Enjoy Your Success With Asd Children

[Guest Jillbetts]

I work for the Learning and Behaviour Service. I am suppossed to support children in mainstream settings in nurseries and up to the end of reception for no longer than 6 weeks. I worked with an asd pupil for 18 months visiting him everyday. At first he would only work on his own agenda and was very tactile defensive. He would not even hold a pencil. I was luckly enough to be invited , after many telephones calls, to observe him working within a speech and language group at the hospital. I used some of the strategies that they used and used alot of my own. After the 18 months the pupil is now in mainstream school with a little support. So with alot of hard work and the correct support it is possible for asd children to remain within mainstream school. So if you have an asd child in your setting please fight for the support and enjoy the success. Please tell me of your experiencies. If you would like some help with ASD children via the net please ask your questions and I will try and help

[Guest torypops]

I am an NNEB in the Early Years Dept of a school for Autistic children. I agree, with a lot of hard work it is possible for an asd child to remain within a mainstream setting and yes as your topic title suggests 'Enjoy Your Success With ASD Children'. However there are ASD children who will never cope with a mainsteam setting no matter how hard those concerned work. To this I would say 'Enjoy Your Success With ASD Children' whether it be starting to use PECS, learning to share, moving from nappies to the toilet even if the child has just turned 14 these too are achievements to enjoy and feel proud of.

There was a little girl in my class for three years, during about the first two and a half years I would go through PECS and makaton with her and never had any response. One day, all of a sudden she handed me her biscuit symbol unprompted, I can't tell you how pleased I was but that wasn't a patch on when she first said the word 'cake'....food is such a great motivater

It's moments like these that keep me going through all the times when I might get bitten, kicked, scratched or whatever else the day may throw my way.

Kind Regards,

Torypops.

[Guest]

I have had experience of upper end ASD children in the mainstream preschool. Working with them is rewarding (as is working with all children).

 

In addition to working at my preschool setting, I also work 1-1 with a severely ASD 7-year-old. It is an intervention proramme ("Son-rise") in her own home. This is nothing like I have ever done before (and I worked with ASD children in my gap year over 25 years ago). I am learning so much about, not just ASD, but development in general. I have to look at everything from her perspective - it is a real eye-opener.

 

Doing this makes me look quite differently at the upper end ASD child currently in the preschool. I can see all sorts of ways that he is developing (perhaps which I would not have notice before) and can use his behaviour patterns to further his progress and to encourage his integration.

 

This whole area is fascinating.

 

Diane.