Making Eye Contact for Interaction

“The eyes are the windows to the soul,” the proverb says. This is why they deserve a unit of their own. This is the beginning of all interactions. Eye contact with infants is the key form of communication. It is how they learn about the world around them. Children use eye contact to develop their perception of trust and what is a constant in the world. Through the years of development, children use eye contact to explore and learn. It is key in learning the forms of communication such as language, gesture, and expression. Without eye contact, we would be unable to get information about the world around us.

The key to success in this program is an emphasis on developing eye-contact frequency and duration. There are many factors that come into play when we see children who are not making eye contact. Some of these include visual sensitivity, auditory sensitivity, sensory over-stimulation, or even a lack of understanding of the role of eye contact in interaction. We need to remember, as those responsible for the social development of a child, that if the child is not making eye contact, he or she is not engaging, attending, or focusing.

Children are tricky when it comes to avoiding eye contact. They are more vested in avoidance than we are. This avoidance is a safety mechanism for them in some form and therefore they will try to hold on to it as much as they can

Excerpt from:
Wanna Play: Friendship Skills for Preschool and Elementary Grades, Ross, M.S.Ed., Ruth Herron; Roberts-Pacchionne, Beth, Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA:2006

New Staff At Wanna Play

Ruth Ross and Beth Roberts are excited to announce the addition of new staff for the program at Wanna Play this summer.

Nancy Handschuh

Nancy Handschuh graduated Shippensburg University with a degree in Elementary Education/Early Childhood. She spent the next 10 years teaching preschool and kindergarten while starting her family and raising her children. While they were still young, she went back to school to become an occupational therapy assistant with the intent to work with the geriatric/rehabilitation population. After graduation she began working at Bryn Mawr Rehab part-time and then began working at Easter Seals in Downingtown at various locations (Devereaux, Camp Hill and handwriting clinics). Eventually she began working at Delaware County Intermediate Unit in Early Intervention while still “moonlighting” at Bryn Mawr Rehab and the Pediatric Rehab at the Healthplex. This was for 7 years followed by 3 years in a private pediatric practice. Presently she is working at Elwyn as a contract therapist and is looking forward to her new association with The Wanna Play Program. Nancy has completed 2 years of DIR/Floortime training attending 2 Institutes and participating in individual mentoring. She is also certified in Therapeutic Listening and Interactive Metronome. Starting this summer Nancy will be providing DIR Model and Floortime Play Opportunities for individuals and dyads both at Wanna Play and in the home. Nancy will also be providing Interactive Metronome Training and assisting in our summer camp program.

Kelly Peters

Kelly Peters was born and raised in Broomall, PA. At a young age Kelly developed an interest in working with children. She baby-sat for families in her community and worked as a camp counselor at the Julian Krinsky Summer Camp. Kelly also worked as a Drama and Music Teacher at the School of Rose Valley’s summer program where she realized her desire to pursue a career in helping children. After graduating from Marple Newtown High School in 2001, Kelly attended Temple University. In January of 2006 she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Theater. She has continued classes in sign language in hopes to pursue an interpreter’s certificate in the future.
Kelly has spent the last year working at Devereux CARES where she gained experience with ABA techniques. During this time Kelly was also trained in PECS and other forms of facilitated communication.
During an internship in the fall of 2005 Kelly was first introduced to the Wanna Play Program. She has been working part time with the organization since the completion of her internship and hopes to learn more about various approaches to working with special needs children. Through her experiences, Kelly strives to continually expand upon her abilities to actively engage this population. Kelly will be continuing to assist with groups and run individual session through the summer. She will also be involved in our summer camp program planning and running classes.

Please contact us for more information about the camp, group and individual times and availability.

Wanna Play Program
www.wannaplayprogram.com
mail@wannaplayprogram.com
610-853-2898

2008 Closed Dates

Dance and Movement Class………August 18th to 29th

Fall Session ……………………September 15 to December 6th

AIT Comming to Wanna PLay

Berard Auditory Integration Training (AIT) is a ten day, noninvasive educational & therapeutic technique which helps people to hear all frequencies more evenly, to improve in the processing of auditory input, & to decrease hyper or hypo-sensitivity to specific environmental or speech sounds. AIT has been used with individuals with autism, PDD, dyslexia, learning disabilities and more. An AIT session will be held at Wanna Play in August 2008. The fee is $1500 (reduced to $1400 if you register by July 14). For more information, please visit www.AITforYou.com.

