DEEP PRESSURE AND HEAVY ACTIVITIES FOR SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN

Sensory Modulation Training

Another form of sensory modulation is "Deep Pressure" or "Heavy work" activities. These are wonderful for providing children with the input they crave including deep proprioception and joint compression. Heavy Work Activities for Teachers 1. Scooter board to and from a designated location (sit or lie on stomach and propel with arms). 2. Place chairs on desks at end of day or take down at beginning of day. 3. Erase or wash the chalkboard. 4. Carry beanbags on shoulders or head and walk across the room. Wear weighted vests, belts or wrist weights. 5. Help rearrange desks in the classroom. 6. Push the teacher around on a wheeled chair or scooter board. 7. Pull someone while they sit on a scooter board holding onto a hula hoop. 8. Child can pull himself/herself up a ramp while on a scooter board. 9. Help out the janitor with emptying wastebaskets, mop the floor, etc. 10. Fill egg crates (small ones that kids can carry) with books to take to other classrooms. Teachers could ask kids to move these crates back and forth as needed. 11. Help the gym teacher move mats, hang them up, etc. 12. Chewy candy breaks (this addresses the janitor's "no gum rule"). There are lots of chewy candy that take awhile to chomp and don't get stuck on furniture. 13. Sharpen pencils with a manual sharpener. 14. Cut out items for display with oak tag. 15. Have students carry heavy notebooks to the office or from class to class. 16. Wear a weighted backpack when walking from class to class. Parents can put a notebook, book or books (depending on the size of the child) into their backpack each day for the ride or walk to school. One therapist suggested that "you might want to be careful about adding weight to backpacks as it could result in low back pain." It might also be contraindicated with diagnoses such as Spina Bifida. Maybe weight could be added elsewhere such as in fanny packs. 17. Carry books with both hands hugging the book to yourself. 18. Tie a Theraband around the front legs of a chair that a child can kick his/her legs into. 19. Propel scooter board across carpeted floor. 20. Have child pass out papers/objects to class members. 21. Wash desks or chalkboard/dry erase board. 22. Push the lunch cart or carry lunch bin to the cafeteria. 23. Staple paper onto bulletin boards. 24. If there is a garden project at the school, have child dig the dirt. 25. Play with medicine balls (get from gym teacher). 26. Run around the track at school. 27. Bounce up a ramp on a Hippity Hop ball. Put two ramps fastened together at right angles and let the kids hop up one, cross to the platform of the second ramp and hop down. After about 10 to 15 trips, it takes out "aggressiveness." 28. Push a large therapy ball across/around the room (can purchase weighted therapy balls). 29. Push square plastic nesting boxes (the largest one was 18 to 20 inches) from the classroom to the OT room and back. The next child would do the same thing. This particular school had a carpeted hallway which provided extra resistance. One or two of the nested boxes can be removed to decrease the weight or small balls and/or bean bags could be added to the box to increase the weight. I also found that turning the smallest box upside down over the balls and bean bags helped easily distracted students complete the task at hand. 30. Use beanbag chairs in classrooms, allowing kids to use them during silent reading time or to lay over or under them during independent work tasks to get a change in position and the benefit of consistent pressure input. More of a passive mechanism, but definitely helpful for students.

