Brady's Page

What do you do when…..?

What’s normal for a kid and normal for a kid with autism are sometimes quite similar… and other times, way, way different… so I thought I’d share some of Brady’s common behaviors to see if your kid has a similar style, and if you’ve done something to curb it.

For example… Brady is addicted to television (which is not a big problem for us).  It’s just that he insists on standing a foot in front of the tv… we all know that’s really bad for the eyes, but he wants to be close to the action. Was this common for your kids, and how did you get junior to step away from the screen?  We’ve got a chair Brady loves to sit in and watch tv--which sits about 10 feet from the tube.  He gets excited at something and bolts from the chair right up to the screen, and it’s really tough to pull him away!

A few other ideas to get the ball rolling---we did a program a few months ago in ABA/IBI therapy getting Brady to set a cup on the table, as opposed to just dropping it wherever he is.  Well… he still does both quite often.  How can we get Brades to become more consistent in his keeping cups and food off the floor?

How about this… many kids nibble on their finger and, dare I say, toenails (also, many adults--see: jerod).  Is age 3 too early to use some of the poor tasting nail polish, or is there another way?

Those are just 3 ideas… I’d love to hear your feedback and also if you have a question concerning your child, ask it here! 

Thanks
JEROD

My son Brayden used to have trouble keeping his food on the table - or even on his plate!  If he would drop a bit on him, he would throw the food or the entire plate to the floor.  This included his cup.  Lately we have been using one of those little plastic kid trays for Brayden to use when eating.  He likes to sit on our living room couch with his tray.  For whatever reason, it seems to work for him.  Maybe it has something to do with the tray kind of “trapping” him in to his seat(?).

One idea you may want to try is buying, or making, a special placemat for Brady.  You could even make special coasters for Brady to put around the house.  Perhaps it would help for him to feel like he had a special place just for his cup.  Just an idea :-)

OK - now I have a question.  Lately Brayden has begun biting himself.  Sometimes when he is mad, and other times it seems he just does it to do it.  A big problem is that he has such a high pain tolerance that he could really hurt himself without realizing it.  Does anyone have any suggestions for curbing his need to bite himself?  He doesn’t do it a lot just yet, but I want to try to nip it in the bud before it becomes another habbit.

Thanks!

I have four kids (15, 13, 6, & 5) and even though the youngest, Caeden Drew, has autism, all children go through phases like your son, Brady, is going through. The best any of us can do is to use repetition. Additionallly, I noticed my youngest two boys paid more attention to these things when they were around other children their age (e.g., preschool). Caeden went to the local MR/DD preschool at age 2 1/2 where he learned how to do things the proper way with other children (handicapped and typical) being taught along with him. This really helped him progress quicker.

As for the television, again, we remind Caeden to sit down on the couch if he forgets and gets too close to it. No matter what, if they love the shows on T.V. they are probably going to forget they are not supposed to stand right against it. I have heard a lot of children with autism have problems with their peripheral vision and enjoy looking at things (e.g., television, people’s faces, objects, etc.) this way.

I also am a big promoter for the P.L.A.Y. Project, as my son went from being diagnosed as having severe autism to what many doctors and I agree is more mild now (all from this therapy). Additionally, getting a child to learn through these techniques are fairly easy. It is a simple idea that many people seem to forget. Children with autism (as with typical children) learn best when others understand and can interact with them.

Hope this is helpful!

My son also prefers to stand very close to the television and whenever he is finished with a cup, it goes on the floor. All of this has improved over time because of repeatedly saying, “Move back from the t.v., please” or “Put your cup in the sink.” Repitition has been the key for us, whether it is to break an undesirable behavior or to teach him new words, phrases or sentences. It may seem redundant or you may get really tired of saying it at times, but, in the long run, it may work for you. Good luck and keep trying!

Just saw this for the first time on tv tonight.  Are you all aware of how diet can have a healing affect on autism?  You probably are, but if not, there are many success stories of how removing animal products, dairy, white sugar, white flour products, processed foods and changing to juicing, organic raw veggies and fruits, raw seeds, nuts, rice milk, almond milk, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain bread, etc will allow their bodies to get rid of all the toxins from medicines, vaccines, cleaning products, preservatives, etc.  Don’t give up searching.