I have written many times about how some kids really have difficulty when it comes to making friends. Not all children are able to grasp the social skills needed so may look to their parents for tips on how to make friends. If your child is a little shy there are simple things that you can suggest that he try to help with his social skills.
Smiling at people can be the start to making a new friend. A smile tells people that you are interested in them and it is a sure fire way to open the door to friendship. If your child is shy he may feel like lowering his head and not looking in people's eyes. Help your child to practice his smiling and eye contact with the rest of the family and if anyone notices that your child is not looking them in the eye, you can gently lift his head up and tell him to look at you with his beautiful peepers. After awhile this should become a habit.
If on the other hand that you are concerned that your child is taking too long to grasp social skills and is really having a lot of problems maintaining eye contact it may be a good idea to discuss it with your Doctor who should be able to refer you to the proper professional to help your child. Children on the Autism Spectrum in particular have problems with social skills and so more help may be needed.
For more ideas on How to Help Your Child Make Friends!
Happy Parenting
Monicka
Showing posts with label eye contact. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eye contact. Show all posts
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Non -verbal Communication
Happy Saturday Everyone
We all have good days and bad days and I am so blessed to have a very special friend that can always pick up on my moods without my saying a word. She can read me like a book, and all I have to do is listen to the tone in her voice and I will know if something is not right with her.
Sadly, a lot of children who are on the autism spectrum, such as my daughter are not born with this natural sense. Not to say that it can't be learned but it takes a lot of effort and I am always amazed when my daughter makes it a point to ask me if I am OK. My youngest son will pick up on my facial expression quite naturally, but my daughter needs to go out of her way to check in with how I am feeling. Eye contact is especially difficult for her but she always tries so hard to look people in the eye. Sometimes she is so intent on keeping eye contact with whomever she is listening to, it looks like she is looking right through you. Her speech therapist and I both advised her that it was OK to look away from time to time to give her eyes a bit of a rest and she is practicing that now.
I am thrilled with the fact that the talk shows are focusing on this disorder, which is increasing at an alarming rate. Up until now it was not given enough airplay and thanks to people like Larry King and Oprah that is slowly changing. Even Oprah said it was eye- opening for her and she was shocked that this was the first time she had ever featured a program on Autism in all the many years she was on television.
If you would like to know more about Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders one of my favourite websites is, http://www.autismspeaks.org/
All the best
Monicka
We all have good days and bad days and I am so blessed to have a very special friend that can always pick up on my moods without my saying a word. She can read me like a book, and all I have to do is listen to the tone in her voice and I will know if something is not right with her.
Sadly, a lot of children who are on the autism spectrum, such as my daughter are not born with this natural sense. Not to say that it can't be learned but it takes a lot of effort and I am always amazed when my daughter makes it a point to ask me if I am OK. My youngest son will pick up on my facial expression quite naturally, but my daughter needs to go out of her way to check in with how I am feeling. Eye contact is especially difficult for her but she always tries so hard to look people in the eye. Sometimes she is so intent on keeping eye contact with whomever she is listening to, it looks like she is looking right through you. Her speech therapist and I both advised her that it was OK to look away from time to time to give her eyes a bit of a rest and she is practicing that now.
I am thrilled with the fact that the talk shows are focusing on this disorder, which is increasing at an alarming rate. Up until now it was not given enough airplay and thanks to people like Larry King and Oprah that is slowly changing. Even Oprah said it was eye- opening for her and she was shocked that this was the first time she had ever featured a program on Autism in all the many years she was on television.
If you would like to know more about Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders one of my favourite websites is, http://www.autismspeaks.org/
All the best
Monicka
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
