School closures have been frustrating and tedious for parents during the Covid lockdowns. They can happen with very little warning, creating family chaos, problems with work and other normal life activities, and causing anxiety for kids who don’t know what to expect.

The dreaded announcement … What should you do?

No one wants to hear that their child’s school has been closed because of positive Covid cases, and any parent who’s heard the dreaded announcement will be familiar with the sinking feeling that accompanies it.

First of all … breathe! You can get through this.

The other important thing to remember is that while Covid is serious for older people, children usually fare better if they do catch it and might only have mild symptoms and recover quickly. Just think of the best outcome, take a deep breath, and turn your attention to what you can do to get through this.

Be a sleuth

OK, sometimes it feels as if you need a degree in sleuthing to get to the bottom of government rules for school closures and other lockdowns! They can be confusing and change from one day to the next.

Read through the following checklist of questions you need to find answers for.

· What are the rules for isolation?

· Do I need to isolate along with my child?

· Does the whole family need to stay at home?

· Can my partner still go to work?

· Do I need to cancel or rearrange my work?

· Do I need to contact others we have been with to let them know?

Decide how to tell your child

Lots of kids suffer from anxiety with sudden changes of plan, so if this happens to your child, you’re not alone!

The best approach is to remain calm and be aware of your own anxiety levels. Take some time out to centre yourself if you need to. Then talk to your child about how plans change sometimes and this week will be a little different to usual.

Use a visual weekly planner

If your child is young, you can use a visual weekly planner to explain that there’s been a change of plan. Explain that school will be from home for at least one day, maybe more, and create a new plan for the week.

In your visual planner, you can paste pictures of what’s going to happen on each day of the week. If you don’t know yet, that’s OK. We have a strategy for that (see below). For older children, you might prefer to write in your planner instead of using pictures.

So, for example, if your isolation period begins on a Monday, get your child to choose a picture of a home to put in the planner. Now when anxiety strikes, your child can look at the planner and know that Monday will be spent at home.

For the next day, place a picture of a question mark on the planner with blu-tack. This means that you don’t know yet whether school is on. If you still don’t have information for the following day, move the question mark to the next day. This will help your child to understand that you are waiting for the information that will tell you whether school is back on.

Once you have a return date for school, place a picture of a school (or your child’s school) in the appropriate square.

This is a great strategy for anxious kids who can look at the planner to remind themselves about what is happening next.

Plan to succeed at home

Home isolation can be very trying with everyone falling over each other or experiencing negative feelings about being cooped up in the house.

But it doesn’t have to become a disaster, especially for a child experiencing anxiety.

One of the best ways to help your child feel secure is to create a plan for each day. Predictability and structure help children feel safe when the world around them is full of uncertainty.

So you can use the same strategies above for a daily planner. For younger children, use a visual daily planner that you can stick pictures in. With older children, you might prefer to write in the daily activities.

Your new home routine doesn’t have to be complex, and you need to allow some flexibility or it will become too difficult to stick with. But you should include the “milestones” or big events of the day such as bedtime, waking up, meal times, or the start and finish of school. You choose what’s important in your family.

You can do your plan for the entire day, or you can divide it up into morning and afternoon – whatever works best.

Beware of too much screen time

Don’t worry, we’ve all done it! Screen time is a handy babysitter when you’re trying to work at home or even when you just want some peace.

But in the longer term, too much is harmful to kids’ wellbeing. It can make bedtimes more difficult and increase social anxiety, among other things.

So the best thing is to aim for a balanced routine that includes exercise, time outdoors if possible, and time spent doing interactive activities with other members of the family.

You can do this!

You’ve got this! As some of you who have already been through it know, this too shall pass. Nothing lasts forever, and it’s just a matter of doing the best you can until schools reopen and you can resume your normal life again.

You’re doing an amazing job of holding it together under difficult circumstances, so give yourself a pat on the back, take a deep breath, and make sure you’re caring for yourself, too. You’ve got this!

We hear a lot about screen time and the effects on developing brains, but children and young people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) are particularly at risk of adverse side-effects. Families struggling to cope with life with a child or teen with ASD are also at greater risk because of the exacerbated symptoms of excess screen time.

Correlation Does Not Equal Causation

While there are definite links between screen time and its effects on an autistic brain, it’s important to note that screen time has not been proven to cause autism. One Swedish study in 2014 concluded that the cause is likely a 50/50 split between environmental and genetic factors. As a complex disorder,  many other related factors also lie in the origins of the disorder within individuals.

Why are Autistic Brains more Vulnerable to the Effects of Screen Time?

Although we are all susceptible to the effects of excess screen time to one degree or another, young brains are more vulnerable than adults, and it affects children and young people with ASD much more than anyone else. This is because the unique characteristics of a brain with ASD  lend themselves far more readily to the disruption and chaos caused within the brain by screen time. ASD brains are not wired to readily process the regular use of technology without side-effects.
Not only are children with ASD more susceptible to the harmful effects of screen time, but they are also less able to recover. The effects last longer and have a deeper impact simply because their brains are not wired to cope. They are more sensitive, less resilient and more prone to lasting effects.

