Re: Using a spoon - how to encourage independence?

June 8, 2007

,

In some ways, your son sounds very much like mine. My son has an amazing sense

of direction (on his way to school every morning he will tell my husband when to

turn, where to turn, he can find the park, his school, the store, etc...). My

son is also seriously language delayed (he'll be 4 in September) but improving

all the time. At your son's age, he had fewer words and no learned phrases. He

was in Early Intervention for about a year with really no progress. We hired a

private speech therapist last June who comes to our house. In June, he had less

than 50 words. In August he finally " got " that things had names and that you

could get what you want by speaking and then his vocabulary really started to

expand. He start in a special needs classroom for autism in our local school

district in September (on his 3rd birthday) and his language skills have

continued to grow. He's at the point now where has a very large vocabularly

(probably 1000+ words) but he's still

difficult to understand. He gets 90 minutes a week of speech therapy throught

he school district and an hour at home with our private therapist. They are

currently working primarily on making him more understandable. He still can't

hold a conversation but we are seeing continuous improvement. If you aren't

getting specific one on one speech therapy, I'd highly recommend you do so.

My son has never had an issue with feeding himself. We had the opposite problem,

he's very defensive about his face and mouth so he didn't start eating solid

foods until he could feed himself. I would think that since your son has shown

that he can feed himself if he's hungry enough, I would think you should stop

jumping in to help him or at least waiting a bit before you jump in. You'll

have to figure out what your tolerance for it is, buy I know that I tend to be

too quick to help my son do something and it doesn't help him or encourage him

to do things on his own when he knows I'll just step in and do it. I have found

that I have to back off and let him fuss a bit sometimes to encourage him to do

things for himself.

We've battled with my son too over the dressing and undressing thing. A year

ago he had never dressed or undressed himself. One night I was in the bath tub

and he wanted to get into the tub with me. I told him he could if he would

undress himself and he did. Even now, if he wants something (like to get in the

bath) he will undress himself. But if I want him undressed (as in, if it isn't

his idea) I have to chase him down, pin him down and undress him. He's

prefectly capable of it, he just has ZERO interest in it unless it is his idea.

As far as dressing himself, this is something we've been working on but my son

would much rather run from me and laugh than actually dress himself. Sometimes

I can get him to " help " by putting his arms into his shirt sleeves or getting

him to pull up his own pants but for the most part, he needs MUCH assistance to

get dressed. At this point, I know it isn't that he can't, it is that he won't.

However, with lots of persistance and

praise when he cooperates or helps, we have seen that he will sometimes want to

get dressed and he will go get a Pull Up and put it on or on rare occasions,

actually go get shorts and/or a t-shirt and put it on - these are spontaneous

and there is no telling what he's thinking or why he's suddenly decided to go

get dressed. It helps if there is something he wants to do (like go outside

with dad) that we require him to get dressed to do (on those occasions where he

isn't already dressed) and he will occasionally do it. For the most part

though, it is much more " off " than " on. " We've tried offering him choices on

what to wear, we've tried praise, I've lost my temper and yelled at him. Nothing

works consistently. Sometimes he can focus and do it and often he can't. But we

are seeing progress and we just keep trying. If you can find an article of

clothing your son likes, that may help you get some practice going (my son had a

pair of sandals he loved and he would put

those on himself pretty regularly). But I can definitely tell you that me

wanting my son to dress himself doesn't help anything. If I NEED to have him

dressed, I need to dress him. His preschool has helped some with this too.

They've been working with him since September on potty training including

pulling down and up his own pants. I think the main thing is to know that you

just have to be consistent and persistent. It has taken a long time but I think

we are heading in the right direction, just not there yet.

I'm also researching diets (gluten/casein free, specific carbohydrate, body

ecology, etc...) I'm also trying to get an appointment with a pediatric

nutritionist. I actually found a DAN! doctor that comes here once a month so I

have an appointment at the end of this month and I'm really looking forward to

seeing what they say.

