Josh Muggleton’s Top Tips for Raising Kids with Asperger Syndrome: Tip #1 – Bullying
Before Christmas, JKP author Josh Muggleton came to our offices and recorded a series of top tips for parents, professionals and people with Asperger syndrome,…
Category: Education
Combining ideas from SLT and OT to Speak, Move, Play and Learn with Children on the Autism Spectrum – An Interview with America Gonzalez and Corinda Presley
“The idea was born out of a spirit of collaboration that came up when we noticed that our students were working on similar projects but with an OT or SLP spin. Another way we came together was when the speech team would make quesadillas with the students to work on sequencing, vocabulary and describing goals. And the OT would say, “Can I jump into your activity to practice cutting the quesadilla into triangles with my student?” And so we began to purposely create activities around both OT and SLP goals. We recently found out that the University of California – San Francisco has built therapy rooms for the explicit purpose of the collaboration between therapists. This is a wonderful step towards collaborative therapy.”
Little Volcanoes: Helping Young Children and Their Parents to Deal with Anger – An Interview with Warwick Pudney
“Younger children have a much better chance to learn how to handle anger and do so easier. The formative years are really what we need to target. Giving young children simple but powerful words to express anger and hurt means many will have fewer problems with anger than older children… It’s also important for the young child to really get that ‘abusive behaviour is not OK’. Learning that 20 years later in a courtroom or through a painful break-up is so much harder on the person and society.”
Story Drama in the Special Needs Classroom – An Interview with Jessica Perich Carleton
“The formula (called the Dramatic Formula) in the book presents each step with a specific skill that the students need in order to succeed in the drama, while at the same time balancing the level of stimulation for the students so they can focus on each section. Structure and balance of stimulation are the two main factors which give this book success. These two elements allow the students to succeed in a safe and nurturing environment.”
Turning homework negatives into positives for students with AD/HD – An Interview with Harriet Hope Green
“The activities in the book capitalize on AD/HD traits because I use the traits as the vehicles to complete the task. AD/HD students like to move, so activities include jumping answers, and singing facts, and activities that are interesting enough to promote focus. The child is empowered to make tents, read on the floor, discuss emotions, and pop bubble paper.”
Yoga breathing techniques to help children deal with anger and stress – An Interview with Michael Chissick
“Looking back I think that one of the main factors that inspired me to turn the yoga play into a book was the feedback from the children. I have lost count of the amount of times that children would tell me how they had used the techniques to deal with incidents in their lives. Problems ranging from being angry at siblings who stole their sweets or broke their toys, to being the calming influence in big family arguments. My two favourites will always be: the nine-year old boy who was terrified of the dentist and who quietly sat in the waiting room, and ultimately the dentist’s chair, practising his Crocodile Breath to calm himself; and the ten year old girl, who was angry with her parents, who would go to her room and practice Woodchopper Breath every day for three weeks, who eventually came and told the class teacher and me that that she had Haaaa’d out her anger.”
How professionals can help empower parents of a newly diagnosed child with Autism Spectrum Disorder
“Professionals need to feel comfortable as facilitators of parents’ learning and engagement with their child at home, rather than seeing themselves as therapist experts who work one-on-one with children. While the latter is sometimes necessary, the former is where we can have the biggest long-term impact on helping parents realise their full potential and assisting them to maximise their daily interactions with their child so that they become more responsive to their child’s needs and communicative attempts. This builds positive parent-child relationships.”
An Interview with Michael Barton, creator of a new illustrated guide to the confusing world of idioms and metaphors
“I never actually drew the pictures to be entertaining! I did the drawings because that’s what I thought when I heard the expression… However I soon realised that people found my drawings amusing because they then realised how little sense the English language makes!”
Using creative activities to help young people achieve their therapeutic goals and build a positive self-concept
“I think the most common problem I encounter with the students I work with is defiance – not doing what is asked of them in the classroom setting. However, after working with the student and finding out more about him, there are almost always other issues that are impacting the student and influencing his behavior. He may be behind his peers academically and feel embarrassed in the classroom… She may not have a consistent place to live or not know where her next meal is coming from each day. Arts-based activities provide students with a safe outlet to discuss these issues and allow the student and counselor to identify ways to handle them.”
The incredible potential of the AS mind – An Interview with Alexei Maxim Russell, the creator of ‘Trueman Bradley: Aspie Detective’
“First and foremost, I wrote the novel for my brother. I wanted to accomplish two things that would make the world a safer place for him and everyone with AS. Firstly, to educate those without AS… Secondly, I wanted to give people with AS something. I wanted to provide a verification of what many of them already know. I wanted to give them a voice and a hero which would contradict those who are always telling them they are “disabled”. I wanted to tell them that AS is not a disability, it is a different way of thinking. And in spite of what others may be telling them, it is not a “wrong” way of thinking.”