Archive for the ‘autistic person’ Category

Handling Your Child with Autism Spectrum’s Behavior

Monday, July 16th, 2012

How do you help your Child with Autism Spectrum deal with difficult and everyday situations?

Autism Spectrum is a complex disorder, which affects mainly boys. There is no cure for Autism, but there are resources available to you as a parent of an Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Living with a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder is stressful; you can’t just spontaneously take the family out for the day, or turn up at school in a new car, or surprise them with a party.

Although these are all normal activities, your other children would love; it undoubtedly will throw your child with Autism Spectrum Disorder into a state of panic, which can cause a tantrum and so on…

Things need proper planning, Thats where Autism social stories come into their own!

They allow the child with Autism Spectrum a chance to rehearse the upcoming event, or practice the already learnt skill.

They also give you the opportunity to express your thoughts and feelings these can easily be added into the social skills story. A social skills story is like a visual plan or framework a constant reminder of how we act.

Handling your child with Autism Spectrum’s behavior using social skills stories will give reassurance and the right social cues. They are constant, repetitive and will act as a kind of security blanket for your child with Autism Spectrum.

The upcoming event, like a new baby, a new puppy, a new pair of shoes even can be discussed, even role played on the first couple of readings of a new story.

You will be giving your child an insight into what will happen, or what already happens, why it happens, what it happens for and how they are meant to act, or what they are meant to do.

Handling your child with Autism Spectrum’s behavior – for example: saying Hi, or excuse me, things we do automatically, but to an autistic mind these things are just silly, why do you want to say Hi to someone you don’t know, or don’t really care for, or even want to.

Politeness is a learnt skill, we learn it and it sticks in our minds, the autistic mind needs a gentle reminder of this skill until it is properly stuck in their, which can take a while!

So let’s take a look at autism social stories, they are with you constantly, a little reminder and a solid  descriptive, straight forward, never deviating, or spontaneous, friend, to help your child with Autism Spectrum feel comfortable with situations, activities and events.

Autism social stories:

Can be a very useful tool they are used to teach social skills to children with Autism Spectrum.

A social skills story is a simple description of an everyday social situation, written from the Autistic a person’s perspective.

Autism social stories are designed to help with social situation as well as normal everyday events and activities.

They are also used to prepare for upcoming changes in the autistic persons routine and help the autistic person deal with other situations that are out of their normal daily routine like for example: a birth, marriage, death or other situation or activity.

The idea behind these Autism social stories is to allow the person to accustom themselves with the up-coming event, or daily activity or situation.

So that the Autistic person is aware of what is going on and can deal with it and the hope is that the social skills story will help with the person’s behavior.

What Are Autism Social Stories Like?

Autism social stories are always written in the first person, in the present tense, and from the autistic person’s point of view.

The social skills story should be written in a way that the child can understand. It should match their level of vocabulary and be as specific as possible, all of our social skills stories are editable and can be personalized quickly and easily.

Once the story has been written a responsible adult, parent, teacher, therapist etc. should read the story with the child at least two to three times before the child is given the story to read themselves.

This is to ensure that the autistic person understands the important elements in the story.

This can be done by re-reading the story and going over the important elements with the autistic person. You may find a check list approach or role playing the situation in conjunction with reading the story helpful.

For younger children who can’t read, or find reading difficult their Mum, Dad, Teacher or adult will need to read the social skills story for them.

The overall effectiveness of each story should be monitored, with the story being tweaked and or changed as the behavior is learnt.

What is the theory behind it?

Autism social stories were created to help autistic people improve their social understanding and interactions.

It was found that in children and adults with Autism Spectrum, by giving them simple and clear descriptions and instructions, social cues, to appropriate behaviors they were able to manage much better.

However, it is still not clear why Autism social stories work better for children and adults with Autism Spectrum, than picking up social cues from their everyday environment.

Researchers believe this is due to the Theory of mind. Which is basically that autistic people have problems understanding why we do the things we do. They find our lives confusing; they prefer repetition and things to remain the same at all times.

There are a number of ways Autism social stories help improve the Theory of mind.

One theory is that by giving prompts and suggestions to specific social cues and behaviors for situations, using Autism social stories may actually help to improve the autistic person’s problem solving abilities.

Autism social stories are also used to help the autistic person manage certain situations. Which will then help them to deal with tasks, activities and situations that they previously found difficult and confusing or upsetting?

They also help autistic people to understand what is expected of them, and what they can expect from other people.

Do Autism Social Stories Work?

Research has shown that Autism social stories do help reduce problem behaviors. They also help to increase the autistic person’s social awareness, and have been found to help re-enforce an already learnt skill or teach a new one.

Autism social stories are more useful to children with Autism Spectrum and adults who have basic language skills.

Although you can get Autism social stories in audio and pictorial formats. It is not known if Autism social stories work when sign language is used.

There are no known negative effects of Autism social stories reported and it is believed amongst the medical and social professionals that Autism social stories are beneficial to the autistic person.

The belief is that the social skills story can be used to teach the autistic person social skills that he/she would otherwise not know how to use appropriately.

This in itself is a good thing and can help alleviate what could otherwise be stressful situations for parents.

So What Does a Social Skills Story Look Like?

Autism social stories are made from different sentence types.

Descriptive, Perspective, Directive and Control and may also include Affirmative and Co-operative sentences.

Descriptive sentences provide information about specific social settings or situations, for example they provide cues to what the person sees, who is involved, and what happens, For example: At lunch time most of the children will go to the dinner hall.

Perspective sentences describe the feelings, emotions, thoughts, and/or mood of other people. Describing the way a situation is viewed by some body-else, many kids with Autism Spectrum have difficulties understanding how others see things. For example: Usually, when people are happy, they smile. Smiling makes people feel good. 

Directive sentences provide the autistic person with information about what they should try and do, to be successful in the situation. For example: If I stay calm in class, I will learn more.

Recommended Formula For Writing Autism Spectrum Social Stories:

The recommended formula for writing Autism Spectrum Social Stories is: two to five Descriptive sentences for each Directive sentence, which may include Perspective and control sentences. Research shows that many stories which follow this ratio will be successful.

Children especially children with Autism Spectrum respond well to learning through pictures, these children tend to be visual thinkers and learners which means that they use visual images as a first language and speech secondary.

Pictorially rich Autism social stories are thought to be better and easier for the child with Autism Spectrum to understand.

Autism social stories can be designed for all age ranges and abilities.

