Had a nice fortnight long winter vacation. However with the OCD about autism, the vacation and after effects also centered around it. First the vacation per se.

Five days in Mumbai (had personal work) the high points being Esselworld, Elephanta Caves and a visit to Shirdi for regards to Sai Baba. Adi coped up well even with the formidable Mumbai local trains, with a few friends helping out on the best times and routes to take. Esselworld was fun too, though we had to settle only for the family rides. The water kingdom was fun and soothing after the rides. Incidentally, one of the de-serviced Navy ships, INS Prahar is now docked in Esselworld. Elephanta caves and the motorboat rides in the sea were fun too. The high point of the Mumbai trip was meeting Darshana and her family, a fellow parent from US.

Then a week at Kerala as a part of a package deal. Kerala with its beaches and greenery was really as beautiful as projected by their savvy tourism department. Adi had a ball at the beaches (Alas, Mumbai beaches are not the same as south). One small tip. While lolling in the waves, it is ideal if the kid faces you rather than the sea. For one he is less scared of the waves, and secondly, it avoids accidental gulping of the seawater from the high tide waves. After a while, it was an effort to wean him away.

On to Chennai and Pondicherry for 3 days for some personal work. (Ages -last here in 89- since visited the native). En-route was the world famous crocodile farm, an animal which fascinates Adi. And they allow you to hold a baby croc! And Pondicherry had his favorite God (Ganapati) temple. High point of Chennai trip was an opportunity to meet Team Jambav, and thank them for the wonderful job they do, filling some movements of joy with tailor-made games for our kids. And we managed to meet another fellow parent Bala Murgan  and his family. The way Sai (his son) does complicated jigsaw puzzles within seconds is something seen to be believed. Perhaps no better example of splinter skills in autism. (Thanks Bala Murgan and Darshana, it was fun to interact with our fraternity).

 The main point of the blog  (apart from diary entries for posterity-  am told that on line diary was the original purpose of blogs, though now it is a different ball game, sometimes more akin to battlefields!)  was the after effects of the vacation. As suggested by specialists and fellow parents, we had prepared Adi for the trip well in advance and he coped up wonderfully with it, despite the hectic schedule and pace. (Was too hectic for us as well in hindsight. Half the time was spent either in traveling or packing/unpacking). However, towards the fag end (save at Jambav, one of his favorites in any case), he was a tad homesick.

More concerting was that after he came back, he is a bit disoriented at school, with the sitting tolerance , jumping around in the class, and connectivity with people/environment in general  all taking a considerable dip. We gave him time, and he is slowly coming out of the disoriented phase. After a week, when we talked to therapists and Merry Barua in particular the lessons for future were :

 - Packaged trips are not really ideal for kids in the autistic spectrum, even if they are high functioning. While the change intolerance is less noticeable for the high functioning kids, they do get impacted by it, albeit marginally.

 - There ought to be a break after the vacation as well, which would be a re-orientation kind of a phase (rather than back to routine from next day, we with salaried jobs having the Hobson’s choice)

- Thus ideally instead of packaged deals, it would be better to go to just one of two places, and unwind for the rest and recuperation, rather than just bustling around.

- The saving grace was, that we had taken a few of his favorite toys/objects along, which kind of salvaged and limited the damage

- Beach/Sand is fun  and ideal for vacations (More so since its not available here in North)

