Spotting Signs of Autism

The CDC says, "If you're concerned - act early."  However, most people don't know when to be concerned. I am very excited to be speaking at the Southington Library in Southington, CT tonight at 6:30pm. The talk will go from 6:30-7:30pm and I will be answering autism related questions and selling my co-authored book Emotional Mastery for Adults with Asperger's after the Q&A. If you plan on going please pre-register. All attendees will get a code for a free issue of Autism Parenting Magazine.

To register for this program on-line go to www.southingtonlibrary.org, click on Calendar or contact the Reference Department at 860-628-0947 x5.

Hope to see you there!

Sneaking Educational Activities into Birthday Parties

These were the plates that we used from www.orientaltrading.com.

As always I try to squeeze in the educational lessons even at my kid's birthday parties.  Of course, it's important to have a mix of games.  Not all of them have to be educational.  This year's theme was unicorns and rainbows for my daughters.  So we had some classic party games like "Pin the Horn on the Unicorn" (instead of pin the tail on the donkey) and plastic multi-colored "Unicorn Shoes" (instead of horse shoes).  However, I try to have activities to keep the kids busy while we set up the next game or get the cake ready. 
For instance, a big floor puzzle that everyone can work together on is fun.  A craft area is always a must, too.  We had simple unicorn themed mazes, connect the dots pages and coloring pages for the younger kids and then more complex mazes and word searches for the older kids.  I use www.colormountain.com and www.educationalcoloringpages.com to print out free pages for my kids to color year round.  Now-a-days there is no reason why we should pay ten bucks for a coloring book, if you have a computer and printer at home. 
As a science lesson, I taught the kids the colors of the rainbow and their order. I had the help of Sid the Science Kid (I love that show).  We sang "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet, too." 

For my son's Sesame Street birthday party we played Match the Rubber Ducky Number with rubber duckies from Oriental Trading.
The kids made foam Ernie, Bert, Grover, Elmo, and Cookie Monster out of pre-cut foam shapes and glue dots.  Goldfish were served in a goldfish bowl.  Instead of goodie bags everyone got a ziploc bag filled with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a miniature foam cookie monster attached to the front.  Sesame street coloring pages were spread out in the craft room.  Ernie's "123 Count with Me" Sesame Street video was played while we got the cake ready. Just for fun we provided kick balls in primary colors. Whatever the occasion - sneak education into your kid's lives and have fun!

Sneaking Education into a Night Out or a Night In

I love to sneak educational activities into everyday experiences wherever I can, including when I go out to dinner with my family.  For our latest trip to Friendly's, we kept my four and five year old happy, quiet, and entertained while waiting for their food by using a Highlights product found at Target.
I love Target! I am always there buying something.  A card, diapers, milk, school supplies, toys, board games, bedding, etc and then I get to reward myself for checking one more thing off my to-do list by buying a caffeinated beverage at Starbucks.  So the other day I was shopping at Target and was pleasantly surprised to find some neat educational products that I hadn't seen before in the aisles. I think their favorite was the flip notebook of Hidden Pictures that came with stickers by Highlights.

 

Another great product we found at Target was paint. My kids love to paint pictures. However, I think they have the most fun when they mix two colors together.

The primary colors are red, yellow and blue.

The secondary colors are green, orange and purple.

 

Mixing Equations

red + yellow = orange

yellow + blue = green

blue + red = purple

To further the fun, check out the science experiment at http://www.kidzone.ws/science/rainbow.htm.

Another great idea when eatting out with kids, is to use the seating arrangements of the restaurant as math word problems. This is a fun way to practice math skills. For instance, ask questions such as:

• How many chairs do we have?
• How many people can sit here?
• How many people are seated in this row?
• How many more can be added?
• If there are three rows of booths with six booths each how many booths is that?
• If each booth sits 4-6 people, then what is the maximum occupancy of customers?

For family fun, try some board games.  For kid games that 4year old to adults can play, try Super Why ABC Letter Game, Scrabble Junior, Rivers, Roads & Rails, and Pegs in the Park.

So sneak education into your kids lives today and have fun!

