Gift ideas to help develop imaginary play

Many kids with autism struggle to develop their imagination and struggle with enjoying imaginative play.  It's something we've really worked on and our middle son is just getting there with some things in it.  There's lots of ways to access your imagination but many kids with autism find it difficult to create things from nothing and we've found that providing props and support is a way to support them.  Here's some ideas if you are looking for things this Christmas. 

Helping our autistic son figure out what is real

We were so pleased when Anthony started using his imagination. Many children with autism struggle to use their imagination, at least in the traditional sense.  So when Anthony started Tree Fu Tom, Ironman and then Anakin Skywalker we encouraged it.  He can even go crazy and though he's close to teenage years can make a pretty good impression of Godzilla from the lastest Godzilla Vs Kong movie too.  Obviously this isn't real, but it's often still difficult for Anthony to know what could be real from a movie. 

Seeing things from another point of view with AniMalcolm

Sometimes it's not easy to think about others.  It's easy to think about ourselves. And that's the most natural thing to do.  Evolution has mostly meant looking out for one's safety and we even develop by first thinking about ourselves in what seems like a selfish fashion.  Young children need to be taught to share because the part of their mind that allows them to think about others is still developing.

Motor skills and imagination development using stamp sets from Magic Fairy Wings

It's not uncommon for some kids to have delayed fine and gross motor skills.  When you find things like doing up buttons, picking up objects and holding a pencil difficult this can have an impact on lots of other development areas.  Both our autistic kids find it difficult to hold a pencil making things like writing and drawing hard.  

Do you have Magic Fairy Wings?

Jane just loves dressing up and role play. Put a foil pencil in her hand and she is a magical fairy or a prince with a sword.   A pirate hat makes her pink beard(!?), pirate of the rainbow seas and when she flips it around she's an astronaut in a rocket and 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..... she's blasted off the back of the sofa and landed on cushion moon. But it's not that easy for all my kids.

Gruffalo's Child Mini Pancakes

The Gruffalo has been very big in our house since last year.   Jane even got the Gruffalo Crumble and other recipes cookbook for Christmas.  Here is a recipe for Gruffalo's Child Mini Pancakes that we've adapted from some of the ideas in the book. It uses raspberries as the Gruffalo's Child's pink prickles, icing sugar as snow and mint leaves as some of the deep dark wood.

Autism when people are in fancy dress

We were so pleased when our eight year old son with autism started using his imagination. After years of not understanding, Anthony suddenly became Ironman, Batman or the BFG. But it has also come with challenges. And this can be really hard at this time of year when people are going out in fancy dress. Just like Batman's mask is meant to strike fear into his enemies, the same happens for our son.

Guess How Much I Love You

Books have always played a big role in our home. From helping our autistic boys access their imagination to immersing the all our children in words - books provide a source of education and fun for our family. We use basic books to label items to help increase vocabulary.  One of the greatest opportunities is that of shared attention or activity.  The joy and skill of doing something together and what better way to do that than with a snuggle book.

#WonderfulWednesday: The Batman Effect - Could it help kids focus?

This week's wonderful Wednesday share came from understood.org via Life with ASD & the Rest.  It's a blog post by Stephanie M Carlson called 'The Batman Effect: What my research shows about pretend play and executive functioning.'  I know, it's a bit of a mouth full.  So what's it about and why is it my wonderful share of the week?

The Snare (STAR WARS)

Getting our eldest son to read anything is challenging.  He's an eight year old boy interested in Formula One and there aren't many novels about that.  But a while ago be started enjoying Star Wars so we thought we'd try The Snare by Cavan Scott.  It's the first in a series called Adventures in Wild Space a Star Wars spin off aimed at children 5-8 years old.

Getting into the television

Jane and I were walking through a nearby park.  The sun was shining and if you stepped off the shady path into the sun you could almost forget the chilly breeze.  A gentleman with a dog, a big coat and hat walked past us.  Jane was busy commenting on some crocuses that were coming up through the grass.  As she looked back she saw the gentleman and said to me, "Look, I can see Sven."

Of course, she was talking about Sven from Disney's Frozen. By the time I'd figured out what she was saying, the gentleman was a bit far away to say hello, so we talked for a moment how we might see him again another day.  I also made a mental note to talk again to Jane, who is nearly three years old, about not talking to strangers without mummy or daddy.

Then, Jane announced that she had an idea. She'd figured out how we could see 'Sven' again. "You need to get some scissors and cut a hole in the television." Ahhh.. yes, that way we can get into Frozen.

