A Simple Strategy for Overcoming Resistance in a Child With Autism

Has your child ever vehemently resisted your request to perform a task?
I worked with a young mom recently who came to me exasperated by her daughter's refusal to wash her hands and dry them or sometimes have a meltdown when the mom would do this task for her. The mom was at her wit's end and having tried many ways to make her daughter comply she resorted to punishment and loss of privileges as a last resort.
It turned out that there was an easy solution to this problem behavior but one that the parent had never even considered - she didn't even think it was in the realm of possibilities. Why? Because when I asked this mom if her child had any sensory issues she said, "No, they ruled out the diagnosis of a Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)."
There are many children, on and off the spectrum, that are diagnosed with SPD and the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation places the estimate of affected children at about one in 20 children. Individuals who have sensory issues have brains that are wired in such a way that it is difficult for them to accurately filter the sensory information that is coming in. Either the brain reads the sensory input as way too much or way too little. If a child has significant impairment in this area they earn the label of SPD.
But what if the impairment is not severe enough?
Can such a child still have sensory issues?... The answer is yes.
Children with sensory sensitivities can be hyper or hypo sensitive to different types of visual input or certain touches, tastes, textures, smells and noises. I have known many children who:

• will only wear clothes made of soft fabrics,
• are particular about the seams in their socks and where they fall on their feet,
• gag at the smell or texture of a certain food,
• are overly sensitive to bright lights,
• sit on a cold, hard toilet seat
• have difficulty concentrating due to the humming noise that fluorescent lights emit in a classroom.

In addition to these commonly know reactions that sensory issues can bring about there are many resistant behaviors that can be triggered by a particular sensory challenge, especially if your child is on the Autism spectrum. Your child may not have full-blown SPD yet he or she may be sensitive enough to various stimuli that it will affect his or her behavior in a negative way.
So if your child does not meet the criteria for SPD don't rule out the presence of sensory sensitivities. Just because your senses can tolerate a certain stimuli it is possible that the same experience can assault one or more of your child's senses.
That's right, there may be a simple reason why your child resists certain activities or refuses to cooperate. Your child may not be behaving badly - his behavior might simply be a result of a sensory sensitivity.
When you have a child that is challenged in this way, a simple sound, taste, smell or touch can send them over the top. You may find them refusing to do certain tasks or rejecting activities that seem so simple to us. As a parent it is sometimes all to easy to judge this behavior as willful, stubborn and resistant, especially when we look at it through the lens of our own experience and perspective.
Behaviors can be very baffling to parents, which is why you need to examine them through the lens that your child experiences the world with because most likely it is very foreign to our own. Once you identify and understand that the behavior is triggered by an over reaction to sensory input it becomes easier to address.
As in the scenario of the mom and little girl that I introduced above, it turned out that this young lady had a sensory aversion to the touch of a wet, slippery, squishy bar of soap, therefore she resisted touching it unless the bar of soap was dry and firm. Also, the texture of the towels seemed to be a turn off for her and even though this little girl was not Goldilocks finding a towel that was 'not too hard, not too soft - but just right' was the key to turning her behavior around.
mom switched to a liquid soap that her daughter helped pick out in order to make sure the smell would be agreeable to her - just in case her overly sensitive nose was part of the problem - and mom began to use non-scented fabric softener and dry the towels in the dryer as opposed to line drying them, her daughter had no objection to washing her hands.
I help many parents create sensory-friendly environments that can enhance a child's level of cooperation and reduce negative outbursts. In this particular story, the behavior was resolved in an uncomplicated fashion. Unfortunately, the solution is not always this simple but the outcome can be just as positive especially when a parent is willing to think outside the box and see things from their child's point of view.
If your child displays a behavior that baffles you, consider the possibility of a sensory issue at play. Remember, your child does not have to have a
Sensory Processing Disorder in order to have an extreme sensory reaction to something. Many of us can relate to the awful feeling that fingernails down a blackboard can produce in us. If you can accept this as an understandable reaction in yourself all you have to do is stretch your imagination a bit and accept the fact that something else less typical can have a similar effect on your child.

