OPSEC & PERSEC Social Story

For those of you who are familiar with military life, you know we have acronyms for everything! You are probably very familiar and aware of OPSEC (Operation Security) and PERSEC (Personal Security) with all of the scary things going on in our world right now. Although we may be aware, our children may not understand the importance of this. Included in this resource are two different social stories that can help your child have a better understanding of this. The first social story targets OPSEC and the second focuses on PERSEC. It is my hope that these two resources will help your child have a better understanding of how important these things are in both civilian life and military life.

Click here to download these stories!

 © 2014 SymbolStix LLC.

 © 2014 SymbolStix LLC.

 © 2014 SymbolStix LLC.

 © 2014 SymbolStix LLC.

Back to School Resources

Hello all!

As we go through another season, the end of summer is fast approaching. With that in mind, it is time to start thinking about going back to school. The blog resources that have been created for you  most recently are intended to help both you and your families transition back into "school life." Included in the resources for this time period are a couple of different items to help you and your family with the transition. There are two versions of "Back to School" social stories. The second version is intended for our kiddos who do best with less verbal information. You will find the same for "Things I Need to Know." This resource were created to help your child put structure into thinking about getting ready to go back to school. The last resource you will find is a social story reminding students about how to ride the bus appropriately. As we head into another school year, we wish you a happy & healthy transition and 2014-2015 year!

Click here to download & print this month's resources:

                                                 Back to School Resources

Time to go back to school!! 

(version 1)

I am on summer break, it has been fun.

When I am on summer break, I don’t have to go to school.

When I am summer break, I get to do a lot of fun stuff with my family and friends.

But, it is almost time to go back to school. Summer break is almost finished.

When summer break is finished, it will be time to start a new school year.

When summer break is over, I will go back to school.

When I go back to school, I will meet my teacher and learn a lot of great stuff.  

When I go back to school, I will say hello to my school friends.  

When I go back to school, the bus will pick me up in the morning and take me to school.

When I go back to school, the bus will take me home in the afternoon.

When I go back to school, I will make good choices.

When I go back to school, I will follow the school rules.

When I go back to school, I will eat lunch at school with my teachers and friends.

Going back to school is fun!

I will make good choices and have fun at school!!

Summer break is almost finished. 

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Riding the bus!!

It’s time to go back to school.

When I go to school, I will ride the school bus.

When I ride the bus, I will follow the bus rules.

I will follow the bus rules to stay safe.

I will sit in my seat. 

I will make good choices.

I will stay in my seat.

I will sit quietly in my seat. 

The bus will pick me up at home in the morning and take me to school.

The bus will pick me up at school in the afternoon and take me home.

It’s time to go back to school.

I will ride the bus to and from school.

It will be fun!

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Let’s get ready to go back to school!! (version 1) 

Things I need to know

·        School starts on: _____________________________________ (date)

·        My teacher is: ______________________________________

o   The other helpers in my classroom will be:

§  _______________________________________________

§  _______________________________________________

·        I will have to wake up at: _____________________________ A.M.

·        My school friends will be:

o   ___________________________           _________________________

o   ___________________________           _________________________

o   ___________________________           _________________________

o   ___________________________           _________________________

o   ___________________________           _________________________

·        My bus number is: #___________________

·        My bus driver is: ____________________________________________

·        My classroom number is: Room #___________________

·        I will go to school at ____________________ A.M. 

·        I will go home at ____________________________ P.M.

·        I have to go to bed at _______________ _________P.M. 

Emergencies Social Story & more!

Below is a social story to help children understand what an emergency is. It is also intended to help your family be prepared in case of an emergency and what might happen during an emergency.

Link to: Emergency Social Story & what to expect---

Transitions into Adulthood- Part 3, Independent Living

As we move further into the discussion about helping our young adults transition into the real world, let's next address the area of Independent Living. Independent Living skills are the the tools that are going to be able to let our kiddos learn to live by themselves, or to live as independently as possible. There are many different activities that you can do to help your child learn and maintain these types of skills. Here are some ideas for you to try:

