Make A Pokeball and Get The Kids Outside

Welcome to AuSumness!

I've got another fast and easy project for you.  Check out the simple steps and see what the hub bub is all about.

If you're not living with your head in the clouds (and really, there is nothing wrong with that) then you know about Pokemon.  Like many Autistic kids, both my boys are slightly obsessed with gaming.  Pokemon Go is all of the rage everywhere and in this house, too.

Frankly, I'm a bit thrilled myself.  It's something completely new to my boys and there is motivation to go OUTSIDE.  My youngest likes to be in nature and often visits around the yard even when it is freezing.  However, my oldest is a bit of a couch potato and making him go outside is a real chore and terrible for everyone.

He tried playing Pokemon in the house, but couldn't get any good stuff.  He HAD to go outside.  hehehe...He also decided he needed a Pokeball.  Knowing that I have quite a crafty stash, I asked for an image of this ball and knew right away what to do.

I grabbed one of my many styrofoam balls and some sharpie pens, red and black.  There already was a slight line all around the centre of the ball.  I only had to follow it slowly and carefully with my marker.  I grabbed a circular something from my desk and traced around it, leaving the centre white as was on the image.

Get out your red sharpie and colour the top half of the ball.  The ink comes off a bit when it's wet, but after a few short minutes, it dries and doesn't come off any more.

See how easy?!

Now, he's ready to go hunting!

Shoes, hat, back pack and tablet in hand and they are out of the door before lunch.

Even Dino couldn't wait!  Hehehe...and the dog  might be even more happy!

We all know how healthy it is to get these kids out of the house.  This game took the boys all over our neighbourhood and they saw all kinds of things they normally pay no attention to.  Our neighbourhood is very quiet and we did go with the boys.

It is very important to remember that accidents can happen when you are not paying attention and many have happened already.  So play carefully!

Have fun with your Pokeball and enjoy the outside.

Tips for Getting Your Autistic Kids To Listen

Welcome to AuSumness.

On Monday's we dive into ways to help parents, teachers, family and friends deal with Autism.  We provide tips that have worked for us and a couple of others that we may not have tried, but seem to be great ideas.

We totally understand that the Autism spectrum is huge and not all of these tips might work with your kids, but if you're like us, we'll try anything at least once.  Sometimes techniques work right away, but stop working.  Other times a technique might take a while until we see it's effects.  Just don't give up.

We're looking at ways to help children listen.  These tips are great for any kid or even for adults.  Some might be no brainers, but read through and try to implement as many as you can to see which ones work.

The very first tip is to stop doing what you're doing.

This might even be one of the harder tips.  Hehehe...  I only recently started doing this myself.  I have always been a mega multi tasker.  However, I noticed just how effective this tip works.  Who doesn't appreciate when someone puts everything aside and gives you their undivided attention?  What a nice thing to do to or for anyone at all times.  Especially, if you expect them to listen to you, when you speak.

For our Autistic boys it's different.  My youngest son with more symptoms needs a lot more than just me stopping what I'm doing.  While my other son can totally deal with it.

Physical Contact

I have found it most effective to actually look into his eyes and even better still, sit him on my lap, touch his shoulder or perhaps put my hand gently on his waist.  This works wonderfully even when they are older.

However, not all Autistic kids can handle this.  So use caution if you're not sure.  Some children or even adults do not like to look at folks who are speaking directly to them.  My youngest was like this and still has his moments where it is much easier to concentrate on what I'm saying if he doesn't have to look at me.  We certainly do NOT require our children to look at us when we speak.

I'm not sure how all kids are, but our youngest focuses so much on every detail of the face and how it moves that he cannot also digest what it is we are saying as well.  Which brings us to the next tip.

Use simple sentences.

This is not always easy, but it is often essential if you really want them to understand what you are saying.  Take a moment.  Gather your thoughts, then speak and always speak positively.  Avoid lectures.  Trust me, they will stop listening.

Speak evenly and softly.

Boy, is this one a tough one for me.  I grew up with a loud Archie Bunker kind of father, but I've learned over a lot of time, that this technique works wonderfully.  The more quietly I speak, the more they have to focus and listen.  Besides, even as adults, we often shut off if someone is shouting at us and kids are no different.  They stop listening.

Listen

It's only fair.  If you expect them to listen to you, then you should listen to them and prove you are listening by nodding or even better, repeat what they say or respond calmly using any of the tips above.  Always recognise their feelings.  This goes for anyone and it's a super lesson to learn.  What someone feels is all THEM and they are entitled to those feelings irregardless of what others think.  We might think it's silly or overboard, but it is what it is to them and we can't take that away.