What Does Excess Screen Time Do to Children with ASD?

Excess screen time has a profound effect on the behaviour and coping mechanisms of children with ASD. These include the following;

1. Exacerbated Arousal Regulation Issues

Children with ASD often struggle with arousal regulation issues such as emotional dysregulation, exaggerated responses to stress, and a tendency to be either overstimulated or understimulated [1]. Excess screen time exacerbates all of these issues and manifests itself as exaggerated emotional dysregulation and increased likelihood of acute and chronic stress. It also causes overstimulation and hyperarousal [2].

2. Augmented Sleep Disturbances

Children with ASD often suffer from low melatonin, leading to sleep disturbances, particularly when technology is used at night [3]. Melatonin regulates the body clock and is critical for normal sleeping and waking patterns. It also works with other hormones to keep the brain chemistry balanced, plays a part in regulating immunity, and lowers inflammation. Excess screen time suppresses the production of melatonin, leading to even greater problems with sleep in children with ASD.

3. Increased Social and Communication Deficits

Screen time hinders the development of social and communication skills – even in children and teens that don’t have ASD [4]. This manifests as an inability to make eye contact, impaired ability to read body language, low levels of empathy and a delay in gaining language skills.

4. Higher Anxiety Levels

Children with ASD are prone to anxiety and screen time increases the risk of social anxiety and OCD issues. In addition, children with autism have been shown to be at greater risk of abnormal serotonin synthesis and amygdala activity and changes in amydala activity and serotonin regulation have been observed as a result of screen time [5].

5. Magnified Sensory Processing Issues

Children with ASD are more likely to experience sensory and motor integration problems such as sensory processing disorders, tics, and vocal and motor delays. Screen time worsens these issues, particularly sensori-motor delays. Tics may also worse due to higher dopamine levels.

Strategies to Help Families Reduce or Eliminate Screen Time

1. Educate Families About the Risks of Screen Time on an Autistic Brain

For many families, the use of technology is tempting because it restores peace, at least for a short time. So it is important that families understand the benefits of reducing or eliminating technology or they may be unwilling to try something new.

2. Encourage Families to do a Technology Detox

When families understand how technology use affects the brain of a child with ASD, initiating change is easier. Encourage them to try it for a specified time period (4 weeks is a good length of time to aim for) and see if it makes a difference.

3. Come up with Strategies to Replace Screen Time

Weaning a child off a favourite device will be more successful if parents have a plan in place ahead of time to replace that time with something more interesting or engaging. This will be something that fits each family’s unique dynamics, but memory-making events, spending time together out in nature, and playing together are options that can work well.

4. Encourage Parents to Limit their Own Technology Use

Encourage parents to model what they are trying to achieve. When children see that parents are not using technology either, they are more likely to accept the family’s decision to limit or eliminate screen time from family life.

5. Educate Parents about Healthy Sleep Habits

Some parents are not aware of the effects of screen time on sleeping habits – even for children and teens that don’t have ASD. Encourage parents to turn off all technology at least 2 hours before bedtime and establish regular bedtime routines and rituals. Preparing a child’s brain for bed is half the battle won.

If you would like to know more about screen time and autism, get in touch and call Deb or send us an email. We’ll be happy to talk to you!

References:

[1]. Matthew S. Goodwin et al., “Cardiovascular Arousal in Individuals with Autism,” Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 21, no. 2 (2006): 100–123; BA Corbett and D Simon, “Adolescence, Stress and Cortisol in Autism Spectrum Disorders.,” OA Autism 1, no. 1 (March 1, 2013): 1–6.
[2].  Marjut Wallenius, “Salivary Cortisol in Relation to the Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in School-Aged Children,” Psychology 1, no. 2 (2010): 88–95; Amy E. Mark and Ian Janssen, “Relationship between Screen Time and Metabolic Syndrome in Adolescents,” Journal of Public Health 30, no. 2 (June 1, 2008): 153–60; Gary S. Goldfield et al., “Video Game Playing Is Independently Associated with Blood Pressure and Lipids in Overweight and Obese Adolescents,” ed. Philippe Rouet, PLoS ONE 6, no. 11 (November 1, 2011): e26643.
[3]. ] Shigekazu Higuchi et al., “Effects of Vdt Tasks with a Bright Display at Night on Melatonin, Core Temperature, Heart Rate, and Sleepiness,” Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md.: 1985) 94, no. 5 (May 2003): 1773–76.
[4].  R. Adolphs, L. Sears, and J. Piven, “Abnormal Processing of Social Information from Faces in Autism,” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 13, no. 2 (February 15, 2001): 232–40.
[5]. Jun Kohyama, “Neurochemical and Neuropharmacological Aspects of Circadian Disruptions: An Introduction to Asynchronization,” Current Neuropharmacology 9, no. 2 (2011): 330; Klaus Mathiak and René Weber, “Toward Brain Correlates of Natural Behavior: fMRI during Violent Video Games,” Human Brain Mapping 27, no. 12 (December 2006): 948–56.