• Take your child into the community as frequently as possible. There are many important life skills to be learned while in the community. 
• Teach your child how to find the appropriate bathroom independently
• Work on letting your child figure out what they want to eat, think about letting them order independently
• It is SO important to also bring and use any type of augmentative communication device they may be using. The more they use this in a variety of settings and with a variety of instructors, the more likely they will be to generalize and really solidify these skills. 
• Point out and discuss common survival sight signs, especially signs that will help your child be safe. 
• Look for signs that are common in the community and discuss them, maybe even practice using them
• Some examples are: Exit, Slippery When Wet, Please Seat Yourself, etc. There are 100's of signs so the earlier and more exposure to them the better.
• Have your child pick out recipes they are interested in cooking. Once they do this, have them create a shopping list from this recipe. Next, take them to the grocery store to find all of the items on their shopping list. Help them follow the recipe, step-by-step to see the entire process. 
• Break down recipes so they are listed in sequential steps that make it easier for children to follow
• Create a cookbook with appropriate sections (i.e.-breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, etc.) 
• Once your child completes a recipe have them add it to their cookbook for future reference
• Let your child earn an allowance for completing chores at home. Take them to deposit their money in their accounts every couple of weeks. 
• Help them get a debit card connected to this account that they can use when they are out in the community. 
• Let them use this card if they go on Community Based Instructional Outings in school. 
• Keep the receipts and have them keep track of their money. Here is an example of a modified register they can use to keep track of their money. 



Click here to download & print

• Let your child pick different activities in the community they would like to participate in like going to the movies, which restaurants to eat at, stores they want to shop in. 
• Let them pick out the clothes they are interested in
• Create a size chart they can keep in their wallet to reference when picking out the clothes they want. Here is an example: 

  

  Click here to download & print

• Discuss and explore different options for transportation in your community. Take some time to help your child learn how to use these different types of transportation. 
• Practice reading the schedules, buying tickets and appropriate behavior on the transportation 

While there are many different types of activities you can do to help your child transition into adulthood, these tips are intended to help you help your child with their independent living skills. It is my sincere desire that some of these activities and tips will help you and your family during this process! Best wishes!

Helping Children with Special Needs through Deployment

Transitions into Adulthood- Part 2: Socialization

As I continue into the four part series on helping our young adults prepare for their transition into adulthood, socialization is the next topic that I will touch on. As many of you may have experienced while working with children who are on the Autism Spectrum, sometimes socializing can be a very difficult and/or scary thing for our kiddos! But, just as it is important to each of us to have friends and family who we can do fun things with and enjoy spending our time with, it is equally as important for each of our kiddos to have these opportunities as well. Hopefully in your child's school placement, they are receiving instruction in social skills to help grow in this area. However, there are things that we can do at home as well to help our kiddos through this part of their lives. Here are some tips & ideas to help you help your kiddo as they learn to navigate this part of their lives.

• Check your local community for activities that your child can become involved in. Obviously our larger cities will have many more activities and outings available but small towns usually have activities for our children also. Examples of activities that you can look for are: 
• Church groups
• Local support groups for families of children who are on the Autism Spectrum and/or who have disabilities
• Meetup groups
• City Management 
• Most cities and towns, no matter what size or where you are in the US, provide groups for our kiddos. They actually keep pretty busy with monthly and weekly calendars. Some of the activities I have heard of are: weekly movie nights, bowling, participating in a play, skating nights, cooking nights and much more. It is worth checking into this wherever you are located!
• School organizations 
• Ask about organizations that are available at your child's school. Think about areas of interest and how they might be able to be involved. Most high schools have a large variety of groups and activities so chances are there could be a group in an area of interest to your child.
• If your child's school doesn't have a peer group, talk to the teachers about the possibility of setting one up. This can be done fairly simply and many students are eager to get involved. Some ideas for peer groups are: 
• Lunch groups
• Peer helpers in class
• Monthly/quarterly social events like a dance, cookout, movie, etc.
• Pen Pals....electronically. Most of us use technology to stay in touch/communicate with our friends and families--- have your kiddo do this too!
• Set up an email account and have students get names and email addresses of friends at school or family members who they can communicate with regularly.
• I found it easiest to use a structured format for my students to follow when teaching them how to use email. 
• Talk with your child about how to appropriately ask someone for their contact information. Practice this at home before they set out to do this at school. 
• Please see below for an example: 
  