Go To Them

If your child doesn't come the first time you call, don't shout even louder.  Go to them and make your point using the steps above.  It will show them an excellent example and save yourself a sore throat.

Check out this link at The Super Nanny.  They give some really awesome tips, too.

So try out these suggestions.  They all really work great.  Soon, they will become habit and you'll notice the house a bit a quieter and everyone less stressed.  As if?!  Hehehe...

Thanks for stopping by AuSumness.  We'll see you next week for more on Autism.

Free Summer Buck List Printables

Welcome to AuSumness.

Every Monday we bring helpful tips, share our experience and shine a positive light on life with Autism.

On my other blog, The Cherry On Top, I share digital and traditional scrapbooking projects along with tutorials and freebies.   That's where I posted these originally, but thought they would go great here, too.

These Summer Bucket lists are keeping my Autistic boys in mind.  I don't have any kind of project that my youngest might want to eat (that shouldn't be eaten) and the level of frustration should be none to minimal.  All of the crafty ideas can be found on our "For The Kids" board on Pinterest where you can get tutorials and instructions.  All of them are keeping money in mind, too.

As you may have experienced, keeping the kids busy is the key to everyone's happiness.  Be prepared with long hours of activities and if possible, give choices.  Maybe you'd rather make your own list and use our list as a guide or a starting point.

This first list is for younger kids.  Both lists use Open Dyslexic.  A font specifically geared towards dyslexia.  It makes reading less complicated for both of my boys.

This list if for older kids.  Most of the activities are free.

Make sure you check out our boards on Pinterest to add to your summer or boredom busters.  When the kids start complaining about being bored, I give them a list of options.  If that doesn't work, I put them to work.  Hehehe...  Another idea, is to have them clean out their closest of stuff they don't want.  I've also noticed when I gather a box of goodies they haven't played with for a while and tell them I'm getting rid of it, they play with it.  Ha!

Thanks for making AuSumness a part of your day.  Have a super summer!

Clothing Sensitivities and Autism

Welcome to AuSumness.

We got into some pretty good conversation in our Facebook group, about clothing sensitivities and our children with Autism.  Today, we'll look at some of those.  It may even be something you didn't notice and we'll also talk about ways to avoid issues.

It's debated about the possibility of minimising symptoms of Autism.  People do this in many forms.  Some ditch the gluten, sugar and dairy to help reduce Autistic symptoms while others go for a wholistic approach from changing the environment from city to country, improving diet and trying anything they might find that will help.

Clothing may be one of the easiest fixes to help relive symptoms of Autism.  Many people with Autism cannot wear any fabric except cotton.  Even organic cotton is a super option.  Me and my son cannot stand any kind of synthetic clothing.  

A few other things are zippers, buttons, belts, hats and gloves.  Go for all cotton with an elastic waist and snaps if you have to.  The more simple, the better.  If it is possible, stay away from garments that bring on stress.

I also have to cut the tags out of my boys shirts.  

If you have children that are nonverbal, this could be a bit tricky.  Keep your eyes out for the signs of irritation and also look for ticks.  Ticks can be from over stimulation, but they can also come from being uncomfortable both mentally and physically.

No matter how cold or hot, JJ could never wear a hat, scarf or gloves.  We tried for a while and occasionally would try again and again, but we'd never push the issue.  I bought a jacket that zipped all of the way up to his chin so we didn't need the scarf and we would use the hood of the jacket to protect his ears, when he'd let us.  His hands, he'd have to keep in his pockets.

Graphic designs on clothing may also upset your children.  I've found if I wasn't certain, I'd just buy plain clothes.  

JJ also does not like new clothes at all.  I've had to give away perfectly new, unused clothes.  Even to this day.   Purchasing plain clothing was a huge help.

Shoes are our biggest issue.  We have a very difficult time at the shoe store.  If we survive it, JJ often doesn't like his shoes once we are home or after he's worn them once or twice.  Make sure there is plenty of room and that they are easy to get off and on.

Do your kids love to be naked?  Our kids still prefer the natural look.  Hehehe...We indulge them at times, by letting them play naked in the rain, but they are required to wear underwear at all times.  As long as they are warm, we don't see a big problem with this for at home, of course.

