Maybe you can help them find something to replace the tv with that can also allow the parent time to get things done. Depending on his skills. Maybe a small amount of tv followed by some puzzles or other tasks that keep him occupied.
Thanks everyone. I know that parents wont listen tot everyting that I say I just try to help by explainin to them what the Tv does to his learning time. We were trying to set up indpependnet play books that the child can follow and that I know he is fully capable of doing. I explained to the parents that it was good for him to do this say for instance when the mom needed to cook dinner and needed to keep the child busy. It was better than putting him in front of the tv for 0 minutes. Ill see how it works out seems as though she just wants us to do the work and not carry over after we leave. Sometimes this can be so frustrating when you are not on the same page. I guess I just try to do the best I can when Im there.
Maybe you can get the parents to use a timer for the child by limiting the intake on the tv time.I remember a therapist mentioning using a timer with a patient due to the patient watches alot of tv and the therapist couldnt get the patients attention after tv so ..when the timer goes off...it means it is time to work
My son(5) use to watch tv, now he just turns the tv off(LOL)or watch Dora for 5 minutes ..He likes to play his leapster.The leapster is great with teaching numbers and ABCs...but doesnt play with it very long due to hes always on the go and looking to get into something..LOL..We take my son outside as much as possible(if weather permits)to get him out of the house.
Just story to share with ya...
Erica,Georgia
Some parents need suggestions on "how" to play with their children. Maybe you could tell them about some things that you do in school that he particularly likes and model it for them. I know some of us can't imagine not playing with our kids, but there seem to be many parents that don't know how. Suggestions for things to do beside t.v. would be helpfull.Do any of you have any children that after watching more than 1 show they vocally stim non-stop and it is very hard to get through to them? I am working witha child that after watching tv for longer periods of time he vocally stims uncontrollabley and I cant stop him. he seems to be in TV land and I cant teach him during this time no matter what I have tried. I have tried saying "sh" paired with a visual and he copies me, makes eye contact and then begins the sounds again. I have tried distracting him with favorite toys as well.
I can tell when he has watched more tv than less because he does this more. I have asked the parents to take a way tv for a while or at least limit it and it seems to be not happening. How do i convince the parents that it might be beneficial to him to not watch so much tv if ive alreeady tried explaining this already and there seems to be no change. Do i just let it go and deal with it? Someone please give me ideas.
There are TONS of reasons parents will not listen to your suggestion to limit TV time. Some good reasons, some bad. However, once you present the issue, they are not required to comply with your request. The only thing you can do is implement a behavior plan designed to teach the child to manage his stims. The problem is not actually his stimming or his TV watching. The problem is that he is not available for learning. The behavior you want to increase is attention --- engagement. Rewarding engagement time would be the way to go and a GOOD reward would be to give the child time to stim. Say, one minute of stim time after a certain number of minutes being engaged. The other thing you might be able to do is videotape the child stimming on days after he has clearly watched too much TV. Tell the parents to keep a log of TV watching time. They don't have to share it with you, but they should be aware of the amount of TV time on a given evening so that can correlate it with the dates of your videos. The parents may not truly realize how interfering the TV-instigated stimming is.
In the end, you can't force parents to do the right thing. You can just try to encourage it. If they see a lot of no-stimming goals on their child's next IEP, perhaps they will get the message that a lot of time in school is being spent undoing what the TV watching has wrought. In the meantime, their son is NOT getting the education he needs.
Play books can work really, really well, but most parents have absolutely no clue about how to break tasks down into tiny bits in order to teacher their children skills. They also are in the dark about heavily rewarding cooperation. A child -- any small child, but especially ASD kids -- is not going to automatically know how to use a play book or any other sort of visual schedule. Parents have to TEACH them that. And parents have to be TAUGHT how to teach their children these things because, normally, parents don't have to do this. We didn't grow up watching our parents go to extreme lengths to teach us every single skill in life. But that's what's necessary for our kids. Parent training is supposed to be part of a child's IEP. What "parent training" means is up for debate. But if a child needs to learn independent play skills at home, it stands to reason that the parents must be taught how to TEACH playskills. This does not come naturally. If I were you, I'd lobby with the school to set up parent training sessions.thank you everyone, Imight try the timer idea this might help with the meltdowns. I also might try video taping me teaching the child how to do play books so the parents can model me when I am not there and then they will feel comfortable.
Thanks again