Amygdala and Autism

Hello it’s long time.... but I am happy to be back

Difficult does not mean

Impossible

                                                It simply means that you have to

                                                                Work hard

The Amygdala is an almond shaped mass of nuclei located deep within the temporal lobe of the brain. It’s responsible/involved in many of our emotions, motivations and particularly those that are related to survival (especially the element of fear). Amygdala is also plays an important role in memory, it decides which and where the memories are stored in the brain. Many children with autism are not fully aware of their surroundings and often don’t understand the rules when crossing roads.

Less stimulation/damage in Amygdala:

·         Shows no/less signs for fear responses

·         Developmental problems

·         Less safety awareness

·         Emotional instability or difficulty regulating emotions

·         Memory issues

All the above mentioned issues are seen in children with autism. So this area of the brain is in great focus now and extensive in-depth research is carried out to find out the relation between Amygdala and Autism. Let’s hope for the best… if there is a problem I am sure there is solution too.

Take care

World Autism Awareness month

thanx to www.nycats.blogspot.com for the above  picture

                        April
let us join hands to create a beautiful world in the lives of our amazing talents

TANTRUMS AFTER NAP

Hello friends, happy morningJJJJ
 raindrops are the bravest thing created by GOD

Want to know why?

It is because they are never afraid of falling

thanx to www.eduguide.org for the above picture

Who does not love  quick afternoon naps? I think most of us like  especially on weekends after having hearty meal, we avoid because of health reasons. I have experienced my mood being super crabby and gloomy after nap still trying to figure out the reason and I heard parents telling the same stories about children with ASD. Children being very inconsolable and frequently have full blown tantrums lasts an hour, they scream their lungs out throwing things around and crying.  Some parents believe afternoon nap helps their kids; they are calm and receptive after each nap. As we know each kid is unique.  The reasons may be she/he had very short nap and it was not adequate, waking him/ her in the middle of the nap, falling sleep in the wrong time,  being hungry ,having bad dreams and pure developmental issues. It’s horrible for parents to deal the frustration but children with ASD do not remember a thing and they behave as if nothing has happened. Parents need to consider and practice some of the possible tips which will surely do great wonders.

Ø  These tantrums should not be ignored totally  because child is not doing to seek your attention, possibly he is struggling to calm himself

Ø  It’s better to follow a rhythm, , timing and consistent routine, that way they are set with fixed sleeping routine

Ø  Give them their own sweet time to wake up , do not rush and pick up and even talk to him/ her

Ø  Play  his/her favorite music with low volume but do not talk about it to him

Ø  After waking up it is ok he/she still in the bed. Calm him down by softly patting his back and singing his favorite number

Ø  Make him sit in the swing, move it slowly to calm him. It work with some kids

Ø  Give him time to approach you on his own and extend conversation with you, try to go according to your child’s rhythm

Ø  Rap him tightly with a comforter or blanket as soon he gets up  and when he is still on the bed , this proprioceptive input calms him down

Ø  Sometimes it’s good to leave him alone, don’t go to him let him figure out how to calm down on his own

Ø  Place a soothing toy or activities of his interest near the bed, this idea helps for transition

Ø  Better to avoid naps; it’s ok being crabby throughout evening without nap instead of having full blown tantrums

Ø   Keep Quite environment avoid loud noises and sensory clutter

Remain consistent in your approach and establishing sleep routine can prevent tantrums and surely our beautiful minds(children wih ASD) will outgrow these obstacle soon or later. Let’s hope for the best.

TEMPER TANTRUMS- AUTISM

Hello everybody, itsmy pleasure to be back with this important topic. True and very true……

“My pain may be the reason for somebody’s laugh

But my laugh must never be the reason for somebody’s pain”

Charlie Chaplin

thanx to www.belasbrightideas.wordpress.com

Oh no temper tantrums are very scary, painful and stressful for you as well as for your child. Why tantrums in our children with ASD and other related disabilities? Temper tantrum is the physical manifestation of the turmoil that the child experiencing with in him. Most of the times temper tantrums are the result of: 1) deficit in communication 2) learnt behavior to fulfill his/her needs 3) avoiding tasks the he/she does not like 4) internal issues like accumulated stress or illness 5) academic pressure 6) undue pressure or over demands on the child 7) parents reaction 8) lack of sleep9) fatigue 10) temperament of the child 11) changes in the routine 12) over stimulation and sensory issues.13) unable to take “no” from the people. Reason for the tantrum could be anything but working and redirecting your child during the episode is highly challenging. Some children tend to have more tantrums than the other children, he/she is frustrated, overwhelmed and is possibly experiencing a lot of tension or emotions which he/she unable to handle and it explodes as a big tantrum. It’s not that your child want to irritate you purposefully with his behavior basically he does not know how to deal with the internal and external stress with in him.

