Dreaming about warm weather, on a dreary day

It is a dreary day in Toronto and the summer seems far, far away.

It is times like these that I find myself thinking a warm summer breeze, sitting outside eating watermelon, or wearing flip flops on a walk to the park. I love the energy of the summer, the spirit of the our space changes--it switches into much more socially, play-based and I dare to even say...outdoorsy kind of vibe.

This year we have switched it up to include activity rotations that the campers rotate between; the idea is that each age group will have their own tailor-made activity at each activity rotation throughout the day. Activities are lead by our Senior programming staff, and campers are supported by their cousellors/teachers at a ratio of 1:4. We have additional support for those who require it, just let us know. Everyone learns together with specialized methods called on as needed and with social opportunities sought and facilitated.

We are fortunate to have a playground on-site, as well as an even larger sensory-playground (I might even say an  out of this world sensory playground) within walking distance from us. We have 4 indoor classrooms, a sensory-motor gym space and a property that permits outdoor exploration from chalk art to outdoor water play; we have shaded areas for a cool break, like snack time, and plenty of sunshine (we PROMISE to wear sunscreen). If you're wondering how we got so lucky in the heart of York (that is, Toronto), well you are not the only one wondering that.

We are so fortunate to have landlords that permit our use of their space with open arms and with the attitude "our home is your home"; we are located at 47 Glenbrook Avenue, in the lower level of the Beth Torah Congregation. We are very proud of the space we have created for our kids.

We're 10-second walk to the local grocery store (the wonderful Lady York), Dairy Queen (a summer time staple) and a dollar store, all serving to provide valuable social opportunities for our bigger kids. We're 1 block away is a community center that open it's doors for free swim every afternoon in the summer; anyone up for swimming and making some friends? We're excited to be planning regular trips to the pool, which is monitored by a lifeguard at all times to ensure safety.

In between walks to the sensory park, recess in our playground, snack in the shade, soccer on the lawn, water works in the rear-lot, arts and crafts on the lawn, sensory play inside and out, team sports in the gym, science for a break from the heat and lunchtime in your cabin group, you'll want to make sure to drink plenty of water! 


So when it's really dreary, and it seems like summer is a long way away...these are the kinds of thoughts I like to think! Here's to a short May....
Cheers!

 

www.MagnificentMinds.ca if this sounds like something your kids would like!

Drama Club Friday: Grocery Shopping

Freedigitalphotos.net

What kid likes going to the grocery store? Unless it happens to be your special interest/obsession, or unless you have a really cool parent who makes it  a scavenger/treasure hunt,  you are pretty much doomed to dread the tag-along-shop that most kids have to endure. When I was a kid it was the worst. As an adult, it's still the worst; BUT a girl's got to eat. 


Special needs kids don't always get this exposure, but I certainly think it's a worthwhile thing to start young with. It may not be fun (for you or them), but it can be engaging and will be one step towards  functional skill development, valuable life skills, social skills and the ability to self-regulate despite the lights, the noise, the smells, the sights, and so on. Everything CAN be a learning opportunity, but you knew that already if you're a teacher, or parent. 


Today we had a really great drama class. Our performance theme was At the Grocery Store; we started, as we always do, going over expectations and discussing the meaning of drama. We read the message on the board together; with some encouragement, we decoded the message which told us that if we did well today, we might get a treat. In my class, a treat is a always a "might" because as I explain, it's for sometimes. A treat is never a given.  


So then I introduced the scoring system, a line of 5 empty faces and one already drawn (a 6th) to demonstrate the currency. "If we (it's always we not you) follow our directions, and get 5 happy faces, we might get a treat. Do you like treats?" everyone smiled. I love to ask somewhat rhetorical questions, especially when the answer is obvious...it makes everyone feel like are more in control than they really are :P and keeps everyone involved. It also allows me to check for comprehension; if someone is not saying, for example, that they like treats (or at least smiling, nodding, or what have you) I venture to say they are not listening too carefully, or missed something somewhere and I might want to backtrack to see where they fell off.


