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Welcome to S-O-S Best of the Best (BoB), Edition 2. The topic is social and play skills. We have a total of 17 bloggers participating this month: 11 participated last month, and 6 are new to BoB. Of the 17 bloggers, 6 are official Best of the Best Bloggers!
It is very important to develop social and play skills in children with special needs. Research shows that just one friend can help a child avoid loneliness and depression. These skills are very difficult to teach and parents often feel confused and alone. This edition focuses on social and play skills and posts are divided into observations by parents and treatment options. The posts are presented in alphabetical order by topic within these two groups.
Parental Observations
- Best Friend. Kay Marner presents All My ADHD Daughter Wanted was a “Normal” Friend at ADDitude. Kay uses humor to express her frustration with how her daughter, Natalie, is treated by her previous best friend, while acknowledging, “The rational part of me knows that it would be hard — really hard, at times — to be Natalie’s friend.” (This post is a follow-up to Kay Marner’s Insight into Her Daughter’s Friendships posted at Help! S-O-S for Parents.)
- Different Perspective. Gavin Bollard presents Accepting the Child who Doesn’t Engage During Play posted at Life with Aspergers. Gavin explains varying levels of play of children on the autism spectrum and how this play differs from their peers. But rather than being concerned, Gavin is able to use his experience as an adult with Asperger’s and shed some light on play that typically concerns some parents. Gavin presents a perspective that we parents should be grateful to have and he shares, “It would however be a mistake to presume that I wasn’t engaged in some form of play – and usually, that play was ‘inside my head’.”
- Friendships. Kim Wombles from Countering… presents Sarah Ann Maybley: Friendship Club Rules. This is a ten chapter novel Kim wrote for her girls to help them with social skills. Kim says the story “is an only slightly exaggerated look at our family from [my daughter's] perspective.“
- Humorous. Jennefer presents The Blanket Trick posted at The King and I. Tongue-in-cheek, Jennefer shares how she is able to get more interaction out of her son while they spend time under his blanket. Not all is perfect under the blanket, but Jennefer seems to have figured it out: “Given the limited space, the heat and need for regular air breaks I tend to focus on his speech.“
- Imaginative Play. Sarah Schneider presents Redirection posted at Kitaiska Sandwich. Sarah has a beautiful post talking through her feelings about her son’s obsessive and repetitive play in contrast to his lack of pretend play. As she explains, “We also tried to limit the time he spent doing his favorite activities: counting, writing letters and numbers, watching digital clocks and timers, reading the same few books over and over again.” Read what she concludes about her observations.
- Playground. Shannon des Roches Rosa presents Leelo and the Children on the Merry-Go-Round posted at Squidalicious: The Adventures of Leelo and his Potty-Mouthed Mom. Shannon’s son begged to go to the playground but she was reluctant because “I don’t trust other children to be kind to him.” A YouTube video will show you what happened.
- Social Eating Behaviors. Barbara Boucher presents Social Aspects of Eating and Feeding posted at TherExtras. In her typical creative writing style, Barbara recounts a lunch out with her mother and others from an assisted living center. Find out how Barbara was “struck by the similarities between this small group and a group of children with disabilities.“
- Social Interaction. Lisa Quinones-Fontanez presents Child’s Play posted at Autism Wonderland. Lisa observes her son in numerous social situations and his inability to engage in play activities with other children. She shares, “It hurts because I feel like maybe he’s missing out on something special. That he’s being cheated out of the joy of just being a kid.“
Treatment Options
- Clubs. Patty presents Social Skills posted at Pancakes Gone Awry. Patty starts by saying, “For at least the last year I have been mulling over how I could best teach Danny good social skills. It’s a lot trickier than I initially thought it would be.” She shares the things she has tried in the past with their results. Find out Patty’s new solution for helping her son improve his social skills.
