Anyone still in business right now deserves the right to ask for help and advice!

3) Friends and associates like to be asked, asking people for help and advice shows you value their opinion.

4) Fortune favours the brave! Call someone regardless of their position, (this takes courage if you don't know them). If they can't help you, they might know someone who can point you in the right direction.

5) Pride comes before a fall! Don't miss out on an opportunity to get your idea realised because you didn't ask for help with it.

P.S. I need some marketing advice/help.....anyone know how to increase app sales without trawling around for reviewers?? You may as well offer me help......I'll probably be ringing you anyway.
http://www.hometrain.ie/gth/

Claire.