Generalization and relation to the time of going to bed (331.44 kB)

Vince LaMarca, certified behavior analyst and editor at the Lovaas Institute - Indianapolis

Dorothy mother of an autistic child of 4 years, puts it this way: "The generalization has given me the opportunity to establish a very positive relationship with my son. The time to go to bed usually was simple routine, but when we started the therapy has become an interaction. The games we do before going to bed are so familiar and so well able to my son every day we look forward to this moment. "

Below is a list of skills taught during therapy and applied time to go to bed. Generalization of the ideas were developed by parents, like Dorothy, and consultants of the Lovaas Institute.

Match:

Our son has learned to match identical objects and then a number (for example, put together with different cars, different apples, etc.). At bedtime we shed 5 different pajama pants around the room. Then we gave the pajama top and we said, "Find my pants." He ended up taking pleasure in his pants just look around the room.

Where to ask:

When our son began to make progress in therapy and to ask "Where ...?", we changed the game a little to find the pajama bottoms. Sometimes pants just hiding, and after looking around the room, our son asked, "Where are my pants?". We pulled them out from where we had hidden them and say, "Surprise." What we did not expect is that the game he loves so much that he turns and looks at us whenever there is demand. We are planning to expand its language into saying the name or the color of pajamas ("Where are the blue pants?"). I think this type of procedure may also work with a child who does not speak and express themselves with a system of alternative augmentative communication (AAC - Augmentative and alternative communication).

Define objects / Set / Ask requests:

We have long sought ways to increase requests (mands) by Kevin. Once in a store we saw a lot of toothbrushes with characters drawn. During therapy we taught him to identify the different characters (eg "Touch Thomas the Tank Engine / Elmo / etc."). We also worked on the choices (Do you want Thomas or Elmo? "). In the evening, we showed two toothbrushes and asked him what he wanted to use (eg," Thomas "or" Blues Clues "). Now we just ask" What toothbrush you use? "and he looks in the toothbrush and the name of what he wants.

Define the figures:

I find that in many families the children are read bedtime stories. This has always been one of the best land to apply the definition of the figures. Recommend that parents make the reading activity quiet, calm and fun. You should not ask a child to define too many figures, otherwise it will be extra work. But if they are placed in the reading questions and few parents choose the figures easier to identify the involvement of the child will be greater. Some parents think that in turn define the figures is another way to make reading more interactive.

Listening to the stories:

I also find that many families are not read stories to the children want to do, but their children are not calm. There are two different areas on which therapy can take action to teach the child to listen to the stories: find books that attract the child learn to identify the figures in the books and lengthen the duration of attention to the book by the child. When parents apply these skills was time to go to bed, I always explain that it is important to go slowly. They can start by jumping through a few pages while their child is in bed. Then they can do one or two comments on each figure. For some children, use the right books (those for which the child has an interest) and gradually increase the duration of the reading was useful. For others, the addition of a preferred activity (eg, always turn off the light to go after closing the book) has made ​​possible the hour of reading.

Autonomy:

Our son likes stacking things, but not reorder. During therapy we worked on putting toys away, but he still takes a long time to do so. We had the best results in the evening. After he wore pajamas hand clothes and say, "Put them in the dirty laundry." He always runs up and throws them into the basket ... probably because the clothes in the basket look like a big pile!

Play sequences:

it is easy to teach rapidly tripartite sequences using the figures during therapy.

For example, in response to "How do you prepare to go to bed?" A child says "Before I brush my teeth, then I wash my face, then put on my pajamas." But it is when parents apply this routine to the newspaper that interesting things can happen. For example, I had a family that was always asking his daughter "How do you prepare to go to bed?" time to go to bed. At first stimulated to stop after the first part of the answer and perform the action (eg "I used to brush your teeth"-run-"then I wash my face"-run-"and then put on my pajamas"-run ). Then they started with the prompt "then" after or in between the answers he had learned and started to get some new, interesting answers.

The sentences were not always grammatically correct, but were mentioned actions such as dry with a towel, drinking water and get a kiss from his mother.

Individuals susceptible:

My son does not speak and sometimes need a lot of creativity to find ways to do things we take for granted with our other children.

The evening prayer is something that I always wanted my child to participate more. When he learned all the names of family members involved in therapy, we decided to try to apply this skill to prayer. We created a panel with passport photos of all family members, teachers and instructors at the bottom. After the other kids said they wanted to pray for those, I chose two people to pray for my son and moved their photos at the top of the panel. There are three gaps, and my son makes me choose photos to be put.

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