A good social skills story will help in all areas as long as it is introduced properly as explained earlier, then monitored for its overall effectiveness.

If a story is deemed not to be working, it should be tweaked and then used. If it is still not working, the story should be looked at, is this the right story? Or maybe a different story would best suit the situation.

At http://www.autismsocialstories.com  we aim to provide pictorially rich, specific Autism social stories that can be printed off and used for various ages.

With all of our stories we offer a full money back guarantee.

Please feel free to contact us if you need any more information on Autism social stories at admin@autismsocialstories.com

I hope you found this report helpful and now have a better understanding why Autism social stories work and what they can be used for.

 

Addressing poor hygiene in autistic individuals

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Hygiene and self-help skills ARE essential life skills. But for many autistic individuals these skills ARE often a neglected, can cause confusion, anxiety and stress.

 

Typically autistic individuals do not always recognise the need to increase hygiene skills around puberty, the need for regular dental checks or tooth brushing etc. The individual with autism may not perceive their appearance or the social implications of neglecting their own personal hygiene.

 

Addressing poor hygiene in autistic individuals can be overcome using visual supports, patience and understanding.

 

For many parents, teachers and other professionals knowing how to support an individual with autism can be difficult and at time stressful. However this can be overcome when parents opt to use visual supports for autism.

 

It is understood individuals on the spectrum are generally visual thinkers and learners therefore making use of visual supports for autism is beneficial. One such autistic support is autism social skills stories.

 

Social stories show the individual on the spectrum why and how to perform certain hygiene skills. A social story acts as a role model for the individual on the spectrum to follow; the social skills story will show visually as well as answer the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what. The social skills story will also give the autistic person an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others.

 

Social skills stories are normally written by experts in autism and typically follow a set pattern of sentence types, use first person language and are visually rich, the social skills story is generally easy to edit, personalize and may be printed.

 

For parents, teachers or care givers needing help with addressing poor hygiene in autistic individuals using autism social skills stories for hygiene will be beneficial.

 

Social skills stories can be used for a vast majority of situations and skills the autistic person may be struggling with like making friends, having a conversation, shopping, getting a haircut, visiting the dentist, hospital etc.

 

To learn more about using autism social skills stories for hygiene visit

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene.html

 

For other social skills stories visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autism Spectrum Disorder goals for interaction

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological disorder affecting the autistic person’s brain; this can affect how the autistic person thinks, re-acts, acts and behaves.

Autism impairs the autistic person’s social interactions and communication skills and can cause restricted and repetitive stereotypical behaviors.

Typically kids with autism have difficulties with verbal and non-verbal communication this can impact on their abilities to socially interact.

Autism is characterized by several developmental challenges. The autism symptoms can include:  Language may develop slowly or not at all. The autistic child may use words without attaching meaning to them. They may use echolalia, and have poor attention spans.

The child with autism will probably prefer to spend time alone rather than with others, shows little interest in making friends, and be less responsive to social cues such as eye contact or smiles.

These autism symptoms impact on the autistic person’s ability to interact effectively and can cause isolation and social blunders. Consequently, when deciding on autism spectrum disorder goals for interactions these autism symptoms should first be looked at.

Typically developing children learn social skills such as social interactions naturally through play, from their peers, parents and those around them. This ability is missing in kids with autism and social skills should be taught directly.

Generally kids with autism are visual learners and will better understand any social skills teaching when taught and re-enforced visually; This is achievable using visual supports for autism such as social stories.

Using visual supports for autism can make the implementation of autism goals for interactions much easier. By careful observations parents of autistic children can determine which social interaction skills their child is finding difficult and an appropriate social skills story can be put in place to help them overcome this.

Many parents of autistic children use social skills stories to help teach social, communication, imagination and interaction skills with great success rates.

 

The social skills story is visually rich with short appropriate pieces of text set out in a specific format. Developed almost twenty years ago social skills stories are probably the most significant autism tool used to help kids with autism overcome social interaction difficulties.

To find appropriate autism spectrum disorder goals for interactions social skills stories as well as social skills stories for other social skills teaching such as making friends, answering questions, appropriate touching and many more visit any of the following sites and gain immediate downloads:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school_resources

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/preschool

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/behavior

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/Halloween

 

 

Pumpkin patterns
PLUS: GRAB YOUR FREE Pumpkin Pattern ebook

Patterns to Paint or Carve

Fun for Adults and Kids

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/Halloween

 

 

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Example: autism social stories

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

Autism social stories WILL HELP children with autism OVERCOME social skills deficits.

Autism social stories CAN HELP with transitions, changes to routines, learning new skills, making choices, learning appropriate behaviours, social awareness, communication difficulties, imagination skills and MORE!

Autism social stories ARE VISUAL strategies, which follow a set pattern, are generally written from the point of view of the autistic person. They ARE easy to implemetn and need NO formal training to USE.

BELOW is an example: autism social stories



To GET immediate download of 100 social skills stories visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

Autism Spectrum Disorder what is it?

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Autism Spectrum Disorder what is it?

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurological developmental disorder affecting an individual’s brain; having autism does not indicate a form of mental retardation.

Autism Spectrum Disorder is an umbrella term used to represent or denote a wide variety of spectrum disorders such as: PDD Nos, Autistic Disorder, low functioning Autism, Asperger Syndrome, also Atypical Autism (a type of Pervasive Developmental Disorder, not otherwise specified). There are differences between these spectrum disorders, but on the whole they are quite similar.

Autism “Spectrum” Disorder what is it?

The word “spectrum” is used because, while all people with autism share three main areas of difficulty, their condition will affect them in very different ways. Some are able to live relatively “normal” lives; while others on the lower end of the “spectrum” will probably have other disabilities such as epilepsy, some will also have educational difficulties and most will require a lifetime of specialist support.

There are three main areas of difficulty which all people with autism spectrum disorder share these are referred to as the “triad of impairments”.

The triad of impairments are:

  • Difficulties with communication
  • Difficulties with social interaction
  • Difficulties with imagination

While all people with autism spectrum disorder share the triad of impairments, some autistic people may be affected more by one autism symptom, while others may be affected more strongly by a different autism symptom.

People with autism may experience some form of sensory sensitivity, which is referred to as sensory processing issues.

People with autism spectrum disorder and sensory sensitivity…

The majority of autistic people will also have sensory processing issues, these difficulties can occur in one or more of the five senses - sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. A person’s senses are either intensified (hypersensitive) or under-sensitive (hypo-sensitive).

