by Sara | Nov 19, 2017 | Autism, Fun
Holiday Gift Guide LEGO sets for Teenagers
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Awesome Lego Sets
In our family we take legos very seriously! We love putting together amazing Lego sets! My brother loves following the step by step directions to allow him to build amazing architecture pieces! These Lego sets can be a great activity for your teen to complete on rainy/cold days inside or as part of the whole family! These are great options as ways to help them take breaks away from screen time and allow them the use creativity and learn step by step processes.
Below is a combined list of Lego Sets that my brother has loved putting together and we wanted to share them with you in hopes that it will inspire you to create your own Lego Creation!
LEGO Architecture Chicago Skyline
The Chicago Skyline has been a fun set to put together as we are from the Midwest area and we have traveled to Chicago multiple times as a family. We have been able to personally see these structures in person!
LEGO Lincoln Memorial Set
My brother loves learning more about our US history in his homeschooling lessons and then he loves being able to create the items he has been learning about in person!
LEGO Big Ben
Big Ben is an awesome Lego set to see completed as it is so tall! It is a great piece to add to your collection!!
LEGO Minecraft the Cave
My brother has loved creating his own in person Minecraft set through tons of LEGO sets!! This is a fun set to put together as it represents the cave setting in Minecraft.
LEGO Minecraft the Farm
The Minecraft Farm set is fun to put together as it looks like a real Minecraft farm with the animals and plants!
LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon
This Star Wars set is huge!! It was so much fun to put together, but it looks AMAZING put together!! You won't want to miss this set if you are a Star Wars Fan!!
LEGO Creator Expert Winter Toy Shop
The LEGO Winter Toy Shop is a great option if you are looking for ways to have your teen help you decorate for the Holidays! They can participate with putting this set together and then enjoy this set throughout the Holiday Season!
LEGO Creator Modern Home
This Modern home set was fun to put together as we love learning about different houses and how they are formed. My brother and I love playing the Sims together and his was a great LEGO set to be able to build a house together in person with!
These were some of my brother's favorite LEGO sets to put together and we hope you find fun and enjoyment with them as well! We would love to hear what LEGO sets are your favorites! Let us know in the comments below!!
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by Sara | Nov 17, 2017 | Autism
Video Game Gifts for Teenagers with Autism
*This post contains affiliate links. There is no extra cost to you, but if you purchase something through one of our links we will be able to earn some income for our family. Please see our disclosure policy for further details.
Video games have been a huge part of our family and they are my brother's favorite free time activity to play. As the older sister I have even loved getting to participate with all of the new video games my brother enjoys. We know that these activities can become very expensive and time consuming, but this is something our family enjoys to do with my brother.
We wanted to compile a list of some of my brother's favorite electronic consoles that he uses and some of his favorite games. We would love to hear from you if your teenager loves to play video games and what some of their favorite games might be!
Ipad and Computer
My brother's two favorite items are his iPad and his computer. He could spend hours playing games or doing learning activities with these two items. Below are pictures of the items that he uses on a daily basis.
Ipad Pro
ASUS Gamer Computer Laptop
Steam
My brother loves using his Steam account on his computer to play video games. His favorite video game to play on Steam is Team Fortress 2!
Steam Gift Card
Xbox
He has also loved getting to play games on his Xbox. I also enjoy playing games with him on his Xbox together. Especially the Lego Dimension games.
Xbox 1
Xbox Games
Lego Dimensions Xbox One
Lego Dimensions allows you to play the game with various lego characters and you can purchase additional packs and characters to go on various adventures! It is a lot of fun to play together!
WWE 2K18 Xbox One
This is a teen rated fighting game, but we still have fun playing this game together to see who can win the battle!
Nintendo Wii
Our family loves the Wii Systems! These games can be super fun and interactive! We have used the Wii and the Wii U. We have also purchased the Wii Fit where we can do fun interactive games together and get our sweat on at the same time!
Nintendo Wii U
Nintendo Wii Fit
Below are two of my brother's favorite games to play with the Wii. They can also be fun games to play as a family as well!!
Mario Strikers Charged
Super Smash Brother Wii U
We know that videos games are not for everyone, but our family has had a lot of fun playing new video games over the years. We hope that some of my brother's favorite games will be helpful for you and your family as you look for video games for your teenager as well.
Please let us know in the comments below what some of your teenagers favorite games are! We would love to learn more and expand on what we currently have!
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by Sara | Jun 24, 2017 | Autism, Life skills, Special Needs
Teaching Personal Hygiene Self-Care Tasks
As you may know our family is working hard to teach my teenage brother with autism to be independent with every day tasks and some of those skills include personal hygiene self care tasks. My mom, really wanted to know where he stood with how much he could do on his own and how much he was needing help from her at home. So, we created these charts with the steps broken down for each task so we could monitor how much assistance he was needing with each skill. Then my mom could learn which steps he was needing the most help with and we could brainstorm ideas on ways he could do those steps more independently.
Here is a sample of 3 of the task analysis charts for you to preview! If you would like to download all for FREE please provide me with your name and email address below! Tasks you will receive: showering, bathing, brushing teeth, washing face, toileting routine for boys, girls, and bowel movement, and brushing hair!
For example, he was learning to wash his face every day with a new acne soap to help him with his skin. In the beginning my mom had to do each step for him because he hated to get his face wet with water and he was afraid to get soap in his eyes. One way we helped him with this fear was by having a dry towel within arms reach that he could get to if he felt like he was going to get water or soap in his eyes. This helped to calm him so that he was more willing to complete the task. Then each day my mom would try one simple step for him to try such as getting his hands wet and just touching this face and then gradually working to having him getting this face wet himself. This was a very slow process and we were very patient with him, but over time and with lots of repetition he was able to do this skill pretty much all by himself. Now my mom just stands by and watches incase he needs something and plus this helps with his fear as well.
As a family, we know that these skills can be difficult to learn and take lots of time and repetition to help our children learn to do these skills independently. We also know that there has to be somewhat of an intrinsic motivation for the child to want to be independent with the skill. For my brother, he was motivated to learn these skills to help his skin feel and look better and he had mentioned that he wanted to get married one day 🙂 So we had a conversation about how if you want to get a girlfriend you will want to smell nice for her. These were ideas were intrinsically motivating for him so he was more willing to practice this skill as well.
Think about your families life and dynamic? What is important to your child? Have they mentioned anything about friends or how their body feels? Maybe that could be an idea to go with to help motivate them to learn this skill. Or do they have someone they look up to that could talk to them about the importance of keeping our bodies clean and healthy?
Let me know in the comments below if there are any strategies you have used to help your teenager with autism be more motivated to learn the personal hygiene skills?
Does your child or teen struggle with personal hygiene skills due to sensory challenges? Check out our free Personal Hygiene Sensory Strategies Toolkit for help!
Does your child have difficulty learning personal hygiene self care skills? Check out our Ebook Everyday Life Skills Personal Hygiene Skills in the Bathroom for TONS of tips and resources to help your loved one become more independent with these skills!
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