I recently started my son on oral vitamin B-12, a regular multivitamin (gummy

bear) and melatonin. I don't know what is helping but we've seen real

improvements in his language skills, and improvements in his behavior (off and

on), and his ability to reason seems to be improving. It is hard to say if he's

just hit a new stage of improvement, if it is the vitamins, the b-12 or the

melatonin (he's sleeping more and better than he ever has and that certainly

couldn't hurt).

Other than that, I'm really new here and new to biomedical stuff too. So I'm

doing lots of reading and trying to decide what I want to try next. I hope you

find some helpful information.

:-)Tera

mama to Cole 9-11-03 ASD, SID

and Wyatt 10-14-06

" It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without

accepting it " .

Using a spoon - how to encourage independence?

Hi Everyone

My little boy will be 2.5 next month but is still reluctant to spoon

feed himself. He has autism and ADHD.

is intelligent academically. He reads his numbers from 1 to 10

easily and can count the dots on a dice in a second. Also he has

hyperlexia (precocious reading age) and can read many words. He loves

counting and is very mathematical, and also very musical. He can sing

a tune back (with the words " ga ga ga ga ga " ) after hearing the tune

only once, and is starting to use correct words for some nursery

rhymes. Another thing that seems really smart is his sense of

direction. He seems to know where we are going simply by the routes we

take. He says 119 single words and around 10 learnt phrases, but is

unable to make his own sentences. His understanding is improving,

we're keeping our own speech very simple to help him understand us. At

the moment we're attending the EarlyBird course run by the National

Autistic Soceity and beginning to use PECS. Also considering the GFCF

diet after we see the dietician next month. At the moment I'm

gathering information from local supermarkets regarding their GF/CF

products and have also written to the Autism Research Unit regarding

the Sunderland Test for gluten and casein peptides.

Can anyone think of any ideas as to how we can encourage to

feed himself? He will eat some finger foods independently but will not

spoon feed himself anything that requires the use of a spoon such as

breakfast cereal. I have been using physical prompts since December

and if I put the food on the spoon for him, he can get it to his

mouth. But he won't go that extra mile and actually put the food on

the spoon himself. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I used to

think this was a problem with 's fine motor skills, but one

morning when he was extremely hungry he fed himself a few spoons

unaided (and that proved that he can do it). So it is just a choice

thing. He chooses not to spoon feed himself.

Also shows no interest at all in dressing or undressing.

If you want to know more about he has a blog here:

http://homepage. ntlworld. com/pernod/ blog/

Kind Regards,

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June 8, 2007

our son is nonverbal and just turned 4 years old.

Anybody have a similar story with pointers or

suggestions of things that have helped their child

develop speech?

Thanks-

--- tera <tera999@...> wrote:

> ,

>

> In some ways, your son sounds very much like mine.

> My son has an amazing sense of direction (on his way

> to school every morning he will tell my husband when

> to turn, where to turn, he can find the park, his

> school, the store, etc...). My son is also

> seriously language delayed (he'll be 4 in September)

> but improving all the time. At your son's age, he

> had fewer words and no learned phrases. He was in

> Early Intervention for about a year with really no

> progress. We hired a private speech therapist last

> June who comes to our house. In June, he had less

> than 50 words. In August he finally " got " that

> things had names and that you could get what you

> want by speaking and then his vocabulary really

> started to expand. He start in a special needs

> classroom for autism in our local school district in

> September (on his 3rd birthday) and his language

> skills have continued to grow. He's at the point

> now where has a very large vocabularly (probably

> 1000+ words) but he's still

> difficult to understand. He gets 90 minutes a week

> of speech therapy throught he school district and an

> hour at home with our private therapist. They are

> currently working primarily on making him more

> understandable. He still can't hold a conversation

> but we are seeing continuous improvement. If you

> aren't getting specific one on one speech therapy,

> I'd highly recommend you do so.

>

> My son has never had an issue with feeding himself.

