Finding Your Child's Strengths

I think this video brings up an important point for parents and those who work with children, neurotypical or otherwise. All children have strengths, all children have things they like to do and things they are good at. What is different for the family living on the spectrum is that the things their child is interested in and are good at, are not always what we see in other kids that same age. Sometimes it is so off the wall for us neurotypicals (NTs) that we don not consider it a good thing or it becomes odd. But anything that your child lights up at, even if it is the lighting fixture section of your home improvement store is a good thing. Sometimes these things are what really motivate these kids to talk, do, and interact. GO WITH THAT!

Does it matter that your 3 year old finds flags the coolest thing on earth? No. Does it matter that your 2 year old is attracted to soup cans? No. It does not matter what it is, you can build off these interests and bring in other topics / ideas and see where it takes your child. I hear parents and caregivers say, well he is just not interested in anything or she does not like to do anything. That says to me that someone needs to pay a little bit more attention to that kiddo. Observing your child and watching for subtle signs in either body language, actual language or whatever he or she keeps going back to might lead you to something that trips your little ones trigger. Remember though, it may not always be something you think he or she would be or should be interested in like the light switch. Keep your eyes and your mind open when it comes to finding these strengths because you just never know what they might be.

For my little guy, the first thing to trip his trigger were trains. Not just any trains, Thomas the Tank Engine trains. So for every birthday and holiday we added a few more tracks and trains to his collection. For the guy that liked to line everything up, tracks worked to his favor because he could build straight tracks from one side of the living room to the other. Sometimes it was hard fine motor wise for him, but it motivated him to practice and work at until he was able to build the most elaborate train tracks. We remember one of his best moments with the trains was when he connected the tracks and made a circle instead of a straight line! We were thrilled. Even now, Ewan loves trains and building elaborate train sets and that is cool with us.

Another strength that Ewan has always had is geography. I do not mean that he knows where Australia is on a globe, I mean he has always known where we were going when we got in the car because of the direction we went in and the places we would pass by. You might think to yourself, what does it matter if a two year old is good at knowing any of that? Well, I personally feel that this particular strength helped him when he got his augmentative communication device and was able to navigate through all the pages and learn to use the device so quickly.

I could go on about the things that excite my little guy (flags, space, volcanoes, earthquakes, insects, spiders, etc..) but the important thing is to find what excites your child, because it all starts with ONE interest. If it is the light switch that excites your kid, get excited about it too. We have jumped head first into whatever Ewan showed an interest in, whether that be trains or lining stuff up, or collecting things he has found in the house or outside. When you get excited about what they are excited about, it is easier to build on that and to find more things that your child might like. You would be surprised where these interests and strengths can take you and your child.

September.6.2006. - Mommy Blog