Living Well With Autism
- Welcome
- Coping
- Autism handbook
- Meal time tips
- Bed time tips
- Play and engagement tips
- Communication Tips
- How to Use Picture Cards and Schedules
- Pragmatic Language Visual Helpers
- Sign Language Visual Helpers
- Behaviors picture cards
- Eloping picture cards
- Self Care Visual Helpers
- Food Visual Helpers
- Bedtime Picture Cards and Schedules
- Cooking Visual Helpers
- Restaurant Visual Helpers
- Dentist Visual Helpers and Tips
- Beach Picture Cards
- Speech Therapy Picture Cards
- OT and Sensory Picture Cards
- Therapeutic Horseback Riding
- Saint Patrick's Day
- Mardi Gras Picture Cards and Activities
- Easter Picture Cards and Activities
- Halloween Picture Cards and Activities
- Thanksgiving Picture Cards and Activities
- Christmas Picture Cards and Activities
- Holiday Picture Cards
- How to Use Social Stories
- Travel and Holidays
- Special interests
- Safety tips and abuse prevention
- Online Resources
- Contact Mary
OT and Sensory Helpers
Children respond differently to activities. You may find that swinging or pulling a wagon is calming and helps your child concentrate. Chewing gum may help with focus. Experiment to discover what your child likes best.
A skilled occupational therapist can help you with ideas and develop a "sensory diet" for different situations and needs. Using picture cards in an OT session can help keep your child on track and build competency. In addition, here are several ideas to try: Download Sensory Diet PDF.
Learn more about sensory integration by reading The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder by Carol Stock Kranowitz. I highly recommend it, as well as its companion volume, The Out of Sync Child Has Fun.
Tactile Sensory, Fine Motor Activities, Pre-Writing Activities
Make your own rice and beans play box for appealingly unsticky, indoor play (good for tactile defensive youngsters)Sand play
Water play, water table
Play with shells, rocks
Shaving cream
Tub finger paint
Cooking
Paint with pudding
Play with frosting
Play doh or putty
Rice and beans box
Gardening
Use big tongs or tweezers
Snip marshmallows
Dye eggs
Magnets on cookie sheet
Dry-erase board on wall
Felt board
Mr. Potato Head
Spray bottles
Magnet wand & chips
Magna Doodle
Velcro Fruit/Veggies
Rapper Snappers
Lock & Latch puzzle
Ink Stamps
Write on a mirror with markers (we used a big, full-sized mirror for this, mounted on wall of play room). You can also paint on the mirror with shaving cream.Vestibular/Balance Activities
Helps child to balance.
Trampoline (try a mini, floor version for indoor home use)
Alerting Activities
Can help energize or allow your child to focus. Can be useful at school.
Bounce on exercise ball
Cold water sips
Lemonade
Crunchy foods.Visual Motor and Processing Activities
Slant boards can be provided at school as an IEP accommodation, if needed.
Have your child's visual motor skills professionally assessed (may be done as part of a school-based evaluation).
- Try a slant board
Bowling
Golf
T-ball
Flashlight tag
Fiber optic lamp
ViewMaster reels
Glitter wands
Sign language
Photo albums
- Try a slant board
Oral Motor Activities
These fun activities can help improve your child's speech and eating abilities, and can also be calming. Ask your child's speech therapist for suggestions, or observe the speech therapy sessions and do the activities at home.
Straws to suck and blow
Popsicles
Lollipops
Gum, chewy candy
Tubing
Bubbles (stock up on these in the spring and summer)
Blow games (Integrations)
Whistles
Facial massage
Vibration; jigglers
Nuk brush
Electric toothbrushCalming Activities
These calming activities are also good, wind-down, night-time activities
Lotion massage
Towel rub down
Vibration
Brushing
Joint compressions
Bean bag chair squish (or use sofa cushions, pillows -- be gentle)Rocking chair
Weighted pads (use for short periods with guidance of an occupational therapist)Exercise ball rolling
Time in an indoor play tent
Blowing bubbles (good stress-buster!)
Bath
Organizing Activities, Heavy Work and Proprioreceptive Work
These activities help ground a child and can be a good addition to his school day. Ask your child's occupational therapist for suggestions.
Fidgets, squishy balls
Running
Climbing on a gym
Chewy food, gum
Chewy toys
Ball seat, cushion
Theraputty
Swinging
Lycra swing
Snug clothing
Weighted items
“Heavy work”
Biking
Climbing wall
Clay press
Squeeze bottles
Trapeze
Wheelbarrow Walk
Resistance Bands
Sit and Skate
Scooter Board
Hike in the woods
Walk on pillows
Trudge in snow
Walk dog on leash
Tug of war
Crawl through tunnel
Ice skating
Swimming
Ball pool
Crash pad
Pillow Mountain
Lycra tunnel
Bean bag catch
Laundry basket sled (drag your child around the house (not uphill or downhill!) in a laundry basket. Even better, stuff the basket with towels after your child is comfortably seated. They love this.
Hugs!