> We had the opposite problem, he's very defensive

> about his face and mouth so he didn't start eating

> solid foods until he could feed himself. I would

> think that since your son has shown that he can feed

> himself if he's hungry enough, I would think you

> should stop jumping in to help him or at least

> waiting a bit before you jump in. You'll have to

> figure out what your tolerance for it is, buy I know

> that I tend to be too quick to help my son do

> something and it doesn't help him or encourage him

> to do things on his own when he knows I'll just step

> in and do it. I have found that I have to back off

> and let him fuss a bit sometimes to encourage him to

> do things for himself.

>

> We've battled with my son too over the dressing and

> undressing thing. A year ago he had never dressed

> or undressed himself. One night I was in the bath

> tub and he wanted to get into the tub with me. I

> told him he could if he would undress himself and he

> did. Even now, if he wants something (like to get

> in the bath) he will undress himself. But if I want

> him undressed (as in, if it isn't his idea) I have

> to chase him down, pin him down and undress him.

> He's prefectly capable of it, he just has ZERO

> interest in it unless it is his idea. As far as

> dressing himself, this is something we've been

> working on but my son would much rather run from me

> and laugh than actually dress himself. Sometimes I

> can get him to " help " by putting his arms into his

> shirt sleeves or getting him to pull up his own

> pants but for the most part, he needs MUCH

> assistance to get dressed. At this point, I know it

> isn't that he can't, it is that he won't. However,

> with lots of persistance and

> praise when he cooperates or helps, we have seen

> that he will sometimes want to get dressed and he

> will go get a Pull Up and put it on or on rare

> occasions, actually go get shorts and/or a t-shirt

> and put it on - these are spontaneous and there is

> no telling what he's thinking or why he's suddenly

> decided to go get dressed. It helps if there is

> something he wants to do (like go outside with dad)

> that we require him to get dressed to do (on those

> occasions where he isn't already dressed) and he

> will occasionally do it. For the most part though,

> it is much more " off " than " on. " We've tried

> offering him choices on what to wear, we've tried

> praise, I've lost my temper and yelled at him.

> Nothing works consistently. Sometimes he can focus

> and do it and often he can't. But we are seeing

> progress and we just keep trying. If you can find

> an article of clothing your son likes, that may help

> you get some practice going (my son had a pair of

> sandals he loved and he would put

> those on himself pretty regularly). But I can

> definitely tell you that me wanting my son to dress

> himself doesn't help anything. If I NEED to have

> him dressed, I need to dress him. His preschool

> has helped some with this too. They've been working

> with him since September on potty training including

> pulling down and up his own pants. I think the main

> thing is to know that you just have to be consistent

> and persistent. It has taken a long time but I

> think we are heading in the right direction, just

> not there yet.

>

> I'm also researching diets (gluten/casein free,

> specific carbohydrate, body ecology, etc...) I'm

> also trying to get an appointment with a pediatric

> nutritionist. I actually found a DAN! doctor that

> comes here once a month so I have an appointment at

> the end of this month and I'm really looking forward

> to seeing what they say.

>

> I recently started my son on oral vitamin B-12, a

> regular multivitamin (gummy bear) and melatonin. I

> don't know what is helping but we've seen real

> improvements in his language skills, and

> improvements in his behavior (off and on), and his

> ability to reason seems to be improving. It is hard

> to say if he's just hit a new stage of improvement,

> if it is the vitamins, the b-12 or the melatonin

> (he's sleeping more and better than he ever has and

> that certainly couldn't hurt).

>

> Other than that, I'm really new here and new to

> biomedical stuff too. So I'm doing lots of reading

> and trying to decide what I want to try next. I

> hope you find some helpful information.

>

> :-)Tera

> mama to Cole 9-11-03 ASD, SID

> and Wyatt 10-14-06

>

> " It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to

> entertain a thought without accepting it " .

>

> Using a spoon - how to encourage

> independence?

>

> Hi Everyone

>

> My little boy will be 2.5 next month but is still

> reluctant to spoon

> feed himself. He has autism and ADHD.

