I was *just* looking at the Comprehension Connections book for my hyperlexic 6 year old. I'm currently reading How to Teach Life Skills to Kids with Autism or Aspergers. http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Life-Skills-Autism-Aspergers/dp/1935274139/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372209380&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+teach+life+skills+to+kids+with+autism+or+asperger%27s It's excellent. It's informative and entertaining. Thanks for starting the thread Jennifer!

Got it! Thanks for the heads up!

I have Teaching Playskills and didn't think it was very useful. I second Hanen's More Than Words for speech!

I like Hamaguchi Apps. My boys loved First Phrases, Fun with Directions, and Picture the Sentence. All of these apps have Lite versions that cost 99 cents. The phrases in First Phrases are like "push the button", "pour the water", "cut the grass" etc.. It gives the child an opportunity to record themselves saying it and then the animation acts out the phrase. It was a huge hit with my very visual boys. Picture the Sentence is the least fun, but it's a very good way to work on receptive language.

A visual schedule would be very helpful, I think. It can be just pictures or a word/picture combo. And be sure to give him plenty of sensory breaks-- running, jumping, swinging, whatever helps him re-charge. Good luck to you!

Totally agree. Very good advice, very well said. Good luck Kathryn!

I'll keep thinking, but an indoor swing is HUGE around here! Also, our sons love to jump and crash. They jump on the trampoline and then crash into a bean bag chair.

Hugs! I know it's hard to process all the information at once. I agree with your gut and disagree with the neuropsych about the low IQ, Ridiculous. I would wait and see what the school offers. I have three sons on the autism spectrum and our school district has a really good autism preschool. My oldest didn't attend because he didn't have his pdd-nos dx at the time, but he would have loved it. The younger two have really thrived there. It's only 2.5 hours a day, but they love going. It might offer a nice break for you while someone else works with your son. One thing you might want to do at home is work on poetry memorization. When I homeschooled I would have my oldest memorize seasonal poems as part of our curriculum. It was easy for him to do since, like your son, memorization came so easily to him and he enjoyed listening to the rhyming. You might also look into educational songs (like the Leapfrog CD). My sons have learned their letter sounds and skip counting from educational music. I'll try to think of some other things for you.

I absolutely disagree with this. I have 3 sons with asd and it goes way beyond "odd kid", even for my highest functioning child. I am skeptical about the vaccine link, though.

How old is your child? When my oldest was 7 I was homeschooling him, so they didn't have a teacher from which to get information and were still able to make an accurate diagnosis. I think there are ways to get around involving the teacher if it makes you uncomfortable.

Jennifer, if you're comfortable sharing your pinterest board I would LOVE to follow you.

Thanks for the heads up on the kindle book! I'll have to check it out!

I don't think we need a subforum. Can't we discuss the educational/therapy/life issues all in one place like we have? Or do my autistic children need to be shoved into a corner (subforum) to make people from the main boards "comfortable"?

Thanks for the heads up on the Linguisystems product, Marie. That looks really good!

I think minimal distraction is the best you can do. I can't imagine most people have an extra room to devote to therapy. What book are you reading?