That’s right! What are your plans for self care and smart action this year? Check this out!

This week we have a vlog!  Feel free to watch above or read below.

Hey, how are you? It’s the beginning of the year. It’s the first week of term here in New South Wales where we are. I know that teachers are getting ready to go back to school or at school already. I just wanted to touch base about how we are planning to look after ourselves personally, health-wise, professionally in the next few months and for the rest of the year. So, I’m not talking about having new year’s resolutions because they often don’t stick but I want us to think about how are we planning to look after ourselves and what can we action right now to make sure that we meet those goals?

Before we start to figure that out, I want to just think who were you last year when you did really well, who was showing up, how were you showing up. When you showed up and did things that went really well, how did that make you feel, and what were you really committed to? So, that can be thought about in both the positive ways and also in a constructive way. When we committed to looking after ourselves and eating healthfully, going for walks or exercise or going to the gym, I guess you might have been showing up for yourself to be healthier and to be more positive which roles over all areas of life. When we are fit and healthy, then everything else seems to go better but on the flip side of that, those weeks, those months when we might be tired, when we might be unwell or when we just are a bit lazy perhaps, how do we go …

Who was showing up and what were we being committed to when things didn’t go so well?

For example, those morning when we’re lying in bed and we feel too tired and it feels way too much just to hit the snooze and to skip that walk or to skip the gym, what are we really committed to? Sometimes this can be really confronting to think about. Are we in those moments when we make those perhaps not so positive decisions. Are we really being committed to the best for ourselves or do we really need to stand up to ourselves and decide no, I’m really committed to being there for my health and just getting up and doing it.

So, we’ve talked a bit about fitness. What about our professional development and our personal development?

Personal development could be professional but it could also be learning a new hobby or doing some research with your child about a new activity or going with them to try something new. We need to commit to our financial goals as well. If we are teachers, what are committing to? Are we committing to our students, which I know you guys all do but seeing as sometimes we go through energy lags where it’s harder to do that, it’s harder to show up, sometimes it’s harder to do that preparation time. Life happens. Life throws us events that we’re not expecting and it’s really hard just to get through the basics but we really need to think about what are we committed to, how can we keep going with the most important things and how can we protect ourselves from the future.

With all the clinicians out there, same thing.  Are we showing up with planning efficiently and effectively? Do we timetable enough preparation time? Do we timetable enough buffer time between clients for preparation or for doing those extra phone calls? Because it can be really tempting, especially when you’re working for yourself or in private practice, to have those key performer indicators that we need to have because we are a business and we need to be able to meet our financial targets but we also need to look after ourselves and not try and put too many clients in, which means that we might have to work at night and lose some sleep and not look after ourselves quite as much. Whether you are a teacher or a clinician, it’s really important to have a plan and to get that locked in as soon as you can so that you can make sure that you’re supported, especially professionally because when we support it professionally, then our personal lives can go a lot easier because we’re not taking that baggage, that thinking through from … taking it home from work and just mulling over it or worrying about things.

So, yes. Whether you’re a teacher and you have those structures inside your school, that you have supervisors or mentors that you can catch up with regularly or a trusted teacher to offload to and work through things that might come up or different difficult students that might be tricky, make sure you got that structure in place and book it in your diary straight away. And if you’re an OT or a speech or other health professional, same thing. Make sure you got someone on your team, especially if you are in your own business on your own and/or if you are in a rural area where you have less support.

If you would like to connect with me, I also offer supervisor mentoring mainly for occupational therapists but also for some teachers who would really like to get their skills up in setting up their classrooms from a sensory safe perspective. But yes, so I mainly do that supervisor and mentoring for occupational therapists and I do that remotely right around Australia, so it doesn’t matter where you are. I have clinicians who are in the cities and I have clinicians who are in rural areas.  When we’re working on our own, no matter where we are, there’s very common issues and I’m very happy to talk over clinical issues, self-care issues and also a bit about business management and some tips of where to go to for help or how to make things easier.
Anyway,  I have three or four spots left for this year. If you’d like to book in for a free 15 minute chat, you’re most welcome to but no matter what type of professional you are, make sure you have a plan for both personal, healthy fitness and fun time, but also for that professional mentoring and backup. And on a regular basis, I have some clinicians who are catching up weekly, some who are monthly and some who are once a term.

If you would like to connect with me for a free 15 minute chat, just click here on the link below and we will be in contact with you to arrange a time. Okay, have a great day. Bye!

Link to : Free 15-minute chat with Deb Hopper
Written by Deb Hopper, Occupational Therapist

Written by Nicky Ellis – www.horsesandfoals.com 
Horses have shared a bond with man for many thousand years. Horses have been used extensively to transport goods as well as people. Horses have also lent help in the fields of construction and agriculture. They are also used in sports such as horse racing, polo etc. and also for recreational riding purposes. Over the last few decades, horses have also contributed to helping individuals with physical disabilities, mental health, and behavioral issues.
Let’s take a look at how these gentle animals help promote developmental benefits.