Connie Hammer, MSW, parent educator, consultant and coach, guides parents of young children recently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder to uncover abilities and change possibilities. Visit her website to access Happy Parents, Happy Kids - Overcoming Autistic Behavioral Issues at http://parentcoachingforautism.com/how-we-help/products, a program to help you change behaviors, and get your FREE resources - a parenting e-course, Parenting a Child with Autism - 3 Secrets to Thrive and a weekly parenting tip newsletter, The Spectrum.

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Autism and Service Dogs

First, do you really need an autism service dog?
Special trained dogs can help people with disability to become more independent, including people with autism. For adults and teens, an service dog is much more practical, because they are capable of handling the dog by themselves. At the same time, it doesn't mean that autistic children cannot have service dogs, on the contrary, they could benefit kids with autism in a lot of ways. For example, if the child doesn't come or respond when called, the dog can help you find him/her quickly, especially in school or other public places. Also, the dog could help the child become more social with their peers. These are the bright side of an autism service dog, but, you have to look at the dark side also to make an final decision. The dark side is that the child cannot take care of the dog, the parent have to look after the dog, too. And the fee of an autism service dog is very high. Besids, a dog has about the same intelligence as a three year old, would you trust a three year old with the care of your child? Ok, all things considered, let's suppose that you still want a dog, then you must pay attention to the following questions.
Second, what is the right Service Dog breed for autistic people?
These dog breeds are recommended for people on the autism spectrum, Newfoundland, bloodhound, border collie, Yellow Labs, golden retriever or other highly intelligent breed. Many large dogs are great with kid, gentle and peaceful. Try to avoid small dogs. I cannot say which breed is the best for children with autism, after all every autistic person is different. You may need to hire an animal behavioral consultant to pick up a dog with you and your child. You can choose several most gentle dogs and bring them outside to meet your child to see which one can socialize with her/him best.
Third, how to pick up an autism service dog?
Proper training is the key in an autism service dog. Official service dogs are strictly trained on how to behave with people. Also, the match of the personality of the dog and the child is very important.

http://www.autism-world.com/index.php/2009/09/28/service-dogs-and-autism/
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Understanding Autistic Behavior

Autism is a very complex and difficult to understand disorder. Patients suffering from its symptoms mainly suffer from the impossibility to communicate with others, express their own feelings or integrate other person's actions. The language they use is very limited but also very hard to interpret.
Children with the autistic disorder usually use the same word or phrase to express different situations. Some repeat sentences like "get in the car" as they associate it with going outside. Others say "milk and cookies" when referring to a pleasant object or a pleasant action".
A meaningless voice tonality is commonly used while speaking and the persons around the autistic have difficulties in understanding his desires. Their body language is hard to interpret as they not necessarily smile when they are happy or cry when upset. Facial expressions, moves and gestures rarely match to what they are trying to say. Most common their voice assembles the one of a robot, is flat, high-pitched or sings-song- like.
Without any understandable means of gestures or language to express their needs, autistics cannot let others know what they wish. Most often they simply scream or even directly grab what they need. In specialty literature useful information is found about possible brain connections autistic patients make in a special circumstance when they are forced to scream in order to make themselves heard.
Autism does not usually effect the physical estate of the child, these are most often healthy and with good muscle control and still make repetitive movements. Some of them even spend hours making the same action like flapping fingers or trying dance moves and then suddenly freeze in a particular position; their behavior is known by specialists as self-stimulation or stereotyped actions. Some actions are repeated over and over again like a child running through the room and turning the lights on and off repeatedly.
Autistic children tend to develop obsessions with specific objects that may be funny, embarrassing or dangerous for the persons around them. Changes in their routine and environment are very upsetting for them as they want to eat same foods at the same hours or find their objects in the exact same position. This repetitive obsessive behavior is believed to bring stability into their lives or help them deal better with particular stimuli or pains. Other explanation may be the one saying that patients try to stimulate the diminished senses with their behavior or on the other hand use the well developed sense.

