As I See It: Advocating From a Parent's Perspective

It's been a couple months, and school is once again in full swing. My topic has to inevitably turn to social skills. Every parent I've consulted with over the last few months has needed help with determining social goals or getting the school to acknowledge the need for training for their kiddos. How much should we get? It should be the question, yes, but, more often, the question becomes; how much can we get?


 Most IEPs contain the same language and nearly the same amount of SST, 15 minutes twice a week. Of course, that's not sufficient. A recent study determined autistic children need a minimum of 30 hours a week. That's just not going to happen, right? So, parents, get ready to work the partnerships.

It's imperative to get your teachers on board with on the job training for your child. During the day, the social opportunities are endless; standing in line in the cafeteria, going to lockers, or working with the teacher on spelling. These are all social interactions that could be capitalized upon. The trick is convincing others to use these teachable moments. 



It makes sense to prioritize the skills most needed and work on those. Is your child not understanding others' verbal or visual cues? Well, imagine how that translates into a child's academic performance!

Teachers, especially in general education, may not get it. They may not understand that it isn't willful disobedience, so much as misunderstanding. Talk to them about the medical side of your child's disorder.  Once everyone is on the same page, it's so much easier to suss out solutions.

Rubber, meet the Road. Road, . . .

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Brick Buddies is over for the year. It was a long haul getting from here to there. There is still a ways to go. Brick Buddies is our RISE Learning Center LEGO club, and it has students on both ends of the spectrum included. We weren't able to have peers without disabilities, but how awesome would that be, huh?

Extra-curricular events, clubs and teams are rare for children with disabilities. At least, they are here in Indianapolis. So when a friend came to me with a study about LEGO and its benefits to children on the spectrum, it seemed a good fit. The problems soon became apparent.

Problem One: You need Legos. Lots of them. My first source was Wal-mart. Go to your local store and fill out a simple form telling them what you're needing and why. They've funded us two years running. This year we also obtained some stimulus of our own for the club. That will keep us going for a while.


Problem Two: This one you will not believe, but staff were semi-resistant to the club. I'm speculating as to the cause, but I think it may be related to our habit of lowering our expectations for "those"kids. Lower goals not expectations. The fact is that autistic kids have an affinity for systems. Lego is a building system. It's the same reason so many like math.

Problem Three: RLC is a facility with students from both ends of the spectrum, and every disorder under the sun seems to occupy its halls. That makes for a problem I still haven't fully solved. High and low functioning students at the same event. One thing I've learned is that the kids can and will let you know where their talents lie. I can say with certainty that social skills training was accomplished.

To parents, I say: If you have time and ability to share, starting recreational groups for children with disabilities is the best way to go. Kids need these kinds of experiences. They need the opportunity for play, for conflict, for self-regulation. We all learn these things the same way, experience. The learning and mentally disabled need more experiences than the rest of us, not less. Whatever you do, keep your child in the game. Don't let them retreat from the world.

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A Club is Born!

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RISE Learning Center will have LEGO therapy, or at least a club! The LEGOs are due in January, and today I sold the idea of trying to get colleges involved as facilitators. It's only a matter of time now.

We did it last year, but it was a disorganized, understaffed mess. The kids loved it. There's something about being with people who get you. In my opinion, it's a piece that's being lost in educating our autistic children.

For them, it was like walking into Cheers. Everybody knew their names, and everyone in that room knew autism. Sometimes, we forget how hard it is to be different. Special needs kids have that issue without ceasing. How great is it that this club can be good for them too?

I got the study from a teacher, and it blew my mind. LEGO therapy worked better than a commonly used social skills program. The results are preliminary, but it's looking good for LEGOs.  Extra-curricular activities are so hard to find for special needs students that I'd have done it for that alone, but when you add the bottom line, I'm sold.

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