For example: a person with autism may find certain background sounds, like the hum of a fridge for example unbearably loud or distracting, while the rest of us can ignore or block out the noise. To an autistic person the noise can cause anxiety or even physical pain, this can be referred to as an autistic anxiety trigger.

People with autism spectrum disorder that are hypo-sensitive will often not feel pain or extremes of temperature. Some may rock, spin or flap their hands to stimulate sensation, this is called autistic stimming. An autistic person will use autistic stimming to help with difficulties like balance and posture or to deal with anxiety, confusion even stress, another autistic anxiety trigger.

People with autism spectrum disorder and sensory sensitivity may also find it harder to use their body awareness system. Which tells us where our bodies are, so for those with reduced body awareness, it can be harder to navigate rooms without walking into objects or bumping into others. They will not appreciate what is an appropriate distance from other people which can cause issues with respecting personal space.

This can cause social problems, as the person with autism will be unaware of the need for personal space and may stand very close, making people feel very uncomfortable.

Social stories for autism can help an autistic child understand what personal space is and why it is important to allow others to have personal space.

An autistic child may also have problems with “fine motor” tasks such as tying shoelaces, and fastening buttons etc.

Sometime autistic people may have learning disabilities, which can affect all aspects of their life, from going to school, to learning how to wash themselves, clean their teeth, Or how to feed themselves.

Again social stories can help reduce the confusion and stress felt by an autistic child when trying to master “everyday” life skills the rest of us take for granted.

The symptoms of autism will vary from person to person each autistic person will have a different degree of learning disability.

Some autistic people will be able to live fairly independently, but may need some support.

While others may require lifelong, specialist support. However, all people with autism can, and do, learn and develop with the right sort of autistic support tools and autism resources.

One such form of autism resources is something called autism social stories.

These are short pieces of text with appropriate pictures-giving your autistic child, teen or adult specific social cues for everyday living skills.

Like how to wash their teeth, visiting the doctor, eating out. Social skills stories for autistic children and teens, or adults can be printed and used as instructions for all of life’s “normal” and “not so normal” life experiences and actions.

For many children with autism social stories act as a “role model” showing in simple easy to understand chunks how and why.

They are visual plans and can be drawn upon for many situations, skills, circumstances and behaviors like: transitions, changes to routines, learning new skills, re-enforcing already learnt skills and promoting positive behaviors.

An autism social skills stories answer the ever important “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as “HOW” and offer children with autism an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others.

Helping the autistic person feel better in, and cope with, situations they may struggle to understand or deal with - by giving them clear visual and accurate information about those situations.

Autism social skills stories are excellent for of autistic support tools, they can be edited to personalize and printed for convenience. These autism resources can become a valuable part of an autistic person’s life.

To obtain these valuable autism resources visit any of the following sites and get downloads of autism social stories:

www.autismsocialstories.com

www.autismsocialstories.com/behavior

www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene

www.autismsociastories.com/autistic_teens

www.autismsocialstories.com/school

www.autismsocialstories.com/howto

What is Autism?

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Looking at what is autism

Recent autism information research suggests that an autistic person has several genes, which may contribute to the disorder. It is also said that some brain regions show forms of abnormalities also.

 

It was also said autism information research into the causes of Autism, report a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and sometimes other factors may contribute to autism.

 

Possibilities suggested for possible autism causes were that neurotransmitters in the brain may not be working normally, or even a faulty immune system could be the cause, or a virus.

 

Some autism information suggested the autistic individual may have been subjected to an increased level of protein in the mother’s blood during birth.

 

Or other suggestions were extreme stress in the mother whilst pregnant.

 

However as yet “no reasonably complete answer to the question what causes autism has been found”. With autism research continuing into this complex disorder.

 

Scientists have also been exploring the possibility of genetic imprinting…which could help determine the parental donor of the abnormal gene.

 

The autism spectrum ranges from low functioning autism where an individual  may have little or no speech, severe mental disabilities, maybe seizures, and will use stimming, like hand flapping and rocking.

 

To high functioning autism or aspergers syndrome, these individuals are less impaired with odd social approaches, narrowly focused interests, social impairments and communication difficulties.

 

Which ever end of the spectrum you autistic child is on there are common traits with autism spectrum disorder:

 

Social deficits

Communication deficits

Imagination deficits

 

All of these issues will be present in autism no matter where on the spectrum you child falls.

 

There are many resources available to parent, individuals, educators and guardians of autistic individuals…One of which and probably in our opinion one of the easiest to implement and use is autism social skills stories.

 

Autism social skills stories are short precise instructions to the autistic person. Giving them clear guidelines on situations and circumstances they may struggle with.

 

For example…

 

Brushing their teeth, using deodorant, good eating habits, saying Hi, saying thank you and many more covering possibly all situations your autistic child finds stressful or hard to understand.

 

Written specially for autistic individuals, research suggests that autistic and asperger individuals are visual thinkers and learners and find the visual context of social stories useful and easy to use. Reports also suggest autism social stories are an excellent autism tool and resource that can be used for all situations effectively.

 

Autism social skills stories are a significant autism tool used widely in schools, colleges, in the individuals home, clinics and by professionals working with or caring for children with autism spectrum disorder. Suitable social stories can be downloaded and used from

www.autismsocialstories.com

www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills

www.autismsocialstories.com/school

www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene

www.autismsocialstories.com/howto

www.autismsocialstories.com/autistic_teens

www.autismsocialstories.com/asperger_adolescents

www.autismsocialstories.com/potty

Teach essential hygiene skills to an autistic child

Saturday, November 13th, 2010

Probably one of the most basic yet essential life skills is hygiene, from going to the toilet to eating habits, hygiene is essential for everyone.

 

Typically developing children will by the age of 5 – 6 be able to use basic hygiene skills like taking themselves to the toilet, washing their hands, brushing their teeth and so on.

 

But for children with autism hygiene can be a confusing and stressful skill to master. Common to autism are social skills deficits and sensory processing issues, making even basic skills like washing your teeth uncomfortable for a child on the spectrum.,

 

It is not uncommon for a child on the spectrum to be six years old before they master using the toilet, this of cause can lead to further problems. While your average three year old child can still fit into nappies it is not so easy to find nappies for your six year old child. Plus if your child with ASD is already attending school, soiling themselves can attract negative attention from their peers.


For many parents knowing how to teach essential hygiene skills to an autistic child is frustrating, a lack of support and information can be a hindrance. However as with other social skills hygiene habits and routines can be taught effectively using intervention strategies such as social skills stories.


