our blog has a new look!

We appreciate all of the feedback that we have received about our company Facebook page and our blog. Starting the month of October, you will find the following information posted on our blog each month:

RDI ideas for outside of the home

A personal story from one of our own Pryor Consulting families

RDI ideas for inside of the home

A thought on Autism from one of our Pryor Consulting consultants

We look forward to seeing how this information can help you and your family. Please let us know if you have any more requests or ideas of what you would like to read about!

Your Child's IEP

Is your child's IEP up for renewal this year? Do you want help making the most use out of your school time as possible? We would love to help you!

Throughout the school year, we attend many IEP meetings with parents and schools to help assure our RDI parents that their children are getting the best help possible at school. We strongly encourage you as a parent to be involved with the IEP process of your child. You have the right to help set goals and make sure that your child is working on material that you feel will most benefit your child specifically.


RDI Consultant Libby Majawski wrote an amazing article to inform parents about how to be actively involved in the IEP process of your own child. She covers many areas that are important to be informed about, and also specific requests you as a parent of a special needs child, can make to teachers and staff members to help your child at school.

Click here to read the entire article written by Libby Majawski

Perspective

Perspective

by: Scott Pryor

I have discovered that there are two types of drivers on the roads.  The first type is the speed demon, racing down the streets with reckless abandon.  The second type of driver is the slow poke, clogging the roads with their fear of the speed limit.  I am the exception to the rule as I find that I am neither a speed demon nor a slow poke.  When I travel in my car I drive at a speed that doesn’t feel too fast or too slow.  My speed is just right.

One of the problems with viewing drivers through a single viewpoint is that it fails to take into account the perspective of others.  To the speed demon I am one of the slow pokes.  To the slow pokes I am one of the speed demons.  My driving hasn’t changed, but the lens through which we look can reclassify me into either of the groups.

What does this have to do with Autism?  I find that individuals on the Autism Spectrum, as well as those of us who are not on the spectrum, can often struggle recognizing the possibility of multiple perspectives.  The fact that I dislike coconut doesn’t mean that coconut is bad any more than the fact that my wife loves coconut means that it is good.   Coconut is neither good nor bad, it’s just coconut.  It is only when we view things through the lens of other’s perspectives that we get a true sense of what they are.

As we interact with our children, it is important that we help them become aware of the different perspectives around them.  We might do this by simply spotlighting the perspective of the speed demon or the slow poke, the clean freak or the messy slob, the overly cautious or the risk-taker.  By building awareness of different perspectives we develop a truer sense of the world and events around us rather than developing our opinions of the world from a single vantage point.  And if you see me driving down the street, know that I am neither a speed demon nor a slow poke, I’m just another perspective.

How is your child with transitions?

How does your child do transitioning from one activity to another? As a parent and mentor to our child, it is often difficult to understand why transitioning from one activity to another can be so difficult for our child. In an RDI Connect Webinar, Rebecca Doolittle McFalls talks about different ways handle transitions with your children, with reference to Susan Stiffelmens book, Parenting without Power Struggles.

Here are some highlights that Rebecca covered in her Webinar taken from RDI Connect:

Why are Transitions so Hard?

Transitions are a normal part of our life and include things like doing homework,  going to the dinner table, playing in the park and getting in the car. School is just around the corner and with it comes the need for having flexible transitions. While we often take these things for granted, to a child with developmental challenges, transitions can often be difficult for these reasons:

1. The child is asked to transition too fast
2. There are too many transitions in a child’s day
3. Child has not developed the skills to understand disappointment

What can we do to make transitions easier?

Slow down: Approach our child more slowly. Move our body to where they are (come along side your child and not at them.)

Notice: Notice what they are doing, be mindful of your body and words in relation to their activity and focus.

Breathe: Breathe and reset before approaching your child, the old story does not have to repeat.You can have a new pleasant experience with this transition.

