tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post4866012931307602859..comments2024-03-19T18:36:41.875-04:00Comments on Yes, That Too: Age AppropriateAlyssahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413844178426365789noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-62801610276361550442019-03-13T20:52:21.312-04:002019-03-13T20:52:21.312-04:00"And yet if they weren't autistic kids th..."And yet if they weren't autistic kids there would probably be no problem with them reading that early."<br />THIS! In our teen years there was a commercial advertisement we saw for some early-childhood reading tutorial that boasted that their program had managed to teach pre-speech infants how to read.Grove Systemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16520766013163923713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-21500478196187797222016-07-19T13:54:23.157-04:002016-07-19T13:54:23.157-04:00I am not sure the aide has the same understanding ...I am not sure the aide has the same understanding of stimming that autistics do. Sure, one can stim with letters, but merely reading them does not count as a stim. I mean, I know that it is wrong to stop someone from stimming, but the reason I argue against using the term "stimming" in the context that aide did is because that word was clearly used to discredit the idea that those kids were actually reading. I bet that if one of those aides caught a kid spelling every character aloud on an emergency sign, right down to the commas, the periods, and the apostrophes (as I did once when I was little), they would still have used the term "stimming" to dismiss the fact that the kids were actually reading. Besides, even if they were stimming, there's nothing wrong with that; stims should only be replaced with other stims if they are dangerous and/or unnecessarily disruptive, and they should only be stopped altogether if one's life depends on standing still. There may be cases in which people are pressured to stop stimming altogether for other reasons (i.e. church services, concerts) but it would make sense for those rules to be relaxed so people are allowed to stim quietly in those situations where quietness is needed (i.e. concerts) and with low to no visibility when at a ceremony that depends on visual image (i.e. a wedding). The only reason, other than life depending on it, to curtail stemming altogether would be as part of a very specific cultural traditional art (i.e. geisha performances, performing "statues") that absolutely requires staying still and/or silent at least part of the time for the aesthetic - Western weddings do not fall under this category as they can be easily adapted in a number of ways.<br />And yes, not allowing someone to do things "ahead" is common in special ed programs - one teacher I know of in middle school once put a math sheet in front of us, explained the problems one by one, and told any person that if they did any problems ahead (that is, they did problems that the teacher had not yet gotten to explaining and working through in the lecture), they were to erase them and wait until the teacher went through them to write down the answer (again).Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09928354882099364044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-78395093793489593312016-07-18T11:35:32.702-04:002016-07-18T11:35:32.702-04:00I'm autistic but folks didn't know it when...I'm autistic but folks didn't know it when I was 4 and they were totally fine with my reading then (when they believed I actually could, which was iffy since I hated reading aloud.)Alyssahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06413844178426365789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-56442973513836196402016-07-18T11:05:56.662-04:002016-07-18T11:05:56.662-04:00:( And yet if they weren't autistic kids there...:( And yet if they weren't autistic kids there would probably be no problem with them reading that early. I learned to read in kindergarten when I was 4. My younger brother and sister both learned from my early reader books from that before they started school. It's awful when other people decide what someone else is or should be capable of. Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09262760615398753454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-65300581492757352032016-07-17T20:08:24.902-04:002016-07-17T20:08:24.902-04:00I am a mom to a 12 year old autistic boy and where...I am a mom to a 12 year old autistic boy and where I find the concept to be used is when figuring if a behavior problem is misbehavior (i.e. within the control of the child) or a lack of ability (i.e. the kid is overwhelmed). <br /><br />See, most expectations around discipline revolve around the concept of age appropriate skills around executive functioning - i.e. it is age appropriate (but not condoned) for a 2 year old to hit out of frustration, but not a 12 year old... It is age appropriate for a 5 year old to refuse to engage with your weird relatives or be picky about food, but not a 15 year old...<br /><br />But people on the spectrum have their own developmental paths, and so applying "age appropriate" expectations on behavior can go terribly wrong (both in terms of over and under expectations). But when dealing with mainstream schools and even the justice system, these expectations are all around us, and woe to the kid who violates them...Siobhan Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02960704034195667206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-18498493020240917632016-07-17T14:26:46.182-04:002016-07-17T14:26:46.182-04:00I was in an "autism practicum" program i...I was in an "autism practicum" program in college, and as part of it spent some time in an ABA-focused preschool program as an assistant aide. I could go into MANY things I wouldn't do if I were in charge of that program, but one that stuck out to me was when I found out from one of the aides that before I started working there the classroom had one of those wallpaper borders with the alphabet written on it, but they'd taken it down. When I asked why, I was told that some of the kids had been "stimming" on the alphabet so they took it down (I'm not 100% clear on what that means -- I guess they were reading letters and getting distracted from whatever they were supposed to be doing educationally at the time). I asked the aide if they'd considered teaching the kids (mostly non-speaking) to read/write so they could communicate better, if they were that personally motivated to work with letters, and the aide told me that "4-year-olds don't read," and that we didn't want the kids reading ahead of their peers when they eventually went to mainstream kindergarten (which was the goal of this specific preschool program). Sigh. :(Andihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16915207420603630541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-62876754700032012952016-06-06T20:43:54.278-04:002016-06-06T20:43:54.278-04:00Very, very true. (I know I get different things fr...Very, very true. (I know I get different things from Diane Duane's Young Wizards series at 23 than I did at 16, and from Tamora Pierce's various series at 23 than I did at 11 when I first found Alanna: The First Adventure.)Alyssahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06413844178426365789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-2798611824436302192016-06-06T08:47:37.723-04:002016-06-06T08:47:37.723-04:00Yes!
