In conjunction with this festive season, here’s a simple arts and crafts you can do with your child! It’s safe with little chance of failure, and most of all, fun! There are many ways to make your very own Christmas wreath, but here’s one of the most simple ways to do so.
Bridge the Gap 2015: School Edition was a huge success! We hope that you’ve been impacted greatly by what Dr Nan and Jochebed had to share.
This fun yet inexpensive science project was in fact used in the early 90’s to create different plastic ornaments! This is a safe project you can do with your kids under supervision.
Here is another quick project that you can whip up for your kids, especially for sensory play and even interactive and peer play! You can also make this with your kids as this is a pretty safe DIY project, but do ensure that there is heavy supervision, and that the Borax, slime and any fingers involved are kept away from the eyes, nose and mouth.
Just like any typical children, children with autism love getting involved, getting messy, and getting creative in their own ways. After all, that is what childhood is all about! There are many ways a child with autism can learn and have fun at the same time, and one of the ways we can get creative with our kids include paint! Did you know that with just your hands and paint, you can create over a hundred different handprint art, including animals, characters and greeting cards?
Once you have chosen a school for your child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the next step will be getting your child ready to start. It is natural to have extra concerns about preparing your child for the transition to school. For instance, you might be worried about how he’ll go about learning a new set of routines and activities. However, with the right planning, you can help your child start school successfully (Raising Children Network, 2013).
Education can make a real difference for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (The National Autistic Society, 2014). Your child with ASD has the right to the same educational opportunities as all other children (Raising Children Network, 2013). Preparing for school is a complex process when you have a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder and planning for the transition to school should start as early as possible (Autism Victoria, 2015).
According to research done published in the Journal of the American Academy of Paediatrics, nearly half of children with autism are at risk of wandering or eloping from their present, safe environment. Children with autism go missing under a variety of circumstances. They may seek out small or enclosed spaces. They may wander toward places of special interest or may try to escape overwhelming stimuli such as sights, sounds, surroundings or activities of others (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2015). Sadly, with the spike in stories of individuals with autism going missing in the past year, we’ve come to realise that many children with autism are not emphasized with safety skills as part of their integral curriculum enough.
Drowning is one of the leading causes of death for children with autism. That statistic is certainly startling. But what makes it even more devastating is that with the right measures in place drowning deaths can be prevented. To understand how to prevent these drownings, it’s important that parents and caregivers understand why children with autism are at such high risk.
In this day and age, it often seems like our world revolves around the internet. Everywhere we turn, there are teens and tweens “Google-ing it”, “Friend-ing someone”, or “Tweeting” about the latest news updates. Technology and the internet offer great opportunities for learning and equipping young people with tools to learn, communicate, and play. Individuals with autism, just like other typical teenagers, are equally as interested in using the internet as a portal to mass information or connection to millions of people.