31. Push a wheeled therapy stool while someone is seated on it. If necessary, person on stool can assist by "walking" with their feet. 32. Have kids pull themselves by a long jump rope tied by one end to a doorknob while they are seated on a scooter board with their legs crossed and off the floor. Can also have one child hold the jump rope while the other child is pulling him/herself on the scooter board up to the child holding the rope. A variation is to play "army jungle maneuvers" where the child on the scooter board can deliver secret messages to the other child, and that child (who is holding the rope) has to write a secret answer back to the commander (teacher). This could be incorporated into academics in lots of ways. How about the first child taking a math problem to the second, the second solves the math problem and sends it to the commander (teacher). 33. Bouncing on a large therapy ball while counting down from 100. 34. Prior to seat work, have child pinch, roll, pull theraputty; use hand exercisers, balloons filled with flour. Give the child firm pressure on the shoulders. Play on playground equipment, hanging from a bar, running up steps, etc. Wrap the forearms with ace bandage. 35. Use bubblepack as part of an obstacle course. Children can jump onto it or run across it. They love the noise it makes! 36. In the classroom, use heavy duty tape to fasten a large phone book to the bottom of students chairs then teacher arranges the student's schedules so that the students move to a new area of the room (taking their chair) between subjects. Teach the use of wall push-ups or the idea of "the room feels small this morning, can everyone help me push the walls out" for younger students. 37. Have student move several packs at a time of Xerox paper from the storage area to the school copy center. 38. Use the Ellison cut-out machine. Students can collect orders from teachers (who provide the paper and use these cut-outs for bulletin boards, etc.) and then presses out the number of pieces required under the supervision of an adult. This very heavy work is a great strategy for organizing behavior. 39. Pull therapist's suitcase on wheels or therapy cart. 40. Climbing activities (such as playground equipment). 41. Swing from the trapeze bar. 42. Push against a wall. 43. Fill up big toy trucks with heavy blocks, push with both hands to knock things down. 44. Sports activities involving running and jumping. 45. Two adults can swing child in a sheet. Watch child's face carefully to note when child has had enough. 46. Have the child color a "rainbow" with large paper on the floor in a quadruped position. 47. Play "cars" under the kitchen table (or table in classroom) where the child pushes the car with one hand while creeping and weight bearing on the other hand. 48. "Hot dog" game where child lies across end of a blanket and is rolled (ends up inside the rolled up blanket with head outside) 49. Walk up a ramp or incline 50. Use theraband or tubing attached to a door and pull it then let it snap. Supervision necessary. 51. Wood projects requiring sanding and hammering. 52. Play wrestling: pushing game where two people lock hands facing each other and try to see who can push and make the other person step back first. Use other body parts also, but be sure to have rules (no hitting, no biting, no scratching, one person says stop then both stop). 53. Open doors for people. 54. Quiet squeeze toys such as the cow, fondly named by everyone as "Moo" (squeaky squeeze toys are frowned on by our teachers). Kids can be taught to squeeze Moo or the likes of him on their laps under their desks so as not to disturb the class. 55. Chew on fish tank (aquarium) tubing, Theratubing or refrigerator tubing, if appropriate. One therapist stated that "refrigeration tubing (the kind the water runs through to the ice maker in your freezer) is FDA-approved while aquarium tubing is not. Cut the tubing into 2- to 3-inch strips and put it on the end of the elementary school age child's pencil to be an appropriate "chewy" when food is not allowed." 56. Chair push-ups. 57. Fall into a beanbag chair.

58. Jumping and rolling games. 59. Slowly roll a ball or bolster over the child, applying pressure. 60. Bounce on a Hippity Hop ball. 61. Sandwich games (child is place between beanbags, sofa cushions, mattresses and light pressure is applied to top layer). 62. Play catch with a heavy ball. Bounce and roll a heavy ball. 63. Push weighted carts or boxes across carpeted floor. 64. Animal walks (crab walk, bear walk, army crawl). 65. Play "row, row, row your boat" both sitting on the floor, pushing and pulling each other. 66. Rice play, koosh balls, water play, jello play, theraputty. 67. Mini trampoline. 68. Stack chairs. 69. Two children can play "tug of war" with jump rope or heavy Theraband. (If you use the Theraband, children need supervision so they don't purposely let go of Theraband and "snap" the other child.) 70. Isometric exercise breaks. 71. Push on large therapy ball with someone else giving resistance from the other side. 72. Have child hold therapy ball with arms and legs while lying on his/her back. Try to take the ball away and tell the child to hold on to the ball as hard as he can

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/14740-deep-pressure-and-heavy-activities-for-school-age-children/#ixzz2hAeVdJi9

Helping Aspergers Children Eliminate Thinking Errors

Philosophers have long known that your thoughts can be your own worst enemy. As Shakespeare

once said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Children and teens with Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism are especially vulnerable to such thinking errors due to a phenomenon called mind-blindness."