Monica Marharian

“Real answers for real problems. Functional qualities of life solutions versus ‘building towers’, rote speech and emphasis on self-esteem.”

Dawnyll Cerula, Speech Therapist

“This is an excellent program! I can’t wait to read your book! Are you going you going to develop a book for older kids too?”

Silly Glasses - What is Eye Contact?

Purpose: Many children need a little visual interest to help them to attend. Visual distracters in their environment make it difficult for them to cue in and stay with someone. This activity is a fun, silly way to help.

Materials: Silly glasses cut out of cardboard found in Appendix B of Wanna Play: Friendship Skills For Preschool and Elementary Ages, glue, stickers, and craft decorations.

Preparation: Cut out a pair of glasses for each child in your class (see template).

Procedure:

1. Remind children of the importance of looking at one another in the eyes.
2. Tell the children that we are going to make something to help them remember how important eye contact is.
3. Have children make glasses.
4. Teacher makes pair for self.
5. If class as a whole is challenged on eye contact, the teacher should wear glasses when giving important instructions. Phase out the visual cue by not using the glasses, but pretending to put them on to help the children remember.

Environments That Support Appropriate Behavior

Many children who are having difficulty with interactive ability, socialization or using appropriate behavior many are doing so because the environment they are in is affecting their ability to be comfortable. This can go farther then being shy or intimidated in a new environment. Children’s sensory needs will affect their behavioral response in different environments. The way an environment is constructed and the sensory input it gives to a child will effect the ability to make eye contact, the amount of time a child can focus and attend, how well a child can interact with others, how well a child can cope with different social aspects. An overwhelming environment can be the cause of many undesirable behaviors from not following directions to full blown tantrums.

The environment needs to be designed around the needs of the student. All sensory needs need to be taken into consideration when designing the environment. More often than not the environment is designed around the needs of the educator not the child. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs put physical needs as the base of all-mental development and it is looked at last in the design of good learning environments.

The following are some strategies and techniques that we have used to help a child be successful in an environment. Many of the strategies are focused on changing the environment. We suggest this as a starting point for building the child’s coping ability. When individuals are developing healthy coping abilities it helps to do so with out a stressful stimulus. It is easier to learn how to advocate for yourself in a natural environment then in one that is hostel. Once a strategy for coping is internalized a person can use it efficiently and weather a conflict.

Accommodations need to be in place for extreme situations. There are instances where a child needs to have extra set up to help facilitate them. For example a child that is a flight risk may need to be in a room where the doors are locked. These accommodations should always be made by changing the structure of the room and never in restraining the child. A safe space should be constructed as used when a child needs a break, is having a tantrum or as a positive reinforcement for a great effort. It should not be used or discussed as a time out space.

A small clean environment with as little visual distraction in the room as possible is the best place to start. As interesting as decorations are in a classroom they can distract student with attention challenges. Visual stimulus reduces the interpersonal interaction, which is the basis of true learning.

Minimize auditory distractions in the room. Majority of learning in a classroom is language based. Auditory distractions decrease the child’s ability to process verbal information and then respond to it. Just like visual stimuli, auditory stimuli can also be more interesting and affect their ability to attend. Auditory stimulation can also include the buzz from florescent lights or the hum of a room humidifier not just music.

Remove items used as negative attention getting tools. Items that are used often by a child as negative attention getting tools should be removed or put out of reach. This will eliminate the situation where the child can use the item for a power struggle. This also can set up a scenario where the child is controlling whether he/she gets the item by choosing positive behavior.

Materials should be stored up high on shelves. This set up encourages interaction when a child will need a material; he or she will need to seek the assistance of an adult or a friend.

All materials in the environment should be appropriate for the students. It is our responsibility to make sure the materials the children have access to be safe for them to handle. This holds true to those things that are too fragile for a child at a certain age. We see children reprimanded over and over by adults because they are getting their hands on things that are not appropriate for them.
.