For greater resources on Autism or especially about child autism please click this link http://www.autism-info-center.com/child-autism.htm

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Some Relevant Information About Autism Treatment

Before undertaking any meaningful discussion regarding the treatment of autism, it is necessary to remember that Autism Spectrum Disorder is an outcome of faulty developmental process of the brain and hence, it does not allow any provision for getting fixed or cured. So it is a life-long problem and those who have it, are supposed to spend their whole life in its company. The treatments devised for this condition do not aim to cure it, rather its treatment includes a wide and varied range of therapies that are designed to endow the autistic children with basic behavioral and communication skills that will enable them to face and handle problematic situations of their lives efficiently. Therapeutic treatments are conducted at one-on-one level and also in the form of groups. They offer to improve not only the speech related problems but also lend support in the form of strengthening emotional and psychological basis of their life. Sometimes these therapies are conducted in the form of special classroom education which are specifically designed to help people with autism.
Now what kind of treatment or therapeutic aid is required by the child depends on the severity of the autistic symptoms. Although there are some autistic children whose condition at least allows them to participate in group activities, but it is a thing to be borne in mind that the way they will perceive things and learn them will be drastically different from five other normal children- a fact that teachers and parents should take cognizance of. Sometimes such children become can act aggressively towards their peers and lash out to other children, because at such a young age it is difficult for such children to come to terms with things that seems to them very hard to accept. This kind of problem can be taken care of by the teachers and parents with patience and compassion through teaching these children socially acceptable norms of behavior and attitude.
There are therapies of various types to help autistic children to improve their social, behavioral, communication and adaptive skills. Given below are some of such therapies that you ought to know about that can exercise beneficial influence on the growth of your autistic child:
Therapies to mold behavioral structure:
These therapies and programs mainly provide help to the autistic children through positive stroke and reinforcement, self-help and social skill training program in order to ameliorate their behavioral pattern.
Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), Sensory Integration and Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) are two of the most popular programs run to lend help to such children.
Specialized therapies:
Specialized therapies are an umbrella term that covers a variety of physical, occupational and speech therapies. These therapies contribute a lot in terms of facilitating the normal growth of autistic children and now they constitute an essential component of an autistic child's treatment program. Physical and occupational therapy aim to overcome the problems of co-ordination and enables them to process information in an efficient manner acquired though the five senses. Speech therapy on the other hand works to better their social and language skill. Due to the lack of language skill, these children run the risk of developing antisocial tendencies that can distance them from their peers. This particular therapy enables them to develop communication skill that ultimately leads to their better understanding of those around them and hence, indirectly ensures their capability to befriend others.
Medicinal aid:
Assistance of medicines are sought in order to tackle various autistic behavior related issues that covers depression, anxiety, hyperactivity and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Insomnia is another common trait among autistic children which can also be taken care of with the help of medicine.
Among the alternative medical approaches that have proved to be useful to relieve the condition of autism is the hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Although it has been found to notably improve some of the symptoms that we habitually associate with autism spectrum, but its credibility as the sole treatment has not been established yet, as doctors are of varied opinion regarding its efficacy to alleviate the autistic symptoms.
Before deciding on any method of treatment, the safest bet will be know and explore the full potential of the treatment procedure you are opting for, as autistic symptoms vary from person to person. Doctors and psychologists are yet to find a uniform method that will affect a cure of autism, but various medical studies have-showed that diagnosis at the primary stage and early medical measures can contribute to ameliorate this condition.

Milan Zones is a psycho therapist having a long experience of working with autistic children. He shares insider's view about various types of autism treatment California.

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The Benefits of Animal Therapy For Autism