1. Positive influence on fitness and health
2. A boost in scholastic performance
3. Effective tackling of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
4. Boost in confidence
5. Helps ingrain positive traits

1. Positive influence on fitness and health
It has become extremely easy as well as affordable to gain access to the latest technological gadgets, in this digital age.Children are often found engrossed with games on their smartphones or tablets or watching mindless television. These habits lead to a sedentary lifestyle and can oftentimes lead to physical health problems including childhood obesity. It also hampers their creativity, reasoning power and the capability of thinking logically.
Bringing kids in the outdoors has many benefits. Besides breathing in the crisp and fresh air, your child learns to be in sync with their natural surroundings. Taking in fresh air helps boost memory, and also keeps your child’s mind active. It also helps your child improve their creativity. Introducing your child to a sports activity such as horseback riding will be a good motivation for them to spend time outdoors.
Horseback riding is an excellent form of exercise to the body as well as the mind. This activity helps utilize the core muscles optimally. In order to avoid falling off the horse and maintain a steady balance, when engaged in horseback riding, the rider is required to use the muscles of the inner thighs and the pelvic muscles. Usage of these particular muscle groups help children in developing a correct posture at an early age. It also improves flexibility and helps build muscle tone. Besides promoting good health, activities such as horseback riding are great for burning off calories.
When your child is mounted on a horse, you are highly likely to think that the horse is carrying the weight of your child and walking/running as well. Therefore all the hard work is done by the horse and not your child. This, however, is not the case. The rider is required to put in an equal amount of effort when engaged in horseback riding. The rider must adjust their body position and balance to match the horse’s movements. This helps your child sharpen their focus on the task at hand – staying mounted on the horse and navigating the horse to stay on track.
2. A boost in scholastic performance
Extensive research has proven that the cognitive ability of the children, who engaged in horseback riding, showed great improvement. Research has also proven that the vibrations given out by a horse when it is being ridden, has the ability to activate the sympathetic nervous system in the brain of humans.In layman’s terms, what this means is – horseback riding can help children get better at problem-solving, improve and increase their learning ability, strengthen their memory power and sharpen their focus. All of these skills and qualities acquired when engaging in horseback riding, spill over into children’s academics as well. Such children are better disposed to take on academic tasks and do well in school.
3. Effective tackling of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
Even if a child doesn’t have a diagnosis like ADHD or Autism, it is imperative to understand that the child could still be struggling with attention and concentration in their class. Some kids might ‘appear’ to be struggling with an SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) or may have unidentified sensory issues.
Sensory processing issues can involve extreme or overwhelming responsiveness to a host of stimuli. These stimuli can involve balance, body awareness, sounds, sights, touch, taste, smell etc. The vestibular sense organs in our body help us with experiencing body balance and spatial orientation. These sense organs are situated inside the inner ear. These are stimulated by the incline, speed and direction change.Horseback riding gives the required stimulation to energize the sensory preceptors.
When engaged in horseback riding, children who have an underdeveloped sense of balance are able to figure out how they must adjust their body position to match the horse’s movements to avoid falling off. As mentioned earlier, horseback riding helps build the muscle tone. They learn how to get a good grasp of reins as well. All this helps children learn about motor control and body balance.
4. Boost in confidence
When children are faced with the challenge of riding an animal that is more than twice their size, they are highly likely to feel daunted by the task. However, with proper guidance and training, when they are able to mount the horse and ride it, you will notice a remarkable surge in their confidence. This confidence that children earn in their formative years plays a key role in ensuring that they develop a well-rounded and wholesome personality as they grow up. This confidence also helps children develop a larger peer group, which has a positive impact on their well-being.
5. Helps ingrain positive traits
When children learn horseback riding, they also learn how to care for the horse , how to feed the horse and groom it. This helps develop a strong bond between the horse and child. This way children learn to put the needs of the horse before themselves. Traits like these spill over into their day to day lives and children become more caring and compassionate towards their family and friends.
When learning horseback riding, children meet other kids who share a similar liking for horses. This helps them develop a friend circle outside their school. It also helps them learn and develop social skills.
Children are also likely to engage in friendly races with their friends at the horseback riding facility. This teaches them to accept winning and losing with equal grace. They learn the importance of sportsmanship through healthy competition.
Other Articles from LifeSkills4Kids with more tips on Sensory Processing Disorders :

• An Overview of Sensory Processing Behaviours and Protective Factors: The See-Saw Model of Sensory Processing
• How to Know If Your Kid Has Sensory Issues and How Can You Help
• SPD and Anxiety – How Do Symptoms Look Similar (and Different) in Classrooms
• Idenfitying Sensory Issues that Impact Learning in the Classroom
• Sensory Processing Disorer (SPD) and Anxiety – How are they similar and different?

