Getting your Autistic Child Photographed

The needs of an Autistic child can make photographing them very difficult. They can have a hard time sitting in one position, or have sensory issues with bright lights. Here are some tips for getting the perfect picture of your Autistic child.

1. If you are going to a photographer make sure you let them know ahead of time your child is Autistic. Let them know of any issues with bright lights, or problems sitting still. This will give them time to make some changes if need be.

2. Take pictures of your Autistic child at home, or on outings. A picture does not have to be taken by a professional to be good. If your child has a hard time sitting still get a picture of them while they are sleeping.

3. Take your child to get their picture taken during good times of the day. If you know that afternoons are usually filled with temper tantrums ad meltdowns make the appointment for first thing in the morning, or another time your child is more relaxed.

4. If your child has a special toy that helps them feel relaxed take it along to the photo session. It might help the child to remain calm while having their picture done. If your child insists on holding the toy ask the photographer to include it. If your child does not like to look directly at the camera have their picture taken while they are looking up.

5. Have a photographer come to the house if you do not feel comfortable taking the pictures. They can capture your Autistic child in their natural setting. This might make your child feel more relaxed. Consider taking the pictures outdoors.

6. If your child can not sit still for a picture allow them to stand, or lay down if they choose. Do not try to force them into a position they are uncomfortable with. This could lead to a meltdown. Allow them to direct the photo shoot. If the photographer does not want to cooperate find someone else that will.

7. Ask around. Find out where other parents have taken their Autistic children. They may know someone who has experience with special children.

8. Wear comfortable clothes for pictures. There are no rules that say every picture must feature your child in formal wear. Uncomfortable clothing can really bother an Autistic child with sensory issues.

9. Do not push so hard for a perfect picture. Pictures of children laughing and playing can be just as good as them sitting posed. If you keep pushing for a perfect picture you might upset the child to the point of getting no pictures.

10. Give the Autistic child time to warm up to the camera. Let them see how it works if they have not had their picture taken before. This can make them more relaxed and calm.

Autistic Forms of Teaching and Tolerance

Understanding how autistic children learn is key to teaching them with the same intensity as you teach other children. This may seem like a straightforward idea, but autistic children learn so differently that understanding autism itself is a must when you teach autistic children. By becoming educated in the disorder, teachers can effectively learn to deal with autistic children and adults both in and out of the classroom, creating a more understanding world for everyone.

Autistic children are often visual thinkers. Thus teaching by speaking will not be entirely effective. Teachers should combine pictures with words for the autistic child to fully comprehend the lesson. For instance, if you are teaching about the animals of the world, you should have a flash card with the word "mouse," say the word aloud slowly and clearly, and show the child a picture of a mouse. Perhaps even bring a live mouse in for show and tell.

Nouns may be easier to teach autistic children since verbs require action and can be more difficult in illustrating. If you are teaching autistic children words such as "sit" or "stand," you should complete these actions when you teach the word. Also, because of the tendency to be visual, autistic children are often unable to follow long sentences. They cannot decipher the sequence and become confused. Thus, writing instructions can be very helpful when setting tests or quizzes.

As visual thinkers, autistic children can often fixate on a particular object or picture. If this is the case, try incorporating that object or picture into lesson plans. If the child likes
planes, try using planes for visuals wherever you can in the lesson. For example, when teaching maths, create word problems about planes to interest the child. Autistic children also tend to be artistic or musical, producing highly original drawings and showing above average abilities with instruments or voice. Set aside time in the day for the arts and encourage activities that the children enjoy.

Autistic children may also have trouble writing because of the control over their hands and movement. This is frustrating for both the child and the teacher. To reduce frustration, allow the child to use a computer. If you can do this, make sure that the keyboard and monitor are close together as the child may have difficulty remembering what he or she has typed recently.

By being open to teaching an autistic child to the best of your ability, you are not only giving him or her the best opportunities in life, but you are also being a good role model to the other children in the class. Do not allow an autistic child to ruin the learning experience for others, but rather incorporate his or her oddities into your lessons as much as possible. Creating a more prejudice-free classroom is the best gift you can give this child.

Toilet Training the Autistic Child

Toilet training any toddler can be an adventuresome and tiring ordeal. There are many methods that have hit the markets lately and these methods can range anywhere between nappies (diapers) that change colour when wet to musical toilets that reward the child with music when they use them. This task is more difficult when your child has autism.

When communication is a problem, as it is with most autistic children, letting an adult know they need to use the toilet can be almost impossible endeavour. Some autistic children reach the double figures in age before they learn to ask for and to use the toilet.

Most autistic children do not have the skill and sometimes the desire to mimic or imitate a behaviour. Just because the parents are using the toilet and they demonstrate the behaviour, the autistic child will refuse or not get the connection between the right or wrong of toilet training. Most autistic children’s schedule is full and when you add something new to the schedule,it usually upsets them emotionally. The addition of toilet training to their regimental routine could cause out right rebellion and bad behaviour because they do not want to get outside of their normal daily activity.

If you are having trouble toilet training your autistic child, you might want to observe them for a few days before you try again. Watch and see if the child actually notices when they soil themselves. Do they reposition themselves so that they are not uncomfortable after an accident? Some autistic children feel natural in their own waste while other will react by taking off their clothes.

If your child is ignoring their soiling, consult with a doctor to see if your child has a medical condition that would prevent them from recognising the feeling they are experiencing.
Now here is your part in toilet training. You need to relax and not stress over it. Time will make it happen and your stress and high emotion will only increase your child’s stress. Even the most conscious parent will overreact when they have to change yet another nappy.

If your child sees it’s no big deal for you, then they can relax and let the behaviour come naturally. You do have to stay diligent to get the job done though. If your child is not toilet trained by school age, limitations may be set for opportunities for their education and further socialisation.

