Social Couture I thought I would share this neat lil site I found with all of you they have great party decorations and a fair price .. lots of colorful things to use for your party that your autistic child will love. Enjoy !! Happy Hunting

Symptoms of Autism

• Impaired social interaction
  • Not responding to name
  • Not look at people
  • Not smiling - note that normal newborns do not smile for several weeks
  • Avoid eye contact
  • Not liking cuddles
  • Lack of imaginative play
  • Lack of social play
  • Inability to make friends
  • Lack stranger anxiety - this develops within the first year.
  • Lack separation anxiety - once this develops (first year), when mother departs normal infants are upset.
  • Independence - doesn't seek help or interact with others.
  • Plays alone
  • Unprovoked attacks on others
• Verbal communication problems
  • Inability to sustain conversation
  • Appears deaf at times
  • Language stereotyped
  • Repetive language
  • Unusual language
  • Not talking - many autistic infants are mute, or become mute after initially making sounds.
  • Echolalia - only parroting what they hear (many normal infants also do this).
  • Confusing pronouns - mixing up "I", "you", and "we" or similar words.
• Nonverbal communication problems
• Obsessions
  • Unusual or severely limited activities and interests
  • Repetitive movements - rocking, hair twirling
  • Inflexibility with highly specific routines and rituals
  • Overly focused attention on specific objects
  • Lines things up
• Sensory symptoms
  • Hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli - e.g. taste, sound, etc.
  • Reduced sensitivity to pain
  • Extraordinarily sensitive to sensations
  • Self-mutilation
• Early symptoms of possible autism
  • Regression - negative change from normal early development into impaired abilities; about 20% of cases have a regression
  • Delayed development - slow to speak
  • No babbling by 12 months
  • No gesturing by 12 months
  • No single words by 16 months
  • No two-word phrases by 24 months
  • Loss of language skills already acquired
  • Loss of words
  • Loss of social skills already acquired
  • Tantrums
  • Hyperactivity
• Savant abilities - rare gift of very unusual abilities in music, math or other areas

This is a relatively new term to my vocabulary I never heard of this before until I did some more extensive research on autism and the symptoms of autism . This is the definition of

Please Help get the word out to Governor Crist! WE want him to VETO Senate Bill 6 for the sake of our children and teachers!

This Morning was a very difficult morning for my son. He did not get much sleep last night even on the sleeping meds. It has been increasingly difficult to get him to sleep.He was punching things and throwing things and kicking his book bag and crying a lot for no reason at all. How do I deal with it. I keep as calm as possible and talk to him in a gentle voice I ask him to sit down in a small area where he can cool down and sooth him as much as possible. If that doesn't seem to work I hold him on my lap and rub his back. He usually hides his face in my stomach until he is ready and feels comfortable enough to get up. But on another note I know he will be in a much better mood when he gets home because its Occupational therapy day. He really enjoys his time with his therapist and she is great. In fact all of the staff at the Rehabilitation clinic that he attends is wonderful.

Autism Toys

Toys for Children With Autism



I would like to share some educational toy ideas that have helped children develop language, fine motor skills, cause and confidence, use of sensory system, completing activity and appropriate toy play.

Squishy balls, or ones with some type of texture to them
Pin toys, kids love to put there feet and hands on it because it tickles them,
Small light up toys, I have found a worm that is orange, lights up, and smells like an orange,
Necklace made of beads was also a favorite.
If your autistic child needs to satisfy sensory and oral needs, the super yummy, which is five teethers in one, is a great choice. It has different textures on each side, and is scented with vanilla. This encourages sensory exploration, and can satisfy the need to chew on something.

Books that have different textures, smells, and colors can also help, especially if you child is hesitant to touch different textures. Books are very soothing and not overwhelming, which can make the introduction to these new textures easier.

Balls that are bumpy, squeezable, and scented are great for development too. The child can smell it, squeeze it, throw it, and kick it for gross motor development. Children with autism learning colors, motor skills, and cause and effect might be interested in hammer ball toys, stacking cup, marble work toys, things that you can pull, peg puzzles, and links.

If your child is ready to engage in pretend, play sequencing, and or social skills, video modeling is great because most children with autism are visual learners.

Some more ideas for autism toys:

Your child might enjoy Einstein cards, little toy animals, boats, planes, and toy cell phones. Sometimes things that are shiny are very motivating as well.

Your child might not like to touch certain items for one reason or another, meaning it could be the way it looks or smells. You might try finger paints, even though it is very smooth, is aversive to them. The approach could go one of two ways when playing with this, depending on your child. You have to remember every child is different.

One way I have done it is to spread the paint on a surface and slowly place a finger of the child in it for a second and see the reaction. If the reaction is positive put more of the fingers in or hand or arm for a short time and slowly increase the time.

Sometimes playing with a favorite item in the paint can help your child realize its ok to touch it. Another approach you can take with your child is to put his or her whole hand into the paint and take it right out and do that again farther into it each time so the whole are is covered. Sometimes even putting the paint on your child's arm or hand instead could help. When I do these techniques I also would do it to myself and have fun with it. Usually by the end of a session or the next one the child just wants more of it.

Some other autism toys that can also help with gaining your child's interest shape sorters that have different textures on each side, pop beads where each pop bead is different by shape, feel, or smell. There are matching boards where you have to match the textures too. You can use different items around the house such as wash cloths, towels, and blankets and make the play fun with them, such as peek a boo, swinging a child in a blanket, rub the different cloths along the face arms or wherever.

Some fine motor activities are pop beads, puzzles, ring stackers, stringing beads, bean bags, putty, crayons and coloring books, the pretend food that can be cut, Playdough, blocks, and Legos are to name a few. As well as helping with fine motor skills these items can also be used to teach colors, shapes, and possibly patterning skills

If your autistic child needs to learn pretend play, some autism toys that can be fun are puppets, doll houses, pirate ships, kitchens, tea parties, and playing with animals. One great way to teach appropriate pretend skills is by using video modeling. Over the years working with children with autism most of the children were and are visual learners. Video modeling becomes great because your child can watch it over and over again until they learn an example of how to play with that item. Video modeling is usually used with the kids that are verbal and that have already gone through at least the beginning curriculum and maybe even the intermediate one.

Like many Autistic Children my son suffers from a sleeping disorder. It is very hard to get him to sleep even on Sleeping medication. These methods help me some of them time. But as everyone knows autism is unpredictable moods change rapidly and it is very hard when you have tried every trick you know to help them fall asleep and nothing seems to work. But don't give up keep trying and you will find a technique that works for you and it will make a world of difference.

. Bouncing him on the therapy ball
. Giving him deep massages on his arms, legs, trunk, hands, and feet
. Using a weighted blanket
. Playing white noise or soothing music at a low volume while he falls asleep and while he is sleeping.
. Also nature sounds work well to help sooth them.
. Johnson and Johnson's lavender baby bath relaxes them before its time to lay down.
. Read the news paper or something that is not too exciting for them but still allows them to hear your soothing voice.