One of the most common day-to-day worries that parents, teachers, caregivers and therapists face each and every day is wondering if their child with special needs will be independent later in life. The key to promoting independence for your child when they are older is to start working on independence at an early age. A natural way to do this is through activities of daily life (ADL’s).

Asking for “help” is a skill that sometimes can be difficult for children with language disorders. Instead of using their words they may:
1. Take your hand to the object (like taking your hand to the doorknob to open the door)
2. Give you the object (like giving you the bubble container to open)
3. Cry/scream
Here are a few steps you can follow to help your child ask for “help”:
Step one: You will need a visual of “help”:

We all use one. Yours may be your iPhone, Blackberry, computer, iPad, or you may even use old fashioned pen and paper…..it’s your schedule, your lists, your to dos and more. What are you doing today? What things do you have to pick up from the store? What did you not get done yesterday? We all do it differently, but we all somehow have a schedule of our day. It is because of this form of organization that we know what will happen and we know what to expect. Now imagine going through one day or even one hour without this. I personally would be lost. This is how your child may feel.

We want to welcome March and (hopefully) our soon to be spring season with a fun and easy St. Patrick’s Day craft. This would be a great activity for your child to do on a play date or just for fun. Like all art activities, it will provide opportunities for language learning, socialization, fine motor practice and much more. They will also be visually intrigued and will enjoy exploring and mixing the colors. Enjoy and happy early St. Patrick’s Day!

Requesting is a social communication skill that is often difficult for children with language disorders or children with ASD. Last week we went over some tips on how to work on requesting during meal times. This week we are going to focus on PLAY times!

Requesting is a social communication skill that is often difficult for children with language disorders or children with ASD. We are going to focus on how to work on requesting at home within two different areas: food and toys. This week we are going to focus on FOOD!

Greetings are one of the first social routines that children learn (“bye bye!”); however, this is often one of the most difficult skills for children with language disorders to learn. This is difficult for our kids for many reasons including:
1. Increased social expectations: There is the social expectation of saying “hi/bye” and the social expectation of eye contact.
2. Unfamiliar people: Often when people say hello out in the community it is with someone your child does not know, making it even more difficult for them respond to greetings.
3. And much more.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! Start preparing now to help your child have the most social success with this love-filled day. Love is an abstract concept that isn’t learned overnight. Start incorporating a variety of Valentine’s Day activities with friends and families such as books, music, food and songs and their understanding will begin to naturally increase. Check out a couple of our past blogs for ideas on how to make Valentine’s Day a social language learning opportunity and how to help your child show their love towards their family and friends: