INTRO
hello hello and welcome to the autism 360 podcast the 360 method a weekly podcast where we talk about everything autism 360. each week we’ll be catching you up with what’s going on in the program chatting with team members and talking all things mindset as well as exploring relevant ideas that autism parents think about so welcome i’m your host ella bailey i’m autism 360 veteran coach and explorer of all things parenting support and lucky me today i’m joined by the talented and fabulous ashley hyman one of our parent coaches here on the program ashley joined the program in august 2021 and has helped dozens of families since then and especially developing a bit of a um interest in adhd ashley how are you hi hello good i’m happy to be here thanks for having me uh always a pleasure never a chore um and welcome to our lovely listeners we’re so happy to have you thank you for tuning in and we care about your thoughts and experiences whether you’re a program member or not we would love to hear from you so please drop us a line at hello autism360.com because we love our listener feedback i’m sure ashley would agree that the uh parents are the paramount most important part of our program so we’d love to hear from you before we get started i’d like to acknowledge the gadigal people of the eora nation uh on whose land i live and work and from where this podcast is being broadcast today and also just mention that this is not a substitute for medical or allied health advice if you’re worried about your kiddo or you have concerns about yourself please do get in contact with your gp or get in contact with the program we’d love to be able to support you on your journey
Topic of the day: Stay on Task ADHD and ASD
so ashley now we get to talk about the good stuff absolutely we can dive straight on into it um so most of us already know what adhd is so today the main thing i want to cover is strategies that we could employ to help our little kiddos so i’ll quickly cover what adhd is but then move straight on to the exciting stuff awesome let’s hear it adhd it’s a condition that affects somebody’s ability to concentrate so people with adhd will usually experience periods of time where they are inattentive hyperactive or impulsive this generally will be at a level that it will interfere with their daily living functions okay and so uh if this is something that you see a lot in the program you see a lot of kiddos coming in with asd but then showing a lot of adhd signs is that right yeah absolutely i mean adhd and asd there seems to be more and more kiddos getting diagnosed with both um if not you know sometimes parents suspect it they’re going through the process um so it’s definitely one to um discuss because we can employ some simple strategies that also help with asd as well so definitely these strategies um are quite helpful for the both awesome okay well let’s get started what’s your first pro
Strategy on Memory
my first hot tip is going to be a memory prosthetic so what it means is using written instructions or visuals to help the kiddo remember and accomplish steps to a task so you could create say a visual routine for their morning or afternoon it’s got pictures and the written words of each step to complete that so instead of just saying it’s time to get ready for school and remembering them to expecting them to remember each step of what that is they can work step by step with basically the visual being their memory okay and so what’s the difference between that sort of support and just like a visual schedule is it the way you implement it yeah absolutely so it’s the way that it’s implemented um look they can be confused a lot um the two can be considered quite similar but what we want is we want to break down every single step so we’re not glossing over we’re very specific so that we are assisting with say if they’re having an inattentive morning they just have to simply glance at that to remember where they were and where to move on to okay i see could you give an example of a routine that you might use that kind of prosthetic for yeah absolutely so something as simple as say brushing your teeth so breaking that completely down down to the point of we get our toothbrush we get toothpaste we put toothpaste on the toothbrush we put it under the water and then going through to the steps of what we brush front teeth back teeth tongue rinse our mouth so every single little step just to set them up for success it can be done as simply as creating it on a microsoft word document um that’s visually attractive or there is a great product you might have heard of talking points i think i have heard of that yeah what are for parents what what is a talking point yeah so a talking point is you can record your voice basically talking you’re talking your kiddo through a process so it can be multi-step instructions that you record and then your child can press the button to replay as many times as they need to get through that process so this could be a good one for say after school where their bag goes there is this big button waiting to be pressed they press the button and it tells them the expectation of unpacking their bag you know take your lunchbox out put it in the kitchen get your drink bottle shoes off and so if they get distracted you could refer them back to the button they press it again and see where they got to before wandering off so that’s a super helpful one and it’s attractive for kiddos what kiddo doesn’t want to push a giant button if it’s red am i right yes absolutely yeah so that’s a few quick tips for memory um but basically that’s there is apps these days that will help and
Strategy on Visual
