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Monthly Archives: December 2012

Using the Reverse Social Story during the Holidays

14 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by kolubcbad in Uncategorized

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Tags

reverse social story, social emotional support, social story

Q&A Series: Parents ask about social emotional support

Today’s Q&A: How can a reverse social story be part of family behavior support around the holidays?

A: A reverse social story helps others relate to our loved ones.

A reverse story is related to the “social story”, but it is not one that your child will use. Instead, it is one designed to help OTHERS relate to your child or loved one.

What’s a “reverse social story” for?

Cusp Emergence uses Reverse Social Stories to address physical, behavioral, social, emotional, memory or cognitive, or a combination of these needs.

A Reverse Social Story facilitates relating to your loved one by using a combination of words and pictures, depending on the audience, that tell a story.

In this story, you can

  • Highlight what your loved one is great at doing
  • Help others understand how to support your loved one’s special need or challenge
  • Name specific ways your child or loved one can be involved and participate in meaningful events and interactions
  • Review specific challenges your loved one faces, and describe to others how to:

talk about these challenges

prevent unsafe interactions

redirect challenging interactions to become more therapeutic and supportive

provide supportive environments during special times or events including:

holidays, parties, family emergencies, babysitting or respite care, trips to the community, transitions, or unexpected changes

How can circles of friends and acquaintances use the “reverse social story”?

Ways people have benefited from the reverse social story include:

  • Family members of a child or family member with special needs read it to prepare for his holiday visit
  • The boss and co-workers of a woman whose son had special needs, read it to prepare for his attendance at a company picnic
  • The preschool staff at a child’s new school read it to prepare for his transition into their classroom
  • The family members of a woman with Alzheimer’s used it to share their mom’s preferences, needs, and locations of special items, with new nursing home staff.
  • The young cousins of a child with Autism learned in advance how to include him in play and conversations
  • The aunts and uncles of a little girl with Rett’s syndrome learned ways to prevent unsafe behaviors while babysitting while visiting over the holidays

Who writes a “reverse social story”?

We can help…

As a behavior analyst and social emotional support provider, Dr. Kolu facilitates writing Reverse Social Stories for clients. Cusp Emergence offers workshops on Writing and Using your Family’s Reverse Social Story.

Or you can do it yourself.

After a brief training on how to write a Reverse Social Story, one of our clients (a mother of a young child with special needs) wrote one of the most useful, beautiful Reverse Social Stories we’ve ever read.

Coming Next: What to include in your family’s “reverse social story”

Today’s Q&A: How can behavior support help families around the holidays?

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by kolubcbad in Uncategorized

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NEW Q&A Series: Parents ask about social emotional support

Today’s Q&A: How can behavior support help families around the holidays?

Q. How can behavior support help families around the holidays?
A. Use this simple strategy: Provide extra practice with safety instructions

Ways to use this strategy:
-Embed instruction practice in games
-Find times each day to use a playful “stop/ go” game with children.
Example:
In a simple “stop and go” game, instructions to “STOP!” or “GO!” (or ANY instruction that rarely gets practiced but is important, like “COME TO ME” or “SIT DOWN”) can be interspersed with fun gross motor, fine motor, or verbal activity.
-The point of the game, is that when the parent or caregiver gives an instruction, the child practices immediately stopping, listening, and doing, in order to experience a fun outcome.
-This game can be used as “priming”, or practicing the safe behavior in a less intense context BEFORE going outside or walking across a parking lot where it is absolutely CRITICAL to follow the instruction.
-Some parents practice “stop and go” listening in the hallway before going on trips to a store.
-Play Simon Says with variations like “mom says”, “grandma says”, “dad says”, “babysitter says”, or “sister says”
-Write funny instructions down and put them in a container. Players take turns drawing an instruction and trying to do it. Players can take turns deciding what the “payoff” will be for following these instructions. For some families and children, it is fun just to choose the snack or hot cocoa flavor for when the game is over. Others may want to choose the next game, choose to earn stars they can trade for free time or their favorite chore, or earn special 1:1 time with a family member after the game.

Ask your friendly local BCBA or Social Emotional Support provider which programs they recommend strengthening or practicing the month before and during holidays or a visit that is out of the ordinary.
Game players can practice skills they will need during the holidays.
Examples:
“go get mom and tell her something”
“find a family member who is hiding”
“follow 2-step instructions”
“tell someone you need a break”
“find and use a chill-out space at a holiday party”

Let others know when you see them doing what is expected or needed for a given social situation.
-Remind others how to listen (or be safe or be helpful) before it will be required.
Example: 6-year old Bobby is about to attend the holiday parade with his family. His babysitter reviews with Bobby while they park the car. She says, “This will be fun! There are a lot of people around. I want you to hold my hand anytime we stand or walk together. That way we’ll all stay safe. What do you need to do?” Bobby says “hold hands.” Babysitter says “that’s right! We’ll hold hands.”
-Family members can repeat back the “need” or the “rule” or “expectation” in their own words.
-Most families find it helpful to state expectations before the event (remind children and others what is needed or expected to be successful and be a part).
-Families need to use words that their members can understand, and that help them practice the social skills that will contribute to family harmony. It’s really important to hear these words often BEFORE the social situation where they really need to be used.
Example: Young children might need to hear “we stay in our seats at dinner”, or “let’s sit while we eat”. Older children might need to hear “if someone is telling a story at the dinner table, we can help (be a supportive big sister) by looking at them and then asking a question about the story.”)
-Use only positive instructions: Use “we can” and “let’s do ___” language. Say what we CAN do. Instead of saying “no running!”, say “we can walk in the house.”
-If something is “forbidden” (like “running in the house”, make sure you find times and places where that thing IS okay. Example: “We can WALK in the house. We can GO OUTSIDE (or go to the basement) to play running games.”