For those of us who have had pets in our lives, it's no great surprise to learn that interactions with animals can have therapeutic and healing benefits. Many animals soothe, comfort, and calm, just by their quiet presence. And animals are now also being used as a form of autism therapy.
A New Mexico Highlands University School of Social Work graduate student named Jennifer Baról lead a research project to study the benefits and impact of animal-assisted therapies on children with autism when used as a treatment tool.
The study, entitled "The Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy on a Child with Autism" ran for 15 weeks between July and November of 2006. It was geared toward the goal of discovering whether or not there is any evidence that therapies based on animal-assistance would be able to improve an autistic child's social skills.
The results of the study were interesting. For example, before undergoing the animal-assisted therapy with an eight-year-old Australian Cattle Dog named Henry, participant Zachary, who was five years old, experienced a dramatic struggle in order to communicate. Zachary was prone to throwing tantrums as well as covering his ears and eyes when he became frustrated with his lack of ability to be understood. Participation in new activities was stressful to him. He couldn't understand how to play with others and had never before uttered a complete sentence.
However, once Zachary met and bonded with Henry, he went through a virtual transformation. His self-assurance level is much higher and he is willing to experience new activities with an obvious curiosity. Furthermore, Zachary is better able to understand what is going on around him, including the needs of others. Moreover, halfway through the therapy for the research project, Zachary completed his first sentence.
In the case of Zachary, a whole new world of experiences and understanding was opened up by the animal-assisted therapy. Within the mental hospital clinical reports, there have been many reports of autistic children who have built strong relationships with individual animals, such as pet dogs or cats. When autistic children play with animals, any violent tendencies they may have will typically disappear. They take on quite maternal characteristics, taking special care of the animal including feeding, cleaning up after them, and interacting with them.
The blood pressure of autistic children will also usually be lowered when experiencing an animal treatment. Furthermore, symptoms such as insomnia and headache can be eased with this treatment.
The companionship of animals can help reduce any lonely feelings in autistic children, promoting a base of healthy character development within them, including personality traits such as being respectful, trusting, contributing, committed, self-confident, and responsible. Autistic children can also learn decision-making skills, problem-solving skills, and both language and social skills through interactions with animals.
This kind of therapy can be beneficial overall, as well as in times of greater trial, such as puberty - when your child will go through many changes and have many questions and will be in need of greater stress relief.

Grab your free copy of Rachel Evans' brand new Autism Newsletter - Overflowing with easy to implement methods to help you and your family find out about animal therapy for autism and for information on autism service dogs please visit The Essential Guide To Autism.

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Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Consists of Five Neurodevelopmental Disorders Including Austism

Pervasive developmental disorder is a number of neurodevelopmental disorders classified under one umbrella. They are called either pervasive developmental disorder or, as they are more commonly known, autism spectrum disorders. There are five disorders included in this group. The most common one is known as autistic disorder, or Kanner's autism, and is considered the most severe.  Asperger's syndrome is the milder form. They both share the same symptoms, verbal and non-verbal communication difficulties, lacking the ability for imaginative play with repetitive play instead and poor social interaction skills.
A third is Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise specified. This one is for all the people who have many of the symptoms of these neurodevelopmental disorders but not enough symptoms to be definitely placed in one category or another. So, as they are not specifically sufferers of either Asperger's syndrome or Kanner's autism or either of the regressive autisms, they get lumped into this category.
The regressive autisms are more frightening because the child starts out making normal progress, which then not only stops but also disappears. All the progress made by the child is gone in a short period of time leaving the child to start again and the parent's completely bewildered.  Both of these are very rare but they do occur. Rett Syndrome has another oddity; almost all those that suffer from this disorder are girls. The other autism disorders are more likely to affect boys, though girls do have autism too. The regression with Rett Syndrome begins as early as six months of age and not later than a year and a half.  The child stops any of the developmental progress she has made, stops being that cuddly baby and pulls away, then begins to show the signs of autism. She also loses control of her feet and constantly wrings her hands.
The other regressive type of autism is called Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. This is worse to watch as the child meets all their milestones including speaking until they hit the age of three or at the latest four years of age. Then in the space of a few months it's all lost. They lose their sunny disposition, the ability to talk, and they can no longer control their bowels or bladder despite having already been potty trained. This regression can be very confusing for the child and earth shattering for the parents who watch their smiley child lose all interest in normal physical contact.
No matter which pervasive development disorder your child has early intervention is a must to give them the best chance in life. This should include occupation, speech and physical therapies.

If you think that there is "something not right" with your child you must find out as soon as possible if autism is the issue. Treatments are less effective with each passing day as we grow older, so find out now with the complete autism resource for determining symptoms and goes into depth about ALL treatment options for autism, natural AND medical. So do your family a favor and check out the information at Autism Symptoms.
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The Absolute Power of Autism - Disability or Genius

