Re: HF Little boy struggling at school

[Guest guest]

,

If your son is having trouble with behaviors in only one environment, I

suggest that the problem is the lack of familiarity with the

environment. How much preschool did he have before starting

kindergarten? How much playing school did you do? I would suggest the

fastest way to help your little guy learn what to do is to concentrate

on explaining the school day through role play, video or picture cards.

Some kids videos (lin is one) show kids going to school for the

first time. For Evy, we put together pictures of the various

activities (we had a picture for centers, circle time, PE, music,

lunch, recess, etc), and had him use a little wallet picture holder to

put them in order. He had to take out the picture of what was next and

put it outside the wallet. His aide also wore the picture schedule on

a necklace around her neck and reminded him what was coming up soon.

A lot of what the aide had to do was familiarize him with the sequence

of the day. It REALLY helped. Also, we used a reward system for good

behavior (he'd earn tickets and trade them in for small toys). We gave

him a quiet card to hold on to during times we were trying to teach him

to be quiet. We made sure he sat in the front of the class at circle

time. Make sure the room isn't too loud, or the schedule too random.

Sometimes Evy laughs and falls out of chairs too--it is a sign of

stress with him, or that he feels inadequate or doesn't understand the

expectations on him. Don't give up. Get creative. Remind the teacher

that he needs a lot of presets. If he can pull of church, he can do

school.

t Burk

juliet@...

www.autismteachingtools.com

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