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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

Can you please tell me of any problems you have overcome with your SN child

38 replies

anniebear · 12/10/2005 12:03

I go to a SN Toy Library with Grace and Ellie and the other week I mentioned that wouldn't it be great if we had a leaflet that had lots of different problems in that parents have over come with their SN child and how you have done it.

So they said "go on then"!!!

An example.....

I had a terrible time with Ellie, whenever we came home she would scream and scream as soon as we got to the house. I didn't have a clue why she did it. It was mentioned that she may get a bit confused and not really know what she was to do when she came in. Grace would know that she was going to play with her dolls, I would be off to do tea, but Ellie wouldn't be able to think out in her head what she was to do.

It was suggested to us to give her a choice of 3 things, so when we came in and were all bustling round taking shoes,coats off etc she could pick a jigsaw/book etc and keep hold of it whilst she was having her coat taken off, so she had something visual to hold so she knew what she was going to do....it worked, no more screaming/tantrums

I just thought if you could tell me any problems you have had that you have over come, how have you done it.

It would just be a leaflet (no names needed) that would sit in the SN Toy Library that Parents could have a look through if they were having particular problems.

Anything from sleep, behaviour, feeding, an activity they couldn't do etc

Maybe we will get some idea's also!

Thanks

OP posts:

MorticiaMerlot · 12/10/2005 14:08

Cant think of any right now, but I'll have a think

pixel · 12/10/2005 14:18

Me too, it's a great idea!

Original poster

anniebear · 12/10/2005 17:44

Thanks

OP posts:

chonky · 12/10/2005 17:51

Great idea Anniebear. I will try and have a think, nothing springs to mind immediately as there's lots of problems that I'd still like solved myself lol, but will let you know.

chonky · 12/10/2005 17:52

Wouldn't it be good if MN did a book on SN like they've done on pregnancy and babies? I know it's not 'mainstream', but there's hardly any stuff published on day to day life with a child with SN.

bakabat · 12/10/2005 19:34

ok - these are fairly mainstream ideas but they took us ages to be told about them and they work wonder.

countdowns- we use it to limit obsessions (eg currently wanting to go outside and look at the lampost) and to limit naughty behaviour (eg climbing on the playhouse roof- he knows he shouldn't but climbs up and stays out of reach). So I say "countdown then inside 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 inside."
Reduce language "Name sit on seat" rather than "come over here darling and sit on this little seat for a moment".

3)ds1 does quite a lot of refusals- eg refuses to get dressed, runs around naked, or as I get him dressed he gets undressed (and I'm panicking as I know the bus is coming". So I try to pair with something good - I get a half biscuit hold it in front of him and say "name biscuit?" as he reaches I move my hand away and say "dressed first" - and he does! To get him out (and keep him out)of the bath I say "name bath finished then walk with daddy" (he always has a walk after his bath).

Saker · 12/10/2005 19:51

We've found that giving Ds2 something to hold (usually a toy animal in his case) helps him to sit still on his chair at preschool during registration and circle time.

Getting him a Tripp-Trapp style seat with a foot rest instead of an ordinary chair has helped him to sit up better at meal times and stay on his seat.

He is 4 and has dyspraxic type symptons and language problems. I would say these things are related to the dyspraxic / sensory issues he has.

bakabat · 12/10/2005 19:53

oh and when filling in DLA be careful how you record night time activities. They don;t count being up for 20 minutes or less as being up so if you say that you are up for 10 minutes 10 times a night then it won't count. So just add it all together and give one overall total (a SW's tip).

Saker · 12/10/2005 19:54

Oh another one I just thought of. Ds2 has one of those high-backed booster seats in the car so the adult seatbelt goes across it. He has a tendency to slip his arm through the belt so it is not properly across him. We got round this by taking an old t-shirt and cutting the back (but not the sleeves or the collar) out of it and then putting it on over the top of the seat belt. That stops him getting his arm through (and his motor skills aren't up to taking the t-shirt off.)

bakabat · 12/10/2005 19:56

If you're visiting someone check that their upstairs windows are shut (I no longer wait to ask, I go and do it and then come down and tell them what I've done- gives me a chance to check out how easy they are to open anyway, and also whether there's a lock on the bathroom- then I know whether I have to completely shadow ds1 or its safe to leave him whilst I finish a sentence iyswim). Oh and deadlock their front door and check gates etc if the children go into the garden.

CreepyJess · 12/10/2005 19:59

Sleeping at night.. not a total solution but has lead to definite improvement (DS is now 5):

DS would wake frequently and sit/stand and his gate yelling for mum and dad until someone went to him..

On advice of a sleep specialist, we now do not go to him when he calls, but instead, call out a series of pre-agreed words (sleep, night-time, dark, find Pelle!' (his favourite puppet that he sleeps with) This lets him know we are there but also does not give him much in the way of conversation/interaction.. just the same old boring words which mean 'go back to bed!'

