Happy fall! The baby is 3.5 months and I’ve returned to instructing via substitute teaching. Now that life has settled down my goal is to post more often. Again, if anyone has any activities to share or wants to write a guest post, please contact me! Until next time, here are some links I’ve been wanting … Continue reading
Tagged with Autism …
Decision Making Skills
One of my riders with autism has difficulties making decisions. It is interesting: when asked to make a decision outright, such as “Would you like to lead your horse by the reins or the lead rope?” she has an extremely hard time and takes at least 5 minutes with assistance. It seems she has absolutely … Continue reading
Disabilities Teaching Tips for Therapeutic Riding – 2015 PATH Intl Conf
Today is the last day of the 2015 Path Intl Conference, but by far not my last post. However, instead of posting notes from specific seminars, I’m going to group some of them by theme because I think that would be more helpful. So here are a bunch of notes and tips about teaching specific disabilities. (From … Continue reading
Riders with Autism Part 7 – Teen and Adult Riders with Autism
It’s been a while! Life can do that to you… During this series on autism I got a few requests for ideas for nonverbal teen and adult riders with autism. I think this is a good topic to address. However I don’t have a ton of experience in this area, so I’ve done some research … Continue reading
Riders with Autism Part 6 – Behavior Management and Meltdowns
This is the topic that started my whole research into Autism! I had a rider meltdown, and had no clue what to do… therefore I am so happy to share with you what I’ve learned because it helped me immensely. What do you do when riders have behavior issues or meltdowns? Please leave a comment! … Continue reading
Riders with Autism Part 4 – Teaching Techniques
Now that you’ve got some resources for your lesson plan, here are some resources for teaching techniques on interacting with riders and dealing with specific behaviors. Again, most of this info is from Susan McDowell’s seminar “TOOLS from the AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS SURVIVAL KIT,” and Claudine Pelletier-Milet’s book Riding on the Autism Spectrum. Riders with Autism Part 4 … Continue reading
Riders with Autism Part 3 – Lesson Planning & Activities
Time to talk about the actual lesson! All of these are ideas – you don’t have to do them, they’re just possibilities for what might work with your rider. All these ideas are compiled from the resources listed at the end of the post. In formal essays you should give credit for ideas and quotes, but I … Continue reading
Fun Video Friday: Breaking through autism
This is an interesting story about one boy with Autism. I like how it teaches you can use one’s fixation to teach them about the world, instead of trying to break their fixation. It’s about meeting them where they are at – and not just people with Autism, but everyone in life. I discovered this … Continue reading
Teaching Tips: Social Stories
Social Stories What A “Social Story” is a story used to model appropriate social interaction by describing a situation with relevant social cues, other’s perspectives, and a suggested appropriate response. Why Helps teach students routines, expectations, and behavioral standards in an alternative format (story, visual, etc.) Can be personalized to individual behavioral intervention Particularly helpful/popular … Continue reading
Fun Video Friday: “Imagine What It’s Like to Have High Functioning Autism”
Trying to put yourself in the place of your students is valuable. I think lots of us have struggled with similar things, but maybe not to such an extreme, and finding those little places of contact help you relate to and understand what your students are going through. This is the first time I’ve accurately … Continue reading