- Communicating Partners. Pia presents Naughty Notes posted at The Crack and the Light. Pia insightfully shares her concerns about her son’s delayed social skills. In response to her concerns with the traditional way of addressing language delays she says, “Teaching a child to talk, to ‘respond’, is one thing…. teaching a child to become socially engaged and communicative is something entirely different.” Read about Communicating Partners and their approach to teaching these skills.
- Multiple Social Strategies. Hartley Steiner presents 9 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Social Skills posted at Hartley’s Life with 3 Boys. Hartley has tried many strategies for teaching social skills to her boys and we are fortunate that she is sharing nine that have worked for her. Hartley reveals that “One of the most beneficial things I have done is take my oldest son to formal Social Skills classes.” Hop over to her post to read more about this and her eight other suggestions.
- Opportunities for Social Engagement. Kate presents “You can hardly tell he has autism!” posted at The Denver Autism Wheel. Kate lists a number of real-life social situations that she uses to provide her son with social opportunities. Kate concedes that helping her son with social interactions is difficult, because as she puts it, “…how do you do social skills training for someone who doesn’t ‘look disabled’?”
- Play Dates. Yuji Fukunaga presents Working at Play posted at Hanabi Boy. Yuji shares what goes into a successful play date and the difficulty of finding appropriate play mates for his son. Yuji summarizes, “And so, my wife, especially, worries that Kai will grow up without having any friends.” Yuji also reveals the difficulty of finding the time to fit in play dates and social groups as his child gets older and school demands increase.
- Playgroup. Trish Doerrler presents An Update on the Psychologist—Joining a Playgroup posted at Another Piece of the Puzzle. Trish provides the latest on her son’s visit to his psychologist. About a year ago, the psychologist suggested that Trish’s son join one of the psychologist’s playgroups and Trish shares, “Over the past year, he has definitely shown some progress…” Read more to find out what areas have shown progress.
- Sensory Play. Joy Smith presents Sensory Play posted at Joy’s Autism Blog. Joy explains sensory play and presents specific examples to stimulate some of the senses and help avoid boredom during play. Joy shares, “My kids love to use shaving cream as a finger paint, you can also try whipped cream or pudding if you’re worried about a child trying to eat the artwork.“
- Social-Communicative Skills. Tiffani Lawton presents Teaching Life Skills—A Must, by Sensational Mama, Lori Cirrarelli written by Lori Cirrarelli and posted at OUR Journey THRU Autism. Lori initially talks about the importance of learning life skills and then moves onto teaching social-communicative skills. A number of resources are provided and Lori concludes, “I try to make every day life situations into learning opportunities for growth.”
- Social Skill Autopsy. Danette Schott presents Social Skill Autopsy and How it Can Help Improve Your Child’s Social Skills posted at Help! S-O-S for Parents. Danette defines Social Skill Autopsy and what it is and what it is not. As an extra plus, Rick Lavoie, a lecturer, author, and consultant who coined the term, was interviewed and he shares, “A significant body of research indicates that social competence (not academic skills) will be the ultimate determining factor in the success and happiness when these kids become adults.”
A BIG thank you to all the bloggers for your submissions and support! Please tweet this post, reference it on Facebook, and mention it on your blog. Let’s work together to promote each other. If you have not received your BoB button, just ask and you will also be included on the list of the Best of the Best Bloggers!
Future BoB topics are listed in the right-hand column of this blog, right below the BoB button. To help bloggers plan their time, I will list a minimum of two months’ topics. Submissions are always due on the 13th of each month, for a publication date here on the 15th. Submissions must have been written within the last 30 days of publication. All bloggers are welcome (one post per blogger, please). Submissions can be sent to dmschott at pacbell dot net.
Previous BoB Posts
Disclaimer: Please note, the opinions expressed in each referenced post in S-O-S Best of the Best are entirely that of its author and the inclusion of these posts does not constitute an endorsement by me, Danette Schott. The S-O-S Best of the Best was renamed from the Carnival of S-O-S.
About Danette Schott, M.A.
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