More often than not, he will turn round and crawl back to bed and to sleep within minutes so although we are still disturbed, the disturbance is much less for everyone.

doormat · 12/10/2005 20:00

anniebear wot a great ideaBut I also think it would be beneficial to all us mumsnetters too, as it could give us all ideas

My ds has had very sensitive hands since birth, when he was about a 1yo I began to give him hand massages and saying over and over and over again "relax your hands"
He eventually began to explore objects.

When he 18mo and he could not sit up,(the doctors told us he never would) I began to sit him on a saucepan and after awhile he began to sit on his own

Not sleeping at night(dont know whether this will work with other children)ds needs lots of stimulation so I put a video on that he can watch in bed(even in the middle of the night)it sends him straight to sleep

cant think of anymore at mo

CreepyJess · 12/10/2005 20:03

As DS's main mode of transport is crawling, now he is five, he often hurts his knees because of his own weight, especially outside in the summer and when wearing shorts. He also goes through the knees of trousers/dungarees very quickly.

Another mum of an SN child told me that before her DD started walking she used to buy tubi-grip bandages and sew onto them leather elbow patches (which you can buy from C & A fabrics etc). The child can then wear them on their knees when playing outside. They stretch over trousers/jeans too.

I did this, this summer and it helped a lot.

bakabat · 12/10/2005 20:08

oh getting to sleep. We've had terrible problems in the past getting ds1 to stay in his bed- he would appear downstairs as soon as we left him laughing his head off. By 11pm he would be beside himself with tiredness, getting more and more hyper still getting up and shrieking. IN the end we got 2 travel barriers and attached them to his room. They're fabric, so see-through and he takes them as a single for bed and gets into bed. We take the top one down when he;s asleep so he can get out if there's a fire or something(!- he leaps over it easily enough) but if he wakes in the night and won't settle again we put them up. I was really worried he would see it as a prison., but instead he seemed to see it as a visual boundary and accept it as a sleep signal.

Meant to say great idea btw.

Original poster

anniebear · 12/10/2005 20:59

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Keep going!! lol

OP posts:

Original poster

anniebear · 12/10/2005 21:00

I was also thinking of putting a page in it about where to find support

Autism suport group

Meningitis trust, etc etc

and about DLA, Carers allowance, Family fund etc

I'l start another thread for that one though in a few weeks!!!!

OP posts:

coppertop · 12/10/2005 21:07

Ds1 gets to sleep more easily when he has music playing but we didn't want to have to keep checking whether he was asleep and therefore whether he needed the music switching off. Dh bought a wind-up radio that plays for 20 minutes when it's properly wound. It gives ds1 enough time to fall asleep most nights (sometimes he asks for a 2nd winding) and doesn't need batteries or have to be connected to the mains.

wads · 12/10/2005 21:23

lots of warning timewise. In 10 minutes we will stop doing this & do this, then again in 5 mins, again in 2 mins etc. Also for next day activities - Tmrw we are going to see the Dr repeated 10 times during day before.

MorticiaMerlot · 12/10/2005 21:27

ds2 (just 2 years old) wouldnt finger feed at all. So on the advice of SALT we began with cheesy puffs and chocolate buttons. First I put them into his mouth, then a week later into his hand, then onto the tray of his highchair and now he takes the puffs out of the packet himself.

Still not cracked the healthy food though

Also, when I am trying to get him to try a new food. I present him with a toy to play with, so the emphasis is not on what he is eating, very often he will open his mouth for the spoon whereas without a toy it is firmly shut!

Ps. Great suggestion Saker about the CarSeat tip - will have to try that one for myself!

bakabat · 12/10/2005 21:38

oh yes that's a good one wads.

If we're changing route on the way to somewhere I say it repeatedly (for anything not expected). So "Name, round the roundabout then grannya and grandad's house, round the roundabout then granny and grandad's house, round the roundabout then granny and grandad's house"

jenk1 · 12/10/2005 21:40

use a visual timetable- i dont know how we managed before we got one.

DS is 8 almost and has ASD, we bought him one from ebay and its brilliant-he,s so much more relaxed and if he starts feeling anxious about the days things to come we say "look at your timetable" and it calms him down, and also just to add, prewarn him of EVERYTHING from going to the toilet before we go out to brushing his teeth and going to bed

PeachyClairPumpkinPie · 12/10/2005 22:24

I am teaching DS (Aspergers) his letters by getting him to type as he struggles on paper, but is great on a keyboard. That's helping him a lot. The other thing we have done is set up a quiet zone (chair, leap pad) where ds1 can ask to go whenever it gets too much. This area is then kept free of his Brothers until he is ready to leave. Several times lately, instead of hitting out he has asked for his quiet time. That has been excellent and a big success with him!

Bethron · 12/10/2005 22:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

jenk1 · 12/10/2005 23:40

agree with peachyclair about the quiet time, when DS gets over stimulated or anxious he asks to go to our bedroom which is decorated in soft colours and is big and roomy, we set up his gamecube for him or he just watches tv and gets in our bed, we put the baby monitor on so he can ask us for whatever he wants,needs.

We find this very calming for him - and us!

Original poster

anniebear · 13/10/2005 13:26

Thank again

Anyone any idea's with Pre School SN Children

OP posts:

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