Mind-Blindness can be described as a cognitive deficit in which the Aspergers child is unable to attribute mental states to self and others. The ability to develop a mental awareness of what is in the mind of someone else is known as the theory of mind, which allows a person to attribute behavior and actions to various mental states (e.g., emotions and intentions). Generally speaking, mind-blindness leads to a lack of social insight and an inability to put yourself "into someone else's shoes, to imagine their thoughts and feelings. Aspergers kids often cant conceptualize, understand, or predict emotional states in other people. This, in turn, leads these children to fill-in the blanks with assumptions that are usually inaccurate (i.e., a thinking error).

Parents can help their Aspergers child recognize when her own negative thoughts are pushing her into anger, depression or anxiety. Lets look at some examples of popular thinking errors used by kids on the spectrum, and how parents can help these children view their situation more accurately (Ive provided some examples, but you will want to use examples specific to your unique circumstances):

Over-generalization: The child extrapolates her future based on a single event. For example, the child figures that if she fails a Math test on the first try, she will never be any good at Math or she says to herself, My teacher yelled at me. Shes always yelling at me. She must not like me. Over-generalizing is taking isolated cases and using them to make false assumptions about similar cases. You see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.

How to help your child beat this thinking error: If, for example, your child is heart-sick over a bad grade, explain that many students have made an F on a hard test, but have been able to get much better grades on subsequent tests on the same or similar subject. If you convince yourself you're going to fail, you'll have no motivation to study.

Minimizing and maximizing: The child inflates his errors and discounts his accomplishments. He focuses on the worst possible outcome, however unlikely, or thinks that a situation is unbearable or impossible (e.g., I cant stand this), when it is really just uncomfortable. For example, the child makes

two mistakes on his spelling assignment, so he tells himself he has blown the whole assignment and doesnt even turn-in the assignment to the teacher.

How to help your child beat this thinking error: Have your child ask himself, What would happen if I did stand this (e.g., turn in the assignment with a couple of mistakes)? How specifically is turning in an assignment with a couple of mistakes so bad? Compared to what?

Emotional reasoning: The child gets lost in his emotions. Because something "feels" bad, it must truly "be" bad. This thinking error is where you make decisions and arguments based on how you feel rather than objective reality. Aspergers children who allow themselves to get caught up in emotional reasoning can become completely blinded to the difference between feelings and facts.

How to help your child beat this thinking error: Help your child to make the connection between (a) feeling bad, and (b) personal choice. For example, X makes me mad. How does what I do cause me to choose to feel mad?

Fortune-telling: This thinking error is assuming something negative where there is actually no evidence to support it. The child arbitrarily concludes that someone is reacting negatively to her, and so she doesnt bother to check it out. She predicts that things will turn out badly, no matter what she says or does. For example, her new boyfriend that she met at school last week does not call her on Saturday as promised, so she spends the weekend convinced he has broken up with her.

How to help your child beat this thinking error: Have your child ask herself, How do I know that (e.g., that my new boyfriend has broken up with me)? Help her check out supporting facts with an open mind: How do you know it will turn out in that way? What evidence do you have to support your belief? How did you arrive at that understanding? What other conclusion might this evidence support? How does this conclusion serve you? If you continue to think that way, what will happen? Also, help your child to let go of her need for approval (e.g., You cant please everyone all the time).

All or nothing thinking: Also called black and white thinking, this is where the Aspergers child thinks of things in absolute terms (e.g., always, every, never, etc.) and has difficulty seeing any middle ground. For example, the child loses at a game of checkers, and as a result, views himself as a total failure. Then, to camouflage the feeling of being a loser, he gets mad at his opponent.

How to help your child beat this thinking error: Explain to your child that few aspects of human behavior are so absolute. Nothing is 100%. No one is all successful, or all failure. Have you child ask himself, Has there ever been a time when it was NOT that way (e.g., that I didn't lose at a game)? All or nothing thinking does not allow exceptions, so if even one exception can be found, then its no longer all or nothing.

70 Tips & Tricks for Educating Students with Aspergers/High-Functioning Autism

Research has identified classroom characteristics that promote success for children with

Aspergers and High-Functioning Autism: individualized instruction, interesting curriculum, positive reinforcement, predictability, short working periods, small teacher-to-student ratio, and plenty of structure.