Where was I.....After a brief group meeting we got right into a warm up; I love musical warm ups (especially those from DREAM ENGLISH.COM) because it takes the pressure off the teacher to maintain to beat, while modeling actions, prompting and reinforcing.... So, the music was on and my students exclaimed "sing to us!"... so much for not carrying the beat. I left the music on, and sang along to the music the best I could, which still gave me the freedom to prompt/reinforce as needed....which is a lot :) We were all warmed up by the end; mission accomplished.

One aisle of our MM grocery store; I saved boxes for 6 months in anticipation of this activity!

Next we headed to the floor to make a grocery list (on all fours, on the floor because we all needed a little sensory cool down). I modeled how to make a grocery list and each child took turns deciding what to put on my master list and then their own lists. Some students copied my list verbatim while others got creative, sometimes with letters but usually with some kind of hieroglyphs. These lists were taken right to the grocery store where I coached each child through their first shop, checked them out as the cashier and then let them get creative as I moved on to the next student. Half way through the play period I brought in a pretend oven, some pans, a mirror and a few costumes. The kids were totally into it and were getting really creative writing ingredient lists, going to the grocery store, and taking turns being chef, cashier and shopper. If I brought it all in at once, it would be too much. I know my customer!


All the while I was actively prompting to follow our directions/rules; I do this by modeling the expectations. Let me back track..what were expectations upon which the tentatively promised treats rested upon?


  1. Be nice 2. Use your friends name to get their attention 3. Talk to each other! 

Another aisle in our grocery store

The first one is self explanatory; the second comes from a belief that kids need to be reminded to use their friends names before addressing them; if I say, "Alley ask Billy if he wants water" a child will usually repeat it without first ensuring that the child is listening/aware of the question being asked, etc. It helps promote a more reinforcing social experience, when you first call the person's name and then issue the request; you increase the likelihood of getting a response, therefore having a meaningful social exchange. Its especially important when you have friends with Autism Spectrum Disorders, because they may not be tuned into you unless you ask for their attention first. Finally, the last rule is to talk to each other;  the first class, and every subsequent class during our initial meeting, we discuss the definition of drama a component of which is "when people talk to each other" (we choose not to focus on mime because the goal is increased language and social interaction). 


I gave the five minute warning; then, I called everyone to carpet. We sang our goodbye song and class was finished. They got all 5 happy faces, and got a special treat. A Christmas chocolate...Might as well have been gold. It's the small things isn't it?! :) 

Zoom Zoom Zoom We're Going to the Moon

Some of you asked about more information about our brand new Drama Club!

Fridays second class was a huge success; with the class in almost-full attendance and with Going into Space as our theme, we practiced social skills in a totally hands-on way. Old friends reunited and the seeds were planted for new friendships to come.

Here are some of the skills we targeted...but shh don't tell the kids.

-Attending (Looking at at the teacher)

-Following instructions in a group

-Motor imitation 1:1, in a group

-Reciprocal Play

-Self-Regulation

-Imagination/Pretending Skill Building

-Social engagement and sustained interaction

-Responding to peers

-Imitation

-Inviting others into play

-Accepting invitations from others

-Basic drama vocab

-Voice modulation
-Interpreting Facial Expressions/Body Language

We hit these marks in ways that were fun, interactive, and child-centered (THAT'S the buzz word around MM).

We had some goals in mind, and a handful of activities in our back pocket to ensure meaningful learning, but we also really let the kids lead the way. Coached by my team, it was incredible to see how these kids came together and formed the beginning of social relationships.

It is so incredible how a piece of costuming or a prop can bring a shy child into the world around him or her; with some good quality modeling (of appropriate behaviour and expectations) I can tell that our kids are going to thrive

See you next Friday!

The Director ;) 

Eek. Stage Fright.

I started this post this weekend, and am now finishing it as I am home on a sick-day....so, if some thoughts are not fully developed I apologize.