>

> is intelligent academically. He reads his

> numbers from 1 to 10

> easily and can count the dots on a dice in a second.

> Also he has

> hyperlexia (precocious reading age) and can read

> many words. He loves

> counting and is very mathematical, and also very

> musical. He can sing

> a tune back (with the words " ga ga ga ga ga " ) after

> hearing the tune

> only once, and is starting to use correct words for

> some nursery

> rhymes. Another thing that seems really smart is his

> sense of

> direction. He seems to know where we are going

> simply by the routes we

> take. He says 119 single words and around 10 learnt

> phrases, but is

> unable to make his own sentences. His understanding

> is improving,

> we're keeping our own speech very simple to help him

> understand us. At

> the moment we're attending the EarlyBird course run

> by the National

> Autistic Soceity and beginning to use PECS. Also

> considering the GFCF

> diet after we see the dietician next month. At the

> moment I'm

> gathering information from local supermarkets

> regarding their GF/CF

> products and have also written to the Autism

> Research Unit regarding

> the Sunderland Test for gluten and casein peptides.

>

> Can anyone think of any ideas as to how we can

> encourage to

> feed himself? He will eat some finger foods

> independently but will not

> spoon feed himself anything that requires the use of

> a spoon such as

> breakfast cereal. I have been using physical prompts

> since December

> and if I put the food on the spoon for him, he can

> get it to his

> mouth. But he won't go that extra mile and actually

> put the food on

> the spoon himself. Any suggestions would be

> appreciated. I used to

> think this was a problem with 's fine motor

> skills, but one

> morning when he was extremely hungry he fed himself

> a few spoons

> unaided (and that proved that he can do it). So it

> is just a choice

> thing. He chooses not to spoon feed himself.

>

=== message truncated ===

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play

Sims Stories at Games.

http://sims./

June 8, 2007

persevere. persevere, persevere. My son was also non verbal at age 4 and we

just kept on pushing the speech and tring to increase independance and the art

of being a helper, no matter how small the task that he is able to increase self

esteem. My son is now 7 and while he is selective mute he will at least speak

to me in a way i can understand. We also bagan using sign so that my son can

communicate with others when he chooses not to be verbal. A behavioural

intervention lady told me that good intervention should be 80% things they do

know to increase self esteem and 20% new content.

It is a long long road we are travelling.

Using a spoon - how to encourage

> independence?

>

> Hi Everyone

>

> My little boy will be 2.5 next month but is still

> reluctant to spoon

> feed himself. He has autism and ADHD.

>

> is intelligent academically. He reads his

> numbers from 1 to 10

> easily and can count the dots on a dice in a second.

> Also he has

> hyperlexia (precocious reading age) and can read

> many words. He loves

> counting and is very mathematical, and also very

> musical. He can sing

> a tune back (with the words " ga ga ga ga ga " ) after

> hearing the tune

> only once, and is starting to use correct words for

> some nursery

> rhymes. Another thing that seems really smart is his

> sense of

> direction. He seems to know where we are going

> simply by the routes we

> take. He says 119 single words and around 10 learnt

> phrases, but is

> unable to make his own sentences. His understanding

> is improving,

> we're keeping our own speech very simple to help him

> understand us. At

> the moment we're attending the EarlyBird course run

> by the National

> Autistic Soceity and beginning to use PECS. Also

> considering the GFCF

> diet after we see the dietician next month. At the

> moment I'm

> gathering information from local supermarkets

> regarding their GF/CF

> products and have also written to the Autism

> Research Unit regarding

> the Sunderland Test for gluten and casein peptides.