 

What to do with kids on days off

When people think of preparing for a major storm, they think of buying food, water and batteries.  However, as a mom, (and a life-long resident of CT), I also plan on ways to entertain my kids without power.  If I'm not prepared, I'll have to listen to hours of whining. 
Books-
I went to the library and got books that they haven't read yet.
Crafts-

I stock up a crate with construction paper, markers, crayons, paper lunch bags, glue and paste, kid scissors, paper plates, pipe cleaners, yarn, empty cereal boxes, etc.  I print out crafts to make with them so if the power goes out, we have something to create and then play with for hours on end.  So far we have printed out Dora's Mermaid Puppet Theatre and Puppets from www.Nickjr.com.  The theatre is 4 pages hat we glued together with a gluestick and then used Elmer's glue to stick to the back of a family-size empty Kix cereal box. The ocean floor is glued to a regular size Cascadian Farm cereal box.  Although the mermaids are made to standup we had a problem getting them to stand. So for some of the puppets, we glued them to cereal box cardboard and folded them but cut off one of the half circles on the bottom to help them stand better. For other puppets, we stuck craft sticks (or popsicle sticks) between the cardboard.

Paper bags are used to make puppets, and my girls retell a story that we read them while ducked down behind our coffee table. My favorite templates are from www.abcteach.com.  Of course, it's fun to dress up and put on a play or have a dance party (if you have a radio with batteries or tunes on your phone) then drag out the dress up clothes or let your kids raid your closet.
Games-
Board games come out and puzzles are dusted off to create old-time family fun.  When things really get bad, like last year's storm when we were without power for 8 days, we move in with my parents.  It's like a camp out.  We huddle around the fire place in the family room and play outburst, which is a blast to play with a ton of people.  You shout out a topic and they have to guess the ten things listed, (ie. ways to cook potatoes-au gratin, baked, mashed, etc.). Get creative and have fun!  PLAY with YOUR KIDS! We get so busy that we forget to stop and have fun with our kids.  So make the best of the storm and PLAY!

Solving Sensory Sensitivities While Shopping

If you are a reader of my blog then you should know by now that I have a daughter with Asperger’s. One of the first tell-tale signs of her having Asperger's was the sensory sensitivities that she had while grocery shopping. For awhile, I gave up shopping all-together. I would use delivery services like Peapod.com to get my groceries. If I forgot anything I would ask my friend/neighbor (Ivana) to pick me up something when she went to the store. Eventually, I learned about sensory issues. Some kids have S.P.D. (sensory processing disorder) or S.I.D. (sensory integrative dysfunction). Not all kids with sensory issues have Asperger's. However, children with Asperger's have sensory issues.

Working with developmental specialists and occupational therapists, researching the topic, and joining the Sensory Smart Mom's support group helped me better understand the condition and better manage the issues.

To better understand sensory issues you can read the previous blog posts that are sensory related.

Thankfully, I have a daughter that can think back (after the meltdown) and tell me what was bothering her. To people with sensory issues, the hum of the freezers can be as loud and bothersome as a chainsaw is to the general public. The fluorescent bulbs and other lighting used to display food and signs are as bright as staring directly at the sun without sunglasses. To people with sensory issues, these everyday noises, illumination, etc. are accentuated. Unlike the average person that can tune-it-out. These sensory issues are severe and bothersome enough to interrupt daily activities.

Eventually, I learned to carry a little bag with sunglasses, a hat (with a visor), a sweater and noise reduction headphones. If they don't want to keep noise reduction headphones on, you can try to use headphones that play music. Let the child decide the volume. The music might help distract them until you’re out of the store. For some cool bag ideas checkout the post about backpacks. If your child is having a "sensitive day" don't torture them by bringing them to the store if you have another way of getting the item (ie. can your husband stop on his way home, can someone watch your child while you run in the store). If you have to go into the store, bring“the bag” and try to only get one or two things and get out of the store quickly. Now is not the time to stroll down every aisle (although you might need the break). If you need to get out of the house, go for a walk at a park or somewhere else outside where your child won't be overwhelmed. If you have any questions on any of these items or ideas please feel free to comment or leave me a message.