What are intervention strategies and how can they be implemented?

Intervention strategies are used to help children with autism, they are resources and methods which can be put into practise to help the child on the spectrum learn or cope with a situation, lesson, activity or skill that they are struggling to master.


Parents needing support and methods on how to teach essential hygiene skills to an autistic child can use intervention strategies designed to help with this issue. Strategies such as PECS, flash cards, mini schedules and Social Skills Stories are useful intervention strategies which can help do just that.

 

For the vast majority of children with autism learning is done visually, therefore any visual strategies chosen need to be visual. Visual strategies such as social skills stories are perfect for introducing new skills, brushing up on existing skills and as gentle reminders of already learnt skills, changes to routine, transitions and as guides to help with situations or activities the child on the spectrum does not understand.

 

For children with ASD sensory processing issues can make hygiene difficult, social skills stories can ease some of the tension many children with ASD feel when confronted with a hygiene task they are not comfortable with like for example brushing your teeth, or getting a haircut even.

 

Social stories explain visually the “wh” questions – who, where, why, when and what as well as “how” and give an insight into the thoughts feelings and emotions of others, plus detail the consequence of for example not brushing your teeth etc.

 

Visually rich, using first person text and always from the point of view of the autistic person, a social skills story should be short and concise much like a visual plan or role model of the skill or situation the autistic person can understand.

 

The social story should be printable for convenience and editable, no two people are ever the same and we all use different terminology, therefore some social stories need to be tweaked to make them suitable for individuals.

 

To learn more about social skills stories and how they may benefit your autistic child or young person visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene

 

Other social skills stories for your autistic child can be found at: http://www.autismsocialstoires.com

http://www.insideautisticminds.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/autistic_teens

Social skills stories as a strategy for teaching social and communication skills

Monday, October 18th, 2010

What are Social Skills Stories?

Social skills stories are designed and written following a set pattern of sentence types and visual images to describe a situation or skill using appropriate social cues.

A social skills story should describe what happens in a specific social situation in a structured and consistent manner.

Generally autistic individuals are visual thinkers and learners, meaning they think in pictures. Consequently, an appropriate social skills story should be visual, the vast majority of autistic individuals respond better to visual information and instruction.

Social skills stories are visual strategies using images and appropriate first person text. Each social skills story should be written from the ASD individual’s point of view.

The social story answers the “wh” questions (who, why, where. when and what) as well as giving an insight into the emotions and thoughts of others. The social story acts like a role model showing autistic individuals visually how to behave in a socially acceptable way.

Using social skills stories as a strategy for teaching social and communication skills

The goal of any social skills story should be:

  • To provide ASD individual’s with social cues for situations or skills.
  • To help the autistic person rehearse a situation, and to respond appropriately
  • To help prepare the autistic person for routine changes or new experiences.
  • To reduce negative behaviour.
  • To help reduce social blunders caused through lack of social understanding.
  • To help address any communication difficulties

Therefore using social skills stories as a strategy for teaching social and communication skills is beneficial.

Social skills stories are visual strategies that address communication difficulties and provide a visual framework or plan which reduces stress and anxiety as well as giving the ASD individual a chance to rehearse appropriate responses.

Social skills stories work because

They address the “theory of mind”. Many individuals with autism do not act appropriately in social situations, simply because they do not understand that others might have a different opinion to them.

Many individuals with autism fail to understand verbal and nonverbal communications such as wit and humour, or that others may have different opinions, wants and needs to them.

Consequently communication difficulties are common for an ASD individual and social situations can become unpredictable and confusing.

Social skills stories help people with autism read situations and skills better and therefore react and act appropriately.

To learn more about what are social skills stories? And how people with autism can benefit from using these visual strategies to help them address communication difficulties as well as social skills and behaviours visit:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/behavior

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills

Using autism resources & social skills stories

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010


Using autism resources like social skills stories is beneficial, social stories are an effective method of addressing and teaching social skills to individuals on the spectrum.

 

Autism social skills stories are used as a strategy, they provide autistic people with accurate information about any situation they maybe struggling with, find confusing, or stressful.

 

Autism social skills stories use visual images and first person text to describe a skills or situation by giving focus to the key points: these are the important social cues.

 

For example: the social skills story will give information about the event, and the reactions the individual might expect to occur in the situation. Plus it will give the actions and reactions that might be expected of them, and why.


The goal of any social skills story is to increase the autistic persons understanding of events and situations, therefore making them more comfortable in the situation, as well as suggesting possible appropriate responses.


Research suggests that individuals with autism lack the theory of mind. They are unable to interpret, “mind read”. This means individuals with autism are unable to read the thoughts and feelings of others by simply watching their body language, facial expression or gestures - nonverbal communications. As typically developing individuals we naturally interpret the nonverbal communications of others.

 

An autistic people lack any understanding that others have their own thoughts, feelings, plans, and points of view. This inevitably can lead to stress and confusion for autistic people.

 

Consequently, using autism resources which help individuals on the spectrum understand and learn social skills such as reading nonverbal communications as well as other social skills they may struggle with is beneficial.

 

For many individuals on the spectrum lacking social skills is distressing and can lead to social isolation, using autism resources like autism social skills stories which teach social skills can help. Social skills stories need no formal training to use and are editable, printable and can be personalized making them convenient.


The social skills story provides information in a well structured and consistent manner, which is excellent for kids with autism.


Kids with autism are visual thinkers and learners and will respond well to the visual images in autism social skills stories.

 

Social Stories  give an autistic child direct contact with appropriate social skills information, like a role model, using pictures and text as opposed to speech or observation, which appears to be a noticeable weakness in autism and aspergers syndrome.

 

To learn more about autism social skills stories and gain downloads of social stories for your autistic child or young person visit:

www.autismsocialstories.com

www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills

www.autismsocialstories.com/school

www.autismsocialstories.com/behavior

www.autismsocialstories.com/aggression

www.autismsocialstories.com/asperger_adolescents

www.autismsocialstories.com/autistic_teens

www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school_resources

 

 

How to teach social skills to autistic children

Monday, July 12th, 2010


Social skills are learnt naturally through socialization, we watch people and learn through experience, our environment, peers and families.

 

The ability to learn social skills naturally is missing in autistic children and therefore they need to learn social skills directly through supports, like for example social skills stories.

 

Social skills stories show us how to teach social skills to autistic children, such as holding a conversation, understanding nick names, sharing, respecting personal space, taking turns and so on.