Written by Nicky Ellis – www.horsesandfoals.com 

Here are great and useful pointers on supporting children through end of year routine changes!
It’s that time of year again, when we are all coming towards the end of another school year.  As the end of term approaches and the summer holidays beckon, we can all look forward to a relaxed and chilled out time at school as we all wind down … well that’s what is ‘supposed’ to happen!
As teachers and professionals however, we know that for some kids, the end of the school year can be a time that is an anxiety-provoking nightmare which they do not understand and cannot cope with.
So, how can you prepare your class of kids to cope with the inevitable changes in routine that are an integral part of the transition between school and summer holidays?

Top Tips for Supporting children through end of year routine changes

At LifeSkills4Kids,  we are passionate about supporting kids and providing them with the skills to cope with life changes.  The build up to breaking up for summer holidays can be a massive life change for some of our young people.  As a professional, what can you do to help?
We discussed end of year strategies last year for supporting children through end of year routine changes.  Let’s revisit some of these strategies:
Use of a Visual Timetable

• The saying  ‘A Picture is worth a Thousand Words’ is very true for any of our pupils who may struggle with Sensory Processing Disorder, autism or any form of anxiety.  If you are unsure if any of your class have Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), check out our article here.
• A visual timetable will enable pupils to make sense of their day and of the countdown to the summer holidays
• It is a great tool for preparing your pupils for the transition from school to holidays
• Encourage parents to get involved when you have identified pupils that could particularly benefit from using a visual timetable
• Include visuals in the timetable for ‘Surprise’ and ‘FunDays’ or ‘Special Events’.  If you include visuals for these sorts of activities you can provide all of your class with plenty of warning as to what may be happening and also to be prepared for days and lessons being a bit different to what they are used to
• Encourage your class to discuss any anxieties they may have and come up together with coping strategies.
• Depending on the age of your pupils, you may find it valuable to use visuals to enable them to let you know that they are struggling to cope and need help.  For example, you could use the ‘Just Right Technique‘ which we have developed after extensive research
• The Just Right Technique enables kids to be able to learn how to self-regulate by using visual representations of their emotions and physical responses to situations they experience.  The aim is to teach kids how to be happy, safe and content and stay ‘in the zone’

Provide a Great Transition Experience for your pupils

• There are inevitably many different transitions that children have to deal with at the end of the year
• They could be changing class on their return to school or moving schools.  An adequate period of transition to help the pupils know that they will be ok, to be able to meet new teachers and new classmates is vitally important
• The transition between school and summer holidays is a big one too, check out my article on this for some tips to help this run as smoothly as possible

Don’t underestimate the ‘tiredness’ factor!

• Let’s face it, we ALL get tired as the school year draws to a close!
• It is important that we acknowledge this and allow pupils to have choices and options of activities they would like to do and ones which they know will help them to self-regulate
• For some pupils that may be mindfully colouring (there are a plethora of colouring books for all ages, including adults); for others it may be quiet time with their headphones; and others may thrive on physical activity to keep themselves happy and relaxed

Home Involvement

• It cannot be underestimated how much the home environment can help in Supporting children through end of year routine changes
• Parents and carers are invaluable when they know what is coming up at school and can then spend time with their child and prepare them for what is going to happen
• It is a great idea to share timetables and weekly newsletters, so that parents and carers can talk to their kids about events and celebrations that will be happening during the last few weeks of school
• This also gives the family unit a chance to start to look beyond the end of term and decide together how their ‘holiday routine‘ could look
• My Sensory Holiday Survival Guide can be an invaluable resource to share with parents

Provide options & choices

• Wherever possible, as you move towards the summer holidays, provide options and choices for your pupils within each day
• If kids are in danger of overwhelm, due to the routine changes, make sure that there are options for ‘quiet’ time when individuals can withdraw from over-stimulating events.  It can be a good idea to allow pupils to bring in items from home which they know will help them cope with new experiences as the school year draws to a close

Ways to reduce anxiety

• The end of term changes in routine can lead to more anxious times for our pupils.
• For more information on how to reduce anxiety, read our article on reducing anxiety at the end of term
• A calendar for the last weeks of school and then for the summer holidays can really help with reducing anxieties and allow pupils to feel like they can have some control over the end of year routine changes that they will be experiencing

Overall, remember to make your classroom a relaxed and safe space for you and all of your class – this will minimise tiredness and allow each individual to cope with routine changes in ways that work for them.
Written by Deb Hopper, Occupational Therapist