This is a belated response to Raajgeet blog about the Assault and Battery of Diwali (which was in response to the surfeit of Diwali greetings in IDD yahoo group, wherein I had mentioned that Diwali is assault and battery for our kids, the flip side being the sweets and new cloths, poor compensation I guess). The catch is that due to the sensory defensiveness of our kids, everyday life sensory overload (sounds, lights, smells etc) itself is an ordeal for them. Events like Diwali or say a fish market are the proverbial last straw. Having said that, the sensory overloads are also difficult for us, the neurotypical folks. The difference is that somehow over the years, we learn to tolerate it, and sometimes enjoy it, almost in a masochistic way. One theory for increasing the sensory defensiveness of our kids (i.e. increasing their tolerance levels) is to expose them more and more to the environment. Like I know of a parent of a high functioning kid (now touchwood doing really well in a mainstream school), whose father fastidiously built up the defensiveness. Thus though the kid would get claustrophobic, he would take him to crowded places/markets. Similarly he made the kid eat each and every vegetable, despite the sensory problems of chewing. Needless to add, it was done with a lot of finesse and in a slow gradual way over a long period of time. However the catch in it is not to reach close to the melting point and withdraw before it becomes too much of a stress for the kid. Remember, simple activities are like an inquisition for them, and these fuel them further and makes it more traumatic. This fine balancing act is something only a parent can achieve and is not worth a try even by the best of therapists, for only the parents know their kid the best. IT MAY AGAIN NOT WORK FOR ALL KIDS, ESPECIALLY KIDS WITH SEVERE SENSORY ISSUES, Incidentally, this Diwali, another kid I know of, in a moderate range, finally enjoyed the crackers, and in fact started crying after they were over. As far as my kid goes, he finally was kind of cajoled into sparklers, which he did almost condescendingly (the photo in the media gallery amply illustrates it). Meanwhile an appeal to Raajgeet and all our kids : Forgive those sins which I know, and the sins which I know not; forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all of Thy great goodness. O Lord please forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. Amen

Hi All The well wishers were asking about the absence of posts in the blog. The reason is a pretty good one and worth celebrating. Adi has built such a wonderful rapport with me that he actually eagerly looks forward to my coming back for some horseplay. It is a wonderful feeling, for while he used to become very happy when I’d be back in the evenings, he would play for a while and go back on his own trip. Now it is participative horseplay. Two months ago, I’d have given my right arm for it, and now I find it puts pressure on the net time and my own space. But boy am ecstatic about it. Its been due to the constant efforts of the wife, who has single mindedly worked towards building this rapport ever since he was born . I doff my hat to her, and patience and persistence pays I guess. So I guess the posts, and the yahoo groups would have to be in the Office goofing off time. Another great development was that Adi went to his second movie in four years in a cinema theatre, and despite our trepidation and skepticism, it went off well. (The first movie was Hanuman, ( an animation movie based on an Indian mythological god, who is the favorite of all kids, my kid being no exception- so no issues on that occassion). This one "Lage Raho Munnabhai" (a recent Hindi hit) went off even better. For one he seen the original on TV and heard the songs as well (the movie is a sequel). Secondly, well, he is growing up and sitting quietly for three hours, that too in a dark intimidating picture hall is no longer a major issue. Was squealing in delight during the songs and a patient wait thereafter (unfortunately no songs after interval) . Well “Paisa Vasool” (Money’s worth), though at Rs 150 per ticket in the multiplexes, some more holes in an already weather-beaten pocket is the next apprehension.

Despite being a special needs kid, Adi gets his occasional share of admonishments, a common one being Chup Chaap Se Betho (Hindi for sit quietly) and Good Boy ho ke Betho (Sit quietly like a good boy). In a recent regular visit to the toy shop in one of the malls, Adi went about picking up the stuffed toys. We thought it is another one of his lining up rituals. To our pleasant surprise, after seating the toys he addressed tbem and said : Bunny, chup chaap se Bethho. Good Boy banke betho. And carried on the same with the next stuffed toy. We (parents) exchanged glances. Another small tiny step forward in the Mount Everest of pretend play/imaginative play ?

Further to my freeware/shareware related blogs, I'd like to mention about educational software and games by Grey Oltwitt.

Rajendran had informed us in the yahoo groups that Grey Oltwitt is an acronym for Grey Old Twit (real name Simon Hensby), which his ADHD kid called him. In fact he left his job and started developing freeware for ADHD kids and has done a marvelous job. You can find out more about him and his software in his site (which also has downloads) i.e. http://www.greyolltwit.com

The great thing is that the games are totally devoid of any violence etc, which is otherwise common in kids software. Another link which mostly has Grey Oltwitt games, but a few others is http://www.1000islandsschools.org/District/Freeware.htm

The programs I liked were :

