Hi there to all of you!!

How r u all doing?  My son is doing great at school, this year he is really enjoying it and he seems more integrated than last year.  obviously I'mvery pleased with this improvement.  How is your grand child doing Jake? 

I'm really interested in the Glenn Doman approach.  did it work for your son justus?  is it very intensive?  I'm especially interested in the 'petterning' but the problem is that you need commitment from other people as well giving that you can't be on your own to do it.  how does it work out for you? 

Have a good week everyone 

Hi everyone!

good to hear someone else is from the island!!  You're the first maltese to meet here at Brillkids!  Justus is right about ABA technique, I came across it when reading a fiction book based on a true story.  The name of the book is: 'Daniel isn't Talking' and it is about an autistic boy, how he got diagnosed, the effect on his family, especially hhis parents, and how by time he got better and better until h started to talk......   very interesting to read. 

Have agood week everyone! My son starts school tomorrow,  hopefully he'll get used to it soon. 

Khloe xx 

Hi Jake,

Sorry if I may sound indiscreet... but by any chance are you maltese?  cause the multisensory room and white room you described are exactly the ones my son goes to!!  Now I know that most multisensory rooms are similar giving that they serve the same purpose, but the one you described sound sooo similar!! 

Hi,

Glad to hear that he's settling down.  My son starts school next week and hopefully he'll get used tothe routine soon.  He's very attached to me, since this summer we had a lot of fun together.  Like you said he had swimming lessons, and multisensory, apart from doing a lot of fun activities together.  Today is the first day of school of my other child - Leah - she didn't cry but was scared of all the other children screaming and crying!  IHobestly I felt guilty leaving her....she's still young 1 year 10 months.  But anyway hopefully she'll get to enjoy playschool.  c ya all.  take care.

Hi Jake,

I can imagine how hard it is for you seeing your grandchild having a tantrum....and feeling helpless.  You could use Little Reader and prepare a slideshow of what is to happen during the day.  Autistic children usually feel more secure when they have a time table.  You could spend some time together watching the slideshow every morning (to get him into a routine) before going to school, such that he would know what will happen during the day.

Moreover you could ask his teacher or learning support assisstant (LSA)to give you some details of the activities that he does during the day.  Then you could prepare a set of flashcards of all the activities, for example.... story telling, colouring, and so on.  Then, every morning, the LSA can help your grandson put the flashcards in order of what will happen and srick them on a timeline.  As soon as one activity is over, he can pull the flashcard out, like this he would know what is to come. 

TIP:  the timeline could be a wide strip of felt, such that the velcro can easily stick to it.

I hope that this will help.  I used this method with autistic children, and with some it was successful.  Good luck    

Hi there,

Lately I've been very busy, and my kids take up a lot of time.  Little Reader is very interesting for Nikolai (my son) as he enjoys pressing his switch (instead of a mouse) and changes the picture.  Apart from a cause and affect tool, indirectly it also teaches him the sight words.  Leah (his sister) enjoys it as well. 

Kmum - Unfortunately, I don't think that Nik will ever walk independtly as his sitting balance is still very poor, and he'll be four in November.  But anyway, with walking aids he can make it.  Last April we went abroad to get him a special walker from England -- the David Hart Walker but up till now it has not been successful as Nik doesn't want to use it 

take care ALL

Thanks Lappy!!  you made my day!   I would like to congratulate everyone for writing such wonderful stories.  We all did a great job!

Hello,

My son is nearly four now.  He has a rare genetic disorder (which noone knows what it is).  He has profound and complex learning disabilities and does not communicate much.  However, being a teacher myself I do my best to teach him.  I use a lot of teaching aids, such as flashcards, multisensory aids, slideshows and auditory devices, which all contribute to make the lessons fun and stimulating.  Moreover, he uses a large pressure switch connected to a computer, such that he could play computer games and also to communicate with us.  At the end of the day it can be very tiring but rewarding.  I have a younger daughter as well who helps him a lot. 

My son's condition is very different from Kay's or Jason's, but I know that unfortunately all situations are pretty tough.  In our case the toughest part is that he is not mobile so that adds to the problem.  Are there any other parents to children with physical disabilities as well as learning difficulties?  I would really like to talk to someone else in my situation!!

By the way, thanks for addressing this problem.

Hi there!

I'm from Malta, a small island in the Mediterranean.  Nice meeting you all 

[Colours of the Rainbow]

Hi there,

I hope this is the right way to post my story!  I'm still new to this website.  I use this story to introduce the topic of colours to my kids.  They love it.  Hope you like it too.

By the way I managed to find pictures as well but couldn't find a way how to paste them together with the story.



Title: Colours of the Rainbow

Slide 1: One day, the sky was full of huge, WHITE clouds.  “We have no colour,” sobbed the clouds.  And soon it started to rain.
Image: Sky covered in white clouds

Slide 2: They cried and cried, and it rained, and rained.  The angels in heaven heard their cries and asked them what was the matter.
Image: Cute little angels on clouds


Slide 3: “Our colour is so pale!” cried one cloud, and the others joined in.  So the angels promised them that from that day on, the most COLOURFUL of things will appear in the sky whenever it rained….


Slide 4: Soon after a colourful RAINBOW appeared.
Image: Colourful rainbow in between two clouds

Slide 5:Red
Image: Red line in the shape of a semi-circle
Picture Audio: pronounciation of the word 'red'

Slide 6: Orange
Image:Orange line in the shape of a semicircle
Picture Audio: pronounciation of the word 'orange'

Slide 7: Yellow
Image: Yellow line in the shape of a semi-circle
Picture Audio: pronounciation of the word 'yellow'

Slide 8: Green
Image: Green line in the shape of a semi-circle
Picture Audio: pronounciation of the word 'green'

Slide 9: Blue
Image: Blue line in the shape of a semi-circle
Picture Audio: pronounciation of the word 'blue'

Slide 10: Indigo
Image: Indigo line in the shape of a semi-circle
Picture Audio: pronounciation of the word 'indigo'

Slide 11: Violet
Image: Violet line in the shape of a semi-circle
Picture Audio: pronounciation of the word 'violet'

Slide 12: These are ALL the colours of the rainbow.

Slide 13: All the clouds were happy now. They loved the colours of their rainbow.
Image: Smiling clouds, maybe hugging a rainbow

Hi there,

I'm a new user, and really found this website interesting.  I am a mother of two, a four year old son with multiple learning disabilities and a two year old girl - both adorable!!  I found this program excellent for both my kids, however in the case of my son I have to prepare new slideshows in order to pronounce the words in Maltese (our first language).  Is there anyone who has a child with a disability?  I would like to hear more ideas on how to use this software in order to help children with PMLD (Profound and Multiple Learning Disability).

Lappy, thanks for your warm welcome.  I would like to know whether each slide can be prompted with a mouse click rather than being self-automated.  Thanks a lot, glad to form part of your forum.  you'll hear from me soon.  take care everyone.

Khloe