>

> Can anyone think of any ideas as to how we can

> encourage to

> feed himself? He will eat some finger foods

> independently but will not

> spoon feed himself anything that requires the use of

> a spoon such as

> breakfast cereal. I have been using physical prompts

> since December

> and if I put the food on the spoon for him, he can

> get it to his

> mouth. But he won't go that extra mile and actually

> put the food on

> the spoon himself. Any suggestions would be

> appreciated. I used to

> think this was a problem with 's fine motor

> skills, but one

> morning when he was extremely hungry he fed himself

> a few spoons

> unaided (and that proved that he can do it). So it

> is just a choice

> thing. He chooses not to spoon feed himself.

>

=== message truncated ===

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _

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Sims Stories at Games.

http://sims. /

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June 9, 2007

Hi Tera

Thank you so much for your wonderful and interesting reply. I loved

reading it and you make so much sense.

Regards,

>

> ,

>

> In some ways, your son sounds very much like mine. My son has an

amazing sense of direction (on his way to school every morning he will

tell my husband when to turn, where to turn, he can find the park, his

school, the store, etc...). My son is also seriously language delayed

(he'll be 4 in September) but improving all the time. At your son's

age, he had fewer words and no learned phrases. He was in Early

Intervention for about a year with really no progress. We hired a

private speech therapist last June who comes to our house. In June,

he had less than 50 words. In August he finally " got " that things had

names and that you could get what you want by speaking and then his

vocabulary really started to expand. He start in a special needs

classroom for autism in our local school district in September (on his

3rd birthday) and his language skills have continued to grow. He's at

the point now where has a very large vocabularly (probably 1000+

words) but he's still

> difficult to understand. He gets 90 minutes a week of speech

therapy throught he school district and an hour at home with our

private therapist. They are currently working primarily on making him

more understandable. He still can't hold a conversation but we are

seeing continuous improvement. If you aren't getting specific one on

one speech therapy, I'd highly recommend you do so.

>

> My son has never had an issue with feeding himself. We had the

opposite problem, he's very defensive about his face and mouth so he

didn't start eating solid foods until he could feed himself. I would

think that since your son has shown that he can feed himself if he's

hungry enough, I would think you should stop jumping in to help him or

at least waiting a bit before you jump in. You'll have to figure out

what your tolerance for it is, buy I know that I tend to be too quick

to help my son do something and it doesn't help him or encourage him

to do things on his own when he knows I'll just step in and do it. I

have found that I have to back off and let him fuss a bit sometimes to

encourage him to do things for himself.

>

> We've battled with my son too over the dressing and undressing

thing. A year ago he had never dressed or undressed himself. One

night I was in the bath tub and he wanted to get into the tub with me.

I told him he could if he would undress himself and he did. Even now,

if he wants something (like to get in the bath) he will undress

himself. But if I want him undressed (as in, if it isn't his idea) I

have to chase him down, pin him down and undress him. He's prefectly

capable of it, he just has ZERO interest in it unless it is his idea.

As far as dressing himself, this is something we've been working on

but my son would much rather run from me and laugh than actually dress

himself. Sometimes I can get him to " help " by putting his arms into

his shirt sleeves or getting him to pull up his own pants but for the

most part, he needs MUCH assistance to get dressed. At this point, I

know it isn't that he can't, it is that he won't. However, with lots

of persistance and

> praise when he cooperates or helps, we have seen that he will

sometimes want to get dressed and he will go get a Pull Up and put it

on or on rare occasions, actually go get shorts and/or a t-shirt and

put it on - these are spontaneous and there is no telling what he's

thinking or why he's suddenly decided to go get dressed. It helps if

there is something he wants to do (like go outside with dad) that we

require him to get dressed to do (on those occasions where he isn't

already dressed) and he will occasionally do it. For the most part

though, it is much more " off " than " on. " We've tried offering him

choices on what to wear, we've tried praise, I've lost my temper and

yelled at him. Nothing works consistently. Sometimes he can focus and

do it and often he can't. But we are seeing progress and we just keep

trying. If you can find an article of clothing your son likes, that

may help you get some practice going (my son had a pair of sandals he

loved and he would put

> those on himself pretty regularly). But I can definitely tell you

that me wanting my son to dress himself doesn't help anything. If I

NEED to have him dressed, I need to dress him. His preschool has

helped some with this too. They've been working with him since

September on potty training including pulling down and up his own

pants. I think the main thing is to know that you just have to be

consistent and persistent. It has taken a long time but I think we

are heading in the right direction, just not there yet.

