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How To ABA

Daily Activities To Promote Language

My 5-year-old daughter just finished telling me about her adventure at the Science Centre, leaving no detail out. She’s a chatterbox! My hubby and I love listening to her, especially because she was tight-lipped until she was close to three.

To promote language in our late talker, I used communication temptations and labeled everything we saw and every action we did during our daily activities. It’s important for us to clearly and slowly model words for our little loves, because listening to us helps them develop language.

There’s a lot you can do to help your sweetie speak, too. Cross-my-heart, it’s not too much work and definitely worth the effort. Here are a few examples of what you can do to promote language in your quiet kiddo.Read More »Daily Activities To Promote Language

6 Ways To Help Your Child Make Friends

When you pick up Patty from school or daycare, you always find her alone spinning toys and humming to herself. She seems happy by the situation but you’re not – you’d prefer that Patty would participate with peers. You wish that she could make friends and have fun playing with them. In general, that’s hard for kiddos with autism. However, with coaching and teaching, Patty can become more comfy relating in social situations! Here’s how you can help your honey make friends.Read More »6 Ways To Help Your Child Make Friends

Look At Me: How To Encourage Eye Contact

Loving mother looking at her daughterTalking face-to-face, your child with autism doesn’t look at you. Her eyes have never intentionally met yours. It’s hurtful sometimes – it would feel so connective if she’d gaze at you when you said I love you – and at other times it comes across as rude. It’s not her fault and it’s not yours. Many people on the spectrum struggle with eye contact, finding it uncomfortable or, for some, extremely stressful. Given that eye contact doesn’t come naturally to kiddos with ASD, should you encourage Penny to peek into your peepers? We think so.Read More »Look At Me: How To Encourage Eye Contact

Tackle Big Skills In Baby Steps

child lacing close-upTrying to teach Julie some of the targets we dished about in How To Foster Independence Skills  and How To Teach Your Young Child Self Care Skills with not much success? No sweat! The solution to the struggle: Task analysis and chaining. Some kiddos are unable to learn how to brush their teeth or put on their clothes when the skill is taught as a whole or in large pieces. This is when task analysis becomes a big help. It’s the process of breaking a complex skill into small components that are a lot easier for Julie to grasp and attain. Chaining is the act of sequentially teaching those baby steps. We swear by these techniques, having taught countless clients with developmental disorders how to care for themselves independently.Read More »Tackle Big Skills In Baby Steps