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As most of you will know we're partway through the Easter holidays. I probably shouldn't say this, but I will, as it's true - I find the school holidays very stressful and don't really look forward to them.
Looking after Tiddler on his own is fine, and looking after Nipper on his own is fine, but the two of them together is a nightmare (Miss Muffett pretty much looks after herself these days)! They want to play together but Tiddler doesn't play to Nipper's rules so all hell breaks loose and Nipper chases Tiddler about the house scaring the living daylights out of him. That's not even the half of it. I mistakenly left a window open whilst I answered the door to the postman. I must have been gone all of 10 seconds but Nipper had managed to get halfway out of the window. If I don't lock the doors he lets himself and Tiddler out. Attempting to pop to the loo or make a meal are almost impossible. You get the picture!
I was ecstatic to find that one of the children's centres has an 'inclusive' holiday playclub which can cater for children with additional needs. I signed Nipper up for five days across the school holidays and he went for his first session yesterday. I had filled out a big form with lots of information about how Nipper's autism, sensory and language problems affect him and I was running through some 'management' techniques with one of the staff, explaining that Nipper sometimes needs some deep body pressure to calm him down. She very nicely said to Nipper that he could have a lovely big hug with her when he replied that he couldn't because she was too fat! I was mortified!
I know that honesty is an autistic 'trait' and the member of staff was a large lady but that's no excuse for Nipper being rude. Problem is he doesn't realise it's rude as he's just telling it how it is. I'm going to have to find some time to write some social stories I think. While I'm at it I must remember to also write one about how it's not acceptable to undo a child's jacket in order to see their Star Wars t-shirt!
Any suggestions on this will be gratefully received!
My son is the same and I have to keep reminding him when we are in certain social situations what he needs to say in the hope that one day he will have learnt some social skills. Have you thought about using social stories - they are supposed to be quite effective for younger children but I have to admit to never been able to get my son to listen to any sort of story. Great though that you can get him into a playscheme - have never been able to get my children into anything like that.
ReplyDeleteAwww. I know those moments. But seriously, it's something ALL kids do, and you've just got to hope that they don't (kinda like a 'hold your breath moment! lol).
ReplyDeleteMy biggest fear is when one of mine says to me (loudly) 'is that a man or a lady?' and erm, Mummy doesn't actually know. What to say?!
I hope he enjoys his sessions. xx
Yes similar holiday problems here, even getting out of the house is a logistical challenge! I still haven't really started using social stories yet, but the best expert I know is jazzygal at http://jazzygals-steppingout.blogspot.com/. Hope that helps
ReplyDeleteI think all kids say embarrasing things, but it is always mortifying when they do X
ReplyDeleteI did a load of social stories for my Little Man (I use to blog about him over at superlittlemne but am now on a new blog)and even though they are 7 they are quite effective especially on the social front. When I looked into doing them the examples I found on the net were quite long winded really - too many words for my little man. I made my own which were more pictorial, with very, very basic words around them, so he could try and read along with me to 1) reinforce what they were saying and 2) to help his reading. I can post a few on my blog if you are interested in seeing how I did them. The other thing I did was base them on his current obssession which at the time was supermario. This was great until after 2 years he found a new obsession!
ReplyDeleteAs for the honesty bit, I know that one well, but was really relieved to hear about my friends perfectly normal little boy. My friend took another little girl home after school to help the mum out and when she dropped her off, one of her twins looked at this mother (perfectly normal, no problems little twin) and said 'well, you really do need to lose some wieght don't you?' My friend said she nearly died, told him off for being so rude and made him apologise and then rang the mother once her boys were in bed to apologise again and explain he had never done anything like that before. Luckily this mother laughed about it and said that he was right and infact it had given her the boot up her backside to actually do something about it. But it could of been oh so different!