Your child or someone you love just received a diagnosis of Autism. Not only are you trying to comprehend what was just told to you, but at the same time, are trying to juggle the next few weeks of meetings, services that you are granted (if your state or country provides any) and what overall is best for your child moving forward? There is so much to do and hardly any time to do it. Not to mention, trying to find time to deal with the emotional component that comes along with all of this. `You have so many questions and yet, not enough answers.

I often think about a question a parent once asked me. This question is one of the reasons I created Aut 2 Bee Learning. It’s a question that I think MANY parents ask themselves, especially if their child is in need of more teaching, but for whatever the reasons, finding providers and services in your town, city, state or country are difficult. It’s a question that many have a different answer to. It’s a question that I think is important for any parent that has a child with Autism. The question is: “Can I be a teacher for my child too?”

One of my favorite questions ever asked to me was about what types of toys would be good for their child who has Autism? This week’s Buzz Blog will speak about the toys and activities that I personally feel have been useful over the years of teaching and that I continue to use and why? As you know, there are MANY toys and activities out there to choose from. Many of those toys have embedded learning opportunities within them and some that are limited. hen talking about activities and toys, I will be writing today about some of the toys and activities that, in my opinion, really enhance learning and provide great opportunities to teach different skill sets based upon my experience over the last 20 years.

I had a parent tell me a story once about a fundraiser event that had raffle baskets to win and how nice the event was that she and her husband attended. They went on to say how they won a “sports basket” that included some equipment, clothing, coupons and a free registration voucher she could use to sign their child up for a particular sport. After telling me all about how neat it was to win this basket, she asked me if I knew anyone who could use this? She went on to say that she doesn’t feel she could use any of these things she won for her children and that she didn’t think that playing sports was anything that her children could be a part of in her community because of the support they needed.

I planned the timing of this buzz blog for a very specific reason. Depending on where you live, there may be a lot of young children with a diagnosis of Autism who receive Early Intervention Services that will be ending before the new school year starts. With this being said, you are probably having meetings with your school district about options and openings in various schools, hearing a lot of information and being encouraged to tour different schools as soon as possible because openings for specific school programs can be limited. I have experienced this time of year with many parents for years and know this chapter all too well. This can be EXTREMELY OVERWHELMING and frankly REALLY SCARY for parents who have children with special needs.

Many parents that I have taught and worked with over the years would ask me, “Do you have any suggestions about how I should organize my child’s toys?” “Are there any ways that you can suggest so that when you are teaching and when you leave for the day, my child can still continue to learn and play?” I have been asked this question a lot over the last 20 years of teaching. Anyone who knows me and has worked with me, knows that one thing that I love is to be organized.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have activities or several toys that you had purchased long ago, and they are still in the box or original packaging not even opened yet? Have you ever opened a new activity for your child and see that they do not have any interest in playing with it the way it was designed to be played with?

Haircuts for a lot of people, especially people with a diagnosis of Autism, can often be a source of stress because of the steps involved in completing this process. My goal in this blog, is to show you how you can make this process easier by discussing with you how to assess the areas that pose challenges and how to break these steps down into parts, so that you can help your child learn to tolerate and accept this process willingly.

In in my over 20 years of being privileged to have worked with so many children and their families, I have met very FEW children that enjoy this simple event that most of us so often look forward to every 4-8 weeks, I know I certainly look forward to having it done.