Reading Comprehension in Autistic Children

Autistic or not, there are certain basics about reading comprehension that children need to understand frst.

It’s widely known that autistic children can develop some skills further than other people. Their improved word recognition is one of the reasons why they can learn so quickly, but they also have problems when reading. What does it mean having an impaired reading comprehension?

When reading, your mind usually associates words with images and then turns them into a general idea of what the text or article is trying to say. When there’s an impairment in reading comprehension, you can’t turn those ideas in a context that makes sense, which leads to confusion and misinterpretations of what you’re reading. This worsens if there happens to be an unfamiliar word in the text, making it harder to translate what’s being read into a structured idea.

Another factor that complicates reading for autistic children is the language and communicational skills. It is hard for autistics to understand vocabulary they don’t use (due to their difficulties to express) in their daily routines. This difficulty directly affects in their written language decoding.

Early literacy development requires reading comprehension, and it’s a critical part of learning. As a parent or teacher, it’s necessary to instruct yourself into teaching autistic children effectively.

To help you out, we have a set of steps you can use to help autistic children improve their reading:

1.- Build background knowledge

Before getting into reading, it’s important to assist them showing them concepts and information related to what the children are about to be taught. You need to be the most explicit you can be and avoid leaving anything to the imagination.

2.- Develop mental images

Mental imaging improves the skills of autistic children. Before getting to the subject, try to preview a story using pictures as an example. Encourage their participation by asking them what they see, and if they don’t know, make a short and easy explanation of it. Keep in mind that images are highly efficient and will be determinant to develop associative skills.

3.- Create connections

As they read the contents, help them by creating a graphic organizer so they can sort out ideas and connect with the text. Guide them into making connections. For example, you can explain the meaning behind certain metaphors by putting them as an example.

You could use: “The swan is swimming under the sea,” and then create another sentence saying “I am swimming under the sea,” and create a Venn diagram, with each sentence two sentences. In the center of the two circles add “we swim in the water” and “both places are filled with water.” Guide them carefully when joining of both ideas.

4.- Promote discussions after reading

This part of the process is what children require the most to face reading and communication challenges. Engage children in discussing and ask wh- questions such as: “What do you think happened there?" or “Who was that person?” These questions will help them understand what’s the text all about. Use reciprocal questioning (allowing the children to ask) as a way to approach them. It will engage them into speaking their thoughts regarding the text.

5.- Conclusions after reading

Don’t let the discussion be the end of it. Summarize all information around the text to recall what happened and ask questions about the main idea of the story. This part encourages children to think profoundly about what they just read. It’s important you assist them as it could be hard for them.

As you can see, reading comprehension development requires a little more effort for autistic children. With these tools, there’s no doubt your kids will be able to understand and extract valuable information from texts.

Exercising the mind is mandatory for growing children, but the body also demands some care. If you’re looking for a place for them to train, Autism Soccer will undoubtedly shape them up, both physically and mentally. They are a team of professionals that will assist your children in their growth as individuals. Check their website, and you’ll see!

Before letting your children read something make sure you explained them all concepts and words you can.

---

Facebook: Autism Soccer

Instagram: Autism Soccer

Twitter: Autism Soccer

15165 NW 77 Ave Suite 1005 Miami Lakes FL 33014

Autismsoccer.org

4 Places for Children to Relax

Big places without excessive noise such as parks or playgrounds are good for children to relax and enjoy a good time outdoors.

For parents in general, a calm and relaxed place usually means to be at home: nothing compares to be on your couch watching TV or reading the news with a warm coffee nearby. Children enjoy the calmness of being at home as well, where they can feel free to be themselves and enjoy the commodities their house brings. But you and your children just cannot stay at home all day; there must be alternatives as your kids cannot be staying at home all day.