One method is to watch what your child does before they soil themselves. Write down a list of their behaviour, what they do ,and when they do it. If you realise that your child gets up in the morning and drinks a glass of juice and twenty minutes later they soil themselves, then you have something to work with.

If the child goes through the same routine, you can put the child on the toilet during the time they normally soil themselves and see what happens. Once you get the morning soiling scheduled, add on an afternoon and evening.

Pretty soon the body will work out the system even though the child does not. It is repeated, routine behaviour and eventually the child will be bought in.

Does this sound like a lot of hard work? It is. Even parents of non-autistic children stress and labour over potty training their child. Each parent will give you a different bit of advice about what worked for them, but you as a parent of an autistic child know what extra you are in for.

Be patient. Try different methods and remember that you have probably never seen a teenager in pampers. It just takes time and patience.

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Teaching Autistic Children

If you are a parent of an autistic child you need to put your child in a structured environment as soon as he or she is diagnosed.

Studies have proved that a structured environment that provides nurturing and teaching is the best method to start to teach the social skills and behaviour redirection that your child needs. This can be an exhausting job for a parent that leaves no time for personal relaxation or freedom of the stress it takes in raising such a child.

A team effort needs to be extended from other professionals that assist the autistic child’s development in addition to parental or sibling support. Your child will probably start formal public school at around the age of five or six. Before this age, structure and instruction is critical for the child to development within their abilities.

You as a parent need to structure your day as well so that you have time to deal with daily tasks and find some kind or recreation outside your child’s life. Recreation for the parents is important for the parent’s mental well being as well as quality of life. First you have to come up with a plan with realistic goals. You need to know what activities your child will participate in what they will learn from it. You also need to plan for the future.

When teaching your autistic child, remember not to use a long strand of phrases. It is best to give clear concise ideas that go together. You might want to add tags to the meanings of the phrases. For example if you are teaching the difference from left to right , you may find sticking a post it note to your or your child’s hand with the words left and right on them.

Most autistic children do not see in words, they see in pictures. With the paper placed on the hands, not only does the child see the movement of the hands but can associate the words left and right with it.

After awhile you will notice that your child is good at something such as drawing or building blocks. You have to be creative, but find someway of including what they are good at into the lesson you wish them to learn. Maybe you are teaching them the word me. Find a picture of your child and put the word me on it. Have the child draw a picture of themselves and to finish the drawing have them write me on the picture. This may be a repetitive process and you may have to change it up a little, but eventually the concept will be learned.

If you notice you child is fixated on something like a book, movie, or map, again use that fixation to work with you. Earlier in this book the story of a autistic boy’s fixation with the Titanic was discussed. The teacher or parent here could use the characters and actions of the Titanic story to reinforce behaviour, concepts, or social Again you will have to be creative and this type of teaching is not the norm for most educators. You have to think ‘outside of the box’ as the child is trying to not only get the message from inside the box, but to find the box in the first place.

If you are teaching reading do not concentrate on one form of instruction. Some autistic children can learn by phonics and some by sight words. Do not restrict your method of instruction. Try both methods to see which one is right for your child. Research has shown that a combination of sight words and phonics can be a very successful for the non-autistic student and it might be a good start to get your child on the way to successfully reading .

Sounds and visual distractions are other areas for concern when teaching the autistic child. Sounds such as school bells or fire alarms can hurt their ears and cause either a violent reaction or bad behaviour. Record the sounds that the child needs to be used to and then let them playback the sounds at the volume of their choice. When they are comfortable with one sound, encourage them to increase the volume until they can take the sound at the volume it will occur.

Visual stimulation is also a problem for the autistic child. Place them at a desk with very little visual stimulation except for the task that they are doing. Even the flickering of fluorescent lighting can cause the mind and the eyes to wander from their intended task.

If you are trying to teach eye contact during conversation, physical activity or interaction is best. Swinging has been shown to increase eye contact. Only when the child wants to swing should the parent or teacher use this method, and as the child is Swinging, talk to them. The motion that is fluid in front of them and their peripheral vision will be to much for them to concentrate on. The swinging motion will force the child to give you eye contact as you talk to them. This method takes a long time to work so the teacher or parent has to have patience and perseverance.

Don’t just rely on sound and sight to teach your autistic child. You may want to try touch, especially if the child is older and the other two senses are not helping. If you want to teach your child numbers and he or she cannot understand, try to make or buy some plastic numbers. Give them a plastic number and let them hear the word of the number. As they feel it, some connection might be made to the word and their association of touch, along with the verbal connection, might be enough for them to learn the word of a number.

You can come up with many kinds of ‘manipulatives’, like this, but if one doesn’t work then change tit before the child learns the wrong concept.

This post was started with the idea that the parent had to schedule teaching time in their child’s and their schedule. It might be a good idea to hire a nanny or baby sitter particularly trained to teach a concept. It might even be for two to three hours a skills day. This will give you time to get your daily tasks complete and at the same time you know your child is being looked after by someone who is sensitive to their condition.

A good activity that might work well for a nanny would just be playtime. She could teach concepts like taking turns, winning and losing, and following specific rules of the game. The child could have a social interaction lesson while you go to the supermarket or get your hair done.

Remember the education and the educational schedule for your child is important, but so is you having some ‘me’ time. Even if you have the patience of a Saint, anyone will be worn down by the constant attention to their autistic child. If a child has speech therapy for an hour a day, schedule yourself a nap, reading time, or just time to take a hot bath during that time.

You have to break yourself away from being the constant care giver.Yes, of course you can do it, but the stress and mental anguish you would suffer would not be a good thing for you or your child’s education. You can’t give up eighteen or more years of your life just to be a hero to your child. You know you can do it, but schedule time for yourself as well.

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