October is National Book Month

October is National Book Month, which is sponsored by the National Book Foundation in an effort to celebrate how books can "open our minds." As an author, freelance writer, tutor and mother - I couldn't agree more that books help "open our minds." In fact, I have written a series of children's books to help educate children and adults on Asperger's Syndrome and language skills. The first book in the series has been picked by a few publishing companies and I have the pleasure of announcing that I have chosen one of them to sign a contract. "Grace Asperger Goes to School" will be printed in approximately the next 6-12 months. To help fund this project please feel free to donate (anonymously or using your name) by going to www.GoFundMe.com/publishLeslie.

Parents have asked me how to explain Asperger's to their children. My hope is that each book will help people better understand how people with Asperger's think very literally while teaching some English terms at the same time.

My idea for these books came to me when my oldest daughter (that has Asperger's), was told to "throw out her ice cream cone." We were at a restaurant and I was in a hurry to get going. She looked at me and then turned to stare at the garbage half-way across the room. She shrugged her shoulders, then "threw the ice cream" at the garbage. Due to the fact, that it was one of those garbage containers that you have to push open, the ice cream splattered all over the place. Many people stared at us horrified at the mess. My daughter looked at me innocently, and said, "What? You said to THROW it out." I burst out laughing and said, "Yes. Yes I did." Then, I proceeded to clean up the mess. However, the lesson was far from being over. I had many people talking about me. I'm not deaf, I heard the comments: How can she just laugh?; Why isn't she punishing her daughter?; If that was my kid... It made me realize that Asperger's is a hidden handicap. My daughter "looks" normal and therefore people assume she is being a "bad" kid when she does something out of the ordinary. My hope is to educate kids but adults, too. 

 Celebrate National Book Month by finding and reading a book that "opens your mind."

Selling Lesson Plans

Many teachers can relate to juggling bills.  I thought I'd share this great article on how teachers can sell their lesson plans for money.  I think this is a great way for people to earn extra cash.

Teacher article on AOL written by Claire Gordon

1st-Grade Teacher Deanna Jump Earns $1 Million Selling Lesson Plans

• By Claire Gordon
• Posted Oct 1st 2012 @ 2:02PM

 

How to reward good teachers -- and punish the bad -- is one of the most fraught issues in education. But now talented teachers can earn a bonus without going through unions or principals or politicians. On TeachersPayTeachers.com, they can sell their lesson plans, worksheets and quizzes for a few dollars -- dollars that can add up, at least in one case, to over a million.

Deanna Jump, a first-grade teacher from central Georgia, is TeachersPayTeachers' first millionaire, reports CNN. Big money certainly wasn't the reason Jump got into teaching 17 years ago. "Like probably 90 percent of the teachers in America, I was juggling bills," she told CNN. "Like, 'OK, I can pay the electricity bill this week, and I've got seven more days before they turn off the water.' "

Then three years ago, Jump joined TeachersPayTeachers. Since then, she's posted 60 items, including the best-selling gingerbread-man-themed activity packet, and amassed almost 18,000 followers. Many of her resources are free to download, and most cost less than $10. But with over 160,000 sales, the mother of three and grandmother of two has found herself snugly in the "1 percent."

TeachersPayTeachers is one of several start-ups transforming the teaching profession, reports TechCrunch. New edtech platforms not only help teachers collaborate; they also allow teachers to reward their especially innovative or hard-working colleagues. Kindergarten teachers "don't have the kinds of textbooks and materials available for grade-level teachers," Jump told the teaching blog KQED last year, when her earnings were still in the six digits. "So I began creating my own."

 

TeachersPayTeachers has generated $14 million in extra teacher pay since Paul Edelman, a former New York City public school teacher, founded it in 2006 -- and it's growing exponentially, spreading the best resources by the best teachers across the country, to the benefit of students, as well as educators with an entrepreneurial streak. With her extra earnings, Jump funded a scholarship at the private school her teenager attends, reported KQED.

Many teachers are struggling on their current salaries (an average of $55,000 a year, according to Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers), taking on second jobs to pay the bills. According to a controversial report from the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, however, teachers are actually overpaid, because when they transition to the private sector, they usually take a pay cut.

But as Jump proves, teachers can win big in the free market. After all, 2.7 million Americans teach kindergarten through high school, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And that's a lot of potential customers.