spacial awareness

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2007
spacial awareness
6
Sun, 06-24-2007 - 3:15pm
hi,
does anybody have any suggestions on teaching a child with pdd/nos spacial awareness.
at the moment we have tried the imaginary bubble around people,not to burst it,but its not working.he's having quite a few'accidents'at the moment,esp when playing out with friends.
only today hes gone over backwards on a bike that was left on the pavement,all the other kids saw it,not mine.he lied there like a beached whale screaming and crying,until dh went to get him.don't worry he's fine,with ds it's the shock that makes him cry.
are there any other techniques i can use?
from a mum that sounds like a robot,watch where your going,watch the step,watch the road,etc,
yvonne xxx
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-12-2005
Sun, 06-24-2007 - 4:20pm

Yvonne,

This is one of those things where there's no magic pill to deal with. The bubble thing didn't work with my kids either. We used a covertion of mine and DH's military training and that worked really well with them, but it took time.

The first thing we did was work on the body-space buffer zone around each person, since that's the core of spacial perception. Instead of using that invisible bubble we used the arm's length rule. This rule states that the proper space betwen two soldiers at muster (standing shoulder to shoulder and facing the same direction) is the length of the left arm. When recruits fall into frontline formation anyone with a person to their left immediately raises their left arm out straight and the other person adjusts so that thier shoulder is just at the tip of the fingers of the other person. All recruits standing behind them line up behind these people using the same guide to distance them from the person in front of them. So, we had our kids line up in a row and practice doing this as a frontline formation.

For face-to-face we use the same rule, but it's for the 'person with the longer arms' reach. In other words, when facing each other two people should be seperated by the length of the taller person's arm length or reach. Closer than that is a breech of body-space, father apart than that implies disrespect or fear of one or the other. If your son is the taller person remind him that being too close can also be intimidating to the other person.

This isn't all there is too it. 'Arm's Length' is just rule #1. There are other rules too, but that's what we started with. With our girls using their own arms gave them a sensory supported guide to go by, where as the Invisible Bubble didn't. They need to see it to understand it, KWIM?

Anyhwo, don't know if that helps, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

~Candes

APOV on Autism

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2007
Sun, 06-24-2007 - 4:29pm

hi candes,
thanks for that,i'll certainly give that one a go.i think that might work as hes very good at understanding things that are visable,the bubble isn't.
he might have had trouble imagining something that wasn't there,but an arm is there and visible.great idea.
thankyou
yvonne xxx

ps, dh loves the book so far.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Sun, 06-24-2007 - 7:01pm

Yvonne,


A thought occurred to me reading your post: Have you had his eyesight tested properly (by a pediatric opthamologist)?

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-21-2007
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 4:10pm
hi paula,
you did make me chuckle a little.
ds had his eyes tested 6 months ago,as his grandad says hes a bit of a sniperhe wears glasses for reading and tv,but thats about it.
thats one reason we did get his eyes checked because he didn't seem to see things around him,like kicking his shoes off when on the sofa then tripping over them when he gets up,someones moved the door,or the wall moved.
now he laughs at it,6 months ago it was a different matter.....
yvonne xxx
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-10-2006
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 5:04pm

Hi Yvonne!


We struggle with this

< < Photobucket

Christine

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 1:17pm

When Chris was in 4th grade I went on a field trip with his class. I remember watching him in the group and he didn't notice the space between himself and other kids. When I took pics I noticed how strange it looked, but then pushed it into the back of my mind (geesh, like I have been doing with everything the last 11 yrs.)

He's always close too me, but I have never paid attention to it. I think because I'm so used to it, it didn't bother me....

This year is when of course I started suspecting AS, and the teacher made mention to when he talks to her, he's right there in her face. And then I started thinking about last year....

Is this part of the Visual Processing his first Physcologist mentioned he had? I get confused with this spaciel thing.

lainie