• Tell time : 877 KB, an interactive program to tell the time by moving the hands of the clock. (As an optimist I feel that at some point our kids will be able to tell time as well)
• Tidy up: 849 KB : A simple program designed to clear up the mess in a room by way of click of mouse, wherein the objects go to proper places (drawing room etc)
• Doodle Pad : 1572 KB where in one can color by crayons on the objects existing in the stamp directory and simply draw with crayons. There is a provision to import stamps, clip arts as well for coloring into other objects.
• Loose Change : 1178 KB, a program designed to teach the concept of money (sadly in American currency). Will be useful only to kids based in USA.
• Basic Mouse Skills : 422 KB. A primer on mouse navigation, wherein you have to click on a large color square as per the directions, with the size of square keeping on reducing. Would be very useful for simple mouse skills for our kids
• Flashcards : 773 KB. Simple flash cards without the objects drawn. However covers the Dolch syllabus of words (apart from most used words and US primary grade words), thus we would know what words to cover.
• Seans Magic Slate : 583 KB. Apparently a shareware version of a nice painting program. Simple objects and simple usage.
• Sentence builder : 1507 KB. Apparently meant for older kids. Mays suit some high functioning kids, but of no help to me at this stage. Stored away for future.
• Learn Letters : 1106 KB. Click drag of the small alphabet as a jigsaw. Too complicated for smaller kids, and probably not that useful to our kids
• Press a Letter 2775 KB : Simple alphabet program, which is in my view too drab. When the kid presses the alphabet in the keyboard, the required object come up. However will give the kids another go in object and alphabet recognition.
• Maths : Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication and Division (around 700 KB each) nice and simple quiz on the simple arithmetic.
• Music Programs : I could not download the same, possibly due to some error or bug. Hope you enjoy them

 

Children’s books seems to have made significant strides in recent times in India. Would like to suggest a few books, meant for NT kids for kids around 3-6. However, these books have enough visuals and pictures to be of interest for special needs /ASD kids, in India (I’ve not come across any customized books for them in India, and the foreign ones are quite costly). The publishers we liked were Brightsparks : This is a publishing house of children’s books by Tata group. Brightsparks is a Tata Group Company, the books being published by Tata Info media Limited, 414, Veer Savarkar Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025. The website is http://www.brightsparks.in/index.htm. The e-mail is tilho@tatainfomedia.com. They have branch offices at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkatta, New Delhi, Ludhiana, Pune and Vadodara. They have some wonderful books for kids, in the price range of around Rs 40 to Rs 100, and the printing and paper quality is excellent. The primers (most suitable for ASD kids) we would like to suggest are : 1. Pre-School Brightsparks, Mom I’m ready for school, Volume 1, 2, 3 and 4 These are primers, the plus point is that there is a single large photo of the objects (like animals, means of transport etc, i.e more of pictures and less of the written text.and the size is almost the same as of a big flashcard). 2. My own book of pre-number skills. A nice picture book dealing with essential pre-number concepts like matching, sizes, sorting etc. Apart from it, Brightsparks also has a host of story books, and books for slightly older kids. Please check out at the local book shops and “Big Bazzar” outlets as well, for the website does not have the complete catalogue. Another good publisher is Holy Faith International (P) Limited, Gulab Bhawan, 6 Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002. E mail : mbdgroup@vsnl.net, and website www.mbdgroupbooks.com. They also have plenty of nice publications for kids The books we liked were: 1. Wipe & clean abc coloring and writing (wipe and clean book to be used with felt pens and thus reusable) 2. Wipe & clean learn to add and subtract (wipe and clean book to be used with felt pens and thus reusable) 3. Mathematics by Shakuntala Devi, Primer , a book written in consultation with the mathematical genius Shakuntala Devi. It has plenty of pictures while explaining the mathematical concepts. The price ranges are around Rs 50 to Rs 100 or so. Worth a look

P.S

I SHOULD HAVE CLARIFIED THIS EARLIER, BUT AM DOING SO NOW IN VIEW OF THE COMMENTS.  I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING MORE ABOUT BRIGHTSPARKS AND HOLY FAITH BOOKS.  PLEASE CHECK UP FROM THEIR WEBSITE ABOUT ANY FURTHER INFORMATION

Further to the freeware educational software links blog, I’d like to outline some shareware software links. I reiterate that it is meant for NT kids, but are worth a try for the special needs kids as well. The file sizes are around 1 MB and are quite user friendly.