if you don’t want to do apps then going with visual instructions is a really good starting point yeah absolutely i think some of the um kiddos that i’ve worked with who have that attention deficit it helps that multi-sensory um support so you’ve got the visual in combination with the audio version of the um instruction like the talking point or um it also helps to you know you to move them through the stations of their routine or whatever so they have all these different um ways to engage with the instruction to help support their memory yeah absolutely and that’s also really kind to them considering everyone remembers things differently um so you know having both visual and verbal um they’ve got that better chance of absorbing the task and remembering the steps for next time so yeah doubling up um you know sometimes might be overwhelming but in a lot of cases it can improve their learning totally and i’m uh you know i’m a verbal processor no wonder i have a podcast yeah yeah okay so what else have we got what other strategies are your hot tips number two is also a super important one motivation because honestly in order to persevere with any task you have to be motivated so we can’t expect any differently about kiddos so in the 21st century obviously a great way of utilizing motivation is going to be apps and technology um so starting there i guess is finding the apps that can get the task done in a motivating and fun way so an example of that would be again the morning routine we could utilize an app like the kids to-do list by little eco that allows you to edit and create a visual routine and when they complete it they tick off stars that pop and when they get through the whole routine it gives them a little 30 second game to play that’s fun i love that okay yeah so obviously increasing motivation well how can we make it fun um you know of course there is rewards which is when they get to the end but the motivation to get through is what we need to spend some more time finding those creative ways so that is one way if you want kind of a technology free version there’s always working towards tasks so breaking it down they do step one and they get a little reinforcer motivation to keep going so that’s kind of the simple ways but i mean ella what’s your experience with you know technologies and apps is a motivational tool do you agree yes there’s one that’s um there’s one that’s standing out to me which was this um beautiful little girl that i was working with who um just wasn’t on board with toothbrushing she was just not about it it was not her mood um and we were really struggling to obviously help look after her oral hygiene so i found i went on a good old um internet search and i found this app that syncs with their toothbrush and um as so the app brings up a picture it’s all covered in bubbles they can’t see what it is and as they move the toothbrush around in their mouth it slowly reveals a new picture every day i love her yeah super fun and it um whatever the character on their toothbrush is like elsa or you know whoever um that’s the picture that comes up on the app so that was a really fun one yes that’s really good and what was that oral b in oral b good to know and see that’s just a quick and easy way to you know utilize
Utilizing Technology
technology we’re not saying if you do this you get it the ipad for an hour it’s using it in the moment um that’s brilliant i love that yeah super fun and um it also times the activity without timing the activity because they have to see the whole way through to be able to get access to the that picture at the end which takes time yeah not a daunting countdown or yeah i love that okay yeah well look i’ll dive into my third strategy um right my third strategy is physical exercise um now we all know you know doctors say physical exercise is good for everything that’s nothing new with adhd research has found um that people with adhd have higher levels of theta brain activity now this activity is known as the sleepy brainwave um but exercise that increases a different brainwave called beta which increases focus and attention so when you look at it from that perspective physical exercise is going to increase the exact brainwave needed to assist in attentional skills just small amount of physical exercise broken up throughout the day is going to kind of fight for that good brain wave activity that we need yeah absolutely i found a lot of kiddos that um do have that more hyperactive form of adhd a really um highly cardiovascular form of exercise actually heightens their um hyperactivity have you ever noticed that or gotten feedback
Focusing on the activity
from parents around that absolutely yeah absolutely and i guess it’s just how we pick and choose the activities suitable for those moments then so for example if we’re just needing them to focus and attend to their meal at hand and not get distracted so that they eat enough um well it’s meal time and if it’s dinner it’s going to be bedtime soon we’re definitely not going to recommend something that’s too stimulating but it could be something as simple as breaking up their dinner time into hey can you go get this from the other room for me and just giving them that small permission to move um you know if they end up skipping or running there that’s that’s their exercise that’s their movement um but yeah absolutely it’s kind of picking and choosing that level of stimulation um in the right moment yeah i’ve definitely found that when i guide my more hyperactive um kiddos towards um weight bearing type exercises rather than high cardiovascular output type exercises you tend to see an increase in the regulating nature of it so things like um hanging from a set of monkey bars where they’re having to support their own weight or um doing um wheelbarrow runs where they’re having to move but with the weight of a pier or whatever with them or um a backpack full of books while they’re running or something like that um helps to decrease that like agitation response that you can get from high cardiovascular output output activities whilst also getting the benefits of those beta brain waves that are brought on by exercise that’s my little pro tip from the field yeah love that definitely simple things like moving the laundry basket um pushing it along the floor brilliant yeah yeah awesome okay and my final