In addition to your coolers packed with snacks and drinks and bags with cuddy blankets, video games, DVD players and iPhones, bring along language learning and interactive activities to make the most out of your next road trip! So turn off the movie and Nintendo Ds and give your child what they want the most….you!

Everyone knows that during the summer many new movies are released! So far this summer the following children’s movies have been brought to the big screen: “Toy Story Three”, “Marmaduke”, “The Last Airbender” and more! Movies provide us with a variety of SOCIAL learning opportunities both while you are at the movies, as well as when you leave the movies such as: waiting in line, buying tickets, watching previews, eating and drinking different/new foods, sitting next to other children, loud noises and so much more!
Waiting in Line

Scavenger hunts are a great way to keep your child engaged while having fun! Here are a few ideas to help your child participate within scavenger hunts while working on increasing their language skills and social skills.
If your child is non-verbal, here are a few ideas:

Summer Fun: Water Fun
Playing in the water in the summer can not only help your child beat the heat, but also work on their social and language skills! Water activities are also a way to help your child meet their sensory needs!
Here are a few fun and easy water activities:
Water Tables
Water tables are a great way to work on a variety of skills!
If your child is non-verbal, here are a few ideas:

It’s official. It is summer and it is HOT. Everyone loves popsicles, especially in the summer. Try making homemade popsicles with your child as a fun language learning activity! They will have a blast and learn so much while doing so.

Having a lemonade stand with your child will provide MANY great social language opportunities as well as other great skills such as sequencing skills, problem solving/planning/predicting, math, receptive and expressive language learning and more. It will also let your child be an active part of your community; get to know his/her neighbors and to have some summer fun!
Preparing your child for the lemonade sale:

Picnics are not only great for a little summer fun, but they also provide wonderful opportunities for language learning and socialization. Here are some ideas to help your child be successful with participating within a picnic, to learn wonderful functional language, to work on social skills and to have fun all at once!
Prepping your child for the picnic:

KidSpeak is taking a break from blogging to vacation with our families and to wrap up the rest of the spring semester! We will be back in June to start our summer blog project of providing a weekly language learning, summer-related activity that you can do with your child.

There are so many things that your child wants you to know. We were inspired to write this blog from a wonderful book: “Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew” by Ellen Notbohm http://www.autismspot.com/blog/MUST-read . This is an incredible book focusing on the top 10 things that your child wants you to know about them and how you can help them. We encourage you all to not only buy this book for yourself but also for everyone who works with your child….it is a must read!

It can be tricky to explain to typical children why exactly our kids with autism are different and what autism means. Some families may feel comfortable explaining autism to others and some may prefer to keep it private. It is really up to the family. For some, in combination with sit-down talks, books and social stories are an excellent tool to reach out to a child on their level and teach them what may otherwise be a sensitive topic.