The True Classroom

“The world is the true classroom. The most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, seeing something with our own eyes.”

– Jack Hanna

From our Pryor Consulting family to yours, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

RDI Outside of the Home

our favorite holiday activities - week 4

SPREADING CHRISTMAS CHEER THROUGH RDI

This week we are encouraging you to do some RDI outside of the home to spread some Christmas cheer to those around you. Here are some ideas:

- Christmas Caroling: You could visit family members, neighbors, or a local rest home to sing together. Make sure to have a big enough group to ensure that both you and your child will be comfortable standing and singing together.

- Take a gift to someone: You could take a gift to a family member, neighbor, or friend, and visit them at their home. Encourage your child to sit by you on the couch as you visit together.

- Visit a loved one: Christmas is the perfect time of year to spend time with those you love. Take your children to visit someone who is dear to your heart and allow them the chance to meet him/her.

- Find Christmas Lights: Take your child on a drive to find local Christmas lights, or downtown to Temple Square to walk around and look at the lights. Use this opportunity to share the experience with your child and enjoy spending time together.

Please remember that suggested activity ideas cater to different children with varying RDI needs. Choose which activity fits your child and your family situation, and then adapt the activity specifically for your own child. We would love to hear how the activity went for your family!

Approaching the Season Differently

 Most all of us use Christmas as an excuse to have a break from "normal life" and be able to socialize, spend time with family, and enjoy traditions that we grew up with. Jodi Tucker, a RDI Certified Consultant, wrote a wonderful article on how we can view this Christmas different. She discussed some of the difficulties with Autism during the holidays, and how we, as parents, can alter our mindset to help our children at this time of year.

Click here read Jodi Tucker's article "Approaching the Season Differently" on RDI Connect

Wrapping Christmas Presents

our favorite holiday activities - week 3

WRAPPING CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Have you finished your Christmas wrapping yet? If you have family or neighbor gifts that need to be wrapped, it is a great opportunity to get your child involved!

Here are some different ideas on how to get your child involved:
- Have all of the presents out (preferably in boxes or simple shapes to start with) with the wrapping stuff set out that you are going to use. Before asking your child to come over, cut the paper to the appropriate size for each present and have pieces of tape ripped or cut beforehand. Ask your child to come over and help you, and designate their specific "job" to be in charge of taking a piece of the prepared tape and putting it on the wrapping present after you have folded it and are holding it ready.

- Have all of the presents and wrapping stuff out before bringing your child over. Ask your child to come over and help you, and walk through each step with them using problem solving to figure out how to wrap each present. Add in challenges by wrapping presents that are different sizes and shapes.

Invite your child to be involved in your Christmas preparations. Please ask us if you need any help coming up with ideas or are having a hard time involving your child!

Please remember that each different activity idea caters to different children with varying RDI needs. Choose which activity fits your child and your family situation, and then adapt the activity specifically for your own child. We would love to hear how the activity went for your family!

Communicating with Extended Family

As the holidays quickly approach, it often means that there will be more time spent with extended family. Having a child with ASD can be difficult during the holidays. We find that often that holidays can be:

- Disappointing (different from anticipated)

- A time to be judged (often observed by those around)

- Isolated/hard to go to events

- High feelings of incompetence

- Anxiety (for either parents or children - or both)

RDI Connect published a wonderful article with 4 tips of advice to help ease these feelings:

1. Thank your supporters

2. Remember that advice comes from a place of love

3. Make your requests for help specific and realistic

4. Remember that you don't need to justify your choices

To read the entire article by Annie Denning Hille and Vicki Parnell, click here

Decorating Christmas Cookies

 our favorite holiday activities - week 2

**With each RDI family working towards their own RDI goals, remember that there are a TON of different ways to do each activity that can specifically help you work towards your own goal for your child. Please let us know if you have any questions of how to adapt any of these activities to fit your own child!

 DECORATING CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Do you enjoy baking? If not, just head over to the store and buy some unfrosted sugar cookies, a couple tubs of frosting, some sprinkles, and some Christmas candy.

Below are some ideas of how to make decorating Christmas cookies into a RDI activity. REMEMBER that every child has different abilities and needs, so here are several ideas of different ways to do this activity. Find which way would work best to your child and adapt it to fit your at home situation.

