Att. Therapists! I need ideas pls!

amother

Mint

Thu, Nov 05 2020, 12:38 pm

In person or remote? Boys or girls or both?
Depends on goals.
First of all-make sure they know why they're there and how you're helping them so there's enough 'buy-in'.
Re fun and functional-
I like using board or card game instructions to work on reading comprehension (and all the skills involved in that, as well as work on writing, following directions, social etc.)
Science experiments w ok ek well for those goals too.
For girls and some boys-craft instructions (knitting, lanyard, beading, origami)
Jeopardy game
Games with tickets
Road signs, medicine bottle instructions, and other functional reading passages
Use recipes-can even make things if allowed. Can be as easy as pudding, jello, salad etc.

amother

Denim

Thu, Nov 05 2020, 1:13 pm

A lot of it is in the presentation. Make sure you talk to them and relate to them as young adults. You will need to use a different tone with them than with younger children. (I once worked in a middle school where the autistic program teacher often sang in class, told the kids how adorable they are, etc. Even these special needs teens didn't appreciate it.) As you get out your materials, shmooz with them about older kid topics, for example, ask their opinion on your Shabbos menu
If they are embarrassed to come out of class, respect that and try to work with them to find ways to minimize the embarrassment.

Focus on their strengths. An older child with dyslexia can be very intelligent and have opinions on politics, for example. Be sure to bring materials that suit more a wide variety mature interests, such as current events, education laws, recipes, facts and feats, crafting, and more. Find out what animates them and incorporate it into your session.
Through your manner, convey that you think they are intelligent people.
Have cool "stuff" that are fun to look at.
Make sure that they know what their goals are and what it will take for them to be dismissed.