Here are some things you may consider avoiding :

-  zippers
-  buttons
-  accessories like hats, belts, gloves, scarves
-  shoes with laces
-  synthetic clothing 
-  images on clothing

Pay attention to what the likes and dislikes are before purchasing clothing with graphics on them.  Make sure the tags are not bothering your children.  You may have to use some mild forms of bribery to get them to wear particular pieces, but keep their stress levels in mind and don't use this tactic too often or it will stop working.

Come on over to our group and join in on the conversation we have there.

Thanks for stopping by.
SaveSave

Choosing Your Battles

Welcome to AuSumness.

It's a goal to have more entries on Autism.  We are shooting for every week since we've had such a lovely response to the ones we've here already.

We try to keep it as general as possible so our tips can perhaps help with folks all over the world and for those dealing with different kinds of levels on the spectrum.  If our tips don't work for you now, they might later.  We want to be as positive as possible in all of the aspects and would ask our readers to do the same.

Today, we want to focus on choosing your battles.  This was another tough lesson to learn, but once we got it, it's helped us tremendously.  I also used some of these techniques when I was a teacher in secondary education. 

You will totally stress yourself out and all of those around you if you continuously try to control everything.  Sometimes we just have to take a deep breath and then let go.  I'm getting really good at this.  Hehehe...  I often have to remind my husband to let it go, too.

You may find yourself going horse or feel a great strain in your throat after continuous yelling, correcting or arguing and then you know for sure, it's time to stop.  Give it a break.  That physical symptom is a super caliber as to when it's too much.

Seriously think to yourself, "is this a battle worth fighting?"  There are so many important things that you absolutely MUST fight.  For example, healthy eating.  This was such a problem for us years ago and still a bit today, but nothing like before.  Our boys are 9 and 10 and it is still impossible to get them to sit still at the table.  We decided that it was way more important to eat.  Just eat.  My oldest was fed while he drove around the table in his little push car.  We'd scoop a spoon full of something very healthy in his mouth, every time he rode by.

Some might think it ridiculous, but this kid would not eat.  The doctors were concerned because he was so under weight.  Eating was just not important to him. It still isn't, but that driving around the table didn't last long at all.  Think in baby steps, but always hold fast to the things that are really crucial like eating, sleeping, hygiene, safety, going to the toilet and of course school and studies. 

We still have a difficult time getting the kids to eat with utensils.  We never pushed the issue too, much and we still have to continuously remind them to use their forks, but it slowly gets better.  Some other battles that we chose not to fight are having a blanket, writing in cursive, being a couple of minutes late to school, shoe tying and blowing off steam.

My 9 year old still carries around his blanket during private time.  Blankets are great for feeling independent and we feel there are so many other things we are trying to make better, that this is one we can continue to ignore.  We often put his blanket away and he can go an entire day without it.  So again, it slowly gets better, too.

I told the teacher of my youngest, that we felt cursive wasn't at all important and that she shouldn't push the issue, but she may certainly keep encouraging him and introducing him to it.  Spelling and reading are very important and he's still not good in reading so we'd rather they focus on that.

Getting ready for school is pretty much a nightmare.  If we are in terrible meltdown mode, well guess what, school can wait.  I need to calm my child first so he doesn't hurt himself or others.  If we're a couple of minutes late a few times a year, the school just has to deal with it.

JJ still can't tie his shoes, but velcro is still an option.   We learned early that pushing or forcing is absolutely not the solution.  We're not fretting that he can't tie his shoes yet, but we are not giving up either because is it important and he really should learn this at some point.  

Forcing is something we are going to cover more in detail on another blog.

If you find yourself arguing or getting frustrated in a situation with your children or students, ask yourself if it's worth the fight.  When you find the things that are most important DO stick to those and don't give in.

We hope these tips that we've learned might help you, too and I want to personally thank all of you for your lovely comments.  We feel if we can help just one person in some way, it's all worth it.

I've got this link if you want to read more about power struggles and choosing battles.

Best of luck and if you have any questions, we'll see if we can't get you answers.

10 Alternatives To Tying Shoelaces

Welcome to AuSumness.

Sticking with Autism entries on Monday's, we're back with some images, links, a video tutorial and 10 alternatives to tying shoelaces.

Both of my boys have difficulties tying shoes.  My nine year old has melt downs at the mention of practicing this very important task.  It came up in conversation with a friend of mine who has the same problem with her daughter.  I showed her an image of some elastic type laces I found at our local Brantano shoe store, that we use with my oldest.  They are unbelievably easy to install and use.  She also showed me what she uses.  Both are included in the list.

