Activities for Autistic Children

Please can you offer some activity-based suggestions and PE/games options for autistic children that they can do at home or at school. Looking at two age groups here 7 – 10 and 11-16.

Tambourines!

Parents, teachers, and other caregivers often get so caught up in educating and providing structure to the lives of autistic children that they forget that, above all, he or she is a child. Like any other child in his or her age group, your autistic child wants to have fun. While some activities may not be suitable for those suffering from autism, there are a number of fun games to play with autistic children, many of which can get them involved with others or help them further develop motor or social skills while just focusing on having a good time.

Autistic children in the elementary school age range can benefit greatly from song. Even children who do not verbally communicate with words can learn to hum along or play simple instruments, such as tambourines or whistles. Using sounds that are repetitive and with educational lyricshelps autistic children learn school lessons but also gives them an outlet for some of the sensory stimulation they need, such as yelling. Play follow the leader with the instruments to help the children focus their attention and improve socialization skills.

Depending on how mature your child is, he or she may also not only be able to participate in regular childhood games, but greatly benefit from them as well. These activities, including tag and other games, can be learned more easily than you think. Stick with games in which the autistic child is not forced to have close physical contact with other children, as this may be hurtful for autistic individuals. Also, remember to play to your child’s strengths or what he or she wishes to learn. If he or she has a problem with yelling inappropriately, for example, encouraging him or her to be involved with a game of hide and seek may help curb this behavior.

Autistic children often wish to be included in games with non-autistic peers, and so this may help with the learning process. At home, focus on games that involve closer contact with trusted family members. For example, make it a game to get across the room without touching the floor. Perhaps the only route in some instances is to be carried. Remember that each child is different developmentally, so stay in tune with how challenging the activities should be.

As your child matures, he or she may want to be involved with organized sports. This should be encouraged, but choose your sport carefully. Golf, baseball, and other sports that do not involve strong personal sensory stimulation may be better for your child than something like tackle football. However, be open to all possibilities. Be sure the team’s coach understands your child’s disability and is willing to work with him or her.

At this later developmental stage, also continue encouraging learning activities. Sensory games work well to further teach these children, and as they mature emphasize the importance of appropriate behavior as you are playing these games. Using things like water balloons in games your child already enjoys is often as fun for children with autism. Also realize that an autistic individual has trouble seeing things from another’s point of view. Therefore, they may be less likely to enjoy games in which something must be kept a secret from another person (like go-fish).

Overall, you and your child need to grow together. Remember that although he or she has many special needs, sometimes your child needs to simply be a kid as well. Encourage play along with work, and realize that games and activities for autistic children may fulfil two key elements, socialization skills for life and learning to enjoy playing with their peers.

There are many more resources and information about diagnosing, controlling and treating Autism in, The Essential Guide To Autism

When it comes to a birthday

Happy Birthday song. In fact, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Happy Birthday is the most popular song in the English Language.

When it comes to a birthday, there are a few ways of saying that it is time for cake, but it is known to everyone who is young or old, that all you have to do is start singing “Happy Birthday” and soon the cake and all the candles will appear.

The song is made of four bars and only sixteen words. It is a very simple song, but it has a very deep meaning.

Most of the time, it is sung in English, however, you’ll want to keep in mind that there are many languages that translate the song, even if the country or culture is not use to using English celebrations.

The Hill sisters composed the tune, -Happy Birthday To You-, in 1893. Originally the schoolteachers wrote the tune to a song entitles -Good Morning To You- and was sung to the classroom every morning.

Keep in mind that the version that most people know was copyrighted in 1935, but the copyright will expire in the year 2030. In fact, technically it is illegal to publicly perform –Happy Birthday To You- unless royalties are paid to the Summy Company and its owner Warner Chappell who bought the company in 1990.

Did you know that the value of the song is estimated about $5 million, but the fact is that it is not clear as to who wrote the song?

And because strict copy law issue, many people who are shooting a film will not show the full content of the song, and that is why you’ll often see them singing another song (For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow) instead of singing the birthday song.

Exclusive schools for him/her vs. Co-educational

It is said that boys and girls excel better if they are educated separately during their teenage years. This is according to best of both worlds: the coordinate theory. For parents, this is a better way of keeping their children focused. Coeducation has been the most common form of classroom for most schools around the globe. These days, more and more children are being sent to exclusive schools for boys or girls. Their parents have varied reasons of making that decision.

There are some reasons parents consider why they enroll they enroll their kids. One of the reasons is the teacher-student ratio. Unlike coeducation schools, the situation is really better in single sex schools. The fact is that the number of students in these kinds of schools is not that many, so teachers’ number is not a big problem. For most single sex preparatory schools, there is really a consistent number. The trend is like 12-15 students per class.

This setting would really give students the fair chance to learn from the teacher. All students will be given enough attention and supervision vital for them. For the teacher, she or he will also have the best time to get closer to students. With this, she could know them very well and she could determine the right approach to use for them. This kind of atmosphere will indeed create a space for good communication and interaction. These factors are catalysts of quality education. And, quality education is a need in making the best out of a person’s life. Another important thing is that students do not have the chance to quit a class because the teacher’s attention is nailed at them.

There are studies around the world which shows that female students in exclusive schools develop higher ability improvement when it comes to reading skills and Science tests. Furthermore, if compared to girls of the same age from coeducational schools, they excel more in writing, reading and science.

Scientists have proven that males and females differ in their neurons. Thus, educating them separately would really be beneficial.

The most important thing for students in single sex schools including the males is that they were able to polish their academic excellence. They need that for College. Therefore, having it would enable them to be at par from the rest. This goes on until they look for their jobs and face the real world.

The drive for excellence is really important in this competitive world.