My Special Journey with Advaith

Autism is a complex neurological disorder, it affects person’s ability to communicate, difficulties in social interaction and repetitive behaviors .  It's called as autism spectrum disorder as it reflects the wide variation in challenges and strengths possessed by each person with autism.  Difficulties with language and communication are a key feature in the discussion on autism.  Most of the children in spectrum remain non-verbal and some are verbal.  Verbal children can repeat words or talk about their favorite  cartoons, but they also struggle to use their vocabulary for communicating with others. This makes it very important to provide an alternative method of communication for children with autism.  AAC is augmentative alternative communication. It includes all forms of communication other than oral speech that are used to express thoughts, needs, wants and ideas.  AAC systems are categorised into aided and unaided systems.  Unaided AAC includes facilitated communi

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.