The nature of the tantrum:

Temper tantrums are exhibited by the child to seek attention from parents, caregivers (by the immediate external environment).  Child looks around often to seek your attention, the moment you react to the child the intensity of the behavior increases. Always remember temper tantrums are goal oriented behaviors as soon as the goal is met or child gets what he wanted the behavior diminishes. Child seems to be inconsolable during tantrum. Most of the episodes last long time some of them are short ones, the duration of the tantrum increases and decreases depends upon the reaction you provide to the child. The child tends to be very aggressive such as hitting, biting (injurious to others), harms himself (self injurious behavior) and damages the environment by throwing and breaking things. Our children are very smart they throw tantrums with the people who reacts to their behavior and in the environment where his/her behavior is been reinforced.   If the tantrums lasts more than an hour, child find great difficulty in settling himself and the behavior is too dangerous to the environment it is better to seek medical attention.

Managing temper tantrums and teaching alternative ways to express child’s displeasure:

ü  Always pay attention to the antecedents or the triggers which are the reason for the explosion or escalation of the behavior.

ü  It is a good way to control antecedents rather than working on consequences. Keep him informed about changes happen in the routine in order to escape from a big tantrum. As we learnt time and time again preparation to a change always works.

ü  Never say “no” instead tell him what he is expected to do or perform, if at all you have to use no it is good to go with “no thank you” followed by what he has to do ex: quite hands, walking feet.

ü  Redirecting the child before the tantrum (if you expect the behavior), you can avoid the small melt down turning in to a full blown tantrum.

ü  Safety of your child and you are important during tantrum, restructuring the environment is very important to avoid accidents.

ü   If the child is exhibiting injurious behavior its ok to use physical restraint (holding his hands in the back, the proper procedure has to be learnt from the therapist before execution) to control his/her aggression.

ü  Planned ignoring:  the total focus of this technique is “consistently (whenever, wherever) not providing attention to the child throughout the entire episode”. The ignoring has to be practiced by everybody related to the child. All it needs is total commitment by everybody not even negative attention is encouraged by you.  You should act as if your child does not exist in that situation and totally avoid eye contact but at the same time keep a watch on him.  Don’t negotiate with your child during the tantrum.  Praise your child high when he shows desirable behavior during the episode. If your child is middle of some activity continue to make him complete the task at the same time you still practice to ignore the tantrum. You try to engage yourself in an activity, do an activity which create interest to your child or play music of your child interest.  Once the tantrum stopped wait for the right opportunity (whenever he shows a positive behavior) to praise your child. Never discuss about the nature of the tantrum to your child and do not provide the item which he was demanding. And the item should be give for the immediate desirable behavior.

ü  The behaviors which are there in your child for a long time takes long duration to deescalate but never give up your approach.

ü  Initially parents strictly follow the strategy of planned ignoring as the time goes on, parents get angry too and begin to pay negative attention, punish and yell at the child. This inconsistent practice strengthens the behavior instead of weakening. You should not ignore your child for a while you must always ignore in all situations.

ü  Remember never give in things he is demanding during tantrum.

ü  You can intervene when your child damaging the property and self injurious behaviors are present, take away the things he is damaging, restraint him not hurting himself and others but you still continue to ignore him by avoiding eye contact and not talking.

ü  Work on communication and encourage him to use words (I need help no thank you) or other alternative way to express his displeasure instead of a tantrum.

ü  Sometimes tantrums could be purely  a sensory issue the detailed analysis is needed before the intervention

ü  Parents should remain calm and patient as you know it is neither your fault nor your child’s.

