Eating With A Spoon

There are a few areas to consider when we think about teaching a child to eat with a spoon.

 

Firstly, is the child able to sit cooperatively at the table and eat? Secondly, does the child have the fine motor abilities to hold a spoon? Thirdly, is the child willing to put a spoon in his or her mouth? Some children who have tolerance issues may gag with the taste of the spoon in their mouth and refuse it.

 

Image take from this blog

 

Note: If your child does not have the fine motor abilities, we would recommend working on building fine motor strength and coordination. If your child is unable to tolerate putting a spoon near his mouth, we would recommend a desensitization program first before you tackle this target.

 

Assuming your child is able to eat at the table and is able to hold a spoon and put it in their mouth, then teaching a child to eat with a spoon is fairly simple.

 

Now to prepare for this teaching, we as parents or teachers need to be mindful of a few areas:

 

1) This is going to take some time. So if you are rushing through the meal, you may most probably end up feeding your child.

 

2) This is going to get a bit messy so have a bib ready and a placemat as well.

 

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I would consider the following steps:

 

1) Start by having food placed on the spoon so your child just has to guide the spoon into his or her mouth.

 

2) Initially you may need to physically prompt your child’s hand to guide the spoon to his or her mouth.

 

3) Gradually fade back the prompt.

 

4) Once your child is able to put the food in his/her mouth, then you want to teach your child to scoop up the food. Portion the food so it is easier for your child to scoop the food. You may want to consider changing the utensils (plate and spoon) so that it is easier for him/her to pick it up.

 

5) To motivate your child to do this successfully, you could use tokens and give your child a token each time he feeds himself and then a special treat after 5 tokens.

 

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Do remember again to give your child regular opportunities to practice being independent and also for all caregivers to be consistent. At times you might find that your helper is feeding your child because she may feel concerned for your child or find it faster and easier to feed him. Do explain to her that it is very important that your child learn to be independent at an early age.

 

All the best!

 

Written by:

Jochebed Isaacs

Director, EAP Malaysia

Behavioral Management Talk

On Thursday June 20th, EAP Malaysia's Director, Jochebed Isaacs, will be giving a talk at Kingdom City on Behavioral Management. Take a look at the flyer below to find out all the details!

Lions Provide Autism Treatment in Malaysia

The Lions REACH centre in Penang, Malaysia, provides free services to children with autism and their families. Take a look at this video below.

Taken from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXXoaHsMerY

 

Washing Hands

Hand washing must be taught and implemented everywhere; in schools, in the community and of course in our homes. Hand washing has been the best tool to prevent infection, spreading germs and falling sick. We should teach our children to cultivate these habits naturally in their routines from a young age itself.

 

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Here are some basic tips to teach your child to wash their hands independently:

 

1. Show them a video on how to wash their hands. Videos are a great modelling tool. Our child can learn to imitate the steps of washing hands by watching a video of an individual doing so.

 

2. Reading a Social Story about washing hands will help your child in knowing the basic routine on washing hands. (example) 

- These are my hands.

- I use my hands to eat, play and work.

- Sometimes my hands may get dirty. When my hands are dirty I need to wash my hands. 

- First I turn on the tap, next I take some soap, and then I rub the soap on top and under my hands, then I rinse my hands, and finally I dry my hands.

- Hooray my hands are all clean!

 

3. You can also show them a visual on washing hands and you could place it in every sink. Here are some basic examples of visuals that you can use for your child 

a.

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b.

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4. Lastly you could always sing a song while your child washes their hands.

 

Written by:

Jerusha

Supervisor, EAP Malaysia
 

EAP's Amazing Race! (Teacher's Day Outing)

18th of May 2013 marked the day of EAP’s first ever amazing race event. The race began at 2.00 pm and took place throughout the Bangsar Baru area. A total of 24 participants took part in the race, while 9 coordinators were assigned to four checkpoints scattered throughout the area. It was a perfect day for the race, as the sun was bright with no trace of rain, thus allowing the race to be conducted smoothly.

 

The event was organized to enhance the relationship between EAP staff members as well as to emphasize teambuilding. Hence, the challenges at each of the four checkpoints were designed to meet this goal. The challenges faced by participants included body coordination, receptive instructions, tolerance, as well as communication. Once participants had completed these challenges, they had to race back to the EAP centre for the fifth and final challenge; a tongue twister. 

 

When participants first arrived at the centre, they were filled with curiosity, excitement and apprehension about the upcoming challenges. However the moment the race began, all such feelings were replaced with fierce competitiveness and teamwork. The race took approximately one and a half hours to complete. After 45 minutes of rest back at the centre, participants then headed to dinner. 

 

The Masters of Ceremony, Nisha and Chloe, welcomed the guests and initiated icebreaking conversations before inviting the main coordinator of the event, Emma, to give a speech. Following the speech, guests were treated to a video highlighting Teachers’ Day and dinner was served afterwards. While everyone was enjoying dinner, the director of EAP Malaysia, Jochebed was called to present the prizes for all the participants. And this preceded her own speech which included an inspiring poem dedicated to Teacher’s Day (read the poem below).

Chloe and Nisha

Jochebed Isaacs

 

The event ended at around 6.30pm with everyone taking a group photo to commemorate this unforgettable event. All in all, the Amazing Race was an exhausting but highly enjoyable event and one which certainly enhanced the bond between all of us at EAP Malaysia.

 EAP Team

 

Written by:

Claudia, Choo Ying, Edward, Emma & Sunny

Therapists, EAP Malaysia

 

 

A Poem for Special Teachers

 

 You greet me every morning with a great big smile
Help me out of the car
Even if it takes a while

I am a little girl who cannot hear or speak
But still you understand me,
Week after week.

I have more challenges than most other people, you know
But you never give up on me
Even if my progress is slow

You help me with my daily life skills
Help me to succeed
Teach me how to sing and play
Adapt it to my special needs

I am strong and happy
I like to giggle and tease
Sometimes I may even drop down on my knees

You work very hard everyday,
Help me learn and grow
You are patient, kind and loving

This I wanted you to know
It takes a special person to be a teacher like you
And my Mommy and Daddy are grateful
For everything you do!

Written by
Monica McDivitt
(taken from: http://differentizgood.org/2011/04/a-poem-for-special-teachers/)

Re: A Dedication to Our Teachers

A special video dedicated to all our staff at EAP Malaysia!

 

Brushing Hair

Brushing hair can be a fun activity for some kids and some may find it difficult if they are not comfortable to have anything touching their scalp. If your child is not comfortable with a brush touching their scalp, then you will have to begin with desensitizing your child to the hair brush. This can be done by just having the hair brush around your child and as he sees it and is comfortable with the hair brush being around him then slowly start bringing the brush closer to him. It might also help to have a variety of brushes so he can choose the hair brush he is comfortable with.

 

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Then the next step will be to show your child how to brush hair. You can start by showing the motion of brushing hair by using their hand. Have your child smooth his hair by running his hand through their hair in a brushing motion. He can also do this to a doll with hair. It is best to do this activity in front of a mirror.

 

The next step is to then start brushing hair using a hair brush. Again do this in front of a mirror and start with the front part of the hair. Initially just do only 1 stroke. Once your child is successful start having him to do more strokes and move to different parts of the head.

 

Pair this activity with strong reinforcers and also a token board to encourage your child to be successful. Visuals can also be used to so that your child can see what the routine of brushing hair is like.

 

Have fun brushing hair with your child!

 

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(Example of a token board)
 

Written by:
Jessica Ganesha
Supervisor, EAP Malaysia.