2009 National Autism Awareness Month (NAAM)

Ideas for Community Outings and Events

Teachers: Planning a field trip?

1. Provide visual supports, such as a schedule of the day, a destination photo, and a social narrative about the day including the bus ride and possible activities in which the child may participate. Try to prime the child (prepare him for the day) and provide as much structural support (rules, routines, boundaries) as possible.
2. Check with parents to see if the child frequents the destination and if there are any routines the child has for the destination. 
3. Provide fidgets (things to squeeze, spin, etc.) or comfort toys when needed.
4. Keep an extra outfit handy (in case of an accident).
5. Take snacks and drinks along with you. Sometimes a snack can help calm a child.
6. Send home photos of the student with updates on how the trip went, along with the visual supports you used successfully. This may encourage parents to visit the destination again with their child.
7. If you are eating out, allow picky eaters to bring a sack lunch and bring money to try something new if they choose. Remember to prepare communication systems for ordering food.
   

Parents: Planning a vacation?

1. Prepare your child in advance. Share information with your child about the place you will be going by showing pictures or maybe reading a book about the place.
2. Create a schedule of the activities you will be doing. Make sure to add the possibility of changes in the schedule because of inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances.
3. During travel, provide fidgets (things to squeeze, spin, etc.) and comfort toys.
4. Map your travels and allow your child to monitor locations on the map.
5. Provide advanced notice of when you will be getting out of the car to stretch, eat, visit a site or people, or take a rest. Illustrating stopping points or rest stops on the map can help.
6. Allow your child to select a location of interest to visit along the way. Maybe a souvenir can be obtained as part of the stop.

Parents: Doctor and dental visits?

1. Call ahead for a non-dental/doctor appointment to introduce your child to her doctor and to familiarize her to the environment and tools each specialist may use.
2. Write a script, schedule, or story that outlines the examination process provided by the doctor.
3. Allow your child to bring a comfort object with him to the visit.
4. Follow the visit with something that is rewarding to your child. Show the reward using a picture on a First-Then (first we go to the dentist, then we go ….) chart.
5. Go to the library and select some books about visiting the dentist or doctor to read before the visit. Bring the books with you for the visit or pre-visit to compare pictures of items to the real tools in the office.
6. Use a feelings chart or pictures for your child with limited verbal skills to express how she might feel prior to and following her visit or when reading a book about visiting the dentist or doctor.

Any community outing or event (shopping, haircuts, ball games, restaurants, etc.) can encompass many of these ideas. Remember to always prepare your child/student. Provide all visual supports necessary. A community outing shouldn't be stressful for a family or for school personnel. There are supports that can make your outings more manageable and enjoyable.

To find more ideas and ways to create a "stress free" outing, visit OCALI’s Lending Library for resources such:

• Making Visual Supports Work in the Home and Community by Jennifer L. Savner & Brenda Smith Myles
• Developing Leisure Time Skills for Persons with Autism: A Practical Approach for Home, School, and Community by Phyllis Coyne, Colleen Nyberg and Mary Lou Vandenburg
• Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Recreation by Phyllis Coyne and Ann Fullerton
• Out and About: Preparing Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Participate in Their Community by Jill Hudson and Amy Bixler Coffin

Tips for Helping Peers Be Friends with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

1. Find out what the person is good at or enjoys and show him you enjoy that too. For example, if the he likes strings, show him all the cool things you can do with strings.
2. Sometimes your peer with ASD may need pictures or written guidelines to help him/her understand what your game is about or how to play it.
3. Be patient with your peer that has special needs. Sometimes it takes her a little longer to understand how to do something.
4. Smile and greet your peer everyday. Remember, that he may not say hello the same way you do. That's ok. There are different ways to say hello!
5. Understand that your peer may have difficulty with sharing and taking turns. Sometimes a visual reminder or a timer helps him know when he needs to give you a turn.
6. Use a "whisper voice" if your friend is sensitive to loud voices or noises. 
7. Accept that your friend may talk with you not by using her voice, but through pictures, a speech device, or sign language. Ask her to show you her speech device or to teach you sign language.
8. If you are working in a group where each student has a role (ie: time keeper, recorder, etc.), make sure that your peer with ASD has been given a role too. 
9. In the classroom, encourage your peer to participate with you in role-play, debates, and readers theatre that offer content specific, scripted practice of social scenarios. 
10. Think of what your friend likes to do and invite him to your house for a fun time! Have a couple of activities ready that you think your friend might like. You might need to follow his lead at first until he is comfortable at your house.
    

