With so much talk about how bad TV is for kids, we often forget that with moderation and RESPONSIBILITY it is possible to use this technology to provide positive influences! Aside from content, there is still debate over the flicker speed on the developing brain. Did you know that some shows and even video game systems were designed to reduce flickering thereby reducing the risks? As a general rule, babies should not be watching TV, but as they get older and the brain is a little bit more mature, watching TV in moderation and under supervision can provide a few benefits!
Children with Autism struggle with understanding language, social stories are great, but sometimes in a complex social situation social stories alone may not be enough, their difficulty focusing their attention tends to be problematic as well….
I am certainly not suggesting that you make a child watch TV. I am suggesting that if your child is already watching TV or frequently trying to, you can use this to help them learn more social skills and practice conversing!
Read on to find out how to turn a few minutes of TV “watching” into a brief therapeutic activity for children with Autism!
Can you use it to augment Speech therapy? Yes and No
You can not simply park the child in front of the TV and hope that since there is speech in the show it will rub off on the child. It just does not work that way. You can however use it together for a little boost in frequency of utterances, or to improve grammar and pronunciation as well as practicing HOW to carry a conversation. Keep in mind that you must be involved and interacting- the TV is only a tool, essentially providing you with topics and visual aids.
To encourage the child to speak…. think of it as if you were at the zoo. The child will not learn to say monkey by staring at the monkey. You must interact with the child as you observe the monkey together, pointing out the actions of the monkey.
If your child is completely non verbal, you may be able to encourage speech by finding a show about a favorite animal or cars (racing etc) and mute it, then say (if you were watching a show about whales) “Look! A Whale!” ” whale” “can you say whale?”. If they attempt a sound, repeat, if they attempt again, reward them by playing the sound for a few minutes (until commercials) and then talk about the whale during commercials, encourage them again to say “whale”. If the child can not unglue their eyes from the screen, consider turning the whole thing off for a minute or two each time you practice! Remember to reward their attempts whether by applauding, tickles, hugs etc or by turning on the sound for a while.
To help a child with more advanced speech skills, find a show that interests them. Either pause or mute and repeat a sentence that a character said, ask the child what that means and have them repeat it too! Have the child recap whatever you have watched at the end and try for some trickier abstracts such as “why” questions as they master the concrete!
Related Reading:
No comments:
Post a Comment