When I first saw "Autism the Musical" I knew somehow it would impact my career; I wasn't sure at that point exactly how, or when, but I knew at some point it would become obvious to me. When I was a kid I lived for my drama programs and I have always known that I wanted to somehow recreate that for other kids. I don't think I would be where I am today if it wasn't for the confidence I developed on stage.

Recently in my career, as many of you know, I have considered the characteristics of Autism as barriers to be overcome, and have been coming up proactive and stress free ways of practicing these skills on a regular basis in my therapy-based school programs. My thoughts are...if you practice overcoming barriers, you obviously get better at it. That is always the goal.

As a centre-based practice that incorporates a lot of arts by our approach, I have seen what the arts can do to bring a child with Autism out of his or her own head and into the active world. After giving it some thought, I realized that drama is used in my programs more than I realized; rehearsal is a natural part of learning for children with Autism, we do it every day (5 to 10 times).

After a recent meeting with our clinical supervisor, and assistant, I found myself drawing ties between what was said about performance anxiety related to speech deficit and the programming I am doing for our new Drama Kids program. Essentially, the main point was that no matter how well-rehearsed a child is (or how rote for that matter), he or she may still suffer from performance anxiety when it comes to actual functional interaction. I think he meant that I should be playful in my programming and avoid rote learning, but also...I think...that I try to break down that barrier and increase the overall occurrence of comfortable language use, and make it reinforcing so its likely to occur again.

As I plan for our new drama kids program, I am struggling a bit to find ways to elicit and practice communication skills within a  group dynamic... without eliciting the dreaded performance anxiety. I know that as the kids get to know each other and us as teachers, it will become easier. Now how do I tell them that? 

One strategy I will use is breaking the group into small fragments (dyads or triads); meeting too many new friends all at once, is overwhelming even for me. Of course, we will meet to warm up and cool down as a group, but most activities will happen with just a handful of kids, so everyone is super involved.  Hopefully, this will help ease the little actors into their new friendships. With so many different learner profiles in the class, it will be interesting to see how the dynamic plays out. I have developed a whole curriculum's worth of materials and am certain that at the very least, we will produce happy and confident learners. Though I know social skills will always be the focus, and will always be incorporated to rules and expectations, there will be limited demands at first, allowing for true self-expression.

Any tips and/or advice is always appreciated.

Making the most of teachable moments

Whenever we venture into the community for a field trip, I give special thought to my approach. I end up having lots of time to chat with my staff about encouraging those teachable moments, and also have a chance to interact with both staff and students in a truly hands-on and interactive way. Going into the community provides both teachable moments for my talented teaching professionals, and also my talented early learners; both of which help generalize skills taught in the school environment.

In the past 3 weeks we have attended a Fun Fair, the Ontario Science Center, and the Royal Ontario Museum. Some were more accommodating than others (not impressed that the ROM wanted to charge us to check coats when bag check was free); the Fun Fair even discounted our rate by 50% because our group had extra needs. All the places allowed our 1:1s to attend for free, and we only had to argue with the TTC once about it. All in all, it was a huge success and the community was warm and receptive to each teaching moment.

The Science Center was FULL of teachable moments, the most important of which was to focus on the requirement to communicate (for example to "go this way" or "come see this", "hold my hand"); with 1:1 support, this was more than possible for our kiddies. A lot kids get in the habit of not using their words, but the more motivating the ultimate destination or tangible, the more likelihood of you getting a desired response (i.e. using your words). Because there was SO MUCH to see, we got to practice this skill over and over as we viewed each unique exhibit; we probably practiced the skill over 50 times. How's that for repetition? GO TEAM! :)

During all of our community adventures, we practice an important social skill; we practice "waiting nicely" over and over and over again. Waiting in line, waiting for the bus, waiting for our turn, waiting for an activity to start, waiting for friends to finish, waiting for snack/lunch; during these moments, we practice different ways of engaging ourselves and actively plan for these skills to generalize into the class and community. We often sing waiting songs to remind us what we are doing; we choose one word like "waiting" and sing it over and over to a tune we all know (head and shoulders, London bridge, and so on); I find this activity helps prevent that feeling that some of our kids get when they are unsure of exactly what is happening (I imagine it is something like...."why aren't we moving, whats going on, I want to move...AH!"). Keeping focused on the waiting song also helps keep my little ones from getting lost in the sensory overload that could be impending at any moment when out in the community.