For further information about friendship and autism, visit OCALI’s Lending Library for resources such as:

• Intricate Minds II: Understanding Elementary School Classmates with Asperger Syndrome DVD by Dan Coulter
• Sundays with Matthew by Matthew Lancelle & Jeanette Lesada
• Andy and His Yellow Frisbee by Mary Thompson
• My Best Friend Will by Jamie Lowell & Tara Tuchel
• Circle of Friends: People with Disabilities and their Friends Enrich the Lives of One Another by Robert Perske

Supports for Families of Children on the Autism Spectrum

1. Recognize you are not alone and look for support. It is always okay to ask for help.
2. Take care of yourself and do things you enjoy! Remember, autism is just one part of your life.
3. Celebrate the uniqueness of your child!
4. Share information with family members, such as therapies/interventions being used, changes in behavior due to biological differences (ie: sleep patterns) or school success stories.
5. Remember the siblings. Make sure you are supporting them and spending some alone time with them. The times that you feel they aren't getting enough attention, enlist help from relatives, friends, and neighbors to spend some special time with them.
6. Laugh often! Humor is the best medicine. You must keep your sense of humor through this journey.
7. Help your family learn about autism. Share books, DVDs and other resources related to autism spectrum disorders. Introduce them to the OCALI website and encourage them to become a patron of the OCALI Lending Library or the Autism Internet Modules (AIM).
8. If you have to go away on a trip, make a calendar showing when you will return. Leaving a familiar object can offer comfort to your child. Call him daily or send him an email.
9. Involve your child in household chores. Use visual supports to increase independence, such as pictures of a fork, knife, and spoon in the bottom of the silverware drawer or photos of toys or clothes on the shelves and drawers where the items belong. 
10. Plan family outings and vacations that consider the needs of your child on the spectrum. In case someone in the family needs a different plan for the day, think about bringing a friend, relative, or caregiver to carry out alternative plans with that person.
    

To learn more about family supports, visit OCALI’s Lending Library for resources such as:

• All About My Brother: An 8 Year Old Sister's Introduction of Her Brother Who Has Autism by Sarah Peralta
• Autism: Heartfelt Thoughts From Mothers by Judy Lynne
• Asperger Syndrome in the Family: Redefining Normal by Liane Holliday Willey
• Supporting the Families of Children with Autism by Peter Randall and Jonathan Parker
• The Ride Together: A Brother and Sister Memoir of Autism in the Family by Paul & Judy Karasik
• Top Ten Tips: A Survival Guide for Families with Children on the Autism Spectrum by Teresa Cardon
• Understanding Brothers and Sisters with Asperger Syndrome: Four Siblings of Different Ages and Their Parents DVD Coulter Video

Celebrating Gifts and Interests

1. Use your child’s/student’s strengths, skills, talents, interests, and gifts and build on them!
2. Share with others the individual’s strengths, special interests, and supportive strategies.
3. Have a "get to know my interest" bulletin board. Celebrate the day by learning about each child's interest and allowing the child to share his/her interest. By having each student showcase his/her interest, it allows the individual with autism an opportunity to interact positively with peers and adults.
4. Support your child/student by helping develop talents and reinforce special interests, through lessons, community trips, special activities, etc.
5. In the classroom, build special interests into math, reading, social studies, etc.
6. Allow time to focus on an interest. This can help an individual relax and feel comfortable in stressful situations.
7. Motivate your child/student to learn and perform a new skill by incorporating interests.
8. Help your child/student feel important by encouraging him to use his gifts or talents, for example, by singing at a nursing home, helping at an animal shelter, or speaking for a special interest group.
9. Allow the your child/student to spend time enjoying what he/she is passionate about, even if it isn't conventional. Persons with autism have shared that some things are just cool.
   

To learn more about celebrating gifts and interests, visit OCALI’s Lending Library for resources such as:

• Power Cards: Using Special Interests to Motivate Children by Elisa Gagnon
• "Just Give Him the Whale!: 20 Ways to Use Fascinations, Areas of Expertise, and Strengths to Support Students with Autism by Paula Kluth
• I Am Utterly Unique: Celebrating the Strengths of Children with Asperger Syndrome by Elaine Marie Larson