Research has also identified optimal teacher characteristics: consistency, firmness, frequent monitoring of the childs work, humor, knowledge of behavior management strategies for students on the spectrum, patience, personal warmth, and positive academic expectations. Based on this research, here are 70 quick and simple yet highly effective tips and tricks to use in teaching your students who are on the autism spectrum:

1. Allow the child to change seats and places as long as she or he stays on task. 2. Allow the child to chew gum to reduce anxiety if needed. 3. Allow the child to stand or walk with a clipboard (if possible) as long as she or he remains on

task. 4. Allow the child to use learning aides, computers, and calculators (for different parts of the

task). 5. Allow the student to manipulate an object, doodle, squeeze a ball, bend a pipe cleaner or

paper clip, or handle another non-distracting item as long as she or he attends and is on task.

6. Assign a capable "study buddy" who can remind and assist the active or disorganized child. 7. Assign another child to be a "support buddy" who works with the distractible student, and

provides one-to-one attention to assist in completing tasks. 8. Assign duties that require self-control (e.g., line leader, materials distributor, etc.). Prepare the

student for the duty, encourage the student, and reinforce the student during and after that activity/task. 9. Assign the child to a seat that best allows him or her to observe you while avoiding distractions

(e.g., away from doors, windows, pencil sharpeners, etc.). 10. Assign the test grade based on performance on different aspects of the assessment (i.e.,

organization, writing mechanics, penmanship, subject knowledge displayed, etc.). 11. Be sure you have the student's attention before you start. 12. Develop good rapport with the child. Aspergers students are more likely to respond to

emotional connections than contingent consequences. 13. Devise interesting activities. 14. Eliminate excessive noise. 15. Eliminate excessive visual stimuli and clutter that might distract the student. 16. Employ study carrels or seat the child in the area of the class with the least distractions,

and/or face the desk toward the wall. However, do not isolate the student for long periods of time because it may stigmatize the student. Allow the child to engage in group work too.

17. Encourage moms and dads to build physical activity into the student's out-of-school schedule. 18. Ensure that your style of presentation is enthusiastic and interesting. 19. Give a general overview first. Let the child know what will be learned and why it is important

in life. 20. Give your attention to appropriate behaviors. 21. Have another child place carbon paper under the Aspergers students paper while writing

down homework assignments. Give the carbon copy to the Aspergers child to take home. 22. Have the child progress through the following steps while learning: See it, say it, write it, and

do it. 23. Have the child underline or highlight directions. 24. If social rewards/reinforcement is insufficient to bring about the desired behavior, pair social

recognition with earned activities or tangible reinforcers. 25. If you get a lot of defiant behavior, review how often you say negative things and give

commands to the student. Children who hear too many negatives and commands will shut off the teacher they come from. Get positive, encourage the student, and focus on progress, however small.

26. Ignore as much of the negative behavior as possible. 27. In a multi-part task, provide visual cues that are written on the child's desk or on the

chalkboard for each part. The child then engages in that next step. 28. In cooperation with the child, create a "secret cue" (e.g., tugging on your ear lobe, clicking

your tongue, saying an odd word such as "huckleberry") that reminds the student to attend. 29. Incorporate movement into lessons. 30. Involve the child's interests into assignments. 31. Keep directions and commentary short and to the point. Avoid "overloading" the child with

too much verbiage. 32. Keep unstructured time to a minimum. 33. Make a tube that the child uses as a telescope, keeping you in view and blocking out other

distractions. 34. Motivate the student by having him or her "race against the clock" to finish the task (or part

of it). 35. Move nearer to the child when she or he becomes restless. Offer verbal encouragement or

touch. When misbehavior occurs (or threatens to occur), move closer and soften your voice. 36. Place instructions on an audio tape that can be replayed by the child as needed. 37. Play soft background music without lyrics.

38. Present the assignment in parts (e.g., 5 math problems at a time). Give reinforcement for each completed part before giving the next segment of the task, or have the student mark off his or her progress on a chart.

