Bright Feats Show

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We interviewed a local mom, Michele. She has 2 boys, one of whom has Asperger syndrome and one with a sensory processing disorder. She shares with us her experiences raising special needs children and meeting the needs of her family as a whole. She has given us homework tips, preparing a portfolio and you get the feeling of comfort hearing her talk and knowing that there are other parents like you going through the same situation. You will leave feeling charged up and ready to try new things with your children.

We have provided a quick question and answer summary of our podcast interview with Michele here below. Enjoy!

1. What are some things that you do to support your children at home related to homework and routines? “Routines are important for all children and especially those with Asperger syndrome. Children with Asperger syndrome are resistant to change and want to know what is coming up ahead. Homework can be and is often a challenge for us. Some of the things we have used for our son can also be helpful to other children as well. Schools now have planners that our children take home with their homework written in them. At home we review the homework list together and make sure he understands the directions. I ask him which one, reading or spelling, he would like to do first. We then put on a timer for about 15 minutes for his spelling words and have an incentive bag (prizes or other rewards) for completing it in that time without a meltdown.”
2. Can you tell us what incentives you put in your bag? ” We have a charging system at our house because they earn those special privileges, like getting to eat a cookie. Some of the things we included are a free movie on Friday night, picking the restaurant on our dinner night out and a free 15 min break in-between homework assignments. We created a chart of incentives in word or excel program, printed and tore them apart individually and put them into the bag. Really talk to your children and ask them what motivates them and those are the things you add to the bag.”
3. How do you prioritize what you do for your child in relationship to all the needs he may have? “That is a really good question, especially a child with Asperger’s because you don’t always know what those needs are. It can be really difficult to prioritize for your child. Allie and I have read many books on Asperger syndrome and found that you don’t want to overload your child. There are a number of different therapies you could be working on, such as social skills training or occupational therapy. We try to work on one big area, completing one goal at a time while continuing to praise the appropriate behaviors.”
4. Will you tell us about the student portfolio you put together for your son? We just tried this out this year for the first time with our son who is in grade 4 and felt that we wanted the teachers to have something that was quick and to the point that did not overwhelm them so we created a portfolio that introduced our son with picture on the front cover. It went over some points about Asperger’s related to our son and included some of the difficulties and gifts as well.
5. How did you tell your son he had Asperger syndrome? “He was about 9 1/2 years old when we got his diagnosis, which is rather late compared to what is routinely given now. My husband and I were immersing ourselves one night with Asperger syndrome books and our son walked in asking “do you think that is me?” My husband did a great job explaining to him what we had learned.

These 5 questions are few of the topics we discussed with Michele. She has such an amazing take on raising a special needs child. To hear the interview in its entirety please go to brightfeatsshow.com. Visit our website to view and download the student portfolio that Michele was talking about. UCF CARD provided us with the download to share with our families. Please give us your comments and suggestions on this show. We are always looking for great topics of discussion and experts to interview!

Have a wonderful day and stay strong!

Sincerely,

Allie and Rori

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