What is Speech Therapy

Speech therapy helps children speak and pronounce words. The therapist uses facial expressions to express sounds. The lip movement helps the child learn to speak. The therapist points out the lip movement so the child will pay attention. This show the child how to guide their lips to help them enunciate. The therapist uses items familiar to the child. From the ABA Therapy, the child has the label in his/her brain. The speech mythologist frequently checks the child's form of communication. It could be a  computer or a paper book. 

Agressive Behavior

Sometimes kids with autism tend to get over excited. They tend to run around in circles or scream. Other times, kids with autism get very violent because they do not have a way to communicate. Not every child has the problem although it comes up in most parents stories.The last thing you want to do is give in and let your child beat you up. Your therapist will will recognize the problem. One strategy is to put a reward system on risk.That eliminates all the problem. The therapist can mix things up a bit and put a reward system on socializing with peers and staff. This is a smart move. Putting a base in the child's life helps children organize their brains. Children with autism lack organization. To them life is a bunch of random activities squished into one day. A schedule is also good too. It guide children through their day without being as clueless. Sequencing is a big life skill that every child has to learn. This is a lesson that changes their lives. To reinforce the child's sequencing skills. In the end this leaves the child less confused. It takes away a lot of the stress that goes on. Always ask your therapist how your child is doing to be informed. The therapist will usually give you a very detailed description on the child's work and maybe an activity to do at home. Always continue the schedule and the reward system at home.

Peer Activities

It is good to engage your child in a peer activity because it will challenge your child and feel better about themselves and have more confidence in themselves. It can be as simple as going to a playground. Do not engage any play with the child. Let the child check out the playground first. Then you take them a second time with a ball or a fun object and play with them at the playground. After that you contact a parent with a child and invite them. You might want to take then to the playground alone a about five times before inviting a friend.You should also let your therapist in on every activity.The therapist could kick in and come to the playground too. This is optional although it is a good thing to do.

Visual and Auditory Impairments

Some kids have a lot of trouble hearing. Most likely these kids do not experience echolalia. That means when the kids repeat everything they say. It wears off with intense therapy. Hearing aids are good because it reinforces the sensory input. It takes a long time for the child to get used to it. It is really hard because kids with autism do not like too much sensory input. Visual aids are good too. Even glasses are good. It does not interfere with the child's sensory input unlike the hearing aids. Let the ABA therapist or the Paraprofessional know before and ask for recommendations. This is a must. The therapist will change their activities to match the child's criteria. The can get the child used to the sound of the hearing  aid in advance. This gets the child prepared to the to the auditory input. With glasses this is quite necessary but you should still tell them because they can help you.

Continuing ABA at home

I know it is hard for parents to be a 24/7 mom but to supplement the therapy done for the day, they have to keep the labels in there head and try to relate their learning to reality. Almost like homework. It takes a lot of practice but the child will get used to it. This also puts a social bond with the parents. Sometimes the activities involve some challenging work. Don't worry, this won't affect the bond. Do not push social activities on the child. They will gradually pull together. Some of the home activities need materials. Some the therapist can provide some but some you need to buy. Don't worry. They are not expensive. Weight vests, squishy balls, nets and swings. The activities can include, joint comparisons, finding a ball in a bag of beans, speech or sign language. To learn more read my Sensory Diet post!!

ABA Therapy

Applied Behavioral Analyses therapy (ABA) is a behavioral therapy that increases the attention spans of children. Autism is a developmental delay that disables some children to learn. They have lack of labels. It makes the children sad and frustrated.Children with autism have trouble expressing their emotions. Sign language can is a tiny bit of relief. Electronics can help speech. Never say that the child can never speak!! Confidence is key!!