I work in an autism class. We work on fine motor skills. A lot. Here are some of the things that we do to help our kiddos with fine motor activities.
1. Clothespins- we give each child one clothes pin and have them use only one hand to pick something up and put it on a plate. We have really thin rectangular blocks at my school so we use those a lot but it could be anything- just as you can get the clothes pin around it.
2) Cutting Sandwiches- so....that's actually my name for it. I really have no idea what it's called. All you need for this is two pieces of cardboard, a piece of paper, and a brass paper fastener. Cut your two pieces of cardboard into identical shapes- these will be the "bread" of your sandwich...they should be as alike as possible. Cut a hole through the middle of each, making sure that the holes line up. Stick a piece of paper in between each cardboard shape- making it a sandwich. Use the brass paper fastener, insert it through the hole on one side of the cardboard, through the paper, and then open the two sides away from one another on the back of the second piece of cardboard. The goal is for the child to be able to cut around the piece of paper and end up with the piece of paper being the same shape and size as the cardboard. For circles this is fairly easy. However, for a shape like a triangle the child has to be able to hold the "sandwich" together as they turn and cut. I hope this makes sense?
3. Tracing: We use a lot of shape templates. I have found that for kids with poor fine motor it is much easier for them to use templates where they are tracing on the inside- such as a shape cut out of a square piece of cardboard, then for them to trace the outside of a shape. Being able to press their pencil against the inside walls of the cardboard to form the shape seems to help them a lot. For those of you who are visual--- here's my word picture for you. It would be easier for a child to trace the inside of a cookie cutter rather than the outside. We don't use cookie cutters mind you, it's just to give you a visual picture. I really wish I had pictures from school to show you but I don't. Perhaps I will take some and update this post.
4. Play-doh. Oh, how we love play-doh. But we don't just let them squish it around. Nope, we give them tasks. We will often mix things into the play-doh, beads or beans for instance, and then have them search through the play-doh and pick them all out.
5. Paint! Finger paint or with paintbrushes. Usually trying to trace (large) shapes or letters that area already on paper.
6. When I worked at the pre-school we had parmesan shakers like you find at pizza parlors and the kids would put those red, hollow, stir stars through the holes.
7. Tongs- This is harder than using clothes pins because once you grasp an item with the clothes pin it automatically stays shut and you have to pinch it to open the clothespin and release the item. Using tongs is harder because it forces them to a) open the tongs to grasp the item, b) hold the tongs closed to keep the item, c) open the tongs to release the item.
8) Legos- or blocks that stick together. We usually use the very small square legos and they get to play around and stick them together.
9) Tracing- plain old boring paper and pencil tracing. This is my least favorite (and probably theirs, too!) but we do it. *sigh* Some of our kids have a very had time tracing but if we highlight everything that they need to trace it seems to help them.
10. Grab Bag Game- this is actually a lot of fun. It's also something you could easily re-create without having to buy the actual product. You fill a bag- ours is fabric- with small distinctly shaped items. We have a lot of weird little shapes with different textures. You need two of each shape. One goes into the bag and the other the teacher keeps. Then the teacher will show a shape to the child and let them feel it with their hands. The teacher then takes the shape back and the child sticks their hand into the bag. Without looking the child tries to grab the same shaped piece from the bag.
What have you used for fine motor that seems to work well? Anything that the kids really love? I'd love to know!
I work with kids with special needs. They have a special place in my heart. I may not be a teacher but I am an educator. It breaks my heart to see teachers, those who have invested their life in helping children, be unwilling to help kids with special needs.
Our class participates with the rest of the general ed classes during p.e. This week one of the p.e. activities was a game similar to hot potato. We were supposed to break the kids up into groups of four or five and we had that. The teacher that was in charge of the activity came over and wanted to add more kids to our group when we already had the largest group. We told her that we already had six kids and she pointed at one of our more severe students and said, "Yeah, but I'm not counting him. He has issues." Then she walked away!
I was flabbergasted. I could not believe that an adult, one in a prominent position, would point a child out in such a demeaning matter and in front of ALL the other kids. Yes, that little boy does have issues. But guess what, he's still a child. He is still a student. He MATTERS. He may not be able to do everything that the other kids do but that's why we as aides are there.
Another thing that I have noticed is that regular ed teachers like to separate our kids from the rest. Whenever we break into groups they like to keep our kids together instead of putting one child in with a group of regular ed kids. Doing this would serve two purposes, it would allow our kids to socialize and it allows regular education kids to interact with those with disabilities, making it less scary and foreign for both parties involved.
I really, truly, believe that before you can be certified to teach you should be required to spend time working in a classroom with kids who have special needs. I don't mean just a couple of hours. I mean a couple of weeks. Children with special needs are just like those that aren't; They are all different. You can have a class that has a child who has very slight learning disabilities working alongside a child that is non verbal.
I understand that working with children with special needs is a calling, however, just because you become a general education teacher does not mean that you will not be in contact with children who have special needs. You may be asked to have a child mainstream in your class. You may have a child in your class who has not been diagnosed.
No child, no matter how big their "issues" should be pointed out and told that they don't count, especially when it is a teacher doing the pointing. I truly believe that if more was taught about special education to all teachers that a) some people might find a new calling in life and b) our schools would improve because our teachers would have been educated about a population they might not always be in contact with.
Every child counts. And for those of us that work with those with disabilities, it is up to us to educate others so that children the world over will be accepted and values, disability or no disability.
I work in a k-2 autism class. Autism is near and dear to my heart. I'm always thrilled to find out about things that benefit or help families or those with autism. I was thrilled to learn that AMC has partnered with the autistic community to provide those kids with a sensory friendly environment- and still be able to watch movies on the big screen! According to AMC, "The program provides a special opportunity for families to enjoy their favorite films in a safe and accepting environment [if you've ever been with an autistic child while they're stemming in a public place you'll know why this is important] The auditoriums dedicated to the program have their lights up, the sound turned down and the audience members are invited to get up and dance, shout or sing!" [ever been to a movie with an autistic child as they latch onto that one phrase and repeat it a jillion times or ask you questions repeteadly? A place where they can freely talk and not get glared at, yay!!!!]For a list of theatres that offer this awesome program check out this link! http://www.amcentertainment.com/Programs_and_offers/Programs/Sensory_Friendly_Films/
