Tag Archive for: autism help for parents

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM FROM THE SOCIAL EXPRESS®

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT TO IMPLEMENT SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM FROM THE SOCIAL EXPRESS®

LAUSD educators to use the award-winning interactive program to help students with social learning challenges

Encinitas, Calif. – Sept. 9, 2013 – The Social Express, a web-based program for students struggling with Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, and other social learning challenges, has been selected by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to support social and emotional learning in classrooms across the district.  With more than 650,000 K-12 students in nearly 1,000 facilities district-wide, LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation.

Incorporating cognitive behavioral research and evidence-based social learning practices, the lessons in The Social Express use “Hollywood quality” animation to model the social skills integral to relationship building as well as career and life success.   The animated webisodes target 14 different skills and multi-tiered user levels, and are supported by quizzes, worksheets, and offline activities.  In addition, students have access to a private social network, The Clubhouse, which serves as an extension of the lessons where students can practice their skills and make friends in a safe environment.

“The Social Express offers a comprehensive curriculum and guide containing the very foundations of social and emotional skills that we are required to teach,” said Amy Nguyen, special education specialist for LAUSD.  “It is easy for teachers to use, and fun for the students.”

Through a robust student management system called “Central Station,” The Social Express allows teachers and professionals to manage individual student and group use of the program, track usage and progress, run reports, and even export data for IEP reporting compliance.  Activities in The Social Express adhere to the California State Board of Education Content Standards and the Common Core State Standards.

“Research shows quite clearly that children with social learning challenges have a much harder time succeeding at school and in the workplace.  Despite this, the unfortunate reality is that far too few schools provide support in this area,” said Marc Zimmerman, founder and CEO of The Social Express.   “We applaud LAUSD officials for acknowledging the need to provide social skills instruction to its challenged learners and helping them develop the skills necessary for life-long success.”

About The Social Express

Launched in 2011, The Social Express is an interactive program that supports social and emotional learning for students struggling with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), ADHD, and other social learning challenges.  Available to schools, professionals, and parents, the award-winning online program teaches users how to think about and manage social situations, helping them to develop meaningful social relationships and succeed in life.

For more information visit http://www.TheSocialExpress.com

Media contact:

Leslie Eicher, APR

314-965-1776

Leslie@EicherCommunications.com

 

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How Inclusion Can Benefit Special Needs Children Socially

We would like to welcome our first guest blogger to The Social Express…
Marcela De Vivo

How Inclusion Can Benefit Special Needs Children Socially

Inclusion is a hot issue in education as of 2013 and it has been for years. While many don’t fully understand the idea of inclusion, it’s a topic that most parents of children with special needs are familiar with.

Inclusion is a simple principle that states children with special needs should take part in regular classes and activities – just like children their age without special needs. Some proponents of inclusion believe it should be based on ability – others believe all children with special needs should experience standard classroom education.

Inclusion involves more than just education for many parents and children with special needs, however. Regular classroom settings and participation in activities may be beneficial for helping children with special needs develop better social skills as well.


Proponents of inclusion believe the classroom offers a blank slate for special needs kids.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Children Learn By Example

Whether they learn certain behaviors from their family and parents, peers and schoolmates or teachers and authority figures, children learn how they’re supposed to behave based on examples that are set forth for them. For many children with special needs in special classes, the example set for them there on a daily basis is simply other children with special needs, therefore, they become accustomed to that restricted environment.

While special needs children can benefit from spending time with other special needs children, problems can arise when they spend all of their time with children with similar behavioral issues. Inclusion improves learning for both classified and unclassified students. After all, many children learn by example and they may begin to imitate behaviors that aren’t beneficial for them.

By being in a classroom with children that don’t have behavioral issues, some individuals with special needs may be able to develop better social skills through example. When children who have learning problems are included, students without disabilities tend to perform better academically. For example, a teacher is more inclined to break instruction into finer parts or repeat directions if he or she has a student in the room who is deaf, blind or has a developmental disability.

Inclusion Helps Children Adjust

The issue of inclusion is passionately debated, but most advocates believe that attending regular classes and spending time in standard classroom settings, even if they don’t do it full-time, can help children with special needs better adapt to the rest of the world – a world that is predominantly made up of others that do not have the same needs.

Many advocates of full inclusion believe that special needs children who attend regular classes will be better equipped to handle the world in their teen and adult years due to their exposure to children without special needs. For many children with developmental disorders who may be working to overcome them, that means easier friendships and work situations later in life, and less overall shock when it comes to adapting to the world later on.

It Goes Both Ways

Children with special needs may be able to develop better social skills by attending regular classes and spending time with other children that do not have special needs, but the issue goes both ways. One thing that many advocates of inclusion tend to forget is that children who do not have special needs can also develop better social skills and empathy by being in classrooms with special needs children.

Both partial inclusion, sometimes referred to as mainstreaming, and full inclusion are becoming more and more common in schools throughout the United States, and even in foreign countries around the world.

While there are parents and educators on both sides of the fence, it’s difficult to ignore some of the statistics that state inclusion is beneficial for the educational and social development of special needs children.


Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Marcela De Vivo is a freelance writer from Los Angeles who covers various industries, including health, marketing, special needs law and more. As a mother of a child with special needs, she helps to educate other parents with special needs children about inclusion and special needs law.

If you’re looking to help your child learn social skills, our online engaging animated program may benefit your child. Parents tell us that kids love the Hollywood style animation and characters and actually ask to use The Social Express! To see how it works, click here.   Click here to try our 10-day, no risk trial.

