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Check out some of my new Teacher websites

5/15/2018

Well it's been a while since I've blogged. I have added a few new website resources on my teacher's page. I hope they prove useful. I will be adding some new pages on transition and employment soon. Keep an eye out .

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Social Thinking Skills

4/28/2014

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What is Social Thinking?
Me + You = Us
Me + You = Us is a simplified version of the complexities of social interactions. "Me" is what we bring to the social situation, which consists of a persons thoughts, feelings and behaviors based on how they perceive the thoughts, feelings and behavior of others in a given social situation. Social Thinking skills help a child make more sense about what is happening around them and within themselves. What we think and feel about ourselves and others drives our relationships. (Hendrix, R. & Palmer, K. Z. & Tarshis, N. & Winner, M. G. (2013)The Incredible Flexible You: A social thinking curriculum for the preschool and early elementary years.

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ASD and Socialization

10/16/2013

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Tips on helping Your Child with ASD Socialize.

First observe your child when playing with others and make a note of specific skills that should be taught. (You may want to seek out a Social Skills Group or Instructor to help assess and teach these skills)
Provide learning opportunities to practice the skill. (It's best to have the activity be one of your child's interests)
Give your child the tools and language skills needed to be successful in cooperative play situations. (have a game night at home to practice turn taking and expected behavior.
Move from structured to unstructured play dates. The adults direct the play in the structured model and then as the children get to know one another adult involvement can be faded.
Children with ASD need to establish the rules prior to game play. They will be more successful knowing what to expect.
In community settings review the expected behavior, for example at the bowling alley, movies, restaurants etc.
Ultimately, the goal is to keep expanding your child's Social Skills to where they can take an interest in others and have reciprocal friendships. It's important that they learn some social thinking skills to help decipher what's happening in social situations and how to respond for positive interactions.

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September 03rd, 2013

9/3/2013

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Back To School Time!

I hope you all had a great summer. Now it's time to prepare for back to school. Here are some helpful tips for your young child to transition back to school.

Review all IEP materials (ensure all supports are in place for your child)
Set up a good communication system with the teacher to be informed and support your child's needs.
If necessary, allow your child time to visit the school before school starts, especially if it's a new school.
If your child has to ride the bus, get to know the driver and help educate them on your child's specific needs.
Set up a good morning and afternoon routine that your child can easily follow.
Provide positive supports for independence and good behavior. ( set goals e.g having a good bus ride, successes at school and for unpacking their backpack and doing homework) Rewards should be frequent and consistent based on your child's needs.(If you would like assistance in this area please contact me)

Please share any experiences or additional tips that have helped you prepare your child for back to school . I hope this was helpful.

Teens
There's a good chance your teen has been enjoying his or her summer hours of staying up late and waking up later. Here are some ideas for helping them ease back into back to school mode.

It might be a good idea to start preparing them for back to school time by having them begin to go to bed earlier and get up earlier.
Talk about the morning routine and how you would like it to go.
Start preparing your teen to be more independent in the am by having them use an alarm clock to wake themselves up and have them be part of preparing their own breakfast . Depending on your teens particular needs, a morning check list for getting ready might be useful.
Put in some type of reward system to encourage them to want to take care of business in the morning.
As far as school goes, review IEP's or 504 plans to ensure supports are in place and establish a good means of communication with their teachers. Some teachers have their own on-line pages where assignments and schedules are posted. Email is usually the best way to communicate but an occasional phone call is good for checking in.
Review class schedules and get a good notebook organizer to file assignments and cycle through completed work. ( I will be sharing more on how to help your child with executive functioning skills)

Have a great school year and please share any helpful ideas or experiences you may have.

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New Teen Group-Kingston NY

4/13/2013

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New Teen Group/Photography Workshop

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Autism Walk 2013

4/13/2013

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Be Sure to stop by and say hello during the Hudson Valley Autism Walk April 28th
9am-1pm

Be sure to give generously and support the Hudson Valley Autism Society!

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Teen Group

7/30/2012

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I hope everyone is having a fun Summer. Due to my Summer schedule I will be resuming classes for the Teen Group in the fall, when school starts again. Anyone interested in Fall Classes can fill out the contact form here on the website. Have a great rest of the summer.

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Social Skills Group

4/5/2012

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Social Skills Groups will reconvene on April 14th (Sat) and April 16th (Mon)

I want to wish everyone a Happy Easter and Passover. Hope to see you all at the Autism Walk on April 29th 2012.

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Social Skills Groups Announcment

6/24/2011

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Mondays Group will meet again on the 11th of July. Till then no groups. The Saturday group will meet again on the 16th of July. I hope everyone has a great two weeks. See you soon! Leah

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Social Skills Group Update

6/2/2011

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We had a brief intermission due to the Memorail holiday. The Saturday group met at the park last week in Kingston. We had a great time playing soccor and wiffle ball. It will be almost a year since I started the group. I'm so pleased to see how it has grown and the lessons I've learned putting something like this together. I feel hopeful about Social Solutions future and how it will continue to bring children with Autism together in a safe environment where they can develope their social skills and see all they have to offer in a friendship. I'm so impressed with the gifts and talents each child and young adult brings to each group. What is most important about a Social Skills group is that it extends itself outside of the group. When I say this I mean that there should be encouragement for the members to meet outside of the group. Please feel free to comment on my blogs. Till we blog again, en

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Check out some of my new Teacher websites

Social Thinking Skills

ASD and Socialization

September 03rd, 2013

New Teen Group-Kingston NY

Autism Walk 2013

Teen Group

Social Skills Group

Social Skills Groups Announcment

Social Skills Group Update

Leah Gherardi

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