ABA Strategies for the Summertime are Here!
Summertime is often associated with more free time for leisure activities. It is typically a less-structured time as compared to when school is in session. For these reasons, we are sharing some fun and easy to use ABA strategies for summer.
Summer can present several potential challenges for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. Typically, many children attend summer school, camps, and other structured activities; however, this summer, due to COVID-19, these types of activities may not be readily available. In addition, many families may be opting out of group activities for now. Even during summers when there is in fact summer school and other recreational activities, these programs do not last the entire summer.
Here are some tips and ABA strategies to help make summer go a little more smoothly for both caregivers and children with ASD:
- Continue to use any visuals and schedules that you child used throughout the year. Ask his or her teachers and specialists for copies of visuals they used in school. Children who have become accustomed to using a visual schedule will likely continue to benefit from it even if all the activities on the schedule are different.
- Discuss all activities and changes in routine ahead of time. This helps to manage expectations so that your child is prepared for what’s to come, and can hopefully avoid disappointment and frustration. With that, also prepare children for transitions with several warnings ahead of time, especially during preferred activities. If your child is expecting that this summer will look exactly like the summer before, it is very important to help him or her manage expectations and cope with any potential changes.
- Finally, focus on incidental teaching. Looking for naturalistic opportunities helps take the pressure off you to be constantly teaching. If you look for those teachable moments, learning is meaningful and salient, and you can focus on functional skills such as appropriate socialization and expected behaviors across settings.
YOUR INITIAL ABA SERVICES CONSULTATION IS COMPLIMENTARY.
We would love to talk to you about ABA services over the phone or take you on a tour of one of our ‘Ready for Life’ centers. Above all our care professionals will take the time to answer your questions about ABA therapy and offer any support we can provide.
