Parent, Teacher or Both?
Can I be a teacher for my child too? It’s a question that I think is important for any parent that has a child with Autism. 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. The more I speak with parents around the world, the more I am learning how everyone’s experiences are different especially when it involves resources available for children with Autism and special needs. I am seeing an influx of parents showing interest and asking more questions about how they can step in and start teaching during for example, because there aren’t many programs or resources available where they live, when their child has breaks from school and is not enrolled in a summer program, while waiting for a provider to be hired to teach their child at home, teaching your child after a teacher goes home for the day or stepping in to increase the hours your child is taught per day because you feel that the amount of hours they are already getting is just not enough.
Over the course of the last 20 years, the way in which I teach families and their children has always been tailored based upon the needs of everyone involved. Not every student is the same or learns the same and there are times where you have to take the knowledge that the science has taught us and apply it in a way that may involve you thinking out of the box a bit. The more I have worked with students and their families, the more I feel that my answer to the question above is YES! Yes…parents too can be a teacher to their child! Although I always thought and felt this, it was proven to me when the pandemic happened and teaching for all of my students had to be done online. I had to teach parents how to teach their child as if I was in their heads and bodies and as if I was in that house physically with them. I have to tell you, not only was this a success, but I was also in awe with how fantastic the parents I worked with did as teachers when they had the guidance. With guidance, parents learned how to teach modified sign language paired with speech or teach pictures (i.e. PECS) to their child who had no way of communicating functionally. Parents learned how to teach their child how to play cooperatively with them and with toys they had in their environment. Parents learned how to teach their child a replacement behavior to challenging behaviors and parents learned how to teach their child toileting skills. These are only some of the remarkable things I have seen parents teach, there are so many more examples I can give.
This site is geared toward attracting parents and caregivers who want to learn and feel empowered! It’s geared toward parents that want to teach their child more each day so that your child and you can keep growing and learning new things on a non-stop basis. Does it take hard work, commitment and dedication… you bet it does, but as a parent, you are already HARD WORKING, COMMITTED and DEDICATED to doing ANYTHING for your child and that’s why I’m here. That’s why Aut 2 Bee Learning is here…. FOR YOU! Now that we established you too have what it takes to 1… learn more 2…teach your child and 3… keep the learning going, let’s talk about what areas you think you feel you need the most help with when teaching your child? Ask yourself some of these questions:
Do you want to learn more about teaching your child how to communicate?
Do you want to learn more about what Applied Behavior Analysis is and the effectiveness of using this when teaching your child with Autism?
Do you want to learn more about how to teach your child to play with toys the way they were designed to be played with?
Do you want to learn how to teach your child to use the toilet?
Do you want to learn and understand the A-B-C’s of challenging behaviors?
Do you want to learn how to create a routine and schedule at home when you feel your child needs a little more structure?
Are you ready to learn how to teach? Let me know what else you want to learn about? To help me better help you, I created a brief anonymous survey of questions about the topics you may be interested in teaching your child. The information you provide, will help a community of other parents that want to do the same thing you do…GET STARTED, STOP WAITING and START TEACHING! Fill out the survey below and don’t forget to SIGN UP to be notified of the next buzz blog post and upcoming announcements I have planned coming up!