Great Ideas for Creating the Best Home Environment for Your Autistic Child

Written by : Jenny Wise, Special Home Educator
Autism affects the way a child interacts with the world around them. As parents, it’s important that we do whatever we can to keep our children comfortable and safe. While you can’t adapt the entire world to fit your child’s special needs, you can ensure that their home environment functions as a safe, comfortable haven. Here are some key areas to consider when adjusting your home to fit your autistic child’s needs.
Color
As you’re probably aware, a child with autism perceives light, color, and sound differently. With a heightened visual perception, different colors can elicit different moods and reactions from your child. Red, vibrant colors can feed into energy, while cooler neutral colors can soothe and relax. When decorating your home, choose a color scheme that gives off the appropriate mood for the room. For example, when decorating your child’s bedroom, use a blue or purple scheme to promote sleep and relaxation.
Neutral color schemes are best for children with autism and provide the most comfort. When deciding what patterns and combinations to use, it’s always ideal to keep the aesthetic as simple as possible to prevent sensory overload. Also, opt for solid colors and minimalist patterns to keep your child at ease.
Lighting
Just like with color, the lighting you use in your home stands out to your autistic child. Lighting that is too abrasive or inconsistent can have a negative impact, as opposed to softer, more natural lighting. It’s for this reason that most autism experts warn against using any kind of fluorescent lighting, which can easily agitate your child due to its tendency to flicker. To make a more comfortable environment, stick to shaded or gradient lighting that gives you more control over the lighting from room to room.
Flooring
Children on the autism spectrum are not only hypersensitive to visual stimuli, but also to what they can touch and feel. To most children, a floor is for more than just for walking; it’s a giant canvas for playing games or it can double as a place to lie down and take a nap. Your child will spend a lot of time on the floor, so it’s important that your floors are safe and comfortable. Laminate flooring can be hard and cold to the touch, while tiling can be uneven or have over-stimulating visual patterns. You want your floors to be soft, and warm. Vinyl flooring is cheap, easy to clean, and typically softer and warmer on bare hands and feet.
Furniture
Finally, you’ll want to have furniture that’s suitable for providing the comfort your child needs. Remember that for children with autism, tactile sensation is important, and having material that is soft and squishy will provide a pleasant and comfortable sensory experience for your child. In your living room, most furniture types will be suitable for your child, but remember to avoid loud patterns, and sharp corners for their safety.
For their bedroom, you might even consider getting them a big squishy chair. Hug Chairs are giant beanbags that are fun to collapse on, and extremely comfortable. A Hug Chair might be the perfect addition to make your child’s room feel even more like their own.
These are just a few ideas to make your house suitable for your child on the autism spectrum. Home is a place where we are supposed to feel safe, comfortable, and loved. Give your child that extra sense of safety and comfort so that when the world gets to be a little too much, they have something familiar to come home to.
Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

 Sensory issues that impact self regulation at the dinner table.

Most of us love dinner time and look forward to enjoying the different textures, tastes and smells of eating.
For a kid with sensory issues though, being at the dinner table can be an incredibly hard time of their day.
How can you make it more manageable for your young person?
What strategies can you use to help your child?

Impact of sensory issues on self regulation

When your child has sensory issues, it makes it much harder for them to self regulate and also to explain to you what is going on and causing them a problem.
We are passionate at LifeSkills4Kids in helping young people to find strategies which they can use to make their lives manageable and rewarding.
As parents, the ways in which we interact with our children has the broadest influence on a child’s behaviour because it creates the emotional climate within which a child makes decisions about his or her actions.
Our parenting style influences the development of self-regulation, the ability of a child to govern him/herself, in very specific ways. There are some key factors which can influence this:

• Show positive versus negative emotion.
• Are accepting (not dismissing) of their children’s emotional expression.
• Are not overly controlling of their children’s behaviour.

Providing consistent messaging and following through with promises also helps children establish self-discipline and a willingness to delay gratification.
This all sound great in theory.  But if your child has sensory issues too, your parenting style may need to be changed to accommodate these extra needs.
The following are some strategies and ideas to help you to promote self regulation at the dinner table with your young person who has sensory issues.

Strategies for making dinner time a success

Play with food

• Your child will be able to become accustomed to different textures and consistencies through play and exploration of their food
• This is a vital step in enabling sensory kids to make some sense of the sensory issues that they may encounter with food before they ever think about having to try to put the food into their mouth
• You don’t have to do this at the dinner table – it could be that you build in some ‘fun’ sessions with food and allow your child to explore the food first in a safe, ‘play’ environment
• I have found that this can work really well if you give your child plenty of warning and do some play sessions with the same food over a few days and then introduce it into a ‘dinner’ scenario
• My favourite food to begin with is mashed potato.  And we have had endless hours of fun making things with mashed potato (I personally love making a mashed potato mountain and then adding a ski run all the way from top to bottom!)
• You can also experiment with temperature as kids with sensory issues can be very sensitive to their food being just the right temperature

Break eating down into steps

• Once you have explored certain types of food together, then it is time to introduce them at the dinner table
• Your child might benefit from adding a ‘new’ food to an existing plateful of food which they are already used to
• It is important to make sure that if you do this, the ‘new’ food is NOT touching any of the familiar food. It very definitely has a ‘space’ on your child’s plate all of its own.
• The first time you introduce this new food, you can make it clear that you don’t expect your child to try it
• The second time this new food makes an appearance, suggest that your child takes a small bite out of it and holds it in their mouth
• Each time you do this, be clear that each step forward is a very small one.  Accept that it may take your child several attempts to allow the food into their mouth, to chew it and eventually to swallow it

