Autistic child

[Sarah41]

Hi, I have a child who I look after for an hour and a half a day. He has autism and can't speak at all. He has an extremely limited attention span and therefore just plays with a multitude of toys. I have watched him for a while and there is no methofd to how he plays, it varies every day mood dependent. Do I need to do observations and how would you suggest I plan as everyday is very different. Also I am struggling to link anything with the EYFS. HELP.
Sarah x

[jo f]

How old is he? You could bring in sensory items, scarves, spinning toys, dry rice in a box, water play with items to pour. Some Autistic children love flapping and spinning things liking the repetition.

[Sarah41]

He's 3½ and I have tried rolling balls with him and getting him to try and do colouring, we've tried using scarves and hoola hoops, but hes not interested in any of them. If you try and do something he doesn't like, the most immense tantrum ensues. His mother has said just let him watch telly, but I don't want to do that as I have other kids and I don't think that is the answer. He is a lovely boy but very hard to observe and eyfs. xx

[dawn37]

Hi, Haven't been on here for ages (I've been really busy with mindee's all holidays! ) I don't know if this helps but I have an autistic daughter & have been looking after a couple of boys who are on the autistic spectrum & all of them inc my daughter have loved Thomas the tank engine, I'm fortunate to have all of her old train sets, but maybe you might have a train station near you or somewhere that shows model trainsets? Just an idea but then you could perhaps make a collage of Thomas & friends etc & discuss colours of the engines, it may well hold the boys interest slightly longer?

[keeks]

Hi, Haven't been on here for ages (I've been really busy with mindee's all holidays! ) I don't know if this helps but I have an autistic daughter & have been looking after a couple of boys who are on the autistic spectrum & all of them inc my daughter have loved Thomas the tank engine, I'm fortunate to have all of her old train sets, but maybe you might have a train station near you or somewhere that shows model trainsets? Just an idea but then you could perhaps make a collage of Thomas & friends etc & discuss colours of the engines, it may well hold the boys interest slightly longer?

That is interesting, my eldest son who grew up being almost obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine has now been diagnosed with inattentive ADD and he also scored above the cut off line for Autism spectrum disorders.

xx

[jo f]

If u search thomas the tank and autism there is some brilliant info about why its so good and children relate to it. I made a game from" the many faces of thomas" well worth a look I got the link from here ages ago