The Autisarian Race
You would think that most of the time research into autism is not something people choose to do. Most of the time it's probably done because a person is faced with the challenge of raising an autistic child. This is a scary challenge, but what if you were faced with raising two autistic children? Consider the pain of watching them go through the effects of the disorder together, or one after the other. The good thing is that as a parent goes through trials and tribulations with their autistic child, they can become an expert in the art of managing the genius inside the disorder. If they learn to simply pay attention, they may find something amazing inside their child.
Most people don't consider the drastic longterm consequences of slow reaction to the alarming birthrate of autistic children. It seems likely if the puzzle isn't properly addressed soon, within the next ten to fifteen years the world may be responsible for what could be an entire race of adults who are unable function on their own. Take a minute to think about what would be a massive drain on the welfare system.
It's hard to imagine a disabled person has any connection to humankind's evolution.
A blind guy, a person with autism, or attention deficit disorder, no way these people could have anything to do with evolution. Naturally your first thought would probably be devolution, but if we closely examine what we know about what we don't actually know, we would be amazed by the possibilities. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the unexplained can't be explained because we haven't figured out how to use our brain's full potential. This means that as far as we know anything is possible.
If a man is born blind he can't value sight because he never had it. His lack of sight becomes a problem in his mind because people tell him he is disabled because he can't see. Because the man has no sense of sight his senses of hearing and touch are far above average, so he can hear and feel things like music astoundingly better than the average human being. This may give the man a natural ability to play a musical instrument far better than his human counterparts without instruction. This creates the question, is this man disabled? According to society he is, but Webster's dictionary calls him a genius. We have a nasty habit of negatively labeling things we don't understand, so similar arguments can be made using those labeled disabled because of ADD, or Autism. Are these labels a product our ignorance? Are these people disabled, or are they precursors to our evolution?
Autism has been around longer than most people realize, twenty years ago it was called mental retardation. We know very little about autism, but the number of children being born with it is astronomical, it's almost like some kind of invasion.
Great minds have consulted and surmised that this condition somehow interrupts the brains capability to communicate properly and since we don't understand it we label it a disability.
It seems when a certain power of the brain is taken away, or not included at birth other brain powers increase giving a person extraordinary abilities, or a certain knack for something. Unfortunately most of the time the knack is never discovered and this eventually creates a disabled person. The huge number of children being born with autism has uncovered some of these hidden knack's. If you research the definition of the word knack you'll find that it comes very close to the meaning of the word genius. Maybe we should stop trying to cure autism and try to manage the genius inside it instead.
If you think about it, an alarming number of people being born with extraordinary capabilities could be a push in the evolutionary process of humankind. Autism could be the creation of a new human being, the creation of the Autisarian.

The Inspire Weekly uses a book series called Survivor Evolution to motivate families affected by autism to search for the power behind the puzzle. The series was created by two autistic brothers who have publish three books so far. Support the Survivor Evolution Series. Start at the beginning and follow the series. Buy their first book; Flames of Avasten. http://www.theinspireweekly.com

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Behavioral Therapy For Autism

Behavioral therapy for autism has a high chance of success. In this type of treatment, appropriate behavior is rewarded while inappropriate behavior is ignored. The success rate increases if the therapy is started when your child is still young; that is usually before he turns 3-years-old.
You would probably have discovered that your autistic child will challenge your parenting skills with their extremes of behavior. Extremes of behavior would include such things as temper tantrums, self injurious behavior, aggression and agitation. Essentially, he is dictating to you what he wants and his preferences. If he does not get what he wants, you are made to suffer the consequences. Rather than giving in, you should in fact learn how to teach your child a more appropriate way in which to get what he wants.
This is where a consistent program of behavioral modification will work very well. It will not only help you to cope with your child's behaviors but it will also teach your child more socially appropriate behaviors. Such a program must consist of 4 components: a structured daily routine; behavioral control; communication; and applied behavioral analysis.
You should instill a structured daily routine as your autistic child can then know what to expect. Autistic children do not usually cope well with inconsistency or change. Therefore, sticking to a daily routine is important as much as possible.
The next thing that a parent must learn is how to control tantrums and other such behavioral issues. In doing so there are 3 factors to bear in mind:
1. Those behaviors that are dangerous to the child or those around him must be dealt with first. These behaviors need to immediately be stopped with firm words and actions. Try not to show your child any anger while doing this though.
2. Autistic children need to be taught how to sit. The best way in which to do this is to reward appropriate sitting behavior while either ignoring or giving a negative consequence for inappropriate sitting behavior.
3. Autistic children tend to have bizarre, stereotypical, repetitive behaviors. The most obvious of these are finger flapping and rocking. These can be very distracting and thus a firm "stop" command is suggested for use. Next direct your child to another activity that will not allow him to continue these behaviors.
It is important that you talk to your child regularly. Whenever you are talking to an autistic child you need to be both simple and direct. You need to use short, clear sentences without going into explanations or using too many words. So, instead of telling your child, "Come here so that I can fix your pants and tuck in your shirt because you need to look nice" simply tell him, "Come here now." This is an easy command to process as you want to avoid confusing him.
Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is a form of behavioral therapy that is popular. This involves breaking down tasks into individual components. Then, whenever a child successfully completes each step of the task he should be rewarded. It is believed that this form of therapy has a 47% success rate. It is important to note that ABA is not the only behavioral approach to treating autism nor is it a cure for autism. But it is a therapy that should be explored as one of your many options to helping your autistic child.

