September 2012~snagglebox

The Word I Choose

Autistic is the word that I choose to describe my kids.

It’s also how I choose to describe myself.

So therefore it’s the word I choose to use throughout my blog.

Here’s why.

The key to understanding echolalia is to recognise that it's not meaningless, purposeless or mindless repetition. It's communication.

In part one of this post we looked at lots of possible functions for echolalia, now let's see how you can use it as a powerful tool for helping you to connect with your kids.

Echolalia is a repetitive speech behaviour, where words or sounds from another source (like a video, song or previous conversation) are echoed back.

You might see it incorrectly referred to as ‘purposeless repetition’, but it most definitely has a purpose... you just have to figure out what it is.

Where's Attie?

Since this post where I describe how to make a quick sensory cocoon out of a fitted sheet was so popular, here are a few more ideas for making an easy sensory time-out zone.

You've probably heard that pronoun reversal is a common feature of language development in autism... but did you know that it's a common feature of language development for everybody?

No matter how you feel about the fact that Justin Bieber topped the list of the most Googled people last year, it's a result that you should pay attention to.

Why?

Because giving your autistic kids a grounding in pop culture can be an important way to help them adjust to the world around them...

So, you love your kids.

You know that their special interests make them feel good, bringing calm to the chaos and joy to the scary.

And you're glad that they're preoccupied with things that aren't dangerous to anyone, don't interfere with their learning or stop them from connecting with other people.

BUT IF YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE ON THE TITANIC ONE MORE TIME YOU’RE SERIOUSLY GOING TO LOSE YOUR SHIT.

Congratulations to these lucky people...

Shonta-Brian Fogarty (Facebook)
Janelle McCreedy (Email)
Kandi Karger Gregory (Facebook)
Chris Mallon (Facebook)
Kelli Rudden (Facebook)

Your names were drawn out of a ~~mixing bowl~~ hat to win a copy of Jake Learns the Tooth, so please email me your address!

Thanks to everyone who entered, it was fun hearing about the posts that you've enjoyed on Snagglebox... and um, ones that you enjoyed on other people's blogs apparently :)

How To Use Pinterest as a Choice Board

You might already be using Pinterest as a pinboard for useful articles, your favourite posts or cool photos from around the web, but did you know that you can also use it to make a quick choice board for your kids?

Did somebody say FREE STUFF?

I've got five copies of this hard-cover children's book to giveaway, written by yours truly!

Earlier this year I wrote a children's book to promote inclusion and acceptance for kids with disabilities. It wasn't this one.

Friday night was the official book launch! Many yays!

So I don't know about you, but this kind of thing doesn't happen to me every day...