strategy um is music now it can be considered an interesting one hear me out okay playing music in the background believe it or not will help with overall focus so i’m not talking something too engaging like the kiddos favorite song that they can’t help but sing and dance to that’s going to pull them away from that homework you’re trying to get them to do but i’m talking music with a constant and slow beat um so this could be you know a spotify playlist spotify has a bunch of adhd playlists that all follow that constant slow beat wow now having that in the background is in their subconscious awareness but it allows them to focus more on the task in front of them instead of trying to process multiple things at once there is something that’s at least consistent in the background interesting okay so it’s a bit of an interesting one it’s one that you’ve kind of gotta give it a go before you believe it i i hear you that’s fine absolutely instead of getting distracted by say the changing of tv channels in the background this consistent beat is going to be a lot less stimulating and therefore focusing on the task at hand is a lot easier yeah interesting i’ve um in the past had some success with families whose whose children were struggling with that auditory overwhelm or um being overly stimulated by the auditory input in their environment with trying out a bunch of different um uh white noise track so there’s all sorts of different um sound wave levels and stuff that are on uh coming in through like white noise or pink noise or brown noise they all have different um frequency frequency yeah that’s the word i was looking for kind of auditory qualities and they could really help because our brain after a little while of processing the same sound for um you know a few minutes at a time it starts to um uh tune it out and you know everybody has had this experience where you tune back into something and you think how long have i been listening to this for i don’t know where am i you know absolutely yeah and i think that sometimes those like white noise or pink noise tracks in the background because they’re so easy for our brain to tune out it can actually help with reducing the auditory overwhelm which is kind of counter-intuitive it is yes yes yes absolutely yeah and that is the thing after 10 minutes we do um so you know if you take away that spontaneity of the child is oh what was that sound or what am i missing out on um you know and put that consistent beat in it is a lot easier in the long run yeah fascinating how the brain works right absolutely yes endless endless um okay awesome well thank you for that I
Community Questions
do have a um parent question for this week on this topic um which i’m going to inspire at you and folks actually has had no preparation for this i do not apologize for that um rhonda from darwin asks my child isn’t hyperactive but you can’t seem to concentrate on any task even once she likes it also seems like she gets fatigued really easily do you have any suggestions absolutely the two quick ones that come to mind one is chunking tasks so if a task has a designated finish who says that’s the designated finish let’s you know chunk it into three separate intervals that they can get through and that allows for a little break in between so instead of having to push through what they perceive as a big task we can break it down into three bite-sized little pieces so chunking that’s a really important one and the second one i would say is including movement breaks in there so like i said with the dinner time um you know while your child is is kind of low and not hyperactive they might still need to just wander around to then come back to the task at hand so giving them little movement breaks that you can specifically suggest what they do star jumps can you go get this from the kitchen it just allows them to have that little break before continuing on amazing any other thoughts for ronda look honestly with that it’s just keeping in mind that if your child’s kiddo is of school age school is is a really taxing time they have a lot of demands placed on them they have a lot to get through so if you’re noticing that kind of exhaustion at the in the afternoon um put in more of those respite breaks so do chunk all tasks give them time to rest and recover so just be mindful of you know what part is there a part of the day um where these sorts of strategies are needed most and and having a look at that okay i love that idea and i think you’re right in um i guess just flagging to parents how much more of um a demand uh our kiddos on the spectrum are having to deal with in a school day than a neurotypical kid you know they really are having to work much harder to engage um in school especially if it’s a mainstream school they were having to work so much harder to engage in the tasks that a neurotypical child you know potentially is breezing through um absolutely and taking that into consideration when we’re um again expecting them to be able to continue on that focus into the afternoon or yeah and that is yeah it’s a lot more taxing for them to get through that day so you know when you think about um the demands of school it’s it’s no surprise that you might notice it more in the afternoon if you’re noticing it more in the morning then obviously there’s looking into sleep and that sort of thing but um yeah when it comes to that low
OUTRO
energy side um it’s just making sure that we’re being fair to their little growing bodies yeah absolutely i remember being exhausted after school and i didn’t even have adhd so um oh thank you for coming on ashley i love picking your brain about this sort of thing my pleasure thank you for having me absolutely and um no doubt i will uh come and knock in on your door again sometime soon um until then everybody um i can’t wait until next week where we talk about another uh topic that’s relevant to autism parenting until then please do drop us a line hello at hello at autism360.com um and until then think360.