Sandra Kim Leong shares about autism diet [http://www.autismdietplan.com] and other therapies for children with learning disabilities. She draws on her experience as a mother to an autistic child. To read her posts, please visit [http://www.autismdietplan.com]

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Autism Behavior Management Strategies - Changing Your Child One Step at a Time

Autistic children often have behaviors that can easily get under one's nerve. However, regardless how tempting scolding an autistic child may be, it is always better to follow the pleasant way of doing things as this results to positive changes in the child's behavior.
You child's behavior is only as good as your responses to them. If you respond to your child's tantrum, whether by telling him to stop or by rewarding him, you are reinforcing the recurrence of the improper behavior. More often than not, children throw a feat to call your attention. If your child succeeds in doing so by way of tantrums, it is likely for him to repeat such behavior. Whereas if you ignore it and reward only positive behaviors (such as being quiet after a misconduct), you can expect a positive change.
The above example explains how autism behavior management works- ignoring unwanted behaviors and rewarding good ones. But, of course, it is far complicated than that. There are techniques to shape an autistic child's behaviors and ways to encourage the display of unwanted actions. Below are some of them.
1. Understand the ABC model. The ABC model is a simplified way of observing and rewarding a behavior. A is for Antecedent or the event that precedes the behavior. B is the behavior itself and is defined as an action that can be observed, measured, seen and heard. Anything that goes beyond these characteristics are not to be considered as behaviors and, therefore, not covered by autism behavior management. The third is the Consequence or the event that follows right after the behavior. Consequence often dictates whether a behavior will continue to occur or not. Once you fully understand the principles of the ABC model, it would be easier for you to invent and use tools that can modify your child's behaviors.
To test the principle, try to choose one behavior that you would want to reinforce or discourage. Using the above example, throwing tantrums can be reinforced in two very distinct ways - by ignoring it or by rewarding it. What most people do not know is that by simply saying "no" or any command that intends to put a stop to the behavior is one way of rewarding the difficult behavior. The most effective way is to ignore the behavior. Reward a positive behavior afterward (in this case, the positive behavior is being quiet after the tantrum). Choose a reward that is meaningful to the child.
2. Be clear and consistent. Once you have chosen to change a certain autistic behavior, there is no turning back. You have to continue the process of modifying your child's behavior. Also, there should never be an excuse for not doing the proper reinforcement.
3. Reward or punish right away. The best way of modifying a behavior is to give the reward or punishment right away, not a few seconds or minutes after the action was performed. This is because children still lack the capacity to analyze the relationship between events.
4. Lessen the use of reinforcements as the behavior improves. Ultimately, the goal is to change a behavior, not to make a child respond positively only when reinforcement is given. As the behavior improves, try to gradually withdraw the reinforcement. First replace material rewards with social rewards, then replace the latter with non-social rewards until the behavior disappears completely.