Out in the community there is also the opportunity to practice minding personal space, making eye-contact, receptive listening, quiet voices, calm bodies, walking feet, and using gentle hands to name but a few. Really, the list just goes on and on...there are so many opportunities to teach and generalize skills, you shouldn't have to search that hard to make skill development happen. There's also the obvious need to be reinforcing those spontaneous skills that emerge; anytime a skill happens in a new environment, that's a small victory and should be celebrated as such! Don't be afraid to throw a party, even if you are the Royal Ontario Museum.

On that note, I thought I would go into detail about some of the ways I have embarrassed myself and inspired my kids....all within the community.
1. The impromptu Hokey Pokey at the Fun Fair (some even joined in)
2. The Goodmorning Train sung while riding the TTC
3. The Hokey Pokey AGAIN on the sidewalk
4.Little Fish sung in front of the Aquarium

I may look silly, and I may bother some people, but for my kids this is just one way I support skill development and ensure that meaningful contextual learning occurs. If I sparked just one light bulb...I have done my job.

How do you support learning in the community?
Comments? Questions? I am all ears.

Social Skill Building the MM Way

Social skills classes are great in theory, but in practice I have seen some that are... less than stellar. 


According to my research, which comes from a number of peer reviewed sources including but not limited to several text books from my post graduate degree, articles written in academic journals, and too many years of teacher preachers to cite; the main reason social skills groups fail is because of a failure to plan for social skill generalization.


It almost seems obvious doesn't it? Autism is itself associated with an often times great aptitude for skill acquisition, but with a deficit in the ability to transfer that skill to novel environments. Kids with ASD are often incredibly bright, but struggle to conceptualize the use of skills in environments in which they have not been explicitly taught. Many people never even think about how naturally skill generalization happens for typically developing children; it is something I certainly took for granted. 


Knowing what I know...How do I actively plan for generalization in MM social skills program?! 


Where do I begin?! By scheduling the group to float between classrooms (sensory, sensory motor, class, office) outdoor locations (playground, park), and by constantly changing the teaching materials (stimulus) and the structure of our physical  teaching environment. We are constantly exposing our students to novel environments as an active pursuit of generalization.


Having our students work with several instructors and educational assistants allows us to ensure that skills generalize across people; as a class, we interact with each other and become comfortable in a controlled social dynamic! The more positive interactions with people we have on a daily basis, and therein practice the elementary social skills (relative eye contact, pitch, greetings, answering basic questions, etc.), the more we are able to call upon these skills at another time; eventually, they join our repertoire. The more we practice, the more fluent we become.


Most of our kids thrive in a 1:1 setting, but working in a group we automatically tackle the other major concern when it comes to generalization; that is, will the skill taught in 1:1 generalize into group environment? Usually, it does take time but when instructors are skilled at eliciting these skill sets, students are able to stay on-task and motivated. The ALLSR includes this skill as a target, which at least to me, says it's worth considering.


When planning for maximum engagement there are themes....and there are themes.


Themes are a great way to keep social skills classes focused and age-appropriate. When working with themes it is important to do your research, not every idea on the internet works out and it is best to test it out before hand. I also like to have a few "in case of flop" ideas hanging around to; sometimes, you just can't plan for a lack of interest or a failure to launch. Some ideas just don't work, and it's best to let it go and move on. 


When planning themes, and all the while planning for generalization, I try to make themes functional, but also subjects of interest; anytime I can toss some life-skills into the mix, I do that too. I recommend you take your themes to the "next level"; include vocabulary, theme based games and of course arts and crafts should reflect a clear theme (from fish to french fries, topics and themes come in all shapes and sizes).


