I am writing after reading your post and have been so overwhelmed by my son who I believe is high functioning autistic . I teach using OHVA a public school at home but not always do their methods work for me so I've had to find several new ways to teach them to my son.

A friend gave me a zen Board and he writes with a finger or paintbrush with water and then it dries soon after. We use it for handwriting as well as for fun time , where he will play with it then do school work while it dries and then he gets it back when it's dry and we alternate between the two. This gives Ethan longer time to do his work without him realizing he's doing so much .

We also try harder to focus on the letters and sounds and writing is secondary . It is very important to me for my son to know how to write however it should not be the only thing he knows to do .

He had to learn the alphabet in and out of order. For him to learn it we did our abcs every day. I hung it up and while feeding the baby or other stuff he'd do it and think he was having fun not realizing we were in school. Then we'd do two to four flash cards at a time. He could not tell me what they were called in the beginning but he could find the one I asked for.

I have found so many ways to teach things and would be glad to share any of them with you . God Bless : )Manda

Zen Board Info : http://www.amazon.com/Mini- Calligraphy-Board-Running-Press/dp/0762423951

HOw To MAek Zen Board : http://www.ehow.com/how_2195333_zen-board.html

I found sandpaper letters for some was a little too tactile so I purchased suede contact, traced letters in reverse on the back cut out and mounted onto A4 laminated cards they feel nice, can be wiped over and I have had my set for years.

Try shaving cream on a table top as a variant to paint but be careful not to use menthol as my son didn't like the smell and eyes may sting.

Use a bucket of water on a warm day and a paint brush on a wall to get big arm movements.

Draw chalk letters large on path and have the child walk over it. Ensure you teach correct starting points for all letters to avoid confusion.

Magna doodles are fun to use. An outline of a letter can be used with a racing car, animal or what ever to trace letter. Sand (coloured is lovely) in a baking tray ( light covering to trace the letters), or later words was popular.

I have a list I will seek out of activities I have done with my autistic son and students in mainstream. All the best. Enjoy the challenges and celebrate every opportunity xxK

i HAVE WORKED AS A SPECIAL NEEDS TEACHER WITH CHILDREN WITH AUTISM. THESE CHILDREN ARE VERY VISUAL. in fact we are 70% visual and autistic children are 90%. compic pictures are used to teach children about routines etc. often displayed for example in a classroom on their desk as often change is difficult.

Hi,
I have taught in special settings for 7 years and you are on the right track. Using sandpaper letters is a great tactile way to introduce letters. As far as getting interested in words, I would use words from things he likes. You could make an alphabet book with pictures for each letter that he is familar with. For example a picture of mum under the letter M. A picture of family house under H etc. Use familar pictures and associate it them with the letters. A lot children with Autism like to see pictures of themselves.

You could make a letter 'reader' about his family or his favourite activity. Make sure you keep it simple and use a repetitive sentence starter. From exerience a lot of children with autism learn by seeing the whole word and not by phonics.

You could also label lots of things around the house. Lots of exposure to the written word is good for any children. You may need the help of a occupational therapist with writing. This largely depends on whether your grandson has sensory issues or a weak grip with can be common.
Good luck!

Hi, firstly what a wonderful job it sounds like you are doing.

A good idea would be allowing him to develop the letters individually in clay or plasticine. Take photos of these, construct the whole alphabet and glue in a book. Add in sightwords (gradually) which the child has made, e.g. cat - child creates the word and you photograph and glue it in. Test the letters etc each day quickly. (Slowly build the amount) This has been a famously successful method by the Davis dyslexia association. I realise your grandson does not have dyslexia however the creator himself (Ronald D Davis) had autism and dyslexia himself and created his own method as a child, effectively teaching himself.

A link to his site:
http://www.davisautism.com/ron_davis.html

"tracing each letter similar to brail...hope I spelt that right...., so that he can run his little fingers over the letter to get the feel/shape."

I can help here :)

I work with a vision impaired student and we use a fabric tracing wheel to form shapes, letters, pictures etc. You can easily pick one up from any Spotlight or Lincraft shop for around $6.

We use card instead of paper as it works better. Keep in mind though that the letter will come out in reverse if you simply draw it straight on the card. We overcome this by drawing the letter on a piece of paper. Turn the paper over and place on the card, then go over it with the tracing wheel.

It can be quite tricky at first but saves a huge amount of time in the long run.

I hope that makes sense and helps a little. :)

Goodluck

That sounds like a wonderful idea. I have a little girl in reception In my class with autism and her mum finds it really difficult to do work at home with her so to make it fun she has bought bath crayons and while she's bathing at night mum says words and letters and her daughter writes them with the special crayons. It's great for her fine motor and literacy skills!