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.

“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”
— Steven Furtick
While browsing on Facebook (in a diligent effort to avoid cleaning the house or hearing my arguing children), I read that people who spend a lot of time on Facebook are less happy than those who spend more time in person with friends. It makes sense. After all, the right picture or quote can make anyone’s life seem magical, while mine pales in comparison.

Case in point: in the above picture, you can see pure joy on our faces. It was Lizzie’s first ski trip, and it was perfect! We took her up to the top of the mountain, and she grinned ear-to-ear with excitement over this new adventure! It was as if the snow ski fairy had sprinkled Lizzie with fairy dust. As we hopped off the ski lift, she began to ski with ease. She was a natural! At the bottom of the slope, we all gave her a group family hug! We were all smiles! Perfect!
This is all true. At least, that is what the picture shows, right? Ha! I wish.

Rock bottom for me is when I find myself sitting in my car eating a Cinnabon. I am likely wearing jeans that I have not washed in two weeks to keep up the facade that I have not gained the holiday weight, and I am drinking a Diet Coke, of course.
It is time for me to get serious about eating healthy again, which means no more sweets and no more Diet Coke. It has been 525,600 minutes, exactly one year, since I had this same conversation with myself. I guess I will add it to my list of New Year’s Resolutions again.
Having the same goal over and over each year can become demoralizing at the very least. Whether it is a small issue like losing a few pounds, or an enormous issue like a goal that my child with autism never masters, it takes all the willpower I have to not throw in the towel and just accept life as “good enough.”

For over a week I've been meaning to share the link to the 60 Minutes segment that recently ran on CBS about communication utilizing iPads with children who live with Autism...but I've been distracted and sidetracked numerous times. However, since I'm a firm believer in late being better than never, here it is - I hope you enjoy it! You can watch the segment HERE or read the transcript HERE.
Additionally, I encourage you to check out this interview from February with Michelle Beck of Pumpkin Littles about the iPad Communication Therapy she and other therapists are using with children in their educational and therapy center in North Dallas. When I interviewed Michelle earlier this year and asked about including preverbal kids in social skills classes/groups, she had this to say, "While they may not speak or may have difficulty communicating, they have a lot to share and they want to be social. The Apple iPad, special software, pioneering therapists and this amazing class now gives those children a voice.

Homemade Puff Paint

Water parks are fun and popular destinations for families during the summer season. In addition to being an inexpensive vacation and a relief from the summer heat, trips to the waterpark can be wonderful opportunities for language learning experiences! Included below are tips for working on specific language skills while spending time with your family!
Social Communication:

KidSpeak is taking a break from blogging as we’re holding our May Camp, getting ready for the summer semester and vacationing with our families. We will be back in June!

Just a few more weeks until Easter. The best tip we can give families when it comes to special occasions, special events, holidays and anything that your child will experience that it not ordinarily in their day to day routine is to PRACTICE! For example, an Easter egg hunt is not likely a part of your child’s daily, weekly or monthly routine so we need to MAKE IT A ROUTINE in order for your child to succeed during that family, community, school or church Easter egg hunt. How do we do this? PRACTICE!

It’s April and Easter is just around the corner! Easter is filled with family, friends, food and traditions. What do all these things have in common? Socialization! Easter and the weeks leading up to Easter provide us with wonderful natural language and social learning opportunities.
Let’s start preparing now for Easter! The more you prepare now, the more your child will participate the day of. The more your child participates and interact with others on Easter, the more positive memories they will have as well as the more positive relationships they will build.

Pumpkin Littles is an educational and therapeutic center in North Dallas using some amazing techniques and revolutionary therapies to individualize programs for children with special needs. Every time I spend time with Michelle Beck, the founder of Pumpkin Littles, I’m encouraged and inspired by all that she and her staff are doing with the little pumpkins at the therapy center. So, recently I asked Michelle to share a little about Pumpkin Littles, their tremendous iPad Communication classes and other individualized programs to share with our AutismSpot readers! Big thanks to Pumpkin Littles (and the little pumpkins’ parents) for sharing the adorable photo of their two precious iPad Pals [to the left].