 

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Autism Help for Parents: How We Got Our Twins into Mainstream Classes

Autism-Help-for-Parents-Mainstream-ClassesWhen it comes to providing help for parents who have children with autism, I like to share my experiences. If there’s any possibility that I can help other parents like you—I’m there. I am always willing to tell you what I’ve learned.

The way I look at it, there’s always a need for more autism help for parents.

Our twin boys were diagnosed with autism in 2003. They were three years old. My wife and I had incredibly mixed feelings. On one hand we were happy because we finally knew why our boys hadn’t spoke a word yet, and at the same time feeling completely helpless as neither of us knew anything about autism. If you’re a parent of a child—or children—with autism, you know what I mean.
Read more

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Autism Help for Parents: Great Tips from a Sensory Design Specialist

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When you’re a parent of a child on the autism spectrum you’ve got a thousand (extra) things to do. We hear you! Maybe redecorating your child’s room doesn’t fall high on your list. But we loved the child’s bedroom improvement ideas shared by Environmental designer Lauren S. Henry. We thought you might find a tip or two to help you.

Lauren Henry uses color and pattern to support children’s environmental needs and provide autism help for parents. She applies a wide variety of techniques to transform the lives of children diagnosed with autism and other special needs through their surroundings.

Here are our favorite tips from Lauren’s helpful list.

Autism Help for Parents: 3 Sensory Design Tips from Lauren S. Henry

Use indirect lamps for lighting. Examine all the lighting in your home and your child’s bedroom. Lauren advises that you “stay away from all florescent lighting, period.” Try lamps instead of overhead florescent lighting.

Add indoor plants. Consider adding indoor plants, even if you don’t have a “green thumb”. Lauren suggests adding plants because they ground our children and us as parents.

Avoid transparent toy containers. When storing your child with autism’s toys and belongings rethink use of transparent containers. According to Lauren, see through containers and boxes can contribute to visual chaos, overstimulation and anxiety for special needs children.

Please click over to Lauren S. Henry’s helpful blog article, Top 10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Child’s Life Now. Click here to read her complete article. Her tips will give you some great, easy to do ideas. We can all use more autism help for parents!

Join our free newsletter! Get insider updates from The Social Express, click here to join us!

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How Our Social Learning Software Helps Your Child

Social-Learning-Software-Autism-Help-for-ParentsThe Social Express is a 16-lesson social learning software program designed to provide autism help for parents of children with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD.

Autism Help for Parents

Children diagnosed on the autism spectrum do not learn the skills needed to be effective adults in the same way that other children without the autism diagnosis do.

Our program provides autism help for parents by making it easier for you to work with your child with autism between therapy sessions.  The Social Express helps you to reinforce the social skills that your child may be learning in classes or therapy sessions.

The Social Express introduces many skills that are needed for your child to become socially competent. Improved social skills may help your child with autism to make friends more easily.

Children with social learning challenges require direct instruction, with each facet of every skill broken down into small pieces. The Social Express addresses the areas of social skills needs by providing a highly animated, interactive and visual presentation.

Here are a few of the social skills included in our 16-lesson learning program:

– Being With the Group: Keep Your Body Facing the Group

– Pick the Feeling: Use Your Eyes and Brain to Figure Things Out

– Say the Right Thing: Talk About What the Group Is Talking About

How Our Social Learning Software Benefits Your Child

The Social Express is mainly developed to help elementary school age children with autism, Asperger’s and ADHD.  Here are three suggestions for working with the program:

Work through the program along with your child. It is best if you work with your child when using The Social Express learning software. Instead of letting your child interact with the program alone, it’s key to work through the lessons with your child. This way you can more easily reinforce social skills with your child between therapy sessions.

Pause the software to discuss what he or she is learning. When using The Social Express with your child, stop the software in between each lesson. That way you can discuss the social skill being presented by the program with your child. This becomes a “teachable moment” for you with your child.

Review each lesson with your child.  Revisit each lesson and allow your child to select the “wrong” answer. Then you can explain to your child what happens in social situations with other children when someone makes the “wrong” choice.

Join our free newsletter! Get insider updates from The Social Express, click here to join us!

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Autism Help for Parents: Win Our Social Learning Software

Autism-Software-Smart-Apps-for-KidsOur friends at the popular website, SmartAppsForKids.com are launching The Social Express GIVEAWAY.

You can find out how to win a copy of The Social Express by clicking to the Smart Apps For Kids site here.

SmartAppsForKids.com calls our autism software:

“The Social Express, the app everybody wants…”

We love hearing that! We developed The Social Express to fill the need for autism help for parents. The Social Express is popular with teachers and therapists too. But we’re really glad that it’s the autism software app of choice for many parents who want to help their children to improve social learning.

If you know of anyone looking for autism help for parents, tell them  about The Social Express. Parents can help their kids with autism improve social skills using our autism software on just about any device you like. The Social Express is available for PC, Mac, or iPad.

How Autism Software Helps Your Child

The Social Express is engaging, educational autism software for children and young adults with social learning challenges. The software is designed to teach users how to think about and manage social situations. This way it helps them to develop meaningful social relationships with other children and succeed in life.

Using video modeling, The Social Express helps your child with autism, Asperger’s, or ADHD to work on skills that he or she needs to make friends. Skills like self-regulating, recognizing other people’s facial expressions, and how to keep the right distance from others in a conversation.

Join our free newsletter! Get insider updates from The Social Express, click here to join us!

Visit the Smart Apps For Kids website to learn more about The Social Express GIVEAWAY. Click here to check out their website.

 

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