Social stories teach the autistic person both verbal and nonverbal communication skills and behaviours which will help them act appropriately in social situations. For example social skills stories teach social skills to individuals on the spectrum such as waving goodbye, saying hello, lining up, in school assembly, whilst out shopping and so on.

Individuals on the spectrum do not read subtle cues contained in social interactions, such as how to tell when someone wants to change the topic of conversation or shift to another activity.

By teaching the autistic person to read social cues you will provide them with the knowledge to determine how to act in various situations or why to perform certain skills such as good hygiene habits or visiting the dentist.

Consequently, many parents looking at methods on how to teach social skills to autistic children turn to autistic supports such as social stories as a means of not only teaching social skills but as a means of communicating also.

Social stories answer the important “wh” questions - who, where, why, when and what as well as giving an insight into verbal and nonverbal communication, plus an insight into the thoughts, feelings and emotions of others.

Using social stories as a strategy to teach an autistic child social and communication skills is beneficial. Research shows social stories as a strategy improves positive behaviours and reduces negative behaviours and anxiety.

To learn more about social stories as a strategy visit:

 http://www.autismsocialstories.com and learn how to teach social skills to autistic children using these autistic supports. Easy to use and with no need for any kind of training to use social stories are printable, editable and can be personalized for convenience and ease of use.

Alternativelly social stories can be found at any of the following sites:

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills

http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school


Autism social development

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010


A normally developing child will go through certain stages of development. Babies typically stare or gaze at things that catch their eyes, will turn towards a voice, grasp fingers and show facial expressions like smiling.

In babies that are autistic autism social development:

Autistic babies prefer objects to faces, lack eye contact and show no interest in social interactions.

Autistic toddlers and children with autism tend to prefer to play and be alone. They may resist cuddles, still lack any interest in others or faces. Lack eye contact and still show no interest in social interactions.

Typically children with autism do not respond or show affection in the same manner as a normally developing youngster. For many parents their child’s detachment can be quite upsetting and stressful.

In autism social development is not learnt naturally and needs direct teaching. Generally all individuals with autism spectrum disorder lack the theory of mind, the ability to see things from another’s perspective, or learn appropriate social and communication skills and behaviors.

As a typically developing being we watch and interpret the thoughts, moods, feelings and emotions of those around us by reading their facial, body language and tone of voice this is the theory of mind, an autistic youngster will not do this.

Generally, individuals with autism spectrum disorder lack these interpretation skills, an inability that leaves them unable to predict or understand other people’s thoughts, actions and reactions.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder normally prefer structured routines; and can react negatively even aggressively when any routine changes. It is also not uncommon for individuals with autism spectrum disorder to display self-stimulatory behavior, self-injury, withdrawal in overwhelming situations and sensory processing issues.

It is not possible to cure autism, but there are a wide variety of treatments for autism available that can help address the social skills deficits displayed by individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

One of the treatments for autism available is social stories, widely used as a tool for improving autism social development.

Research suggests significant improvements in autism social development with those children with autism where a social story has been implemented.

A social story is a short descriptive story that uses visual images and appropriate first person language, to break down the skills or situation that the autistic person is struggling with.

The skills or situation is broken into small easy to understand stages, the key social cues and images are used to help show the autistic person the “wh” questions (who, where, why, when and what) giving them a clear no frill explanation of the skill.

Like a visual framework helping them see what to expect, and what others will be expecting of them, making them more comfortable and able to cope, thus reducing negative and aggressive behavior.

For more information on social stories and how they can be used to help your autistic youngster visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

Alternatively school related social stories for your autistic youngster can be found at http://www.autismsocialstories.com/school

Other sites offering social stories, support and information include http://www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills

Managing Your Autistic Child’s Behavior.

Monday, January 25th, 2010


How do you help your Autistic child deal with difficult and everyday situations?

Autism is a complex disorder, which affects mainly boys. There is no cure for Autism, but there are resources available to you as a parent of an Autistic child.

Living with an Autistic child is stressful; you can’t just spontaneously take the family out for the day, or take an unexpected holiday, turn up at school in a new car, or surprise them with a party.

Although these are all normal activities, and undoubtedly your other children would love; even the smallest change from routine can throw your Autistic child into a state of panic, which can cause a tantrum and so on…

Things need planning properly, that’s where social stories come into their own.


They allow the autistic child chance to rehearse the upcoming event, or practice the already learnt skill.

They also give you the opportunity to express your thoughts and feelings these can easily be added into the social story. A social story is like a little friend a constant reminder of how we act.

Your Autistic child will find reassurance in his/her story and the right social cues. They are constant, repetitive and will act as a kind of security blanket for your autistic child.

The upcoming event, like a new baby, a new puppy, a new pair of shoes even can be discussed, even role played on the first couple of readings of a new story.

You will be giving your child an insight into what will happen, or what already happens, why it happens, what it happens for and how they are meant to act, or what they are meant to do.

What about saying Hi, or excuse me, things we do automatically, but to an autistic mind these things are just silly, why do you want to say Hi to someone you don’t know, or don’t really care for, or even want to.

Politeness is a learnt skill, we learn it and it sticks in our minds, the autistic mind needs a gentle reminder of this skill, unlike a typically developing mind the autistic mind needs help learning social and communication skills.

So let’s take a look at social stories, they are with you constantly, a little reminder and a solid  descriptive, straight forward, never deviating, or spontaneous, friend, their to help child with autism feel comfortable with situations, activities and events.

Social stories:

Can be a very useful tool they are used to teach social skills to children and people with autism.

A social story is a simple description of an everyday social situation, written from the Autistic a person’s perspective.

Social stories are designed to help with social situations as well as normal everyday events and activities.

They are also used to prepare for upcoming changes in the autistic persons routine and help the autistic person deal with other situations that are out of their normal daily routine.

For example a birth, marriage, death or other situation or activity.

The idea behind these social stories is to allow the autistic person to accustom themselves with the up-coming event, or daily activity or situation.

So that the Autistic person is aware of what is going on and can deal with it and the hope is that the social story will help with the autistic person’s behavior.

What are social stories like?

Social stories are always written in the first person, in the present tense, and from the autistic person’s point of view.

The social story should be written in a way that the child with autism can understand. It should match their level of vocabulary and be as specific and personalized as possible.

The story should be written and put into a document/ booklet format.

Once the story has been written a responsible adult, parent, teacher, therapist etc. should read the story with the child/person at least two to three times before the child/person is given the story to read themselves.

This is to ensure that the autistic person understands the important elements in the story.

This can be done by re-reading the story and going over the important elements with the autistic person. You may find a check list approach or role playing the situation in conjunction with reading the story helpful.

For younger children who can not read, or find reading difficult their Mum, Dad, Teacher or adult will need to read the social story for them.

The overall effectiveness of each story should be monitored, with the story being tweaked and or changed as the behavior is learnt.

What is the theory behind it?

Social stories were created to help autistic people improve their social understanding and interactions.

It was found that in children and adults with autism, by giving them simple and clear descriptions and instructions, social cues, to appropriate behaviors they were able to manage much better.

However, it is still not clear why social stories work better for children and adults with autism, than picking up social cues from their everyday environment.

Researchers believe this is due to the “theory of mind”. Which is basically that autistic people have problems understanding why we do the things we do. They find our lives confusing; they prefer repetition and things to remain the same at all times.

There are a number of ways social stories help improve the “theory of mind”.

One theory is that by giving prompts and suggestions to specific social cues and behaviors for situations, using social stories may actually help to improve the autistic person’s problem solving abilities.

Social stories are also used to help the autistic person manage certain situations. Which will then help them to deal with tasks, activities and situations that they previously found difficult and confusing or upsetting?

They can also help the autistic child / person understand what is expected of them, and what they can expect from other people.

Do Social Stories work?

Research has shown that social stories do help reduce problem behaviors. They also help to increase the autistic person’s social awareness, and have been found to help re-enforce an already learnt skill or teach a new one.

Social stories are more useful to autistic children and adults who have basic language skills.

Although you can get social stories in audio and pictorial formats. It is not known if social stories work when sign language is used.

There are no known negative effects of social stories reported and it is believed amongst the medical and social professionals that social stories are beneficial to  all autistic children, young people and adults.

The belief is that the social story can be used to teach the autistic person social skills that he/she would otherwise not know how to use appropriately.

This in itself is a good thing and can help alleviate what could otherwise be stressful situations for parents and carer’s.

So what does a social story look like?

Social stories are made from different sentence types.

Descriptive, Perspective, Directive. They may also include Affirmative, Control, Co-operative sentences.

Descriptive sentences provide information about specific social settings or situations, for example they provide cues to what the person sees, who is involved, and what happens, For example: At lunch time most of the children will go to the dinner hall.

Perspective sentences describe the feelings, emotions, thoughts, and/or mood of other people. Describing the way a situation is viewed by some body else, many kids with autism have difficulties understanding how others see things. For example: Usually, when people are happy, they smile.  Smiling makes people feel good.

Directive sentences provide the autistic person with information about what they should try and do, to be successful in the situation. For example: If I stay calm in class, I will learn more.

Recommended formula for writing Autism social stories:

Are two to five Descriptive sentences for each Directive sentence, which may include Perspective sentences. Research shows that many stories which follow this ratio will be successful.

Children especially autistic children respond well to learning through pictures.

Pictorially rich social stories are thought to be better and easier for the autistic child to understand.

Social stories can be designed for all age ranges and abilities.

A good social skills story will help in all areas as long as it is introduced properly as explained earlier. Then monitored for its overall effectiveness.

If a social skills story is deemed not to be working, it should be tweaked and then used. If it is still not working, the social skills story should be looked at, is this the right story? Or maybe a different social skills story would best suit the situation.

At www.autismsocialstories.com  we aim to provide pictorially rich, specific social stories that can be printed off and used for various ages.


Autism social stories touch

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009



Generally all autistic people will display to differing degree’s autistic social skills deficits. Social stories attempt to address this.

 

Social stories are used to help autistic people develop and learn positive social skills and behaviors. Social stories are used to help give autistic individuals a perspective on the thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviors felt and displayed by others.

 

Many autistic individuals will not act as we would expect in social situations mainly due to autistic social skills deficits.

 

Generally many autistic people fail to understand that others might have different opinions to them, or that others may want to do something different to what they want to do.

 

Therefore many social situations can become unpredictable, stressful and confusing for the autistic child or young person, especially around puberty.

 

Social stories therefore help the autistic child or teen to better predict the actions, reactions, thoughts, feelings and emotions of others.

 

Social stories present the situation in a structured and consistent manner using visual images as well as appropriate text.

 

Social stories are written in the first person providing the autistic child with information about the social situation being mastered or re-enforced. To better prepare them to cope, remember and act appropriately in the situation.

 

This is true for appropriate touching an autistic person may not necessarily realize that they are not respecting someone’s personal space.

 

Therefore a social skills story to explain what appropriate touching is can benefit the autistic person and stop any social blunders, embarrassment or stress.

 

Autism social stories touch will provide appropriate behavior skills in a way the autistic person will understand and can cope with effectively.

 

Social stories are normally written by therapists, teachers, parents and other professionals for autistic children and young people to help them develop appropriate social skills and behaviors such as autism and appropriate touching.

 

An excellent site for downloading social stories for touch can be found at: http://www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills

 

Or other sites offering downloads of social stories for appropriate touching as well as other social kills and behaviors can be found at: http://www.autismsocialstories.com

 

 

Promoting healthy hygiene habits in autism

Saturday, July 18th, 2009


Good hygiene habits are learnt through our peers and family, we listen, watch and naturally learn how to take care of ourselves.

 

With autism however, the ability to learn social skills such as good hygiene habits is not learnt naturally these skills need to be taught directly.

 

Parents, teacher and care givers use social skills stories to help teach healthy hygiene habits in autism, first developed by Carol Gray these autism resources are used when promoting healthy hygiene habits in autism.

 

Social skills stories are normally written by experts in autism development and are always written in the first person using text and images to help the autistic person understand the skill that is being taught or re-enforced.

 

Typically developing youngsters naturally learn self help skills and the need for these skills. With autism however the need for social acceptance is not always the same.

 

An autistic youngster may not understand the need for personal hygiene, their ability to read facial expression and body language is also impaired, therefore the autistic youngster may not realize their lack of personal hygiene may appear odd or in some cases offensive.

 

Social skills stories can help explain the need to practice healthy hygiene habits in autism whilst teaching the autistic youngster these skills and routines.

 

Social skills stories are also used to help with other issues related to good hygiene habits in autism such as taking an autistic child to the dentist, or autism and getting a haircut.

