When Parent Bloggers Network asked me to check out Kibble's Rockin' Clubhouse, they also suggested we give Skill Building Buddies a look since my daughter is on the edges of each DVD's target age.
Skill Building Buddies is a lively mix of animated hosts and live action snippets. The skits are short, to the point, and cover accepting daily change- a big problem for many kids on the autistic spectrum. Music and topic repetition are effective in communicating the point.
My daughter just turned 6 though and only recently has expressed interest in watching real people verses cartoons, because of this she struggled to stay interested in the DVD. I had her take the DVD to school to share with her older classmates, all who have ASD, and it was well received among the slightly older 7-9 crowd. The teachers and therapists have also started utilizing some of the songs with the kids during those tougher moments of the day.
There is a section that includes parental instructions and like some other reviews, I feel 'meh' about what they had to say. I understand that you can't let your ASD kid playing video games 24/7 but I also would not discourage my ASD kid from coloring for an extended period of time. It brings her joy and offers her a break from the constant pushing she gets all day long in school and therapy.
At $19.95 Skill Building Buddies is well worth the price.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse
I love opening my email and finding messages from The Parent Bloggers Network. I always get a wide variety of fun, funky, and practical products offered to me and this product is no different. Actually, allow me to correct myself, it's very different.
You may have noticed me occasionally yammering on about my kids over at Finding Yourself Despite Yourself and might just recall that my oldest (now 6!) is on the autistic spectrum. Mira is officially diagnosed as PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified). What this means is that across the board she is affected by autism- speech, motor skills, social skills. I'm always on the prowl for affordable therapeutic items that can help her along the way so when The Parent Blogger Network asked me to check out some new autism DVDs I jumped right on board.
Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse, Expressing Yourself by NoteAbilities is a 40 minute trip into the world of Handy Sam and friends- including Kibble the dog. The show is full of songs from learning how to say hello to learning how to use your mouth to ask for what you need. Each lesson covered is something that ASD kids typically struggle with and while some of it seems SO SIMPLISTIC you have to remind yourself that what comes so easily to you is an enigma to these children. A straight forward and fun delivery allowed my daughter to easily absorb the meat of the matter and have fun acting it out with me.
I also noticed the DVDs are quite popular with my other two children and that they too were benefiting from the show. Sometimes I forget that having a sibling on the spectrum deprives them of regular interaction, that their relationship is based on a different sort of understanding and that it occasionally can cause confusion when dealing with other neurotypical kids. I've noticed this most with my 4 year old. She is a bad habit of rarely offering eye contact, something she's never needed to do with her sister. Kibbles made it fun for her to practice making eye contact and after a few weeks of watching it, her preschool teacher even commented that Tessa had been doing better with eye contact.
Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse impresses me, so much so that all of my friends with ASD kids have been hearing about it and my daughter's autism classroom will soon have their very own copy to enjoy.
You may have noticed me occasionally yammering on about my kids over at Finding Yourself Despite Yourself and might just recall that my oldest (now 6!) is on the autistic spectrum. Mira is officially diagnosed as PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified). What this means is that across the board she is affected by autism- speech, motor skills, social skills. I'm always on the prowl for affordable therapeutic items that can help her along the way so when The Parent Blogger Network asked me to check out some new autism DVDs I jumped right on board.
Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse, Expressing Yourself by NoteAbilities is a 40 minute trip into the world of Handy Sam and friends- including Kibble the dog. The show is full of songs from learning how to say hello to learning how to use your mouth to ask for what you need. Each lesson covered is something that ASD kids typically struggle with and while some of it seems SO SIMPLISTIC you have to remind yourself that what comes so easily to you is an enigma to these children. A straight forward and fun delivery allowed my daughter to easily absorb the meat of the matter and have fun acting it out with me.
I also noticed the DVDs are quite popular with my other two children and that they too were benefiting from the show. Sometimes I forget that having a sibling on the spectrum deprives them of regular interaction, that their relationship is based on a different sort of understanding and that it occasionally can cause confusion when dealing with other neurotypical kids. I've noticed this most with my 4 year old. She is a bad habit of rarely offering eye contact, something she's never needed to do with her sister. Kibbles made it fun for her to practice making eye contact and after a few weeks of watching it, her preschool teacher even commented that Tessa had been doing better with eye contact.
Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse impresses me, so much so that all of my friends with ASD kids have been hearing about it and my daughter's autism classroom will soon have their very own copy to enjoy.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Lice MD
*Warning, facts that may make your skin crawl up ahead*
80% of schools have at least one lice outbreak a year- yes I said that EIGHTY *jaw drops* and there are between 6 and 12 million cases of head lice each year!! *gags and scratches at head*
Now that 2 of my kids are in school, lice is a REAL threat in our home. About a year ago I started seeking out alternatives to treating it should we be unfortunately enough to come down with an outbreak. I had been hearing that they were becoming resistant to those harsh scalp burning, nose hair singing chemical shampoos that were most commonly used to treat and outbreak and my heart sunk. How the heck do we get rid of them if they won't die? I half heartedly book marked a bunch of homeopathic remedies and have basically just prayed ever since that we would be fortunate enough to avoid it.
This week my daughters school sent home a paper about an outbreak but ironically last week I was contacted about Lice MD. I liked what I saw on the website so I agreed to receive some sample product to hold on to *just in case* Turns out we may end up needing it - I'm still hoping NOT but at least if we do I won't have to worry about toxicity or chemical resistant. LiceMD is pesticide free, odorless and there is no pesticide resistance on the part of the lice. Their website is also very helpful showing the life cycle of lice and tips on preventing the spread of lice.
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