Use distractions at the dinner table

• Make your dinner table time a fun and relaxed environment for both you and your child
• You can play favourite games, allow your child to bring favourite toys to dinner, use fidget toys or provide your child with a dinner table sensory kit.
• The key here is to ensure that your child sees dinner time and being at the dinner table as a fun, safe and non-threatening place to be

Using Visuals to help you and your child

• Ask school if they use visuals to help your child and, if possible, use the same ones at the dinner table
• Kids with sensory issues often struggle to communicate if they are having problems – if you can provide them with visuals, this often helps them to open up to you
• We have some great articles about how to use visuals to help your young person self regulate:
  o check out our Just Right Kids Technique
  o Look here to get free Sensory Processing Tip Sheets
  o And here for help with fussy eaters

Strengthen Muscle Tone

As an occupational therapist, I come across many kids with sensory issues who struggle to eat because of their muscle tone. Eating can seem as daunting as climbing a mountain if your child’s muscles aren’t strong enough to eat their food without tiring quickly.
Strengthening your child’s muscle tone can all be part of the game of ‘dinner time’.   There are some great activities which will increase facial muscle tone and make eating easier for your child.  For example, blowing bubbles, whistles and balloons will all help, as well as giving the lungs a good work out.
You could also suggest that your child learns to play a wind instrument or you could practice mindfulness together and do breathing exercises as part of that.

Change of scenery

• Kids love to have adventures and making the ‘dinner table’ experience into one is great for the whole family!
• You can take your dinner table outside and provide an alternative sensory experience to help your child to cope with eating – it’s all about taking the pressure of having to eat away.
• Similarly you could go on a picnic together, visit a friend’s or family member’s house or go to a restaurant
• Wherever you decide to go, make sure that the emphasis is on fun, no pressure and a positive experience for both you, your child and all the family
• The change of scenery is NOT about eating, it’s about helping your child to feel relaxed, have fun and …. Eventually to enjoy their eating experience. Be patient and allow your child to dictate the pace

This may be claimed via NDIS.

Your Options as a *Founding Member:
1. PAY MONTHLY: $49 incl. GST
2. PAY FOR 6 MONTHS: $294 incl. GST

 

Screen Time for Children

By Deb Hopper

This article was published in the Great Health Guide digital magazine – GreatHealthGuide.com.au


Screen time for children…  It’s one of those tricky topics to deal with from day to day. There are such mixed messages in the media about how much screen time is appropriate, healthy or even just OK for children to have.
Screen time has some valid and handy functions for both children and adults, so let’s not have all the thumbs down against screen time. The key is to have our eyes open, have clear minds and be open to how society seems to being pulled along and sucked into more and more screen time.
It’s time to take stock and think clearly about WHY we should bother to think about this issue. Oh, and just for the record, we are talking about managing screen time for both children AND adults. It’s time to look up from the screen and look in the mirror and be honest, for our children’s sake.

7 Reasons Why We Should Bother Managing Screen Time-

1. Life is busy, and screens are a time waster.

Have you ever drifted into Facebook, Pinterest, eBay land, then taken a look at the time and realised 5, 12, 20 minutes has disappeared?  Life is busy, and we are fritting away so much time being distracted on our screens.

2. Social disconnection threatens our families.

We can be on the couch swapping attention between our hand held screens and the TV for hours and not connect with our family in the same room. We can enter the house after work/ school and not have any fights or disagreements, but also no relationship building conversations. Both of these are leading to rapid social disconnection in our families.

3. Time spent on screens is time not being active.

We are fighting the battle of the bulge and obesity is threatening all ages. It’s time to swap screen time for a walk around the block, perhaps without our phones or pod casts. Give your brain some time to stop and be.

4. Contrary to our habits, screen time is not relaxing and stress reducing.

Zoning out with a screen may feel like relief after the pressures of the day, but if you really want to relax and rejuvenate your mind, take a look outside, watch the sunset, go for a walk on the beach or stare at a fish tank.

5. Too much screen time is linked to difficulties in getting to sleep.

In a study of 10,000 16 to 19-year-olds, researchers in Norway found that the longer a young person spent looking at an electronic screen before going to bed, the worse quality sleep they were likely to have.  Having 1 – 2 screen free hours before bed supports a better sleep. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/too-much-exposure-to-smartphone-screens-ruins-your-sleep-study-shows-10019185.html

6. Screen time opens up the possibility of bullying for children and teenagers.

It’s much easier to post negative opinions on social media than to bully someone face to face, but the effects on children can be just as devastating.

