Read all about it! Hyperlexia

As a pre-school home tutor, I would normally avoid teaching a child to read, so as they would progress at school and not get 'bored' if they were too far ahead.

However, one child who I have been working with since the age of two, is now 5. We discussed the idea of maybe introducing some basic words prior to school.

That was four weeks ago.

What happened? He could instantly read and remember over 50 words and is now on his third junior reader.

Better than that, we are using this skill to help his speech. He is using a word chart with no pictures to verbally request. For example: 'Can I have', followed by his choice of breakfast, lunch or dinner etc. He is literally 'eating words'.

Written words have opened a new door for this child, his desire to read and make sentences is rapidly improving his speech and general communication. It seems to be exremly grounding, and is helping him make sense of language.

Hyperlexia is the term for this trait, please feel free to share any insights, teaching ideas or experiences you have on this, I would be very interesed.

Claire x

'Hello' Social Skills Summer Group !

Hi everyone,

I have a small number of places left on my Social Skills Summer course called 'Hello' here in Meath. It's a basic verbal interaction group, that if all goes well, I will continue on weekly until December (4-7 years) - we have been beavering away this year and also launching our CDROM called 'Hello' which is our 2010 social skills project, but that's later this Summer.

Anyone interested in testing the programme at home (for free) ??



Check out the site this week for more info and details about the Hello group.
www.hometrain.ie

Oh and by the way, you might notice my name now is Claire Whyte, as I am embracing my newly married name!


Claire x

Two Good Choices

I want to share my favourite approach to problem behaviours. It's easy and straight forward and can be used in almost any situation that may trigger for undesirable behaviour.

We all know about anticeedant, behaviour and consequence as a formula to hypothesise the function of a behaviour. Mainly, problem behaviour is to avoid/escape, or for attention.
It is in the day to day family routine, that most parents experience stress when they are either asking their child to stop what they are doing (computer,t.v.) and do something they don't want to (toilet, put on shoes, coat, eat etc) or trying to encourage them to a task, such as brushing teeth or going to the workroom/classroom.

So here's where Two Good Choices can help.

Giving choices allows the child to feel they are in control of a situation that is usually dictated by us. Taking away the initial trigger for escape-motivated behaviour can be done by offering two choices that they like, such as location, how you are getting there, activity, reward or reinforcer.

For example: A child who does not want to go into the classroom, or up to bed may begin to escape at the mention that it's time to go. Two good choices: Shall we jump or piggy back?

Example 2: Handwashing or brushing teeth. Two good choices: Do you want a Thomas or Aeroplane sticker for brushing your teeth?

Example 3: Working at the table. Two good choices: Do you want to do counting with beads or animals? Do you want to work at the table or easel?

Example 4: Getting dressed. Two good choices: Do you want your blue or green coat? Shoes or runners?
The list is endless.
When a child feels they have some part in decision making, it can immediatley change a situation that may have been difficult.

It works for me, hope it does for you!

Claire.

PECS PECS PECS

Hi everyone!

If you haven't checked out our free resources lately in

Homentrain.ie, it's worth a new look!

Finally, have the PECS up for free download, and

hopefully we'll add more soon.

They're on A4 sheets, so it's easy to save the PDF's and print at your leisure.

If you want to read more about how to use PECS, go to the Child Communication page on http://www.hometrain.ie/

Dust off those laminators and get cutting!

Claire x

Free visual timetables - PECS

Hi,

Just a quickie to let everyone know we have a range of free pecs images for visual timetables to print off to use at home. There is a going to school one that has all the images on one A4 - so you won't be ages printing them!

My other favourite is the morning routine - which is also all on one A4 page.

I'm working on more, keep checking hometrain.ie for more free printables.

More PECS on the way!

Claire x

How has Play Changed since we were kids?

In many (or most..) of my talks, I will, at some point, ask everyone to write down a memory of play from their childhood. Try it now for ten seconds. Compare it to your kids today.

Most adults report a significant diference between their childhoods and the play experiences of their children today.
O.k. so we have ( or had) more money, more accessories, more toys that do more things, more instantly accessible computer games - that do not require a 30min loading time and 'syntax errors in 12' - or to fast forward and rewind a tape to find the song we want. In short, we do not have to wait, even to play sports we can stay in our living rooms with the consolation of our consoles. And mobile phones are self-contained entertainment devices.

But on the other hand, children today have a lot less freedom, less space and increased traffic and 'stranger danger' makes us a lot less reluctant to let our children play unsupervised. Especially kids with special needs.
We working mums make up a huge portion of the workforce, and so the environmental addition of childcare facilities is a relative factor in the evolution of play.


When we were kids, and certainly this comes up in discussion, we were outside all the time (actually, we weren't allowed in) and made our own fun. I'm not sure if my mother would have considered describing our play preferences or decide what was normal or typical play or not! But outdoors were percieved safe, and so long as we weren't a nuisance, we were o.k. We came in at night and ate like horses.

So how do these changes in play affect how we view the play preferences of kids with special needs? Do they exaggerate children's abilities and disabilities?
Do we constantly have to strive to entertain, amuse and stimulate kids today?
If the recession getting us back to good old basics - and can we include play? I hope so.

Thought for today is:

If our kids were born as our peers, how would their play be different? What
impact do the fast, flashy playthings of their generation, and
environmental changes have on their lives? Would they be different?

What do you think?

Claire x

Balls! The best fun I had all week, so far....

This week I'm writing about balls.

I love the days when you take a step back, look at the kids and say, o.k. let's leave our tuition for a minute and just have fun for the sake of it.

Bouncy balls - the smallish ones are the best, they serve no purpose but fly everywhere, resulting only in fits of laughter, smiles and pure silliness (and that was just from me).

Absolutley divine.

I brought spikey balls, flashing puffer balls and smelly balls into the mix (from our shop at hometrain..of course) and had even more fun.

How many words and wonderful descriptive language being used? Tonnes.

Which ball do you want? Shall I roll, throw or bounce? Can you catch the ball? Big or Small? Fast or Slow? High or low?

I urge you to stop for ten minutes, clear the decks (and the desk) grab the kids, produce a bag of bouncy balls, and go for it!!

And if you haven't played with bouncy balls for a while - try it by yourself first!

If you've no balls - shame on you. Get some!

Enjoy.

Claire x