Benefits of using these strategies
-Builds the skill with less stress for parents or caregivers and child or client
-Gives child (or client) the opportunity to receive teaching when the parent (or caregiver) is focused. Parents get much better at this the more they do it.
-The child receives practice hearing and following the instruction at a neutral, non-threatening time. Children get much better at this the more they do it.
-Research provides lots of evidence that teaching does not occur in a crisis situation; learning how to use an alternative behavior takes lots of practice.
-Gives family members practice noticing and “reinforcing” the act of listening to an important instruction and following it right away.
-Gives family members lots of practice listening to others at neutral times. All this practice can make it easier to follow a safety instruction that is given “when it counts” (at a critical time).
-Builds practice and skills with MANY people who might act as teachers or caregivers, instead of just “hoping” a child will listen to a new teacher or caregiver
-These strategies are not new, hard, expensive, or strange… but effectiveness requires practice.

Bottom Line: Find the strategies above that your family can do, and do them often.

Payoff: That way, WHEN IT COUNTS, it won’t be as difficult to insure a child follows through, listens, or helps out, if s/he is already practicing it and receiving lots of feedback on it.

Stay tuned:
Our upcoming Q&A in this series deals with holiday travel and meeting new family members:
Q: How can I prepare my child for interacting with extended family for the holidays?
A: Use The Reverse Social Story!

NEW Q&A Series: Parents ask about social emotional support

06 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by kolubcbad in Uncategorized

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Tags

autism, behavior support, holidays, social emotional support

Stay tuned for posts in our new Q&A series, “Parents ask about social emotional support”.

Today’s Q&A:

Q. How can behavior support help families around the holidays?

A. Use this simple strategy: Provide extra practice with safety instructions

Then, stay tuned for more Q&A on topics such as supporting holiday travel, keeping behavior support consistent during the holidays, and more. 

Finally, check back often to see the Q&A.

 

Want to suggest a Q&A topic? Send a comment or call us at 720.263.CUSP. 

School of Play

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by kolubcbad in Autism, Behavior Analysis, Early Intervention, Education, play, Social Interaction, Uncategorized

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Tags

autism, behavior management, language, leisure skills, play, school of play, social emotional support

School of Play ©
Our school of play division provides one-time, brief, or long-term play or leisure skill-based individualized client supports, training, and education.

WHO can benefit?
Groups: Schools, classes, churches, businesses (gyms, pediatric doctors or dentist groups, therapists)
Families: Families affected by behavioral, developmental, social, emotional, or other challenges
Individuals: Children, staff, teachers, administrators

WHEN?
Our clients can benefit from School of Play © services whenever:

-A child gym owner sees staff struggling to help young mothers engage their children in play, interaction, or language, and enjoy the gym activities at the same time
-A community or church member runs a play group in a church or gym, and is not sure what to do differently to support new students with autism
-A community or church play group is not sure how to support children with language delays
-A parent needs the babysitter to manage behavior more effectively when supporting the family’s children
-A parent’s child with autism doesn’t know how to play with his siblings
-A family’s two year old with autism doesn’t like to play with his parents
-A family’s or organization’s group of therapists is great at 1:1 instruction, but they need help getting children to interact with each other
-An organization’s therapists are highly skilled at discrete teaching, but provide less effective naturalistic teaching

WHY does it work?
Cusp Emergence provides play and leisure skill support that is:
-Compatible with IFSP or IEP goals
-In some cases, able to be funded by a state’s early intervention services if the client qualifies
able to improve family or team interaction
-supportive of social, emotional, or behavioral wellness
-provided in the community or home setting
-consistent with research proven methods with demonstrated effectiveness
-administered by qualified, educated, trainers with extensive experience collaborating with parents, educators, therapists and community members

HOW can clients benefit?
-Learn to arrange environments to make appropriate effective language and communication more likely
-Learn to arrange environments to support play
-Learn to teach staff, babysitters, community, or family members to provide supportive environments
-Learn to arrange environments that prevent behavior challenges
-Receive support from our School of Play division in your group or home

HOW does it work?
-An initial consultation takes place to discuss the family’s or group’s needs
-Next, a workshop or future education is planned based on individual needs
-Follow up support is available for families or groups on a schedule determined together with the client

(click here to check out Building Your Workshop)

Build-Your-Own-Workshop

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by kolubcbad in Autism, Behavior Analysis, Community, Education, Uncategorized

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Tags

autism, early intervention, education, family, play, social emotional support, workshop

Cusp Emergence is excited to offer a Build-Your-Own-Workshop feature to families, groups, and communities.

1. Consider what your workshop will address, and why you need a workshop.

  • Need to learn general ways to provide social, emotional, and behavioral support?

  • Need to practice behavior management for specific behavior challenges?

  • Need to teach your family or group about managing a particular behavior challenge?

  • Need to support a student or family or community member with cognitive or developmental challenges?

  • Want to know more about how social-emotional and behavioral wellness relate to physical health?

  • Want to learn a particular technique (for example, for teaching skills or shaping language, appropriate behavior, play, or social interaction)?

    2. Think about who will participate, where you’d like the workshop, and how long your group would like the workshop to be

    3. Contact Cusp Emergence!

CONTACT CUSP EMERGENCE:
720.263.CUSP

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