They might very well feel Sportacus is just ...Yes!<br /><br />They might very well feel <i>Sportacus is just like me</i> especially for the seekers.<br /><br />My favourite LazyTown person is Stephanie.Adelaide Duponthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01490123934889071074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-13502476996928126832016-06-05T22:15:52.472-04:002016-06-05T22:15:52.472-04:00Another thing; one can like something a younger ki...Another thing; one can like something a younger kid would like but get something more adult out of it. <br />Spoiler alert for Disney's Frozen:<br />Take Disney's Frozen, for example; younger NT kids may see Elsa, but mostly get a kick out of Ana's story and how she falls in love with Kristoff and tries to persuade Elsa to end the eternal winter. An autistic or otherwise neurodivergent adult, on the other hand, might watch that same movie, pay closer attention to Elsa's much darker story than the kid (and possibly be moved either to tears or close to them by the song "Let It Go"), and see a powerful tour de force rich with metaphors for living with traits that they have been forced to hide and been attacked for, as well as what happens when you finally get accepted and don't have to hide anymore. That same adult may also understand the deeper messages behind Ana's story and realize that Hans is a highly manipulative shithead like many people who end up abusing their spouses. In fact, the adult might realize that before Hans openly reveals how bad he is (like be sure he tried to kill Elsa on purpose, for instance). How many 4-year-olds see any movie that way, even a children's movie?<br />This may be true to a lesser extent even of kid's shows. Take LazyTown, for example. Little kids see Sportacus as a superhero and Robbie Rotten as a villain, but I see Robbie as a bad little schoolyard bully boy type person of indeterminate age in a man's body, and Sportacus as a friendly and hyperactive, allistic but possibly neurodivergent, character who needs to move so bad his stims consist of Olympic-level exercises and for whom sugar is Kryptonite rather than the pleasure food it is for most people. I also think, given what happens during the episode in which Sportacus "takes a vacation" from exercise at the request of the children, that he would not last 5 minutes of ABA therapy, given that it is his habit to sneak exercise the minute the kids turn their backs.<br />Speaking of which, I sort of head canon Sportacus as being a person with SPD who was raised in a health-obsessed family, and they tried and failed to curtail his movements because he was too much even for them; by the time he was 8 or so, they simply accepted him.<br />You know, that might be a good story to tell kids with SPD, so they don't feel alone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09928354882099364044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-27750474797844091492016-06-01T21:51:43.067-04:002016-06-01T21:51:43.067-04:00That definitely works!That definitely works!Alyssahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06413844178426365789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5426050656197929065.post-59829623180386447612016-06-01T19:30:39.927-04:002016-06-01T19:30:39.927-04:00Sometimes I use "developmentally appropriate&...Sometimes I use "developmentally appropriate" for the defensive version. As in, <br /><br />"it's not developmentally appropriate to expect a 2 year old to sit at a table for that long" or <br /><br />"it's not developmentally appropriate to punish a 4 year old after school for hitting her teacher in school 5 hours earlier."<br /><br />Nightengalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01750985645821551827noreply@blogger.com