- Have the already prepared cookies out on the table as well as a tub of frosting and a can of sprinkles. Bring your child over and hand them the can of sprinkles to be their "job" (when buying sprinkles, make sure to get the bottle that lets out the sprinkles VERY slowly. Often times it comes in the bigger colorful sprinkles from the grocery store). Work together to decorate the cookies by having your "job" be to frost the cookie and then set it down on a plate and have your child put the sprinkles on. Remember that your child will most likely NOT do this job perfect. Some cookies may have very little sprinkles, and other cookies may be completely covered. That is just fine. Remember that this activity is to work together and help your child feel valuable in the activity.

- Before you tell your child about the activity that you will be doing, have the cookies made, frosting out on the table, and any additional supplies out on the table. Have a few cookies already frosted and then bring your child over to help you decorate the top of the cookie. There are a couple of different ways to decorate the top - you could share the same cookie and each choose something to put on it, or you could both have your own cookie and decorate them side-by-side.

- Have the cookies made and all of the supplies layed out on the table. Bring your child over to help decorate the cookies with you side-by-side. Doing it this way, you chose how you want your cookie to look, and allow your child to choose how they want their cookie (even if it is COVERED in sprinkles and candy).

After decorating the cookies, sit down at the table with your child and a glass of milk to enjoy the cookies together!

Please remember that each of the three different activity ideas cater to different children with varying RDI needs. Choose which activity fits your child and your family situation, and then adapt the activity specifically for your own child. We would love to hear how the activity went for your family!

Productive Uncertainty

Have you heard your consultant use the phrase "productive uncertainty" before? What does that mean? RDI Consultant Sue Simmons described it, "Consider the term productive, which insinuates that what we’re referring to is inherently positive. Then couple this with the word uncertainty – some kind of unknown. Ultimately, productive uncertainty refers to a situation in which an individual must resolve some kind of cognitive challenge. In order to be productive, it needs to be appropriate for the child; not anxiety producing, but not meaningless either."

Using productive uncertainty, we are able to put our child in a situation where they have to pause, and rethink the situation. This is how we are able to help our children learn how to problem solve.

For more information on productive uncertainty and how to teach our children how to problem solve, click here to read the rest of the article by Sue Simmons' article on RDI Connect.

Setting Up the Christmas Tree

Can you believe that it is the first week of December already? It is time to start thinking about this upcoming Christmas season!

This Christmas season is a great time to be thinking about your own family, and how you can incorporate RDI into your own holiday traditions. Each week this month we are going to introduce a new family activity that can create wonderful RDI moments around your house and community. With each RDI family working towards their own RDI goals, remember that there are a TON of different ways to do each activity that can specifically help you work towards your own goal for your child. Please let us know if you have any questions of how to adapt any of these activities to fit your own child!

our favorite holiday activities - week 1

SETTING UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE 

There are so many different ways that you can make this into a family RDI activity by working together.. How are you going to do it this year? Here are a few of our ideas:

 - If you enjoy a "real" Christmas tree, have your child help you pick out which tree you are going to buy. This can be a great way to model/teach problem solving to your child. Verbally walk your child through your thoughts as you are looking at the different trees. "This tree looks a little too tall for our family room." "Oh, I love how full this tree looks with all of the branches. I wonder if it would fit in the corner next to our couch?"

-  When your tree is all set up, bring your child over to help you string the lights. If you have a tall tree, it might be helpful for you to have the top of the tree already strung as a model for your child to see. This may require a lot of time and patience, but what a great way for both you and your child to work together doing a hard task. Before you string the lights, make sure to plug the strand in to make sure they work. It can be a fun experience to string the lights on together and then share the moment of joy that comes when you plug the lights in afterward and are able to see the entire tree lit up!

- After the tree is all set up with the lights on, bring your child over to help you place the decorations on the tree. Depending on the abilities of your child, you could hand each ornament to your child and let them place them on the tree, assign your child a specific type of ornament to do as their "job" while you do another type, or assign each child a specific area of the tree to decorate. During this activity it is very important to remember that it isn't about making your Christmas tree look "perfect," it is about spending time together as a family and helping your child feel valued. If you fix or redo the ornaments that your child places on the tree, you are taking away their ability to make decisions.

Please remember that each of the three different activity ideas cater to different children with varying RDI needs. Choose which activity fits your child and your family situation, and then adapt the activity specifically for your own child. We would love to hear how the activity went for your family!