ThUrSdAy Aug 2nd ? of the day

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
ThUrSdAy Aug 2nd ? of the day
18
Thu, 08-02-2007 - 10:00am

What do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 08-04-2007 - 7:24pm

Yes, I do, and I'm sorry I missed it! Was it good!

Denise

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
Sat, 08-04-2007 - 8:41pm
It was a good show. Heartbreaking really - What do you do with the Autistic kids? refresh my memory please





iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 08-05-2007 - 11:48am

I do several types of training:

ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) sets up situations for succes. For a child who's indifferent/oblivious to the world around them, learning to tune into a person's voice and understand commands is a HUGE thing. For example: a child is sitting, you tell him to stand up. (some use candy as rewards, I used different levels of praise instead) If he doesn't respond, you say "oops, try again, stand up!" If he doesn't then you actually HELP him to stand up and say it again. Give some praise. If he doesn't do it the first time but DOES after the second prompt, he gets a bigger praise. If he does it the first time, with no prompting, you go WILD! Whoop and hollar really loudly, swing them around, etc...rewards that are clear that they've done what was asked and it makes them WANT to do it because they want the reward. You can even do laminated books with pictures of rewards (trampoline, bubbles, etc). It's a system of rewards to get needed behaviors. Some suggest a program of 40 hours a week for children of this type of therapy can actually CURE some kids, and while it may not cure too many it REALLY increases cooperation of the kids. Helps them be a more active participant in the world around them.

RDI works more on developing interpersonal and relationship skills. Reading facial cues, playing with another person, taking turns, etc. This starts at a very basic level of learning to make eye contact as a method of communication...a skill many of these kids have lost or never had. Games such as "follow my eyes" to move the child from one beanbag to another...when they DO it you pick it up and swing them around while hooting and hollaring. THEY LOVE IT!

Verbal is another, teaching the child to respond to verbal mands without prompting...

There are tons of different ones, our team combines many of them. It's very rewarding but I want to finish my Master's degrees so I can be a team leader, more on the 'creating the programs' part of it!

You can get into this type of work just by being trained on the job by schools and centers, but I actually have my degree and am hired by the state and get sent into private homes.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Denise

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
Sun, 08-05-2007 - 5:36pm
The kids have therapist that come in a couple of times a week. Some of the schools are better at "handling" these types of

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 08-05-2007 - 6:43pm

There's something special about helping a child reach a milestone..especially when it's such a struggle to get there! Since the stats have gone from 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 150, I'm pretty sure schools are going to HAVE TO get REALLY good at handling these kids!

Denise

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
Sun, 08-05-2007 - 8:52pm
There is a school in our district where they have a whole wing for these kids. They go swimming 2 times a week. Once a week they go out into the community like Starbucks or Dairy Queen. I remember when I first started subbing. I go to this school for a sub job and the main teacher informs me that we're going to dairy queen. Boy was that an adventure. One of the kids liked to play escape artiest. 2 teachers had to keep the kid in a corner so she wouldn't bolt. That kid has changed so much since then. Although she has a problem with her clothes. She likes to take them off. Yikes!!!! We duck tape her pants backwards and her shirt to her belt. It's a sight to see.





iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 08-05-2007 - 11:11pm

Oh my! A good friend of mine is a teacher at a special school for the kids too severe to mainstream....one high school aged girl escaped from the school and ran out into the street...because a city bus drove by and she thought she missed the bus! My friend had to tackle her in the street, but two male passersby thought she was attacking her! THey jumped her while she was trying to restrain the girl...what a huge mess! She was battered and bruised and to add insult to injury the girl bit her so hard that she cut the muscle on her upper arm and needed medical attention!

Whooo... I prefer the younger kids! LOL!

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2006
Mon, 08-06-2007 - 12:16am
yikes, that poor lady. I like working with the teens. You just have to have eyes in the back of your head. One might hit you over the head with a chair or something. Boy, I could tell you stories.





Pages