The following resources are to be used with your child as conversation starters/prompts around the topic of bullying. The link directly below has a very good social story prompt that may be helpful in talking to children about bullying and what to do if you are being bullied (Particularly pages 15-16):

http://www.leics.gov.uk/autism_strategies_bullying.pdf

I also like this short cartoon to visually explain what verbal bullying might look like (and how it makes someone feel):

http://a.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/cocreate/imagecache/inline-large/inline/2013/02/1682477-inline-slide-6-archie-co-ceo-looks-beyond-riverdale-with-comics-that-make-a-social-impact.jpg

Charlie Brown bullying visual:

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lrqgyjp6GT0/hqdefault.jpg

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These cartoons are insightful and hilarious. They also show the power of cartooning to help kids express worries, share their expectations, make plans to manage feelings, review schedule, etc. Enjoy!

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LEGO instruction manuals are the perfect example of step-by-step visual guides. These manuals are attractive to look at, simple, well spaced with only one or two steps on each page, and very light to non-existent on text. Everything builds off of the last step until an entire truck, airplane, spaceship, city scape, or whatever else LEGO has put out is complete.
I suggest that the next time you’re in an IEP meeting and the team brings up creating simple step-by-step visual instructions for your son/daughter (and everyone nods their heads and says “great idea”), you take out a LEGO manual and get started.

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A few days ago, our 2 and a half year old nephew Noah spent the night in our home. His parents were attending a wedding near by and hoping to have a little fun with some long-time friends. Noah was wonderful, cooperative, and excited to be with us. We grilled and ate outside, kicked around the soccer ball, and played with trucks. There were times, as the night went on and dark set in, when he said “I want to go home”. But he was easily calmed and redirected to the next fun activity.
Being responsible for his care and being in the business of quelling worries, I noticed the importance of focusing in on his evening routine.
It went as follows: We played (with trucks), ate dinner, then took a bath, brushed our teeth, read 2 books, and lay down in bed with the light off and the door open a crack. This is his routine with his mom and dad. Because he was staying over in a new place, this routine became even more important for him. We got to bed a bit later than we hoped, but we went through our routine just the same. Lights out. He was asleep within 5 minutes. It was nice for me to see the value of a steady routine at work with this little guy.

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