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Some Important Facts You Need To Know About Autism

Autism is a neuro -developmental disorder, caused by the miscommunication of brain cells and how their synapses meet, although the exact reason of this disorder remains yet to be discovered. This disorder is characterized by serious problem in interaction and communication, repetitive interests, actions and behavior pattern and a sense of restriction. Autism Spectrum (ASD) is a composite, which includes three types of disorders-
1. Autism: Involves difficulty in social communication and repetitive actions.
2. Asperger Syndrome: Causes delay in information processing procedure in brain and language development.
3. Pervasive Developmental Disorder: It is diagnosed when the criteria defining autism and asperger syndrome are not met.
Various factors have been pointed out as the possible causes of autism, mainly environmental atmosphere before birth like presence of heavy metal, pesticides, childhood vaccines etc have been held responsible for causing it, although most of them lack any scientific basis. Symptoms associated with autism begin to manifest themselves as early as the sixth month of the child, but keep developing as the child grows up, making full and steady appearance from the second year of it's life. In special cases, the child shows normal development in the early stage but then starts to regress. No curative measure for this disorder has been discovered yet, so there is a clamor for recognizing this disorder not as a disease, but as a difference.
Autistic symptoms make their presence known in the infants making them less attentive to a stimulus, reducing the possibility for them to respond to their own names and making them avoid eye contact, when interacting with others. These children are incapable of social understanding, spontaneous actions, expressing themselves through gestures, imitate and respond to emotions etc. Although these children do form attachment to their immediate caregivers, but they come to suffer more intense kind of solitude, as forming and maintaining friendship proves to be an arduous task for them. The obstacle they face while trying to communicate with others is caused by delayed language development, rendering them unable to talk and share experiences and making them merely repeat the words they hear from others.
Their obsession with repetitive patterns of behavior can be summarized in the following categories:
1. Stereotype indicates repetitive movements like rocking of body etc.
2. Compulsive pattern of behavior is adherence to some rules strictly like arranging things in a row.
3. Maintaining sameness involves strong resistance to change like their anger when a piece of furniture is moved.
4. Ritualistic behavior is closely associated with their obsession to maintain sameness like wearing the same dress everyday, which becomes a daily ritual.
5. Restricted behavior involves exhibiting very small range of interests, activities and focus.
6. Self injury: They also show a tendency to inflict injuries on themselves through head banging, skin picking etc. This is related to the aggressive and violent aspect of this disorder.
No cure has been discovered yet for his disorder. Many children with autism show notable improvements through long term treatment, although nobody knows how it happens, but some children do not show any improvement at all. These children can acquire language by the age of five or earlier, although in case of few, language development process gets delayed. The basic problems of autism continue, although the severity of their symptoms might diminish with the growing age of the individual. In exceptional cases, individuals with autism exhibits normal growth later in life and also become successful by finding proper or part time employment.

Kevin Halls is a renowned psychiatrist and a researcher on Autism Wisconsin. He writes interesting blog posts and points out his observations about the Autism Spectrum Disorders.

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Beneficial Effects Of Personal Hyperbaric Chamber

One of the many blessings that medical science of the modern age provides us will be surely the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, which we can get through a Personal Hyperbaric Chamber. It is a widely known fact that Oxygen is an element of our atmosphere that we simply cannot do without. Not only do we need this particular gas to keep us alive and kicking, but it has been proven to play an important part in our recovery from different types of severe ailments like- stroke, fibromyalgia, autism, poison infection, stroke, cerebral palsy, senility, cirrhosis, Lyme disease, and gastrointestinal ulcers and AIDS, arthritis, sports injuries, multiple sclerosis and many more.
Oxygen is the most vital life-supporting aerial element. Its lack in our body is manifested through prolonged fatigue, insomnia, asthma, palpitation, agitation, anxiety, depression etc. This innovative treatment procedure dates as early as 1662, but it was developed successfully by the U.S Military after the World War I. This form of treatment was used to be mainly applied to the surfers who, after emerging from water used to suffer from decompression illness, due to the excess deposition of nitrogen in their blood vessels. Initially this chamber was devised to treat this particular illness among the surfers, but gradually other beneficial and helpful characteristics of this treatment begins to come to the forefront. Now many hospitals, health centers, clinic, treatment centers keep the hyperbaric chamber to be used in the time of need and emergency and doctors also apply this treatment to heal and cure multiple health problems for the remarkable result it yields.
In the term "Hyperbaric", 'hyper' means increased and 'baric' indicates increased pressure. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, facilitated by the Personal Hyperbaric Chamber, takes place at an atmospheric pressure which is noticeably higher than normal pressure. According to Dr. Cranton, "This increased pressure, combined with an increase in oxygen, dissolves oxygen into the blood and in all body tissues and fluids at up to 20 times normal concentration-high enough to sustain life with no blood at all." This therapy which takes place inside the Personal Hyperbaric Chamber causes a great boost to our immune system, by not only reducing various health risks, but also by totally eradicating germs and viruses. It shows wonderful effect to reverse the painful effects of strokes and brain injuries. It also has the potential to work wonder by rejuvenating damaged tissues, fighting infections, healing the wounds faster and curing other diseases. Despite some of the side effects of this therapy like lung damage, rupturing of the middle ear, sinus damage, short-sightedness, fatigue, headache, claustrophobia, the life-saving role of Oxygen is widely recognized, causing the demand of Personal Hyperbaric Chamber to shoot up. Personal Hyperbaric Chamber accommodates only one person, allowing you to jump inside it whenever you feel you need an extra dose of Oxygen. That is why many families now purchase this chamber to avail the treatment in the comfort of their home whenever they want. This portable chamber can be installed at your home easily and controlled by you, without any assistance from the medical experts, thus relieving you of paying extra for the administrative charges.