 

All of these social skills stories can now be downloaded from autism developmental experts providing social skills stories on issues such as good hygiene habits in autism, taking an autistic child to the dentist and autism and getting a haircut, one such site with 20 printable social skills stories for self help skills in autism is http://www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene

 

Find expertly written stories promoting healthy hygiene habits in autism as well as stories on potty training an autistic toddler, autism and menstruation, using deodorant, showering and other self help personal social skills stories.

 

Visit: http://www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene

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Typical social deficits in autism

Monday, May 18th, 2009


Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability affecting the brain of autistic individual’s. In general three quarters of babies diagnosed will be male.

 

The symptoms of autism or the typical social deficits in autism

Are normally always characterized by the autistic individual’s social difficulties.

 

The symptoms of autism will vary between individuals as no two people are the same. However the typical social deficits in autism are always deficits with social, communication, imagination and interaction. This group of deficits will always be present in some form and is often referred to as the triad of autistic impairments.

 

This triad of autistic impairments can differ in severity from low-functioning autistic people to high functioning autism or those with asperger syndrome.

 

Low functioning autistic children will normally display other developmental difficulties like lack of speech, seizures and will often have educational difficulties also. It is often found low functioning autistics benefit from special education schools.

 

The top end of the autism scale is asperger syndrome or high functioning autism; these two diagnoses are often confused, but are not the same. This group of children will often be in mainstream education with average or above average intelligence.

 

The symptoms of autism may vary and the level of support will vary, but in general all autistic children benefit from help with this triad of autistic impairments. There are various autism resources on offer to help ease the typical social deficits in autism. These include autism resources like social skills stories, PECS cards, Flash cards, schedules etc.

 

In general autism resources like autism social skills stories can be of huge benefit for all autistic children, young people and adults, they provide excellent support for the autistic person and can be tweaked to suit each autistic person individually.

 

They come in various formats to suit both low functioning autistics as well as those with high functioning autism and asperger syndrome.


Autism social skills stories are always written in the first person and visually rich with appropriate images to help the autistic person understand what is being learnt.

 

They are affective for all areas the autistic person is struggling with including things such as personal hygiene, school issues, activities as well as being used as a tool to teach social skills and help encourage good behaviors.

 

Download social skills stories to help your autistic child or young person from:

  

www.autismsocialstories.com

 

 

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Autism behavioral difficulties

Sunday, April 12th, 2009


All autistic individuals can suffer with behavioral difficulties.

 

Autism spectrum disorder covers a wide range of disabilities from low functioning autism to asperger syndrome.

 

However all on the autism spectrum disorder scale will have the autism triad of impairments:

Social deficits

Communication deficits

Interaction and imagination deficits

 

Some autistic children on the low functioning autism end may also have significant learning difficulties and need quite a lot of support.

 

On the other end of the autism spectrum disorder scale the asperger syndrome child may need moderate to low help and be of average to above average intelligence.

 

However that said when dealing with autism behavioral difficulties all autistic individuals will need a level of support when dealing with the autism triad of impairments

 

The autism behavioral difficulties vary between all autistic children. The best way of coping with the effects of autism behavioral difficulties is to first have an understanding of how the autism triad of impairments affects each autistic individual.

 

For example all autistic children will have communication deficits, language is normally always delayed and in low functioning autism sometimes language is never developed.


The autistic individual will have problems understanding language and communicating with others they will have difficulties and normally lack the ability to understand humor, sarcasm, wit and slang etc.

 

A good way of helping all autistic children develop and control language is by the introduction of autism social skills stories.

 

Autism social skills stories are carefully written short descriptive visual autism supports that are easily introduced. They will soon be helping your autistic individual find clear coping methods for all language issues.

 

Parents, care providers and educators have been finding support using autism social stories for many years with tremendous success. Autism social stories can be used for all situations that the autistic person is struggling to understand. The autism social story can be implemented to help the autistic person make sense of the situation and suggest give clear coping strategies and methods of dealing with the issue.

 

All autism behavioral difficulties can be adequately addressed using autism social skills stories.

 

To download and begin using autism social skills stories visit:

 

www.autismsocialstories.com

 

www.autismsocialstories.com/school


www.autismsocialstories.com/preschool

 

www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene


www.autismsocialstories.com/howto

 

www.autismsocialstories.com/behavior 

 

 

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Being autistic and dealing with death

Sunday, March 29th, 2009


Death is a natural part of life everything living must die at some time.

As a normally developing person we can appreciate this fact, however unfair, unexpected and devastated we may feel.

 

With autism this rational reasoning is missing, being autistic and dealing with death is for some very confusing and can be very stressful. Sometimes being autistic and dealing with death can mean the reverse, we may be grieving and our autistic loved one will carry on as before oblivious to our grief and pain.

 

Death will never happen at a perfect time rehearsed and pain free..

 

This is where some caregivers, parents and autistic educators find relief in social skills stories.

 

This autism resource can be easily adapted to suit all eventualities, an autism social skills story will explain what death is, why it happens and why we grieve.

 

The autistic individual can use the autism resource as instruction, friend and guide at this difficult time.

 

Evidence shows that being autistic and dealing with death can be manages and helped using autism social skills stories. By implementing an autism social story you will give your autistic person a means to comprehend what has happened, why and how they can expect others to act as well as how others will expect them to act.

 

The autism social story will help make them more comfortable in and with the situation and suggest possible behaviors.

 

The autism social story can be simply implemented and adapted to suit different ages and abilities, autism social skills stories can be used for a variety of circumstances, events and skills.

 

The internet now makes it possible to download suitable social skills stories quickly and easily allowing you time to grieve.

 

To download suitable social skills stories covering awkward topics such as death visit:

www.autismsocialstories.com

 

 

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Autism learning skills

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

 Autism Learning Skills

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Autism is a disorder affecting both children and adults. Autism spectrum disorder is a pervasive developmental disorder affecting the brain of the autistic individual.

 

Autism spectrum disorder is normally detected and diagnosed during the childhood years, almost 1 in every 150 children born will receive an autistic diagnosis, autism spectrum disorder affects more males than females with an average of every 1:4 autistic diagnosis being female.

 

Autism spectrum disorder is a wide spectrum of disorders, but all will have the three main triads of impairments:

Social deficit

Communication, both verbal and non verbal deficits

Imagination and interaction deficits.

 

Although the symptoms of autism will vary among individuals, all autistic individuals will have these social deficits.


Probably the most apparent of the symptoms of autism will be an individual’s lack of social understanding and the ability to communicate affectively.

 

Therefore the autism learning skills will be different to those of their normally developing peers.