The programs and links are

Kidsware Early learning
Plenty of educational games for toddlers including alphabets, numbers, jigsaw puzzles etc. The catch is that it is a trail version and can be used only 10 times (though can be downloaded again)
http://www.kidwaresoftware.com/early.htm

Kidsware Primary learning
Variant of Early learning meant for slightly older kids. Same trail limitation of ten uses. The link is
http://www.kidwaresoftware.com/primary.htm

Paxton my abcd
Some nice fun and games stuff, the main negative being that the music is too jarring, at least for kids with autism. Another limitation is that it is valid only for 15 days. Thus if the kid gets addicted to it, you would have to shell out $.
http://www.paxtoncat.com.au/index.php?page=download

Coloring software
Nice ones in this link. The plus is soft background music. Another plus is that though they give only four or five picture in the shareware version, there is no time or usage limitation, thus giving the abridged version a permanent shape. The link is
http://www.newfreedownloads.com/find/coloring.html


Hope you like them

Again an appeal to fellow parents to share similar links please

Despite the lack of computer/net saviness, I try to scout around for freeware downloadable educational software for my kid. (Freeware for the uninitiated is software that is available free of cost, and can be downloaded. Shareware gives only a trailer or the download is available for a limited period). The nice thing about freeware is that since it is done for non-commercial interests, the quality is often good, and at times even better than commercial software.

I've been furnishing the download links in the pan Indian autism related yahoo support groups that I'm a member of (Autism India Network and India Development disabilities). Am reproducing these at one place in the blog here in the fond hope that it benefits some other kids as well. All the links below have a size of around 1MB, thus the download time is low, less costly, and takes lesser space in the PC.

Unfortunately the shareware links have a time/use limitation, but luckily are re-downloadable.

Though meant for NT kids, I feel most of these have enough features and visuals to attract the kids with high functioning autism as well. Worth a try in any case I guess as you never know what might interest the kid.

-Sebran's ABC and Little Serban (Freeware)
Link : www.wartoft.nu/software.

Little Serban is for toddlers (I could not download it due to technical hitches) and Sebran's ABC is for slightly older kids, but covers alphabets, word games etc. Nice simple visuals and soft music in the background . (Incidentally the site also has some other downloads like geography lessons etc)

-Markov Kids drawing program ( around 700 KB): (Freeware)
http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/draw.html

Lovely freeware drawing and painting software with plenty for variety.
-Face toon (around 800 KB)
http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/facetoon.html

A simple software wherein the eyes, ears nose etc are to be click dragged on a face, in turn creating a cartoon like character (though often grotesque)
Ten Amazing fruits
http://www.fruitfrolic.com

A variant of facetoon, wherein a fruit is there in lieu of the face. The cartoons created are not grotesque.

I hope this bridges the NT/Special needs dilemma a bit, as these software are for NT kids, which can be used by special needs kids as well. Like NT kids, at least some of them also need variations and newness, and get bored of older ones.

Am putting the shareware sites as a separate blog as this one is turning out to be a wee bit too long.

An appeal to all fellow parents to post about similar freeware/shareware links, which are downloadable.

Thanks to timely suggestions of some experienced therapists, we concentrated on the self help skills of our special needs kid first, deferring the conventional education part for the latter years.

The first of course was toilet training, and we were lucky enough that he mastered it at a respectable age of around three (Though after six months of harsh treatment, a grade higher than what Tinagiovanni had outlined about Sarah , as admonishments and mild whacks were thrown in as well for accidents).

One of the next hurdles we encountered was buttoning and unbuttoning. The catch is that the buttons and buttonholes on the shirts/pants of the kids are too small. Thus it requires a lot of nimbleness and refined fine motor skills. We thus felt it would be better to start off the kid with buttoning and unbuttoning in old winter coats, as these have really large button holes and buttons. This helped him master the concept and the method of doing it. The difficulty level was then slowly increased with the clothes of the parents (which he now manages to), and finally his own pants and shirts (still difficult for him).

Skeptically another related area (though we have not crossed the bridge so far) is shoelace tying. [After all these years, I (father) have not mastered shoe lace tying – it gets undone- and prefer tying the knot on the sides like in sports shoe]. For the time being, Velcro fasteners are an easy (cowardly but practical) way out. There are small wooden toys available in India (brand Little Genius I think), in the range of around Rs 30 to Rs 100 (depending on the size ). These are a flat wooden replica of the shoe sole with holes and laces in place. This would again help the kid with getting the concept of the same, as also avoid tying the same from a contortionist like position in real life situation. Plan to start him on it shortly.

Just sharing our tu-penny suggestions for teaching buttoning and shoelace tying to special needs (maybe even NT) kids – though this might be old hat for many of you.