Tantrum is the fastest way to show your child’s displeasure to you, and tantrums get children what they want. You know why your child show tantrums most of the time it works!!!!! Be empathetic to your child’s state of mind as you know he did not intentionally set out to ruin your day.  I know it’s very hard to put up with tantrum and your patience is the success mantra. All is wellJJJ

Take care

MY WORLD OF COLORS-AUTISM

Hi good see you after a long long break!!!!! Hmm its really long gap right, but back of my mind the thoughts  of my blog are really haunting. The guilt of not posting  is really killing me, so today I decided to post…. So here I amJJJJ

                “Once you choose hope

          Everything is possible”

thanx to www.123rf.com for the above picture

I still wonder how I acquired the concept of colors. I am sure I did not take much of my teacher’s time did you? But most of our children find this concept very difficult and they struggle hard to generalize. “Color” is an abstract concept, because this does not have a shape or size. It is not a figurative concept.  You can see colors everywhere; I think most of us learn colors by association.  Autistic children show great fascination and interest towards shapes, numbers and alphabets in the very early age (by 2 years itself).  The understanding and identification of shape, alphabets and number concepts are easy for them because these concepts are concrete and easy to form a reference.  The children who have had a struggle in achieving colors might surely have problems with language.  Even the components in language are abstract, except nouns (which have reference) all the other parts of language is abstract.  The difficulty of understanding colors can be an alarm sign or indication for you to give great focus in your child’s language development.  I know one child who took very long time to learn colors but one fine day he amazed by naming almost all the colors we introduced to him, I think it’s a matter of time all they need is consistent approach in teaching them. children with pure developmental delay(DD) surely buy extra time to acheive color concept, it is very mych understandable. So let us look in to the ways or strategies to teach color concept.

Strategies:

v  Teach one color at a time; introduce the selected color along with another b color of your choice hence this helps for discrimination.

v  Take one object or select one shape to teach all the colors ( ex: a ball can be selected to teach all the colors like red color ball, yellow color ball etc, selecting different objects  creates confusion.   

v  Color flash cards using one shape are a good idea. Ex; the flash cards can be a shape of square, circle or rectangle, not one color in one shape

v  Initially select primary colors( red, blue, green and yellow) once he masters these concentrate on secondary colors

v  Before introducing the color concept, talk about it to your child by saying we are going to work on so and so color otherwise his/her focus is going to be on the object you selected to teach the color

v  Do not combine two concepts at a time( ex; this is a big red ball, here you r talking about color as well as the shape, this misleads the child)

v  The selected object to teach colors should be familiar to the child

v  The teaching steps include matching , sorting, identification and naming colors

v  For hyperlexic( who are good in reading) children writing down the name of the color will surely do the magic. On the red ball you can print the name red

v  Teaching discrimination between colors is easier if the two colors are used in the beginning. Too much of information or stimuli confuses the child

v  Select contrast colors for discrimination or identification( it is easier to discriminate between red and green instead of red and orange)

v  Once he masters identifying the colors introduce them in cluster

v  When you selected to teach particular color to the child encourage your child to wear the same color dress and you can wear the same color and you can talk about it, so he/she gets more opportunity to experience the concept

v  Give plenty of opportunities to generalize the learnt concept  in a natural environment

v  Give references for each color like the color of the apple is red, milk is white and leaf is green. When you are talking about them have the object as a concrete cue. This association is of a great help

v  Encourage your child to do painting of the selected color and collage will help him to register

v  Once he masters primary colors you can teach him patterns( like red and yellow make orange ) to create secondary colors

v  Make him wear wrist bands of the selected color , I am sure it helps in registration

v  Play turn taking games for matching and sorting colors , this gives an extra kick to your child

v  Use Lego sets and color blocks to build themes with  the same color

v  Expect him/her to show at least 90% accuracy in one color before you proceed to a different one 

v  Encourage your child to use the concept of colors in his language ex: mama give red spoon 

v  Further  strengthening the learnt concept you can practice by giving choice in daily life ( ex; do you want to wear your red shirt or the blue one)

v  You can sing songs on colors for creating interest to your child ex; color color what color do you choose song

v  Discrimination teaching is the best way to teach colors

v  Encourage your child to collect stuff on colors and create a folder for future reference

v  Don’t forget to reinforce your child at each successful  approximation

Despite of the difficulty in understanding abstract concept, teaching our amazing autism is still possible using techniques that are sure to work. When it comes to teaching children with autism, hard is really an understatement.  You guys really jump out your skin each time you work on a concept with your child, I mean it’s not a cake walk.  Teaching color concept is another challenging task for you, all it needs is your creativity and systematic approach. Let us join hands to create a colorful world to our amazing talents. Each one is a greatest rainbow!!!!

