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The Ladder of Cognitive Skills for Special Needs Kids

It’s often useful to keep in mind the kinds of skills we should be helping our special kids master as they grow and develop. The following steps are general guidelines you can use as you direct your child through floor time play at home, special education in the classroom, and social interactions with friends and family. As you read the following list, try to determine which steps your child has mastered and which ones need additional focus. Often times the child has a mixture of abilities and challenges on every rung of the ladder. And remember that in order for … Continue reading →

8 Difficult Autistic Behaviors (And Why They Happen)

Children with autism have numerous challenging behaviors for parents to deal with. Sometimes the behaviors seem to make no sense whatsoever. The child might seem unreachable, temperamental, and impossible to deal with. However, when we take a look at the underlying deficits that contribute to the problems, we can gain a better understanding. And with a little understanding, we are better equipped to find ways to help. The following is a list of eight typical behaviors of an autistic child, and their likely causes. This is not an exhaustive list of all autism symptoms, and some autistic children will only … Continue reading →

FLOOR TIME: Promoting Better Communication Skills

As you become more proficient in your role as “parent therapist extraordinaire” and your child is becoming more attentive, you’ll eventually want to move on to the next goal. The second goal in these floor time play sessions is to improve your child’s ability to communicate effectively. (This floor time blog is the third in a series of five, teaching parents how to be their child’s own play therapist. If you haven’t read my introductory floor time blog, click here.) During your 20-30 minute floor time play sessions, your child should now be demonstrating signs of personal interest and attention … Continue reading →

FLOOR TIME: Promoting Personal Interest and Attention

This is a companion blog to my previous one, “Floor Time: Be Your Child’s Own Personal Play Therapist!” (You’ll want to read that one first.) So you’re ready to start giving your child daily play therapy? Terrific! You can make an important, life-changing difference for your child’s future. Put on your “Parent Therapist” hat and let’s begin. The first goal in your floor time play therapy sessions is to promote personal interest and attention from your child. There are many reasons why this is an important goal. As a human being, your son or daughter needs to be able to … Continue reading →

FLOOR TIME: Be Your Child’s Own Personal Play Therapist!

Children with developmental delays have often missed crucial milestones in cognitive learning. Because of problems like sensory integration disorder or other neuro-processing difficulties, they’ve had “gaps” in their intellectual growth. These gaps can cause further problems as the child is not able to build upon skills which don’t exist. He or she needs intensive, daily therapy to literally start at the beginning and re-learn certain milestones to compensate for the deficiencies. Early intervention programs, therapists, educators, and specialists can all be extremely beneficial. However, it is not enough. These kids need one-on-one concentrated attention to help them climb the developmental … Continue reading →