Try requesting into a yes: By human nature we are less likely to show opposition if we are already saying yes. Prime your child to say or nod yes before you ask them to do something. It will look something like this:

Wow, that is really cool, is it a bulldozer?

Child: yes

Can it pick up a lot of stuff?

Child: yes

Is it your favorite?

Child: yes, but sometimes I like the monster truck

That looks like a really fun game, come along to dinner now.

Child: Just a few more minutes

I know a few more minutes would be fun, and it is hard to stop, but we are heading to dinner now.

Child: Oh rats (but comes along)

Every time will not go exactly like this, but only a few positive transitions will help build a stronger relationship.


A few things to remember

1. Be calm, practice calming our tones and judgments
2. Be open minded, hear their words and empathize
3. Be consistent to the end.

If you have any additional questions on helping your child transition, or would like to talk more specifically about your child, please contact us.

nicole@pryorconsulting.net

New Fall Schedule

Being a couple weeks into the school year now, has life settled down a little bit for you? It is time to make a new fresh plan for RDI.


1. Scheduling - There are several questions that you should ask yourself now. What does your "new fall" schedule look like? When is the best time to engage in RDI with your child? We would advise you to take a look at your schedule now that school has started and plan out a new RDI schedule. It is important to schedule out time in your daily calender to assure that there is enough time to plan and prepare activities that will be successful with your child.

2. Activities - With the new school year starting, it is a great opportunity to "start over" and decide the best way to use your RDI time. There are many questions that you should ask yourself now. What type of activities do you enjoy doing with your child? How can you incorporate RDI into your daily schedule?

3. Family Fun - We encourage you to plan your RDI activities so that they can be enjoyable for the family as a whole. Plan activities with your child alone, but also including the rest of the family. There are so many things you can do to incorporate RDI into your family life.

If you have any questions about these three areas, please contact us. WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU!! We would love to help you plan your schedule, come up with activities that will help your child, or fun family activities. Please let us know what we can do!

Colbie Caillat "Try"

Have you seen this music video? If you have a few minutes to spare, I would advise watching it. This video shares such a powerful message.

Click here to watch Colbie Caillat's music video "Try"

As women in our society today, we often feel like we need to be perfect and hide our "blemishes" from the world. What is that showing us? Do we need to pretend that we are something that we are not? Or is it important to accept ourselves for who we are and be happy with our natural beauty?

What are your thoughts after watching this video?

19 Activities to do with your Teenager

When choosing engagement activities with your teen, there are a few things you may want to remember:

• The focus is more about competence then fun
• Ask them to help with one immediate step of a project to get started.
• The experience sharing does not always have to include joy or laughter, but it can engage a sense of quiet pride.

Here are 19 activities you can do right away with your teenager:

• Teach them how to drive! Start out by simulated breaking in the living room.
• Basic activities like laundry, can give a sense of independence.
• Exercising together, lifting weights, hiking (slow then fast)
• Taking out the trash, sorting recycling
• Gardening, shoveling, spreading mulch, raking weeding
• Nature walks, pointing out things of mutual interests
• Washing the car
• Bicycling
• Moving furniture together.
• Make snacks together
• Learning basic housekeeping, making the bed, cleaning windows
• Mapping out bus schedules together, then take the bus to your destination.
• Buy a fish, learn about basic care, clean the tank, and assemble the filter together.
• Organizing family pictures
• Drum together in the car with your favorite music
• Go through your closets and see if there are any clothes you can donate
• Jumping waves
• walking down a path at night with one flashlight
• Writing letters to relatives,think about what would be of interest to the person you are writing to

This information is taken from RDI Connect. Click here to read more!

LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK

WE ARE LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK... Now that Labor Day has passed and summer is officially over, we are wondering how you enjoyed our summer series of family activity ideas. As many of you know, we have been sharing one new activity idea each week on our blog.

We want to know your favorite topics to read on our blog. Do you enjoy the activity ideas, personal stories from RDI families, additional RDI information to read, or inspirational messages? Please share your opinion with us, we would LOVE to hear it!

Please comment below.