7. As adults stuck to our screens, we need to think hard of the example we are teaching our children.

What do children think of our distraction on screens?  Often they are frustrated as they can’t get the attention they crave (and deserve). Are they seeing screen times as a coping strategy for adults?  Will they copy our example and be sucked into even more social disconnect?
Which of the above 7 reasons speaks closest to your heart? Are these risks enough motivation for you to consider changing your screen time habits? Now, if you are reading this on a screen, how long have you got until bed time?  Is it time to disconnect, have a cuppa and reflect on what might be?
Deb Hopper is passionate about helping children achieve their potential. As a practicing Occupational Therapist at Life Skills 4 Kids in Forster on the NSW Mid North Coast she understands the day to day struggles that children, parents and teachers face.
She is passionate about empowering parents and teachers to understand emotional regulation and practical strategies to help children and is often called upon for media comment. Deb draws on over 18 years’ experience as an Occupational Therapist working in mental health and paediatrics.
Deb is the co-author of the CD Sensory Songs for Tots, and author of the soon to be released book Helping Children Soar in a Post Digital World: Teaching Kids to Stress Less. She also presents keynote presentations and workshops. For a chapter of her upcoming new book, join our newsletter at www.lifeskills4kids.com.au  To book an appointment call 02 6555 9877.
To check out other great articles download your free copy of Great Health Guide today at

This is the second part in the self regulation in classroom management program that I was discussing in June, see part one here.
As I mentioned in part one, I’ve been asked to implement a whole class and whole school approach to teaching self regulation.  The school I am working with is a small local school, with a total of 3 classes.
Let’s look in more depth at the process we are currently following to put in place self regulation strategies in classroom management

What’s happened so far?

Rapport Building

I have been consulting with the staff at the school and ensuring that I find out about teaching styles of the teachers I am working with, I have also spent this time building a good rapport with all the staff within the school.
This rapport building process has taken some time, as it is really important to know that I have a good relationship with the staff.  The teachers and teaching assistants have been very positive about my techniques and I have been modelling some of my strategies, so that the teachers can see me ‘in action’ with the pupils.

Identifying Training Needs

As I have been working with the classes, I have also spent some time identifying any specific training needs within each of the 3 classes.  I have discussed these needs with the Principal and, from this, we have outlined a series of training workshops to enable the school staff to understand and implement the self regulation program I have identified for the school.
Remember, I am using a combination of three programs to provide a unique self regulation program which is tailor made for the needs of this school.  The three programs I am drawing from are: The Alert Program, The Zones of Regulation Program and The Just Right Kids Model (which I developed after extensive research and field trials).

My Bespoke Training

Who am I Training?

Initially, the Principal and myself, have agreed upon a series of 6 twilight training sessions for all staff. We have decided that within this, ‘all staff’ will include midday supervisors, school admin staff and regular visiting professionals.
In essence, we are determined that we are inclusive and that our self regulation program will indeed be adopted by the ‘whole school’.

My Training Outline

1. Introduction to Theory of a self regulation program in classroom management

• It is important for staff to understand the ‘Why’ of the self regulation program
• In this session, I will also be showing video examples of the self regulation program in action and explaining the theory behind it
• I will invite discussion from all practitioners as to experiences of how we have worked together so far
• What has been especially successful within each class?

2. An Interactive Discussion of self regulation visuals

• It is important to decide upon what visuals we will use as a whole school
• This session will be interactive and about working in groups to see what visuals we can use
• My intended outcome from this will be that, as a whole school, we agree a set of visuals that everyone feels will work both in their classroom and also in the wider school environment

3. What Resources do we need?

• I know from working with teachers, that they are very busy and time to plan, implement and execute whole school programs is hard to find
• My intention for this session will be to make any resources that are needed to make the self regulation program a school-wide success
• So, in our previous session we will have identified what we need and in this session we will be making visuals for each class, the playground, the dinner hall, the office and any individualised ones we want too
• By the end of the session, each class and school area will have all the visual resources that they need to follow the self regulation program

4. How will we implement the program and measure success?

• This will involve a discussion and agreement of how and when we begin to implement the self regulation program
• What criteria will we use to measure success of the program?
• How can we make this an easy process which fits seamlessly into whole school values?

** After session 4, there will be a three week training break.  During this time, the whole school will trial our self regulation program and find out what works and what doesn’t. **

5. A celebration of experiences so far

• What’s working well?
• What needs tweaking to make it even better?
• Do we need to devise additional self regulation strategies to ensure the success of this initiative?
• Each class to bring a video of the self regulation program in classroom management in action and allow colleagues to reflect on it

6. Evaluation and moving forwards

• The final session will seek to answer any questions that the school staff may have and find out the best ways to ensuring it is a success
• Is the self regulation program something we want to adopt on a long-term basis?
• How can we get parents involved with our whole school initiative?
• How can we encourage other local schools to adopt a self regulation program?

My experience with this school has been very positive so far, most of the staff are gaining an understanding of our self regulation in classroom management initiative and are jumping on board with enthusiasm.  I have completed training session 1 and some of the success stories that have already been reported are creating a positive buzz within school, both with the staff and children.
We have also already had some comments from parents who are interested in what their children are telling them about feeling ‘just right’!  This augurs well for the success of the self regulation program and I’m excited to continue to build the necessary foundations to embed our program in the culture of the school.
Watch this space for exciting further developments in my new school!