>

> I'm also researching diets (gluten/casein free, specific

carbohydrate, body ecology, etc...) I'm also trying to get an

appointment with a pediatric nutritionist. I actually found a DAN!

doctor that comes here once a month so I have an appointment at the

end of this month and I'm really looking forward to seeing what they say.

>

> I recently started my son on oral vitamin B-12, a regular

multivitamin (gummy bear) and melatonin. I don't know what is helping

but we've seen real improvements in his language skills, and

improvements in his behavior (off and on), and his ability to reason

seems to be improving. It is hard to say if he's just hit a new stage

of improvement, if it is the vitamins, the b-12 or the melatonin (he's

sleeping more and better than he ever has and that certainly couldn't

hurt).

>

> Other than that, I'm really new here and new to biomedical stuff

too. So I'm doing lots of reading and trying to decide what I want to

try next. I hope you find some helpful information.

>

> :-)Tera

> mama to Cole 9-11-03 ASD, SID

> and Wyatt 10-14-06

>

> " It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a

thought without accepting it " .

>

> Using a spoon - how to encourage independence?

>

> Hi Everyone

>

> My little boy will be 2.5 next month but is still reluctant to spoon

> feed himself. He has autism and ADHD.

>

> is intelligent academically. He reads his numbers from 1 to 10

> easily and can count the dots on a dice in a second. Also he has

> hyperlexia (precocious reading age) and can read many words. He loves

> counting and is very mathematical, and also very musical. He can sing

> a tune back (with the words " ga ga ga ga ga " ) after hearing the tune

> only once, and is starting to use correct words for some nursery

> rhymes. Another thing that seems really smart is his sense of

> direction. He seems to know where we are going simply by the routes we

> take. He says 119 single words and around 10 learnt phrases, but is

> unable to make his own sentences. His understanding is improving,

> we're keeping our own speech very simple to help him understand us. At

> the moment we're attending the EarlyBird course run by the National

> Autistic Soceity and beginning to use PECS. Also considering the GFCF

> diet after we see the dietician next month. At the moment I'm

> gathering information from local supermarkets regarding their GF/CF

> products and have also written to the Autism Research Unit regarding

> the Sunderland Test for gluten and casein peptides.

>

> Can anyone think of any ideas as to how we can encourage to

> feed himself? He will eat some finger foods independently but will not

> spoon feed himself anything that requires the use of a spoon such as

> breakfast cereal. I have been using physical prompts since December

> and if I put the food on the spoon for him, he can get it to his

> mouth. But he won't go that extra mile and actually put the food on

> the spoon himself. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I used to

> think this was a problem with 's fine motor skills, but one

> morning when he was extremely hungry he fed himself a few spoons

> unaided (and that proved that he can do it). So it is just a choice

> thing. He chooses not to spoon feed himself.

>

> Also shows no interest at all in dressing or undressing.

>

> If you want to know more about he has a blog here:

> http://homepage. ntlworld. com/pernod/ blog/

>

> Kind Regards,

>

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June 9, 2007

Hi ,

WOW! Sounds so very similar to my 3.5 yo.

My daughters developmental doc told us we have to remember that AS is a Developmental Disability and will effect many things...that said..

Have you ever tried a weighted spoon? Our OT gave us one and it seems to help.

My dd is 3.5 and just started dressing and undressing...

It is frustrating when these kids who are so smart cant/wont/don't do some of the "simple" things...I understand :-)

- C.Mom to Cassie 16 PCOS, Austin 14 ADHD and a 3.5 HFA/AS & SPD/SID

( ) Using a spoon - how to encourage independence?