39. Provide "do now" activities for other children while you focus the Aspergers child.

40. Provide a "squeeze ball" for the child to manipulate if he or she becomes frustrated. 41. Provide a bouncy inflatable seat cushion. The child may put his or her energy into squirming

on it, but he or she will stay in the seat. 42. Provide a grown-up to whom the child reports at the beginning and end of the day to

organize his or her work and assure assignments are in-hand. 43. Provide a laptop computer to children who lose papers (but not books). 44. Provide a second set of textbooks for the forgetful child to use at home. 45. Provide a special "transition object" (e.g., puppet, small stuffed animal, etc.) that

accompanies the child to other classrooms, providing a sense of consistency and support. 46. Provide an individualized written schedule to which the child can refer. 47. Provide extended time to finish. 48. Provide opportunities for physical movement (e.g., erasing the blackboard, running errands,

distributing and collecting materials, etc.), and build physical activities into the daily schedule. 49. Provide some choice or variation in assignments to maintain the child's attention. 50. Reduce the length of assignments so that child does not lose interest. 51. Repeat and simplify the directions. 52. Seat the child next to appropriate models. 53. Set expectations for behavior BEFORE an activity or event. 54. Set up routines that prepare the student for upcoming transitions. 55. Teach memory techniques and study strategies. 56. To block out distractions on a page, create a "window" in a piece of card board that exposes

only one or two lines of print. 57. To ensure understanding, have the child repeat the directions in his or her own words. 58. To gain the attention of younger Aspies, give directions through a puppet. 59. To increase reflection and concentration, have the child identify the correct answer AND

cross out incorrect answers on multiple choice tests. Inform the child that there may be more than one correct answer.

60. Use a clock to remind the impatient student that the next activity must wait until a certain time.

61. Use alert cues to get the child's attention before giving directions. 62. Use color and highlighting to accentuate certain important words or phrases on worksheets. 63. Use concrete objects to assist in keeping the child's attention. 64. Use examples that capitalize on the child's interests. 65. Use game formats to teach and/or reinforce concepts and material. 66. Use more than one modality when giving directions. Supplement verbal instructions with

visual ones. 67. Use oral testing if that format will keep the child's attention and better assess his or her

knowledge. 68. Use pantomime to capture the attention of the child to give instructions. 69. Use performance testing. Have the child do something or make something. 70. Use progress charts and other visual records of behavior to encourage more appropriate

behavior. Use colorful charts and cards to motivate the student and recognize effort. General Behaviors:

AS/HFA is characterized by a sort of "Swiss cheese" type of development (i.e., some things are learned age-appropriately, while other things may lag behind or be absent). In addition, these

kids may have skills years ahead of normal development (e.g., the youngster may understand complex mathematics principles, but not be able to remember to bring their homework home).

At times, my youngster may experience meltdowns. At times like this, please allow a "safe and quiet location" where he/she will be allowed to "cool off." Try to take note of what occurred before the meltdown (e.g., an unexpected change in routine). Also, it's best to talk with him/her "after" the situation has calmed down.

Please foster a classroom atmosphere that supports the acceptance of differences and diversity. Please remember that just because my youngster learns something in one situation, this doesn't

automatically mean that he/she remembers or is able to generalize the learning to new situations.

Please note my childs strengths often and visually. This will give him/her the courage to keep moving forward.

My youngster may have vocal outbursts. Be prepared for them, especially when he/she is having a difficult time. Also, please let the other kids know that this is his/her way of dealing with stress or fear.

My youngster may need help with problem-solving situations. Please be willing to take the time to help with this.

My youngster reacts well to positive and patient styles of teaching. When dividing-up assignments, please assign teams rather than have the other kids "choose

members, because this increases the chances that my youngster will be left out or teased. When it reaches a point that things in the classroom are going well, it means that we've gotten it

right. It doesn't mean that my youngster is cured never had a problem to begin with or that it's time to remove support. Increase demands gradually.

When you see anger or other outbursts, my youngster is not being deliberately difficult. Instead, this is a "fight or flight" response. Think of this as an "electrical circuit overload." Prevention can sometimes head-off these situations if you see the warning signs coming. Perseverations:

My youngster may repeat the same thing over and over again, and you may find this increases as stress increases. Please try to avoid answering the same thing over and over or raising your voice or pointing out that the question is being repeated. Instead, try to redirect my youngster's attention or find an alternative way so he/she can save face. Allowing my youngster to write down the question or thought, and providing a response in writing, may be very helpful at times. Transitions:

Giving one or two warnings before a change of activity or schedule may be helpful. My youngster may have a great deal of difficulty with transitions. Having a picture or word

schedule may be useful. Please try to give as much advance notice as possible if there is going to be a change or

disruption in the schedule. Sensory Motor Skills/Auditory Processing:

Breaking directions down into simple steps can be quite helpful. Directions are more easily understood if they are repeated clearly, simply, and in a variety of

ways. My youngster has difficulty understanding a string of directions or too many words at one time. My youngster may act in a very clumsy way sometimes. He/she may react very strongly to certain tastes, textures, smells and sounds. Speaking slower and in smaller phrases can help. Using picture cures or directions may also help.