BEHAVIOR- AN OVERVIEW

 Hi, another important and interesting topic in our row of success

“The easiest way to escape from the problem is

slove it

thanx to http://www.literacy.purduecal.edu/ for the above picture
Children with autism experience behavior difficulties in spite of their abilities in other skill areas.  The exhibited behaviors’ are the cause of disturbance happening externally and internally.  The triad of impairments associated with ASD and other related disabilities could be the origin for problem behavior/ behavior difficulties. The triad of impairments includes communication, social interaction and repetitive stereotyped behaviors, the inability in these areas might emerge in to a problem behavior or trigger behavior difficulty. Let us try to understand the nature of problem behavior:

1.Most of the behavior’s children exhibits are learnt ones.

2.The response or reinforcement provided to the behaviors in the initial stage strengthens the behavior.

3.Behavior is a form of communication/ most of the behaviours are- expression of a need

4.In fact it is the quick way to show your child’s displeasure to you.

5.The behavior (problem behavior) is the response to the stimuli/ reaction to the stimuli.

6.When the child’s behavior is dangerous to the environment, dangerous to self, against social norms and impedes learning; needs a great focus and management.

7.The labeling of the behavior is very important, when you do that be very specific

8.To understand the nature of the behavior you need to give deeper thought and complete analysis is necessary.

9.The functional analysis of the problem behavior targets three areas: antecedent( before the behavior/ what stimulated the behavior), the actual behavior and the consequence( after the behavior/ the response provided to the behavior)

10.The analysis need to be done carefully observing the behavior in different settings

11.The behavior analysis is the key for selection of suitable behavior management technique.

12.The consistent approach in using technique is the key for success.

13.Sometimes the behavior children exhibit can be purely to get attention from you (attention seeking behavior), be aware of that!!!!

14.Some social situations also triggers undesirable behavior in children with an autism, this is because the inability to deal with the demands present in the social events.

15.The goal of behavior intervention should be to deescalate the selected behavior at the same time to teach alternative behavior (which is adaptive)/ teach new skill.

16.Working in the areas of communication, socialization and functional academics might significantly reduce problem behavior.

17.Remember to use concrete terms when you are communicating with your child, sometimes confusion also lead to escalation in behavior.

18.Always use positive language ( like quiet hands, try again ) never use no

19.Sometimes physical/mental exhaustion could be the reason for undesirable behavior, giving frequent breaks is the good idea to keep enthusiasm in the tasks.

20.Lime lighting child’s strengths could be a great idea, I am sure in the course of time the undesirable behaviors disappear
21. initially the intensity of behaviour increases when you work on decrease the undesirable behaviour. once the behaviour is not reinforced further it will tend to deesulate.

22.Always remember behaviors learned can be unlearned

 All this understanding and implementation take considerable amount of time and effort; you (parents/therapists) might be exhausted at the end of the day. You deserve break reinforce yourself whenever possible and practice stress management techniques.

Take care

PROMOTING INDEPENDENCY- AUTISM

Hello, Hi, good to see you!!! Another interesting topic in the journey of Autism, highlight demands/needs and work carefully to enjoy success. Our children are in a way capable and all it needs is total encouragement and trust.

“Don’t go where the path may lead to

Go instead where there is no path and

Leave a trail”

thanx to www.autism-essentials.com for the above picture

Independency is a big word to think and implement in the life of children with autism.  Children (with normal development) perform tasks/activities independently at certain stage does not like parents/caregivers intruding their work and they enjoy the feeling of accomplishment and competence. Children with autism do not seem to get the concept of independency though they are equipped to perform the task given. Often times we will be surprised to know that many skills which may seem to be second nature to normally developed children are the skills that still need to be taught to an autistic child. Most of the time children with autism ask for help (what and how abouts) to complete the task and expects reassurance. This is because children with autism have difficulty with organization, initiation and generalization. Children with ASD are too much used to adult prompts and finds difficulty to display target skills without their supervision. I heard parents telling complaints like; does not stay on task with their absence, expect them to say next step, does not do simple and well known activity independently, looking for assurance in each step, sits for long hours to complete simple stuff independently. The moment parents/care givers decide to take back step/ removal of close supervision leads to frustration and tantrums in children with ASD. We have to understand the reasons for lack of independent behavior and the strategies to promote independence in our children. Difficulty with independent functioning impairs the overall development in children.

Reasons behind lack of independent behavior:

Ø  Lack of organizational skills: children with ASD have problems in following instruction because of other associated issues like inattention and auditory processing difficulty. Shows significant difficulty in understanding demands required to complete the task and developing plan of action for successful execution.

Ø  Distractibility:  caused by internal and external factors may also hamper child’s ability to complete the assigned the task. Children finds great difficulty in prioritizing the information required at the same time have issue filtering unnecessary visual and auditory stuff.