 

For example a normally developing child will have the ability to read others facial expression and body language will be able to understand a joke, wit and sarcasm and will not take every metaphor literally.

 

With the autistic child this is missing therefore the autism learning skills are not the same. The autistic child will lack the ability to conquer theses skills unlike a normally developing child that will learn these skills naturally.

 

All autistic individuals will experience communication difficulties, so it’s a good idea to remember this and adapt the way you communicate with the autistic person. For example try not to use metaphors like “wait a minute” unless this is exactly what you mean etc.

Use simple direct language saying exactly what you mean, don’t use wit sarcasm and puns these will be meaningless and can cause confusion.

 

With autism learning skills try and be visual as much as possible for example if you are trying to explain something or teach something, or maybe you are trying to communicate a need, instruction or general talk try to use visual cues, like social skills stories.

 

Social skills stories are used a lot to help communication, teaching, instruction and direction.

 

The social skills stories can be used to explain visually what it is you are trying to get communicate. They can be used to help teach social skills and to help with behavior issues. They are visually rich and will give clear focus to the main or key points of the skill, event, activity or task in question.

 

With autism social skills stories the autistic child or adult can see what is being portrayed and will find a better understanding.

Autism social skills stories have been used for many years with tremendous results. The internet now makes it possible for autistic educators and parents to obtain suitable and age appropriate autism social skills stories effectively and effortlessly.

One such site is www.autismsocialstories.com

Here they have 100 social skills stories that can be downloaded.

 

 

 

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Typical social deficits autism

Friday, March 20th, 2009


Autism is a developmental disability affecting the autistic individual’s brain. There is no cure for autism with more boys being diagnosed autistic than girls.

 

The symptoms of autism are characterized by the autistic individual’s social deficits.

 

The symptoms of autism vary from person to person but all with have the triad of autistic impairments:

Communication deficits

Social deficits

Imagination and interaction deficits

 

This triad of autistic impairments will be varied from low functioning autism where the autistic person is likely to have other developmental problems such as learning disabilities, little or no speech and sometimes will suffer from seizures.

 

To those individuals with high functioning autism and asperger syndrome; who will almost certainly have average or above average intelligence. 


These groups of autistic individuals are often referred to as little professors or geeks.

 

The typical social deficits autism will always be present, the main problem being social communication issues.


All autistic people will struggle to make sense of the world and have problems being socially accepted.

 

If your child has been diagnosed autistic you will probably be wondering exactly how the condition will affect their behaviors and development.

 

Autistic children are seldom naughty “just because” as their normally developing peers maybe. There is always going to be a reason for their behaviors, for example autistic children who are head banging, this could be because they have a tooth ache or ear ache.

 

What ever end of the autism scale your autistic child may be there are treatments and therapies available.

 

One such autism resource is autism social skills stories. This valuable autism resource can now thanks to the internet be downloaded quickly and easily giving immediate support and help to your autistic child or adult.

 

This autism resource has been widely used for many years for all autistic individuals needing help to understand and cope with certain situations they are struggling with.

 

When autism social skills stories are implemented they give the autistic person clear precise instruction using visual prompts and text. Autistic people are visual learners and will respond well to the visual cues used in autism social skills stories.

 

Implementing autism social skills stories can be done quickly and effortlessly, after careful observations on your autistic child you should be able to ascertain which situations they are struggling, becoming stressed by or misunderstanding, these will be appropriate targets for autism social skills stories.

 

Social skills stories can be used for all situation and tasks, for example tooth brushing, shopping, recess and other situations like a hospital appointment, new baby, visiting grand parents, in fact all situations and social settings or tasks your autistic individual need help with.

 

All typical social deficits autism can be overcome using social skills stories.

 

For immediate download of autism social skills stories visit:

 

www.autismsocialstories.com

www.autismsocialstories.com/school

www.autismsocialstories.com/preschool

www.autismsocialstories.com/potty

www.autismsocialstories.com/behavior

www.autismsocialstories.com/social_skills

www.autismsocialstories.com/howto

www.autismsocialstories.com/hygiene

www.autismsocialstories.com/valentines_day

www.autismsocialstories.com/mothers_day

www.autismsocialstories.com/autistic_teens

www.autismsocialstories.com/asperger_adolescents

 

 

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Manage autistic behaviors

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Autistic children are less likely to mis-behave intentionally than there normally developing peers. An autistic child will dispaly sometimes aggressive and odd behavior, but there will always be a reason for this behavior they will not just misbehave because they want to or are acting under peer pressure.

Normally the answer to the autistic behavior issue is in theenvironment. For example an autistic child crying and banging their head, could be an indication of tooth ache, ear ache or over stimulation.

Autistic people are very sebsitive to stimuli, sight, touch, smell and sound…

An autistic child will act with aggression when certain conditions or actions are not met, like for example at a routine change, or if their senses are overwhelmed, by noise for example…in a shopping center there may be a lot of background noise you can switch off.  But the autistic person will not be able to do the same. So the ringing of a mobile phone, the hum of the escalator, ring of a till, low chatter, scream of a baby all noise you shut out will overwhelm them causing at times physical pain, which in turn will cause the autistic person to be come aggressive and over stimulated.

When considering how to manage autistic behavior, these considerations should be taken into account. Not all behavior can be pin pointed immediately, but all behavior happens for a reason and after careful consideration and observation a parent should be able to asertain the root cause of the behavior and thus find a method  to manage the autistic behavior.

A good idea is the introduction of social skills stories, autistic people respond well to structured routines and sameness. Therefore any routine change will not be met favorably, introducing social skills stories can help to prepare the autistic person for the forthcoming change to routine, helping them cope with the change and understand why it is happening, which in turn will combat the behavior issue when the routine changes.

Autism social skills stories are excellent tools used to help manage autistic behaviors even those behaviors that are immediate like a death, illness or substitute teacher.  By having autism social skills stories at hand they can quickly be implemented to help visually explain what has happened and offer immediate answers and behavior that the autistic person can understand and deal with.

Autism social skills stories are widely used to help manage autistic behaviors and social skills teaching in autism.

Social skills teaching in autism is helped when social skills stories are implemented, for example hygiene issues, puberty, tooth brushing all skills that can be taught using autism social skills stories.

To download and begin usin autism social skills stories visit:

www.autismsocialstories.com

www.autismsocialstories.com/school

www.autismsocialstories.com/preschool

www.autismsocialstories.com/behavior

www.autismsocialstories.com/potty

 

 

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