Understanding Siblings of Autism

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How I developed Communication skills in my Son – Advaith

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Advaith was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD when he was 2.4 years old. At that stage, he was non-verbal and would communicate by pulling my hand towards his desired objects. He was diagnosed with ASD at NIMHANS and doctors suggested ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis). They explained to me that for maximum benefit, the mother should partake with the therapist in the interventions for the child. We enrolled him for ABA when he was 2.5 years old. His therapist introduced sign language to him. As I was a co-therapist for him, at home also I started practising sign language for communication. After one month of ABA, he started communicating for his needs independently using signs -   music, book, carry…etc. He started vocalising with first sounds while communicating. His therapist then asked me to fade signs and focus on sounds. So, we started to focus on words for communication. This put immense pressure on Advaith and the r...
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Structured Teaching Method and why it is important for children with ASD

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Q: Why structure is important for children with autism? Ans: Most of the children in the spectrum have high anxiety and they need predictable routines. ASD children will struggle if there are sudden changes in their daily routine. a  structured environment with visual schedule will help the child understand his day to day activities. It gives a clear idea about each activity including the beginning and the end. Like this structured environments helps the child reduce anxiety, confusion and behavior problems. The Structured teaching method will help build independent skills. Autism is a complex neurological disorder. It is different from other conditions like MR, LD and down syndrome. A parent should understand that Autism is a disorder NOT a Disease to  cure, we have to train them to lead an independent life. It is a life long disorder. Here each child is different and each child has their own strengths and difficulties. Following are the common areas most of our ...
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How We Taught Cycling for Advaith

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Cycling is a good exercise and a leisure skill for our kids. Also, outdoor activities help them to reduce anxiety and stress. In this way of teaching, we don’t want to run behind the cycle because balancing wheels are supporting, and we can easily fade the supporting wheels to make the child independent in cycling. Consistent practice is very important to achieve this skill. Step 1 - Pedalling in forward direction We started with exercise cycle in OT class and in Gym for teaching him pedalling. Before he used to do backward pedalling. Initially we gave physical prompt to do forward pedalling (we were slightly pushing his knees in the forward direction) and practiced it consistently. After few weeks we started with kids bicycle with balancing wheels on both sides. (this should keep cycle up-straight- all rear wheels touching the ground.). At that time, we focused only on the pedalling in right direction. You can keep the cycle stationary and ask the child to pedal forward. ...
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