Teaching 6 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Dear Donors,

We would like to share with you how our little learners with autism spectrum disorder can enjoy playing. They have very limited play, play with only a few toys, or play in a repetitive way from beginning when they start to participate in our program. Our goal is teaching children to play with peers, adults and toys by developing social skills, communication and language skills, fine and motor skills, and problem-solving skills. 

Functional play is a very important type of play. We use a sensory zone, playdough station, puzzle and blocks area, and art area to help children to develop their ability to play with a purpose. Our children enjoy a bubbles time and kinetic sand activity, however they need to have an extra help with transitioning, following simpler directions, and communication during functional play.

We enjoy our constructive play by playing with blocks, puzzles, and Lego, and we use visual helpers to support our learners during this play time. Our five boys and one girl can complete a jigsaw puzzle so fast, and we encourage them to finish nicely this activity. 

The ability to play with others is our main goal for developing social skills of every child. Proving opportunities, oral and physical praises, positive reinforcement, encouragement and reward system is a huge help to have a success in developing social skills.

Penndco children learn to play together, and we proud of every child by teaching them to enjoy a cooperative play, pretend play, associative play, and functional play. We know that our children cannot always communicate easily, but we are absolutely sure they can have good friends and play cooperatively. 

Today I got a big hug, an amazing eye contact, and I saw a smooth transitioning, and first time after 2,5 years I could her "Miss Tanya, miss Tanya, miss Tanya... give me toy" and little boy was looking at my face. My colleagues and I were speechless... It is a significant moment of our little boy and his first experience to ask his teacher directly as well as appropriately.  

We ask support today and will continue to ask again and again tomorrow because we know how important to support our little learners to play, to communicate, to share, to talk, and to express their own ideas. 

Six little learners send Special Thanks to all our Donors! Five of them can say now PLEASE and THANK YOU!