Stimuli:

Please consider allowing my child to "move about" occasionally since sitting still for long periods of time can be very difficult for him/her. Even a 3-minute walk down the hallway and back (with a friend or aide) can help a lot.

My child may get over-stimulated by loud noises, lights, strong tastes or textures, because of the heightened sensitivity to these things.

Unstructured times (e.g., lunch, break, PE) may prove to be the most difficult for my child. Please try to help provide some guidance during these more difficult times.

With lots of other children around, chaos and noise, it would be helpful if you would try to help my child find a quiet refuge to which he/she can go for a time-out. Visual Cues:

Hand signals may be useful, especially to reinforce certain messages (e.g., "wait your turn" stop talking out of turn "speak more slowly or softly").

Most AS and HFA kids learn best with visual aids (e.g., picture schedules, written directions or drawings). Interruptions:

When someone tries to help by finishing my childs sentences or interrupting, he/she often has to go back and start over to get the train of thought back.

At times, it may take more than few seconds for my youngster to respond to questions. My youngster needs to stop what he's/shes thinking, put that somewhere, formulate an answer, and then respond. Please wait patiently for the answer, and encourage others to do the same. Otherwise, he/she will have to start over again. Eye Contact:

Unlike most of us, forcing eye contact may break my childs concentration. He/she may actually hear and understand you better if not forced to look directly at your eyes. At times, it looks as if my youngster is not listening to you when he/she really is. Don't assume

that, because my youngster is not looking at you, that he/she is not hearing you. Social Skills and Friendships:

Children with AS and HFA are often at greater risk for becoming victims of bullying by peers. This is influenced by a couple of factors: (1) AS and HFA children want to be included and/or liked so badly that they are reluctant to "tell" on the bully, fearing rejection from the perpetrator or other children; (2) there is a great likelihood that the response that the bully gets from the AS or HFA youngster reinforces this kind of behavior.

Young people with AS and HFA often want to make friends, but dont have a clue as to how to go about it.

Identifying 1 or 2 empathetic children who can serve as "helpers" will help my youngster feel as though the world is a friendlier place.

Talking with the other students in the class about AS and HFA may help if done in a positive way (e.g., talking about the fact that many of us have challenges, and that the AS/HFA youngsters challenge is that he/she cant read social situations very well, just as others may need glasses or hearing aids). Routine:

Please let my child know, if possible, when there will be a substitute teacher or a field trip occurring during regular school hours.

Please let my youngster know of any anticipated changes as soon as you know about them, using picture or word schedules. Language:

Sarcasm and humor are often not understood by my youngster. Even explanations of what is meant may not clarify, because the perspectives of AS and HFA kids can be unique and, at times, immovable.

Although my childs vocabulary and use of language may seem high, he/she may not know the meaning of what he/she is saying, even though the words sound correct. Organizational Skills:

If necessary, please allow my child to copy the notes of other peers. Many AS and HFA kids have difficulty multi-tasking (e.g., listening to the teacher while reading the board and taking notes).

It may be helpful to develop schedules (picture or written) for my child. My youngster lacks the ability of remember a lot of information and how to retrieve that

information for its use. Please post schedules and homework assignments on the board and make a copy for my child. Please make sure that assignments get put into my childs backpack, because he/she can't always

be counted on to get everything home without some help. Note: At times, some of my youngster's behaviors may irritate his/her peers and you! Please

know that this is normal and expected. Try not to let the difficult days color the fact that you are a wonderful teacher with a challenging situation. Nothing works all of the time, and some things may not work at all. Always feel free to share with me whatever you would like. I have heard it all before. It will not shock me or make me think less of you. Communication is the key, and by working together as a team, we can provide the best for my youngster.

Thank you very much, _______________ (parents name)