Ø  Lack of sequencing skills:  most of the time children get confused with the steps (the first and last step) in order to complete the task. Understanding the beginning middle and end of the task are highly demanding for children with ASD. 

Ø  Initiation:  initiating task on their own is quiet tuff for children with ASD; they expect prompt and assurance in every move they make. They go through hard ships especially planning and initiating lengthy tasks.  Initiation is part of executive function deficit though they get the concept of doing the task.

Ø  Constant adult involvement: prompting works best in the initial acquisition of the skill/ task, but as a parent/ therapist you need to be very cautious to withdraw prompt to make your child total independent. Children with ASD are not able to continue productive and appropriate responding with the removal of close adult supervision. They expect some form of rein forcer’s and contingencies provided by adults without that it’s difficult for children with ASD to maintain the task.  Understand the learning of task in to three stages like acquisition of a task, maintenance of a task and generalization of a task, give opportunities for your child to generalize and carry out the task with ease and total independent execution.

Ø  Prompt dependency: this is very common in children with ASD and other related disabilities and constant adult supervision is one of the reasons for prompt dependency. Children often depend upon adult supervision and assistance to carry out tasks once the intense level of support is provided , it may be difficult to  fade support over time due to an individual resistance to change or insistence on sameness, consequently impacting long term functioning. Staying “on task” is difficult without prompt they thrust for assurance in every move they make. Prompt dependency is seen more in children who participated more in one-on-one instruction/ sessions. Prompt dependency leads to learned helplessness and over all passivity.

Ø  Difficulty in generalization:  children with ASD perform a task independently in one situation/setting, yet finds difficulty to apply the same skills in another novel situation, this acts as a great hindrance for independent behavior.

Strategies to promote independency:

J Start with simple tasks for independent execution and then gradually progress to more difficult tasks. Model the new task and give instructions clearly and help him to practice and gradually fade the prompt. Give him/her enough opportunities to perform on his own. First time your child successes to execute the task with total independency surprise him with his favorite rein forcers to continue further maintenance of the task.  

J Video modeling: is proven to be best technique to teach skills using minimal adult supervision and prompting. !) Choose the target skill need to be taught!) Model performs target skills while being video tapped!) The video is viewed prior to learning!) Once he masters doing task independently video self modeling is done in a natural setting. Video modeling holds a promise as a means to promote independent to independent behavior and it minimizes the need for instruction delivered by a teacher or a parent.

JWork systems to increase independence: is a strategy by presenting tasks systematic and organized way.  The materials provided in the work stations are visually communicate the information to children. The idea of work system is part of a technique called TEACCH. The system clearly provides the information about the nature of the task, steps need to be completed using concrete cues, giving clear idea of starting and ending of a task( giving visual cue by giving stop sign or finished pouch or box), once he is finished with the task he is been clearly indicated to next activity. A work system provides all of the require information without adult prompting and teaches the student to attend visual/verbal cues when completing task.

JWritten work system: for children who can read and process written information and present the steps in a sequential order. 1) How much work he has to do 2) when the work is finished 3) what is next activity 4) how many steps are required to complete the task 5) to understand first and then 6) reduces adult prompt 7) uses of contingencies and reinforcement. As we know our children process written information to complete the task.

J Restructuring the environment: Always provide specific material required for the specific task, see to that you avoid extra or unnecessary information. Use work system in a variety of setting to increase generalization. Gradually decrease adult prompt for the child to be used to work system. Visual cues should be provided to indicate the end of the task.

J Delayed contingencies: parents/ caregivers tend to give prompt before the child executes the task, children with ASD takes time to process information (processing delay). Slightly delaying the instruction and contingencies can facilitate independency and eventually child get chance to generalize the learnt skill.

JGeneralization: encourage him to execute the learnt skill in variety of settings. I heard parents telling me like: he does it with me or he does beautifully at home, this is because he lacks in generalization. Child should learn to perform the task in multiple settings until then independency is highly demanding goal.

Children with ASD and other related disabilities need to be encouraged to carry out tasks independently, as we understand these children easily become prompt dependent and go through stress when we tend to vein off the prompt. Increasing independency has often been a daunting goal for educators/ parents while working with children with ASD.  No matter what your child level of ability is, he will surely do his/her best when you plan and implement strategies carefully in order to promote independency. I feel as parents of children with ASD your primary and highly demanding goal should be to make your child independent. It may take lot of your thinking and time but I am sure at the end results are worth to celebrate. Cheers!!!!