Jane and I laughed loudly for a few minutes while I talked about how we can't cut a hole in the television.

Wouldn't that be silly, clever idea, but a bit silly.

Kids are going to lose themselves in virtual reality when it comes out. However, the event also reminded me of the literal thinking her brother showed in a similar circumstance.

Anthony is an eight year old boy with autism.  Like many autistic children he uses television and books to help him with his imagination.  He was reading a book from school about a magical adventure. Often if Anthony is reading a book that sparks interest we will try and find a way to allow him to experience this.  For example, in one story the children were transported back in time to the Blitz.  We took Anthony to the Imperial War museum to see what life was like during the war.

However, this magical adventure was a bit too far for us to 'visit'.  Anthony had mentioned the trip to the museum to his teachers and they had suggested he imagine being in the new magical story.  So at bedtime whilst reading his book, Anthony asked me, "But mum, how do I get into the story." 

I looked closely at him and realised he wasn't just looking closely at his book, he was physically pushing his cheek into the page.  Next he got out of bed and put it onto the floor to jump into the pages 'Mary Poppins into a chalk pavement picture' style. Like many autistic people, he has had difficulty with communication and realising the real value or meaning of some phrases and questions.

It was adorable of course.  Then we talked about the real meaning of 'getting into the story' and he is now pretty good at using his imagination this way.

As for Jane, well, we are hoping to visit one of the Disney theme parks at Easter.  This will surely blow her mind.

Links
Our blog - Beautiful Belle has a point about books
Our blog - Rocky reality: Autism and imagination

This post is listed on:

Beautiful Belle has a point about books for autistic kids

It's not uncommon for Disney characters to appear to have the odd autistic trait. The little mermaid was obsessed with the human world and Rex from Toy Story doesn't like change for example. But maybe the most common similarity is characters who aren't understood by others, like Belle.

Autism, facts and absolutes?

Yesterday was the 1st of December, and according to Anthony, who has autism, this meant it was now definitely 'Winter', he had to open a chocolate advent calendar and all the trees were dead.

Our mummification mishaps - autism and dressing up at school

Anthony's school topic of this term has been the Ancient Egyptians. Anthony's class have been busy writing about pyramids, discussing Pharaohs and making paper mâché mummies. The highlight was a dress as an Egyptian day and workshop yesterday. Or at least, I think it was.

Anthony is seven years old so has got used to the idea of going to school sometimes in either his 'normal clothes' or something else. As a child with autism we initially took a lot of time to prepare him for a change in his routine like coming to school in different clothes. Now we can give Anthony a days notice that it's a 'special' day at school when he can wear 'normal clothes' or a costume. Anymore than a days notice and Anthony can end up focussed on this change to his routine instead of the activities of the day.  It's probably a bit like the distraction that can be caused by knowing you have a test coming up. 

We used to ask Anthony what he'd like to dress up as.  We've come to realise that this often adds pressure to the day. Anthony finds making decisions very difficult so we'll make suggestions. This relieves some of the pressure and unpredictability in the outcome for him.  More often than not Anthony would be glad of the suggestion and this is what I had expected for Ancient Egyptian day.

During the explanation of Egyptian Day on the way home from school the night before, Anthony suddenly declared he'd like to go as mummy. I was delighted that he had expressed an opinion. However, it meant I'd have a come up with a mummy costume. Usually we'd try out Anthony's costume to give him time to adjust and know what to expect. So, I got out clothes I thought I could adapt and showed them to Anthony and let him know I'd add bandages to them for the morning. I spent a good chunk of the night sewing white ribbons onto clothes. 

In the morning everything went as normal until it was time for Anthony to get dressed. His face dropped, he looked hot and his eyes became all glazed. "There aren't enough bandages on the trousers mum," he said. 

The morning routine is fairly regimented. The routine is consistent and avoids down time distractions so there isn't a lot of time for things like fixing fancy dress costumes. As I looked at Anthony I could see the panic on his face. His costume was not what he expected. It's not the same as Jane being disappointed that her snack is a banana instead of an apple like she'd wanted.  It's a completely different level. It's like a fear of things not being right. Sometimes we can help Anthony deal with this fear but looking at him I could tell this wasn't the best course of action. As part of his routine, Anthony gets dressed before breakfast so has to have his breakfast fully clothed on school days.  Given this, I told Anthony I'd fix his trousers after he'd eaten. As Anthony made his way to the breakfast table he calmed down "Thanks mum, 10 bandages would be enough."