Hi EveryoneMy little boy will be 2.5 next month but is still reluctant to spoonfeed himself. He has autism and ADHD. is intelligent academically. He reads his numbers from 1 to 10easily and can count the dots on a dice in a second. Also he hashyperlexia (precocious reading age) and can read many words. He lovescounting and is very mathematical, and also very musical. He can singa tune back (with the words "ga ga ga ga ga") after hearing the tuneonly once, and is starting to use correct words for some nurseryrhymes. Another thing that seems really smart is his sense ofdirection. He seems to know where we are going simply by the routes wetake. He says 119 single words and around 10 learnt phrases, but isunable to make his own sentences. His understanding is improving,we're keeping our own speech very simple to help him understand us. Atthe moment we're attending the EarlyBird course run by the NationalAutistic Soceity and beginning to use PECS. Also considering the GFCFdiet after we see the dietician next month. At the moment I'mgathering information from local supermarkets regarding their GF/CFproducts and have also written to the Autism Research Unit regardingthe Sunderland Test for gluten and casein peptides. Can anyone think of any ideas as to how we can encourage tofeed himself? He will eat some finger foods independently but will notspoon feed himself anything that requires the use of a spoon such asbreakfast cereal. I have been using physical prompts since Decemberand if I put the food on the spoon for him, he can get it to hismouth. But he won't go that extra mile and actually put the food onthe spoon himself. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I used tothink this was a problem with 's fine motor skills, but onemorning when he was extremely hungry he fed himself a few spoonsunaided (and that proved that he can do it). So it is just a choicething. He chooses not to spoon feed himself.Also shows no interest at all in dressing or undressing.If you want to know more about he has a blog here:http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/Kind Regards,

June 9, 2007

Sounds to me as if you need to be less available to help him. If he is really hungry, he will do it. I think the more he does it, the easier it will get for him to do it. So if it were me, I would take my time getting over to help him so much so that he decides to do it himself. You also might try buying cereal that is large (or as large as you can get) so it is easier for him to catch the food on his spoon. Also maybe try giving him a soup spoon - the larger spoon - so he has more surface.

RoxannaAutism Happens

( ) Using a spoon - how to encourage independence?

Hi EveryoneMy little boy will be 2.5 next month but is still reluctant to spoonfeed himself. He has autism and ADHD. is intelligent academically. He reads his numbers from 1 to 10easily and can count the dots on a dice in a second. Also he hashyperlexia (precocious reading age) and can read many words. He lovescounting and is very mathematical, and also very musical. He can singa tune back (with the words "ga ga ga ga ga") after hearing the tuneonly once, and is starting to use correct words for some nurseryrhymes. Another thing that seems really smart is his sense ofdirection. He seems to know where we are going simply by the routes wetake. He says 119 single words and around 10 learnt phrases, but isunable to make his own sentences. His understanding is improving,we're keeping our own speech very simple to help him understand us. Atthe moment we're attending the EarlyBird course run by the NationalAutistic Soceity and beginning to use PECS. Also considering the GFCFdiet after we see the dietician next month. At the moment I'mgathering information from local supermarkets regarding their GF/CFproducts and have also written to the Autism Research Unit regardingthe Sunderland Test for gluten and casein peptides. Can anyone think of any ideas as to how we can encourage tofeed himself? He will eat some finger foods independently but will notspoon feed himself anything that requires the use of a spoon such asbreakfast cereal. I have been using physical prompts since Decemberand if I put the food on the spoon for him, he can get it to hismouth. But he won't go that extra mile and actually put the food onthe spoon himself. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I used tothink this was a problem with 's fine motor skills, but onemorning when he was extremely hungry he fed himself a few spoonsunaided (and that proved that he can do it). So it is just a choicething. He chooses not to spoon feed himself.Also shows no interest at all in dressing or undressing.If you want to know more about he has a blog here:http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/Kind Regards,

June 9, 2007

Yeah, what Roxanna said. It should be easier to

motivate him to do this because hunger is a powerful

force. If you don't help at all, I bet he will start

trying very soon.

