Sharing recipes, crafts and frugal living, the challenges and triumphs of parenting a neurotypical child and a child on the Autism Spectrum. Yoga Instructor said goodbye to her nightly glass of Chardonnay to give up habits that were not serving her purpose in life! The CocktailMom name remains, however with a new focus on healthy and authentic living.

1/23/2009


We are attending a birthday party for the son and daughter of a very dear friend of mine tomorrow. Her son is also on the autism spectrum and I knew I wanted to make him something that I wish I knew about when Logan was 3. So I made him a picture book. It's another tag book style, can you tell I am in love with these? The point of the book is to help Luke with language and cognitive thinking. When looking at the pictures the idea is to ask him questions like "where does a sea horse live?" Some children will point to the picture and say "there". Instead you want to teach him to answer "in the water/ocean/fish tank" etc. Another way to use the book is to have the child make up stories about the image they see, this is a major challenge for kids on the spectrum. And of course after working with the child he will then remember what the word seahorse looks like and will begin identifying that word in other stories and books...the start of reading for some kids on the spectrum. I took all the photos in the book and printed them on matte photo paper, so finger prints will never show, and adhered it to card stock. It's held together with a binder clip and the ribbon adds a bit of flare. I hope Luke likes his special book and that it helps him and his parents navigate the spectrum.

2 comments:

annasoc said...

Gretchen, this is an awesome thing. You should make and sell these (if the idiotic legislation will allow that). I think they would be a great gift for any child.
Anna

Doodlebug said...

Thanks for entering the giveaway! Be sure and post about it here to qualify!

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