Deven Flintof is psychotherapist working with autistic children for a long time. He writes many informative blog posts on the benefits of HBOT treatment and how Personal Hyperbaric Chamber can ease the entire treatment process

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Ten Fun And Educative Activities For Autistic Children

To come up with some sparkling ideas about the kind of activities that autistic children will enjoy can often prove to be very challenging. These children suffer from a tremendous problem of communication, so finding out the fun activities that would suit their taste can be a bit of a headache for their parents. But generally like all the normal children, these children with special need also enjoy some activities that not only engage them constructively, but help to train their various sensory organs too. Here are some suggestions:
1. Singing can prove to be one such activity for these children. Although incapable of normal verbal communication, the children can make sound, hum and also play musical instruments with the help of some training. These activities can direct them to the creative direction by providing them the much-needed sensory stimulation. Another activity worth mentioning will be the making of funny noises or mimicking noises produced by various animals, which can be very enjoyable for both the children and their parents, by filling the atmosphere with mirth and laughter.
2. Another very useful type of activity can be to create artificial situations of danger like fire and such other situations of urgency. These activities can be fun and also very useful to train these children about how to cope with hostile situations.
3. There is another fun activity of filling a bottle with water and adding sparkle to them. Then drop the alphabet models into that bottle, so that those letter models keep floating in the water. These bottles of shiny and sparkling water will definitely grab the eyeballs of your kid and will enable them to learn the alphabets in a fun and engaging way.
4. Some board games can also prove to be fun activity for them, in which you have to increase the level of difficulty with the growing age and understanding of your child.
5. The matching game is an effective way to introduce these children to the idea of puzzle, which also serves to satisfy their ardent craving for order and simplicity. In this game, children need to find the matching half of a given piece and join them to turn it into a complete object.
6. Playing with clay can also prove to be exciting for them, as this would educate them about different shapes and provide the sensation of kneading, pulling and touching, hence training their sensory motor.
7. You can inspire them to create some art work by gifting them a packet of crayons. Crayon sticks of different colors will surely be loved by your little one and motivate them to produce some art work, no matter how elementary they can be. Rubbing of these crayons will be a good exercise to train the delicate muscles of their hands too.
8. If you are considering the possibility of engaging your child in some outdoor games, then-golf and basketball will be good choice to go for.
9. Another thing to remember while choosing an activity for autistic children is that they feel comfortable with activities that involve repeated patterns. Hence bowling can be a good activity for them to be engaged in. It also enhances their sense and pride of accomplishment.
10. If you have swimming pool in your house, you can also train your children some basic tactics of swimming, as that does not require that much of effort and also it relieves them from the fear of interacting with others.
Medical societies are yet to find a solution to cure Autism. Studies have inferred that certain behavioral therapies, cognitive therapies along with HBOT therapies have brought in some kind of improvements within Autistic patients. The aforementioned activities will also assist in enhancing their interaction skills communication skills and will help them respond to social signals.

Annie Barrete is a psychotherapist who has a long experience of working with autistic children. In this article she makes some important suggestions about activities for autistic children.

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