Time was of the essence.  Obviously I'd run out if white ribbon, and the actual bandages from the medicine box were useless. As I began just trawling through washing for a clue I remembered we'd recently torn up an old white work shirt for cleaning cloths. Three safety pins later and Anthony was back on course again.  He was very excited and extremely bouncy.  It would have been easy to assume that this indicated he was all set for the day but I know different.  His excitement and bounciness could indeed be part joy at the fun that was lined up for the day.  However, I suspect he was also coping with the nerves and anxiety at the differences it would mean. 

We are really delighted that Anthony can take part in these activities at school.  Every time he copes with something new or a change to his routine is a chance for him to develop and use strategies to cope with it.  This type of skill could really help him when he gets older and allow him to be independent. Anthony seemed thrilled after school. He wanted to keep his costume on all evening and we had to get changed back into it even after his swimming lesson.

As for decision making, we are still working on that.  We have an appointment next week with some professionals to help Anthony with strategies to make decisions himself.  Despite his apparent keenness on his mummy costume, Anthony collapsed this morning because he changed his mind saying he wished he gone into school as a Pharaoh and not a mummy.  As he was still coping with yesterday, it's just as well we have that regimented morning routine to keep him focused.

Links
Our Blog - Disastrous at decision-making

External Links
NAS - Routines and  change

As featured on:

Taking an 'Are you on the Autism Spectrum?' test

Every now and again, there is a test published to help the reader see if they might be on the autism spectrum.  Often they coincide with an article on the subject.  Last year published research showed that parents of autistic kids often have autistic traits too.  Most times that I see a test like the one in The Telegraph online yesterday, I can't help but fill it out or at least peruse the questions.

Such small achievements that no one else notices - Anthony Skiing

Anthony needs extra help to participate in a lot of activities. When he was diagnosed with autism aged 4, we started to understand why Anthony found some things difficult. Why he had to put the coloured pencils back on their box in the same place, why he didn't seem happy with surprises on his birthday and why he couldn't focus in a nursery full of other children, loud sounds and bright lights. But that has never meant he can't try something new.  And when his Dad and I returned from Courchevel earlier this year, it sparked a new idea for him.

Freezing during Frozen songs

It might be starting to get cold outside by that's not why I'm freezing.  Nor am I upset by a scratched disc acting up or poor streaming of what must be the favourite song collection of many young girls. I'm not upset at all.  I'm having fun whilst repeatedly freezing my body during a Disney's Frozen song because it's making my son talk.

As you may know, David was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2013. He is now five years old and has made good progress. He communicates using a mix of verbal sounds, PECS and Makaton. We have found that Makaton allows us to communicate in different environments or in new things where we might not have our PECS set up. 'Gap filling' is one of the classic ways to help kids with speech delay talk. 'Twinkle twinkle little.......' and then hopefully your child fills in the gap/blank and says 'star'.

Before David started school we used to attend Singing Hands classes. The organisation uses Makaton as a communication aid for young children. David often found it difficult to focus during the session but afterwards we found he would be very interested in the same rhymes and songs and we now use Makaton sign language everyday. His attention has improved and he can now watch some full length movies including Disney's Frozen. He loves the songs, but I was pretty sure he was just enjoying the music. I'm not allowed to sing along as I think it's too distracting for him.

But, yesterday when we'd finished with the television I started singing one of the song's 'Love is an open door'.  My Makaton is not bad, and when I saw David's interest I was able to sign my way through most of the song.  David stood watching.  We came to the chorus and I stopped just before the word 'door', and David spoke.  It wasn't clear, it was more a 'du' than 'door'.  But it was definitely an effort. And then he did the biggest grin.

Honestly, nearly every time there is this type of connection I get the same joy as when his younger sister, Jane, said 'mummy' for the first time. I'm still not allowed to sing when we have Frozen on the television, but I'm allowed to sign and I hope that it might be giving him more understanding and a greater connection with it and therefore the world around him.

External Links
See the sign for door - Singing Hands sign Wheels on the Bus on YouTube

Rocky reality: Autism and imagination

We were so pleased when Anthony started using his imagination. It was something we absolutely encouraged. Suddenly Anthony was Tree Fu Tom, Ironman and then Anakin Skywalker. We recently watched the new Star Wars trailer. We watched and waited for the same questions, the questions we've taught Anthony ask so he is able to understand that the movie is not real.