I always try to simulate real life scenarios; in a french fry unit I might host a mock restaurant, or in a shapes unit we might try cooking with only things that are round. This year I plan to simulate a buffet; a particular area of concern for some of my little ones.  Keeping it hands on, theme based, and outside the box helps our kids stay engages with the activity and with each other.


As always, thank you to freedigitalphotos.net

Camp Schedules are now complete! Want a sneak peak?!

Time	Period	Activity	Location
9:00-12:00 AM
9:00-9:30	Arrival & Transition Play	Goal: Choice making + socialization	Purple Room
9:30-10:00	Good Morning Circle	Days of the week, months of the year, who is here today, talk about theme: ice cream! Sing theme songs	Purple Room
10:00-10:30	Daily Physical Activity: Team Game	Morning Yoga	Gross Motor Room or Outside
10:30-11:00	Snack	--	Purple Room or Outside
11:00-11:30	Sensory Science	Choice Experiment: favourite flavours!	Sensory Room
11:30-12:00	Story time & Hands-On Learning	Social Story and Re-enactment: Waiting is hard!	Purple Room
12:00-1:00	Lunch & Recess	--	Purple Room, Outside
1:00-3:20 PM
1:00-1:30	Arts and Crafts	Model Magic Ice Cream Cones	Purple Room
1:30-2:00	Music Circle	Goal: Choice making	Sensory Room   or Outside
2:00-2:30	Sensory Science	Field Trip: Dairy Queen	Sensory Room or Outside
2:30-3:00	Gross Motor Games	Field Trip: Dairy Queen	Gross Motor or Outside
3:00-3:20	Dismissal & Transition Play	--	Purple Room or Outside

Week 2 of Social Skills Camp is all about ice cream! YUM! Our social theme of the week is "Why Wait"; all week we talk about ice cream in our hands-on learning units, and at the end of the week we get a special surprise, a trip to the ice cream parlor! Our campers will learn that though waiting can be hard, it pays off in the end.

We will explore various sensory aspect of ice cream, hot vs. cold, and engage in social skill building games based on our academic themes. We will expand our fine motor skills in various tasks aimed at recreating the ice cream shape, with various household items including cotton balls and coloured rice. Our campers will expand their imaginations with hands-on learning and plenty of opportunities for choice making. We always keep things fresh, by switching up our themes weekly and ensuring that we are always raising the bar for our campers. For more information, call us today! 647-404-6349

as always, images courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Sibling Integration as a vital component of the Social Skill Building Experience!

Why Integrate A Sibling?

Many parents want their special needs child to experience the joy of summer camp; to spend time outside, and have the freedom to explore, grow and develop in an environment that is nurturing and safe. Taking it one step beyond, many parents also want some kind of facilitated socialization; a way for a child whose first instinct is solitary play, to engage with a group and/or thrive within the group dynamic.

Integrating siblings into the camp experience is partially an attempt to strengthen family connection, and partially an attempt to assist siblings in engaging with, supporting, and understanding  his or her special needs sibling(s). In a controlled environment, activities will be designed to meet the needs of the individual children, while addressing each child at his or her level.

Summer camp curriculum is developed by summer camp directors Lindsay & Alley! 

L & A have been successfully planning educational and extra-curricular programs for over ten years, and are confident in programming strategies, teaching tactics, and ability to assess needs. Our staff are professionals, with a desire to make meaningful change within the community.

Research-Based Approach

Research demonstrates that imitation skills are among the foundational social and play skills, which in time shapes social behaviour. All children are able to learn to imitate, thus all children are able to learn successful ways of engaging with peers, teachers, and family. With a sibling, children may become comfortable with the social experience; there is an instant rapport between siblings, which cannot be created artificially.

Some ways we target specific sibling-situations, are:

-Individualized Social Stories

*Sharing

*Being Gentle

*Saying Hello

*Asking for Help

-Visual Schedules

*Steps in Play

*Turn Taking

*Transitions