Using a Puzzle to Help Problem-Solve and Visualize the Future with Special Needs

By Karen Kaplan

Life is like assembling various pieces and connecting them to create positive lives.

So, we must teach our children how to see and find those pieces and assemble them so they may lead a life with meaning, fulfillment, joy, fun, balance, adventure, respect, giving,

receiving, and ongoing learning.

It may be especially challenging for parents to ensure that their child will learning

differences, such as autism, cerebral palsy, downs, social regulation challenges, communication challenges can assemble all the needed pieces to optimize their lives.

Most typically developing children learn just by observing. Most typical children are motivated by so many things that they discover pieces of life easier. Most typically developing children want to try something new and different to expand their pieces more easily. Thus, they can gather problem-solving pieces more easily. They understand social cues more easily and can add them to their bag of skills when they go to school or gain employment that helps them be

with others.

Some of us can visualize that large picture of our lives and can see how things fit together. We may be able to set goals more easily and break those big goals down into manageable pieces that help us create the big picture.

So, how do we help others put that bigger puzzle together?

Start early to involve children in meaningful daily activities. Provide structured routines that facilitate learning. Expose them to new and different experiences early on to open up possibilities. Help them learn to organize. Teach them to play and engage in activities with others, accomplishing tasks collaboratively.

Identify communication differences early and develop expressive and comprehension language skills. Consult a Speech Therapist or Assistive Communication Specialist. To assemble pieces, they require good fine motor and motor planning skills. Consult an Occupational Therapist. They need strong visual motor and processing skills to understand the bigger picture of life. Teach them how to give to others and appreciate when they receive support.

Help them identify their strengths and build on them. Use their interests to motivate them, and then teach them how to develop their interests further. Help them understand how you put your life together. Involve grandparents to show them how they organized their lives. What did they do? Where did they go? How did they learn? Building a life takes time and many trials. Teach them patience and encourage them to keep trying, possibly in different ways.

Take out real puzzles and have them assemble them. Increase the number of pieces. Have them pay attention to the sizes and shapes. Please encourage them to visualize the completed puzzle. Then, explain that we are all putting pieces together to create our lives and to visualize our futures. Fitting pieces together takes time. Acknowledge small steps towards the completion of their life puzzle. Help them create a life plan (where they hope to live, what type of environment they want to be in, and what skills they will need to thrive in that environment). What type of education do they wish to pursue? Where do they want to pursue it? What skills will they need to succeed in school? How will they afford to live? What work do they want to do? What skills will they need to be successful in their careers?

This Life Plan is their puzzle. It will need many pieces connected to put into action.

Parents, make sure your son or daughter’s individual education plan and transition plan

for school incorporate pieces of the puzzle. Set up puzzle goals.

The puzzle of life will require that your individual understands how to build wellness and

be in optimum health, so start early by exposing them to wellness strategies (effective

nutrition, appropriate sleep, exercise, counseling, and stress reduction ideas). When these

pieces are not included, the puzzle may not stay together.

Make things very visual to your individuals. Hearing it may not be enough. Help them

see the pieces. Model the pieces in your own life. Show them how you chose the right

pieces to form your life.

Use the Path method to help them see PATH | Person Centred Planning | Person

Centred Planning Tools

Use the MAPs METHOD Person-Centered Planning: PATH, MAPS, and Circles of Support

Inclusion Press

Yes, life is like a puzzle, but when you put the right pieces in place, things connect and

One can live with joy, fun, meaning, and adventure.

Karen Kaplan, MS, is a native San Franciscan. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, in speech pathology and audiology. She minored in special education and obtained her speech therapist and special education credentials in California. Karen worked as a speech therapist for schools for 20 years before opening her own residential and education program for students with autism. She worked in credential programs at Sacramento State University as well as UC Davis and spent 20 years directing private schools for those with autism and similar learning challenges.

Karen founded a non-profit, Offerings, which helps cultures globally to understand those with developmental challenges. For seven years, she founded and facilitated an autism lecture series and resource fair in Northern California. Karen still facilitates an annual Autism Awesomeness event. She is currently consulting, helping families, schools, and centers for children, teens, and adults. Karen has authored three books: Reach Me Teach Me: A Public School Program for the Autistic Child; A Handbook for Teachers and Administrators, On the Yellow Brick Road: My Search for Home and Hope for the Child with Autism, and Typewriting to Heaven… and Back: Conversations with My Dad on Death, Afterlife and Living  (which is not about autism but about having important conversations with those we love). www.karenkaplanasd.com