TDLC Blog

Don’t you hate it when that drama king/queen friend calls to talk about how her bad nail salon experience will end in world destruction? I’m sitting here trying to write the next installment of this blog and I get one of these calls. Why talk to me about this over blown drama? Do you think I care that you can't get to the sale at Old Navy? I swear, I could put the phone down and she would keep talking. Attention-maintained behavior.

First blog of the year, and I start with this? No it's not a typo, and I haven't fallen off my rocker just yet. We'll get to the subject quickly, but here are some behaviors that little kids are able to perform:

Taking a break (again)! In the quest of getting ready for our summer programs, I will have to take another break from blogging temporarily. I like...

Increasing attending skills.

We're going to do our next few blogs slightly differently, as we're going to do a multipart series. We'll focus on what people want to talk about most: COMMUNICATION!!! The truth is that communication is what sets humans apart, as we have the ability to describe internal events (hunger, happiness), future events, and past events. We are going to look at all the concepts needed for fluent communication. Notice when I say communication, I did not say verbal communication. You can be a fluent communicator with PECS or with signs, although verbal is our first goal.

aking a break from blogging.

We will take a month off from blogging in order to update the website and introduce our new programs. We will resume February 10th with some power-packed and informational blogs to read.

Creating and attaining goals for your child.

As usual, I digress. However, this blog is about having a game plan for you child. No, I am not talking about your IEP goals, or what the consultant or therapists wrote down for you. I am talking about analyzing what you want to change, how to go about changing it, and then measuring your progress. I think the reason people get too scared to set goals for their family and children is that they feel like a failure if that goal is not achieved.

Big thank yous, and community outings.

This is the last blog before Thanksgiving, I want to say thank you to all the people who help make this blog and company possible.

First and foremost I would like to thank Darren at Woodlands Ad Agency for building a FANTASTIC site and giving me the opportunity to blog every two weeks. If you want to build a great website check out his web page http://www.woodlandsadagency.com/.

I used to work at a center for children with physical and mental disabilities. During the summer we would take the kids on weekly community outings. One outing that I will never forget was to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. At one point during the excursion a seven year old girl with Down's syndrome decided she wanted to return to an exhibit the group had toured earlier that day. She tried to make a run for it and, when she was caught, proceeded to throw an apocalyptic tantrum in the middle of the aquarium. I took her hand, led her outside, and told her that we did not behave like that in public and if she was so determined to have a tantrum she could do so in the parking lot. And she did; she threw herself down on the ground and went at it. As I stood there sipping my frozen lemonade and waiting it out, some random woman walked up to me and began to yell at me: How dare I treat a child this way, anyone could see that the girl was disabled and she couldn't help herself because she didn't know any better, and what I was doing was child abuse and she was going to call the authorities. I looked this random woman dead in the eye, took another sip of lemonade while she glared at me, and chuckled as she stalked off.

Hey, It's a miracle...I kept my promise and delivered another blog on time! Anyway, we're looking to get a comment section going in the near future, so we'll see if we can pull that off. This is another blog from Alexis Lima, who is probably cold and wet as we speak while overseas in school.

I hate Houston drivers. They are some of the worst drivers I have ever encountered (and I have seen some really bad driving while living in and traveling across the U.S., Europe, and North Africa). A typical Houston commute is stressful enough. A child in the back seat throwing a tantrum makes it so much worse. In addition to being stressed from traffic and other drivers, now your attention is divided and that distraction poses a safety hazard.

This has been a long year for me, and I finally got the chance to get away to Las Vegas for a mini-vacation with a couple of colleagues. We have been planning it for months, and last Friday night was supposed to be the special night where we do all the fancy things. We were going to eat at a fancy restaurant, go to a hip nightclub, and all the works.

Behavior history.

Sorry for taking so long on the blog this time. I got wrapped up working on a pro ject which I am excited about - evaluating therapy. I think if you are not currently evaluating how you do therapy, then you are not doing the kids justice.

Dealing with different behavior in different environments.

I get to talk to families all the time. I love hearing their stories and offer the best advice I can when they ask for help dealing with specific issues. The one I hear frequently is, "He'll listen to other people, but not me." I begin by looking at why this may happen from a behavior standpoint.

Communication is everything. When communication goes wrong, it can ruin your whole day. A certain three letter energy company sends me a notice every month saying I owe them money, although the bill has been settled since February! When a person (or company who is driving me nuts) has issues with communication it effects everyone around them.

A good friend of mine is working down in Ecuador and he recently sent me some pictures, one of which showed him chowing down on coconut grubs shish-kabob style. Apparently, in the jungles of Ecuador, they take coconut grubs, remove the stomach (because the coconut grub’s diet consists of rotten palm trees and no one wants to ingest rotten wood), marinate them in a wild orange, and them grill them. I can imagine the look on your face as you contemplate eating a grub. But if you really stop and think about what is in a hot dog, or Jell-O, or red food coloring...well, how is that any different?

It's 2:00am and I am looking up the sounds that most children make in early development. I know I am not the only one who goes from website to website looking for answers and help for kids on the spectrum. After a while I even forget what I started to look for in the first place. Here are some websites that I have found useful so you can keep your rabbit trailing to a minimum this week.

Community outings can be a stressful time for families. Should I expose my child to as many environments as possible? What happens if he/she has a tantrum in public? You know, looking back, some of my WORST community outing experiences are now some of my funniest stories. Two stick out in my head:

I know I am getting older when I can't keep up with the new teeny-bopper stars like Lady Gaga and Hannah Montana, and I can't help but look at what an attention-maintained society we have become. ABA interventions can be for anyone, and it doesn't surprise me that our society is shifting to a more "look at me" sort of attitude.