• Set up a Facebook account--what a great way for them to learn to stay in touch and communicate with others. 
• Teach your child how to send and receive text messages. This is an easy way for us to send easy messages like "Mom, I made it home safely" or "Mom, I did my chores can I have computer time now?"
• Again, when using a structured format to teach a child to text they catch on much more quickly. 
• See example below: 
  
• Set up a Skype account and make connections with family, friends and peers who you would like to communicate with. 
• If your kiddo has difficulty with maintaining back-and-forth conversation have them stick to a script until they become more comfortable with this. 
• See below for an example: 
  
• *Please note this is a very short example but it gives you an idea of how to help structure a scripted conversation for someone who may need it.
• Plan monthly friend outings with your child and your network. If you have established a local network through support groups, church, school, etc. plan age-appropriate activities for your child and their friends to get to do. 
• Give your child the opportunity to pick an activity they want to do with their friends. The more opportunity they have to make choices in their lives the better. Often, our kiddos don't get a lot of choice about what goes on in their lives. By giving them the opportunity to choose social activities they want to do with their friends, you are providing them with a great thing!

Hopefully some, or all of these ideas are things will be of help to your family! It is a long list so don't be overwhelmed. If your child has a very difficult time with socializing then take it in small steps. This is a pretty difficult area for most kiddos who are on the Spectrum or have a disability. Start with finding a local support group. It helps to know that there are other families who are dealing with some of the same struggles as your family is. Once you start there that gives you the opportunity to establish a network and support system to begin exploring some of the other socialization parts of life. Good luck & happy socializing!

*Here is the link to download and print the resources listed: Email tips, How to send a text message & scripted conversation

Transitions into Adulthood Part 1

As we think about our children on the spectrum, a lot of focus goes into the little ones who are going through elementary or middle school. While it is important to focus on these years, it is also important to think about the future and how that might look for our young adults who are on the spectrum. There are some major areas to consider during your child's transition into adulthood. These areas include:

• Work
• Recreation and Leisure Activities
• Including Socialization
• Independent Living
• Education

Typically, as children continue through school these areas should all be addressed. However, there are activities you can do at home to help your child with their transition into the adult world. Throughout the next couple of months, I will touch on each of the major thinking points that were listed. I will discuss activities that you could consider doing at home to help with this transition. 

Work:

There are many skills that go into helping a young adult be ready for their first job. Some of these skills include personal hygiene, appropriate social skills, staying on task, and working. Below are a few ideas to use at home to help your child get ready for their first job.

1. Have your child complete work tasks at home. Give them a list of jobs to complete per day. They should check off each item on the list as they go. Let them decide what they are working for. Here is an example: 
   
   
   
2. Have your child complete a "Daily Hygiene" routine to help them understand appropriate work place etiquette. Here is another example:  
   
3. Use a timer to help your child understand when something is over or that it is time to change activities. Once your child understands how to respond to a timer, or that the activity is over this skill can be carried over into their jobs. A timer can be used to indicate that a work break is over, it is time to move onto their next duty, etc.
4. Have your child learn to tell time and wear a watch. Not only is this an important life skill, but it will also help them as they learn to read and follow schedules.  
5. Think about jobs they be interested in when it is time for them to enter the work force. Talk about what skills they have that would help a certain job be a good fit for them. Also talk about what skill(s) they might need to have to be able to perform the duties of different jobs. 
6. Have students practice filling out job applications online. You could even create a document that contains all of the common information that is asked for when filling out an application (i.e.- name, address, SS#, etc.) Your child can then reuse this document as they go through the application process.  
7. Let students earn money or a "paycheck" at home to help them understand the concept of working for a paycheck. 
8. Begin to think about what transportation will look like for your child once they do start work. Ask teachers and other professionals for information about the types of transportation services that are provided and/or available in your local community.
9. Have a weekly and/or monthly schedule at home for children to follow. List the activities you will be doing throughout the week. Once again, this will help them to understand how to read and follow a schedule.
10. Use schedules consistently. You may not realize how many schedules we have to follow daily. As your child gets ready to start their new jobs they may have to read transportation schedules (depending on how they will get to and from work,) job duty schedules and weekly work schedules, but the list can go on and on. 

There are many skills and activities that are important in helping anyone get ready to enter the working world, let alone someone who is dealing with life on the spectrum. The more we can do to help ease this huge life development, the better! It is with hope that these few tips help you as you assist your child going through this stage of life! Happy Working!!