All 10 of these would be a great substitute for traditional shoe laces.  They are also great for runners, bikers and other athletes as well as for anyone who has difficulty tying shoes.  Personally, I'd love an excuse to STOP running and tie my shoes.  Hehehe...

Each image is linked up to a place where you can get more information and or purchase the product.  Some have videos, too.

These are similar to what I purchased.  Further down is the exact brand.

These looked interesting.  I like the tactile feel.

These are called Hickies and you can get them all over the place in a variety of sizes and colours.

These look pretty good, too.  Very easy to use.

This is what we purchased.  Years later and they are still perfect.  No problems in the wash either.

These you lace through, cut and lock.

More elastic shoelaces.

A different kind of system that also doesn't require tying.

These are what my friend uses.  They have an awesome array of colours.

This is another great system using magnetics!  Easy on and off.

I found this video with a totally different tying technique that JJ might be able to do.  It looks really simple.  Take a peep.  It's only under one minute. I'll be sure to have something awesome for him before I even mention the idea of another shoe tying exercise.  We call it in Dutch, the stick behind the door.  (De stok achter de deur.) This may be bribery, but learning how to tie is something we feel is very important.  I was using chocolate pudding, but he hates this exercise so much, even that's not good enough any more.  Hehehe...  I may have to hang gaming time over his head this time.

Rewarding is for another entry.

Best of luck with either shoe tying or finding a great alternative.

Security Blankets May Be More Helpful Than You Think

Welcome to AuSumness.

Today, we are looking into security blankets and those items that your children find security and comfort in.  We'll answer these frequently asked question, Is this heathy?  Are there advantages?  When should you take it away?  

Confession, I just threw away my blanket 2 years ago.  Hehehe...I always had a blanket, for as long as I can remember.  My parents were pretty ok with it.  I suppose they had to be because there was no chance in hell I was going to ditch it.  I didn't take it to school with me and when I was older, I would totally keep it out of sight.  I just would stretch it across my pillow to sleep.  That's it. 

Now, my youngest (9) still has a blanket.  I get a lot of grief from family and friends about it, but I tell them they just have to deal with it because I'm not taking my son's blanket away.  He used to take it everywhere and always had it on his person, but recently he's cutting back.  If he set it down somewhere, I would sneak it away and just lay it back on his bed.  He was taking it in on the bus, but not into school.  Recently, he leaves it at home.  Yay!  I've repeatedly warned him the dangers of losing his precious blanket if he always took it with him, outside of the house.

You may also be able to gauge how stressed your child is by how much they are using their blanket.

I'm so glad I thought to take his rather large blanket and cut it in fours, years ago.  This way I could wash it very often and he would always have a blanket available.  We have lost one so far, but we've got three more to go!  He's been easing way back with it's use.  I totally understood what it was like to have a blanket, what it felt like when I didn't have it and that awful feeling when someone  picked on me for having it or even worse, when my brothers would tease me by taking it away.  Ugh!  JJ's big brother has been told just how evil this is and to never do it.  Hehehe...

So, is it healthy to have a security blanket?  You bet'cha!  

Having the ability to form a deep attachment to people is really important and this is a great way to get started.  These attachments leads the child to independence as well.  My youngest is very independent as am I.  We have no problems being alone and feeling comfortable with it.  

Blankets, dolls or stuffed toys are a great tool to help with transitions as many of you may have experienced with your Autistic children, transitions can be very difficult.  They certainly are for JJ and his blanket is there to remind him of the peace, joy and comfort of home.  Having his blanket to hold, cuddle, smell and even chew calms him tremendously when we are out and about or in the car.

It is not recommended to take or exchange a blanket or doll if the child is not willing.  Unlike a pacifier that can physically damage, a blanket or stuffed toy cannot.  By doing this you would demonstrate that deep attachments are disposable.  

If you breast fed your child, that blanket might help greatly with the transition of weening.

It's not often that you see the bride carrying her blanket down the aisle or your boss taking it out of his brief case before he starts his busy day, right?  Let the child decide when it's time.

Thanks so much for joining us.  We have a Facebook Group, if you'd like to be a part of the discussion. We'd love to see you there.  Feel free to comment here as well.

Best of luck with your everyday dealings and Autism.

If you'd like to see more of our entries, feel free to scroll through the blog or visit our Autism Board on Pinterest for even more help.