He is struggling to get to grips with time. Not the telling of it. He can look at a clock and tell the time, but he finds it difficult to use or understand time concepts in conversation.
Well, I don't blame him, it's all a bit confusing. I use phrases like 'in a minute', or 'just give me a second', or 'I'll be two minutes', flippantly.
In my son's world, I lie. If I say we'll be leaving in two minutes, he sits on the stairs, coat on and ready and counts. Out loud. I feel like I'm on a frustrating game on countdown. I am trying to look at social situations with him, and explain what people mean isn't always what they say. He sometime feels very frustrated with me, because of the words I use, like I am playing a game and not abiding by the rules. If I say 2 minutes, I should mean it.
As well as trying to reassure him, and change my phraseology with him, I have also been trying out some games online and some apps on the iPhone / iPad (which he loves). I am always amazed at what you can find to help enhance your life and educate your children.
http://www.modelmekids.com/iphone-app-autism.html - uses apps which help my son look at social situations and different eventualities which occur, and models appropriate ways of how to deal with them.
'Something special' on cbeebies, ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/somethingspecial/games/somethingspecial-outandabout/ ) have games on their website which allow my son learn about facial expressions and their meanings... another concept he struggles with, as 'sometimes people smile when they are sad, or angry'. How confusing.
However, although reality is confusing for him, I do believe that these games and apps help him. Not only in explaining how things work & why they sometimes go wrong, but also they allow him to practice skills. The most important one at the moment being 'waiting'.
When the games are loading, he has to wait. this allows me to use the time as a practice for my own words too. Using phrases such as ' a bit later' or 'soon' or giving a visual aid like an egg timer or using the 'loading' bars which appear on the screen, is really helping my son with this concept.
As with all things in my life, If I do the work and change my own language, preparation and time management, life for my son becomes easier too; as our worlds begin to meet in the middle.
Here's the link to more information about why social situations and communicating is difficult for my son, and others like him. I hope it's inspiring for you. :) http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/communicating-and-interacting/social-skills/social-skills-in-young-children.aspx
Do you have similar experiences? Or do you have any knowledge of apps or games that would help us more with the issue of time???
