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Title Tips On Organizing With Your Autistic Child
Submitted : April 25, 2010 Word Count : 826 Popularity: 500

Category Article Directory | Home | Organization

Summary Kids who develop good organizational skills are significantly more likely to excel in school and life. This is particularly important for autistic kids. When they learn good organizational skills, their... [Read Full Article]

Keywords autistic children,autistic spectrum,teaching autistic children,autistic kids,autistic home organization,

Article Link http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/328210/tips-on-organizing-with-your-autistic-child.html

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'>; <html><head><title>Article Directory Online : Free Online Article Submission - Articleonlinedirectory | Tips On Organizing With Your Autistic Child</title></head><body><h3>Tips On Organizing With Your Autistic Child</h3><br /><br />By: <br /><br /><p>Kids who develop good organizational skills are significantly more likely to excel in school and life. This is particularly important for autistic kids. When they learn good organizational skills, their focus, concentration, and motor skills are developed as well. Organization can be more challenging with children in the autism spectrum because they are easily distracted and usually have limited motor skills.<br /> <br /> Autistic kids are typically visual learners, which means they generally learn and perform better when provided with visual instructions and prompts. Below are four tips on how you can help your child be organized, develop skills and make smooth transitions between activities using visual instructions and prompts.<br /> <br /> These organization tips may need to be adjusted depending on your child's age and abilities. You can use these tips as a reference guide.<br /> <br /></p> <h1>1 - Create an easy-to-use and maintain bin system for your child's supplies and toys. Separate the types of toys and supplies into individual bins. Take photographs of each type of toy or supply contained within and tape the photograph to the front of each corresponding bin.<br /></h1> <p><br /> For example: Place a photograph of Lego's to your child's bin that contains Lego's. Do the same with markers, plush toys, crayons, and so on. Even if the bins are clear (transparent), it will be easier for your child to be organized if s/he has a visual cue as to where their toys or supplies belong. Choose bins with easy to remove lids or no lids.<br /> <br /></p> <h1>2 - Display children's' toys, supplies and clothing. It is easier for autistic children to stay organized and function if they can see all of their belongings. Drawers do not usually work well for children in the autism spectrum. Hang as many of their clothes as possible or fold them and place them on shelves, preferably cubbies. Place jeans in one cubby, sweatshirts in another and so on. Socks, underwear and pajamas are best placed in transparent bins with photographs taped to the front. If you don't have cubbies, you may tape photographs on the front of each drawer. If possible do not combine items into one drawer.<br /></h1> <p><br /></p> <h1>3 - Establish daily routines and stick to them. Having regular daily routines can make transitioning from one activity to another less upsetting for you child. Children on the autism spectrum often thrive when they have daily routines and generally react poorly to changes in routines. Once a solid routine is in place, small changes can be introduced slowly. Introducing small changes can actually help your child develop coping strategies to deal with transitions. It is best to introduce changes in routines in very small steps. Gradually, your child will be able to use strategies like social stories and self talk to work through the anxiety they experience when making transitions.<br /></h1> <p><br /> One helpful organizing routine -- Give your child a 10-minute heads-up before supper each day and then ask them set an egg timer for 10 minutes. Teach them that when the timer goes off, they are to pick up all of their supplies and toys and place them in the appropriate bins.<br /> <br /> This establishes a routine, lets them know what to expect, gives them a 10-minute lead-time and then provides them a distinct audio clue when it's time to pick up and get organized. Be sure to ask your children to set the timer instead of doing it yourself. This will get them involved in the process and they will be more likely to follow through.<br /> <br /> An addition to this routine -- When the egg timer goes off and it's time to pick up and get organized, you could play a specific song that your child then recognizes as the "pick-up and get organized" song. This can make it fun, playful, soothing and also can help keep them on task and get the work done faster.<br /> <br /></p> <h1>4 - Make your child's schedule into a picture schedule. Autistic children do really well with a visual version on their schedule. Set it up so that when your child finishes a task they can move the corresponding picture to the "done" side of the schedule. In other words, you are creating an interactive schedule that your child can "control." Another idea is to organize their picture schedule by first, next, and last. This will give them a specific order to the tasks and then again, they can move the picture to the "completed" side.<br /></h1> <p><br /> The key is to use visual aids and keep it simple. Each child on the autistic spectrum reacts a little differently, has different needs and is functioning at varying levels. You can use these four tips as guidelines and ideas. Consider modifying and adjusting as you see fit based on your child's needs, abilities and age.<br /> <br /> Getting your home and life organized will make life easier for both you and your child.</p> <br /><br /><b>Author Resource:-></b> Heidi is a professional organizer, creator of The Fast-Filing Method <a href=http://www.clearsimpleliving.com/homefilingsystem>home filing system</a>, and publisher of Life Made Simple e-Magazine. Heidi energizes her readers lives by teaching effective organizational systems to help you accomplish more and GAIN peace of mind! Visit ClearSimpleLiving.com to get a complimentary subscription AND a FREE <a href=http://www.clearsimpleliving.com> Home Organization</a> Kit.<br /><br /><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/'>Article Directory Online : Free Online Article Submission - Articleonlinedirectory</a><br /></body></html>

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