Kaye

--- Roxanna <madideas@...> wrote:

> Sounds to me as if you need to be less available to

> help him. If he is really hungry, he will do it. I

> think the more he does it, the easier it will get

> for him to do it. So if it were me, I would take my

> time getting over to help him so much so that he

> decides to do it himself. You also might try

> buying cereal that is large (or as large as you can

> get) so it is easier for him to catch the food on

> his spoon. Also maybe try giving him a soup spoon -

> the larger spoon - so he has more surface.

>

> Roxanna

> Autism Happens

> ( ) Using a spoon - how to

> encourage independence?

>

> Hi Everyone

>

> My little boy will be 2.5 next month but is still

> reluctant to spoon

> feed himself. He has autism and ADHD.

>

> is intelligent academically. He reads his

> numbers from 1 to 10

> easily and can count the dots on a dice in a

> second. Also he has

> hyperlexia (precocious reading age) and can read

> many words. He loves

> counting and is very mathematical, and also very

> musical. He can sing

> a tune back (with the words " ga ga ga ga ga " )

> after hearing the tune

> only once, and is starting to use correct words

> for some nursery

> rhymes. Another thing that seems really smart is

> his sense of

> direction. He seems to know where we are going

> simply by the routes we

> take. He says 119 single words and around 10

> learnt phrases, but is

> unable to make his own sentences. His

> understanding is improving,

> we're keeping our own speech very simple to help

> him understand us. At

> the moment we're attending the EarlyBird course

> run by the National

> Autistic Soceity and beginning to use PECS. Also

> considering the GFCF

> diet after we see the dietician next month. At the

> moment I'm

> gathering information from local supermarkets

> regarding their GF/CF

> products and have also written to the Autism

> Research Unit regarding

> the Sunderland Test for gluten and casein

> peptides.

>

> Can anyone think of any ideas as to how we can

> encourage to

> feed himself? He will eat some finger foods

> independently but will not

> spoon feed himself anything that requires the use

> of a spoon such as

> breakfast cereal. I have been using physical

> prompts since December

> and if I put the food on the spoon for him, he can

> get it to his

> mouth. But he won't go that extra mile and

> actually put the food on

> the spoon himself. Any suggestions would be

> appreciated. I used to

> think this was a problem with 's fine motor

> skills, but one

> morning when he was extremely hungry he fed

> himself a few spoons

> unaided (and that proved that he can do it). So it

> is just a choice

> thing. He chooses not to spoon feed himself.

>

> Also shows no interest at all in dressing

> or undressing.

>

> If you want to know more about he has a

> blog here:

> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/

>

> Kind Regards,

>

________________________________________________________________________________\

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June 10, 2007

Hello ,

Your son sounds so similiar to my son, right down to his obessession with signs,

his sense

of direction and his being very musical and mathematical.

I have been struggling with the same issues -- self feeding and self

dressing/undressing

for a long time. Kalen will be 3 in August and will now use a spoon by himself

most of the

time but he is still pretty sloppy. He usually resists using a fork as well.

What worked for

us was our hand over his hand holding the spoon for every bite for a long time.

As we

were doing this we would say " scoop, hold it straight and bring it to your

mouth. " He

oftentimes resisted and wanted to just use his hands, so at that point we took

the food

away and said that if he wanted to eat, he had to use the spoon. Usually he just

said he

was done. What really seemed to be the turning point for him was needing to use

a spoon

to eat ice cream at a birthday party. We don't usually give him sweets so he was

very

excited to have some ice cream. We told him that he needed to use a spoon and do

it by

himself or he wouldn't get to eat the ice cream. It worked! We also praised

Kalen whenever

he used the spoon by himself.

We do the same thing with dressing/undressing. We put our hand over his hand and

help

him pull down his pants or pull a shirt over his head. It gets very tedious day

after day but

we're hoping one of these days it will finally sink in. We see small

improvements so we're

hopeful.

Good luck,

Colleen