Children need to see different places and interact with others during their growth; this will prepare them accurately for the world outside. This doesn’t mean you’ll take your children just anywhere; there are places best suited for children to enjoy and discover. Whether your kids have special needs or are non-autistic, check these four places for your children to relax:

• Museums: If your children love being surrounded by numerous artifacts of different natures, the museum is the best place for them. Museums are usually very calm with many displays of objects, both historical and cultural. This is the best place for them to know about the world and have fun in the process.

• Beaches: The perfect choice for sunny days! Give your children and yourself a chance with beaches. You could just enjoy sightseeing while watching your kids play on the shore or join them in the creation of amazing sandcastles.

• Arcades: Nothing like an old-school experience to show your kids the way games were played decades ago. Show them how to catch the ghosts in Pacman or challenge them with a racing game. Arcades are a bonding opportunity for both, take advantage of those timeless games.

• Playgrounds: The standard choice for parents who want their children to have fun safely and inside a structured environment. Playgrounds are just perfectly made for children to be free and just play happily.

These places are just perfect for children to discover how much fun there is when going outside. Choose between those depending on your kids' interests and ask them their preferences before making plans. The importance of selecting a befitting place for your children resides on the positive effects it will have on them, you’ll get a smile at the end of the day as a reward. Autism Soccer is a place you should consider as well; they have the best environment for special needs children to develop many skills needed in their early growth.

If they're comfortable in the place they're in, they might even end up playing with other kids as well.

---

Facebook: Autism Soccer

Instagram: Autism Soccer

Twitter: Autism Soccer

15165 NW 77 Ave Suite 1005 Miami Lakes FL 33014

Autismsoccer.org

Craft Activities for Special Needs Children

Crafting activities help in the process of connecting the mind with the task at hand.

The main reason children feel comfortable in new places is that of the distractions the place might have to offer, this will make the process easier for them to adapt, especially if they are children on the disorder. Several activities do even more than distracting them: they also improve their hand coordination, communicational skills, and cognitive skills. The effect is greater if the activities are based in handcrafting, for those cases, imagination and abstraction are also involved in the process.

Crafting activities are highly helpful for sensitive children as they improve the coordination between their brain and hands, which are the central issue autistic children tend to have in their early stages of growth.

Here’s a list of crafting activities that could help your kids in their early development:

• Clay: this is one of the best choices for your children as clay allows children with autism develop their imagination while improving the hand and brain coordination. Clay playing also helps children to differentiate colors, sizes, and shapes while using their hands to mold and give forms, further increasing their concentration and hand training.
• Blocks: Piling, classifying and sorting is just part of this block construction game. Block constructing is the best tool for motor-visual coordination, cognitive skills and it improves their imagination in the process.
• Sensory Table: as children start to make their first steps and talk, the senses start to hone and develop, and sensory games can further help in this development. Sensory tables are very effective stimuli for children on the disorder as they also create an environment for them to communicate with peers.

In the case of children with special needs, there is always the need to look for alternatives to help them in the process of growing up. The importance of this relies on the fact that children with autism need all the help they can get, and anything you can give them will help their development. Autism Soccer offers a soccer team with special needs children, this allows them to feel comfortable and learn without issues or complications. Make sure you get in touch with them to get more information.

Developing the ability to abstract information from the activities is useful for their brains, making them more aware and smart.

---

Facebook: Autism Soccer

Instagram: Autism Soccer

Twitter: Autism Soccer

15165 NW 77 Ave Suite 1005 Miami Lakes FL 33014

Autismsoccer.org

4 Tools To Improve Their Concentration

Try these tools to help your children in the development of their skills, the effects will be noticeable.

The first skills children learn in the process of growing up are the most important ones in their lives, these are crucial for the following steps they’ll be taking in life. Imagine a building without strong foundations, there’s no possible way for it to stand for long. The same concept applies for children, and even more in the case of Autistic children.

One thing about special needs children is that they have certain difficulties in the development of communicative skills, and this affects their process of adaptation in environments that require social interaction. You can help your children out by teaching them to play certain complex games or how to solve certain problems, don’t believe when people say that autistic children “can’t play this or that”, they’re capable of almost anything if they are interested in the activity itself.

