Star Wars Phonics: Activity #1

One of the behaviors of autism spectrum disorder and Dabrowski's gifted overexcitabilities is hyperfocus and obsessions. Some frequent special interests are Legos, minecraft, Star Wars, Titanic, Subway, etc. It can be very difficult to redirect a child to anything outside of his interest.

So what's a mom to do?

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

One activity I have found that will capture my hyper-focused child's attention is to use word cards combined with Star Wars characters.

I downloaded some Star Wars printables from Teachers Notebook, cut out the characters, and glued them on construction paper. It would be great to have these laminated for durability.

For the activity, I put all the Abeka short vowel word cards on the floor and have my child make sentences. Sometimes we write extra words on paper; sometimes we just say any extra words that are needed.

"Darth Vader [chews] gum."

"Princess Leia met Luke Skywalker and zip[ped down] the hill."

Simple and effective.

Sensory Solutions: Earmuffs

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Vacuum-cleaners, blenders, too many voices... all of these wreck havoc on little, sensitive ears. So here's Laura sporting her solution. Earmuffs! These are Silencio Low Pro-2000. They are easy to put on and have held up to a lot of wear and tear.

We also have Howard Leight R-01526 Impact Sport Electronic Earmuffs which are normally used in construction and on firing ranges. When they are turned off, they have a noise reduction rating of 22. When turned on, they allow normal sounds up to 82 decibles to be heard. If environmental noise goes above 82, they turn off and automatically muffle the noise. When noise levels drop, they turn back on. So when it is loud, they muffle noise. When it is not, the child can hear you. Pretty sweet.

When my kids were tiny, I kept these on a low shelf, so that anyone who needed them could toddle over and put them on. Now we use them primarily when vacuuming or when extra focus is needed for school work. They are also handy at air shows and parades. Some days, they are life savers.