AUTISM - teaching Early Imitation

Cannot stress how important teaching imitation is. Normal children are compelled to imitate others. This old video is showing Lewis, aged 3 doing gross and fine motor imitation to fluency. We used to set targets for how many actions he could copy in 30 seconds.
Lewis loved the high speed which also kept his focus well.
Lewis had no imitation skills whatsoever when we started intervention just a few months before. Because of this intervention Lewis started enjoying joining in action songs on toddler videos.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• autism
• RDI
• ABA
• VB
• teaching
• learning
• treatment
• fluency

[phieq]

and yet some babies dont

[gh3ttog3nius]

"Normal" children? Might want to watch your terminology..."typical" or "neurotypical" is a less offensive word. FYI

[phieq]

I do not agree - my child is not normal. Typical is exactly the same word as normal.

[pyrokenx]

I have to agree with gh3ttog3nius for the most part actually, its not good for your child's self esteem to call him abnormal. Autistic children have it rough enough and get that from other kids all the time in their lives. Typical, normal, is anyone really typical or normal? People all around the world have drastic variations in the way they look, speak, act, and even think. There are pretty drastic differences out there and I would pose the argument that nobody is really normal.

[phieq]

you have not experienced autism close up then

[slibah]

He's great!SOOO cute.

[brenspan12]

any baby can learn to do that

[Abnormaldiversity]

I'm autistic, and I consider myself abnormal. I don't see anything wrong with that. Normal is just within 2SD of the mean, there's nothing saying that's any better or worse than being abnormal. And if you're abnormal, then you'll find that lots of people don't understand people like you.

And regarding 'autistic' vs 'person with autism' - I find 'person with autism' a bit offensive. It makes it sound like you can separate the person from the autism, when autism is actually part of the person.

[kissyhot1]

just as I would not call a person with cancer cancerous

Of course not, lol. But I bet you would be willing to label someone that has survived cancer a cancer survivor instead of just a person. People, even liberal-minded people who are against putting "labels and limits" on people use labels as long as it's a positive one. I know our views are very different but normal is a bell-shaped curve wherein autistic behaviors fall down the slope.

[kissyhot1]

@SForrest716 you are right, everything is relative to how you want to see it. However, the point of my comment seemed to have been missed. I didn't mean it should define the child, just that people shouldn't be bashed for considering their children "not normal" in parent-to-parent conversations and such. I would never tell my child, "you are not normal" or "you are special." That's an entirely different issue.

[phieq]

@SForrest716 I would also never call my child AUTISTIC - he is a child with autism...but that is a completely different issue in my oppinion. I agree with kissyhot1.

[SForrest716]

@phieq I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way, but I suppose you are entitled to your opinion.

[SForrest716]

@kissyhot1 My poor husband, I actually posted under his account last time (gh3ttog3nius). I also have 2 children with autism. So I have as much of a right to feel the way I feel as you do. I can choose what is offensive to me (and many others), just as you may. I am not "naive" or "politically-correct". I also don't like calling a person autistic, just as I would not call a person with cancer cancerous. They are people first, their disorder or disease does not define them (at least in my eyes).

[kissyhot1]

@gh3ttog3nius Im a mother to autistic twins and I find it much more offensive, the naive politically-correct ppl--not ppl calling an autistic child "not normal". Until a person has 2 deal with a(n) autistic child(ren) by themselves they have no business bashing a parent for considering the word "abnormal" or "not normal." Normal, typical, tah-may-toe, toe-mah-toe. My children banging their heads on walls constantly & not responding 2 discipline, not normal. Not average. Whatever.

[KSitz77]

funny that its stressed to repeat behaviors but if they repeat words thats bad.....my daughter learned to talk by repeating and oh boy that was horrible. Well she speaks on her own fine now and the professionals that said she was not "normal" are now eating their words.