With the following tools, you’ll have your children ready to further develop their skills and have solid foundations for their future:

• Responsibilities: Create the habit of doing certain activities throughout the day in them, responsibilities like cleaning their room, organizing things or helping in the kitchen. Be sure to monitor their activities to avoid any possible accident and in no time you’ll see how they start accepting and getting used to those tasks.
• Play “beat the clock”: Increase their focus by setting them a specific amount of time for each activity they do. Be aware that it might not be easy at first, but with some practice, they’ll be able to beat the timer and carry out tasks faster.
• Sorting activities: A great way to teach your children to be organized and improve their focus is teaching them to sort things following different criteria. Sorting also develops early math skills in children, as they start to count unconsciously while adding and subtracting items.
• Chess: this is a very complex game to learn and even more to master, for both autistic and non-autistic children. Chess is a game that requires a lot of thinking and planning in order to understand the mechanics, but once your children get the hang of it, their concentration skills and memory will improve. Chess serves as an excellent tool for special needs children.

The concentration of children with autism is very high to begin with, they have a good sense of focus when it comes down to making tasks step by step. Like I said, be sure to check on them every now and then to keep control of the progress they’re making. There is a definitive tool out there to help them out in their growth and that is the Autism Soccer initiative: a soccer team with an environment made just for them. Check their website and donate! All contributions help.

Children in early stages of growth are the ones that need all the support and tools you can give.

---

Facebook: Autism Soccer

Instagram: Autism Soccer

Twitter: Autism Soccer

15165 NW 77 Ave Suite 1005 Miami Lakes FL 33014

Autismsoccer.org

Dissociative Identity Disorder on Children

Children who have suffered early traumas in life, can trigger this personality disorder.

Children minds are very fragile in their early stages and due to the fact that this is the time when essential skill are developed, measures must be taken into action to keep an eye and check if things are going they way they should. But we are still far from fully understanding what factors trigger different types of disorder like Autism, Asperger or even dissociative identities.

Imagine the brain like a car and you’re the one who’s driving, and then, with no permission and all of a sudden, you’re taken out of the car and someone else takes control of it. After you recover the car’s control, you’re not able to tell what that other person did when in control: Dissociative Identity Disorder is, to put it in context, about losing control.

The DID is a mind disorder characterized by the presence of more than one distinct personality or identity, and each of those takes control of the person’s behavior for a different lapse of time depending on the situation. Causes of this disorder are due to early trauma, abuse and strong situations lived in childhood. The mind looks for a way to erase these awful experiences and in order to protect the brain when being under abuse: it just shuts off and tries to get away from the situation. In most of the cases, children who were harmed or had a terrible experience usually cannot stand being in that moment.

Dissociative Identity Disorder in children starts presenting when personalities switch and take over. After an episode of switching, the children might not remember anything that happened when another personality took over. This, added to the fact that the personalities do not have a characterized known pattern, makes it very difficult and dangerous to control the children’s behavior.

Children’s young brains are not capable of dealing with complex situations and to defend themselves, they shield the person by dissociating (more like spacing out) them while other personalities appear. This disorder is actually not so common in children, and as it is very recent, (its first diagnosis and documentation were back in 1980) little is known about how the mind splits itself.

It’s impressive how the mind seeks to protect the early brain from anything that might damage it. If you as a parent are aware of the risks your children could be exposed to, avoid the situation and stay within a safe zone. Protect them and always search for ways to help them improve and deal with their problems, seek advice from experts like the ones of Autism Soccer. Contact them to start today.

This is a very complicated disorder that needs continuous checking and support from specialists.

---

Facebook: Autism Soccer

Instagram: Autism Soccer

Twitter: Autism Soccer

15165 NW 77 Ave Suite 1005 Miami Lakes FL 33014

Autismsoccer.org