Do-N-Blog

Many kids participate in after school activities. Usually everything goes as planned but occasionally things can go awry. Groups and activities are cancelled for lots of different reasons. A typical child may be disappointed. They may cry, whine or complain.

If your child has autism, this disruption in the regular schedule can present a huge problem for a parent – the child with ASD may display significant behavior challenges.

One way to plan for these unexpected events is for parent and child to keep a calendar.

Every Tuesday Ethan goes to baseball so mom draws a baseball on each Tuesday of the month.  On Monday night Coach John calls the parents of the children on the team to let them know he is cancelling practice because he is ill.  To help Ethan understand, his mom could cross out the baseball on the calendar or put a "not" symbol over it. She could show Ethan the calendar and discuss the change and if need be, add a favored supplemental activity such as park or bike riding.

As time passes, and Ethan becomes more accustomed to using the calendar, mom can use the calendar to add more significant scheduling information such as times and people, which may in turn help reduce any preservative questioning that may be occurring.

If you’d like to find out more about this topic, try:

Hodgdon, Linda M.E.D., CCC-SLP Visual Strategies for Improving Communication Quirk Roberts Publishing 1995

Now that the dust is beginning to settle with the kids going back to school, here’s something to keep in mind while checking out their progress over the coming weeks.

What is your child’s learning style?  Even if they’ve adjusted well to the new routines, and they make good grades/perform well, is the delivery of their education tailored to their learning style, and is there anything you can do to help at home?

There are two primary methods of communication that children respond well to:

1. Verbal Communication – Your verbal learner will have a special affinity with communication in all its forms.  Reading, phonics, language…all grasped with greater ease by verbal learners.  If your verbal learner takes more time to understand math concepts, have them write out or explain something to you in their own words, working it through till it makes sense and is phrased in terms they commonly use and understand.  Grasping and recalling something that is couched in familiar language patterns is much easier than working through a concept that has an unfamiliar turn of phrase or layout.

2. Visual Communication – Your visual learner will love the arts, responding well to visual stimuli and direction.  Although verbal, visual learners may have a little more trouble when it comes to reading or spelling, and can take advantage of their learning style by applying pictures to words they are trying to learn.  Have them draw or imagine a word as a picture (for example, write the word ‘dog’ using the d, o, and g for the head body and tail, and then add legs and ears to complete your dog picture), or draw an outline of something and incorporate the letters of the word within it, curling them to fill the space.  Your visual learner will recall the image they created with greater ease than attempting to remember the letters themselves without artistic embellishment.

Which one best suits your child, and are your teachers/caregivers making the most of it?  Taking the time to present a difficult concept in one of these two ways will help your child work through it, and gift them with a better understanding of the subject.  Even if your child does well is school, learning can be made simpler by utilizing your child’s learning style.

The changes have been coming thick and fast, but we are hoping that you like the new look to the website!

We have attempted to add even more info about using visual schedules effectively, what it is that makes them important for all children, and how they can help you whether you are at home, in school, or even in a therapy session!

Check out the new ‘About Visual Schedules’ page for some useful links to autism related advocacy groups, as well as a cool link to one of our favorite sites…Mrs Riley!  If you are thinking of using Do-N-Slide, you might want to check out Mrs Riley to compliment the existing picture packs that come with your Do-N-Slide!

We always welcome feedback, so drop us a line any time – especially about our new look!

‘Oogles n Googles’ and ‘Every Dog Has Its Day’ are sponsoring a family fun night at the Abacoa Amphitheater on Saturday June 20th!  The event takes place from 6-9pm, and there will be lots of fun events for all the family…including the furry ones!!

Events taking place include:

Dog Fashion Show

Childrens’ Amusements

Food

Specialty Shopping

Services For Pets, Kids, and more!

Best Dressed Dog Contest

Pet Owner Look-A-Like Contest

Largest/Smallest Dog Contest

Best Pet Trick Contest

Charity Auction

Demonstrations By Local Pet Experts

…and More!

All proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Autism Project of Palm Beach County, so come along and enjoy!

Its a tough economic climate right now, and its not only businesses that are feeling the pinch as families tighten their belts and count their pennies with more care than usual.

At Our Kids To Yours, we recognize that worthy concerns and causes that rely on fundraising events to supplement their income are also having a harder time meeting their goals.  We decided to put our heads together and try to figure out how we could help organizations in our community, and we came up with a plan.

How about having a fundraising event with Do-N-Slide?  We all get the flyers home asking us to buy wrapping paper, and cookie-dough, but what about helping out our schools and local organizations by taking something home that helps our children, and ultimately ourselves!  How about taking something home that can be used to teach many things, and isn’t going to quickly find its way into the trash-can?  How about taking something home that we won’t have to go to the gym for an extra few hours to work off after the fact?!

Our Kids To Yours have come up with a way to provide all the materials needed to put on a fundraiser, while still generating a substantial income for the event organizers.  Its our privilege to be able to work with organizations in our own community, and others across the country, to help in this way.

To find out more about using Do-N-Slide to fundraise for your organization, check out the Fundraising Page of our website, or just call us to talk it over!

Our Kids To Yours will be official vendors at the Trinity Christian Preschool Spring Marketplace event on February 20th in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

The event is open to anyone who’d like to check it out, so come on over to 9625 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410…we’d love to see you there!

Our Kids To Yours will be official vendors at the ‘Walk Now For Autism’ event to help raise funds for Autism Speaks!  If you are in the neighborhood, come and visit us there, we’d love to speak with you!

The event will take place on February 21st, 2009 at Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach (Meyer Amphitheater, on Flagler between Datura Street and Evernia Street). 

Check-in for those walking begins at 8:30am, and the walk itself begins at 10am.  There will be activities for children, entertainment, and refreshments available from the opening of the even at 8:30am.

If you’d like to put a team together to participate, visit www.walknowforautism.org, or contact a member of the organization on either walks@autismspeaks.org or 888-8-AUTISM.

Hello All,

Tenille of Feisty, Frugal, & Fabulous has posted a product review of    Do-N-Slide of her fabulous blog!

Tenille used Do-N-Slide Help Around The House with her son for 2 weeks, and loved the sense of satisfaction he achieved from seeing his own days ‘work’ completed.

To read the complete review, pop over to Feisty, Frugal, & Fabulous and check out Tenille’s great blog!

OK.  On the face of it, maybe you think that Do-N-Slide wouldn’t make that great a Christmas (or all around Holiday) gift.  Here are a few reasons that might make you change your mind…

1.  Kids Really Do Love It.  There are maybe a few ‘chore averse’ youngsters out there that would be highly likely to roll their eyes at its lack of an MP3 player, but there are kids country-wide that love its vibrant colors, picture cards, and who cant wait (seriously!) to slide each card over to the ‘All Done’ column.  It’s kind of irresistible actually.

2.  Husbands Could Definitely Use It!  We are always being asked when we might be planning on adding a ‘Husband Pack’ to the product line.  We say, the ‘Help Around The House’ pack is already ideal!  Your hubby may be hesitant to physically put it into practise, but this ‘not-so-subtle’ hint that you could use an extra pair of hands around the house might just get him mobilized…..and then?!…..don’t let the board go to waste, use it with your kids to learn something new!

3.  It Would Be A Unique Gift For A Family Member Or Friend.  There will be toys, there will be candy.  You can either add to the pile or give a gift that’s unique and can be used for years to come.

4.  Its A Great Way Of Giving Help Without Telling Someone They Might Need It!  Maybe there’s someone you know that could do with a little help.  Maybe with chores, maybe with their toddler?  Maybe you feel awkward about bringing it up, but you want to help somehow.  Do-N-Slide could be the perfect option!  Using any of the reasons 1-3 (and then some!) you can give the gift of help without having to tell someone you think they need it!

Do any of these reasons resonate with you?