The Beautiful Autistic Way

If there is something beautiful in life for a parent, is finding ways to their children's world.  Not only the joy of "seeing" your child's insights but mostly when you can find the path to these insights and you are able to help your child to flourish and enjoy.  When this happens, naturally you want to share this feeling, share this path and your insights as well.

This is what happened when parents having children on the autistic spectrum started to brush their kid's teeth at home with "Tooth Time is Party time!". 
These are some of their insights and I am very glad to share them with you!  

• Brushing teeth is very intrusive. My child had no words to tell me how difficult the experience had been but he showed very clearly that it won't happen. I gave up brushing his teeth the way I tried until then and started to have quality time playing "Tooth Time is Party Time!". We made this routine as suggested, 2 minutes playing while I recited the rhyme every morning and every evening.  For 2 long weeks we only played, laughed and had a good time. Sometimes he allowed me to look for his crafty teeth inside and I didn’t cheat! I only played without trying to brush at all. The second step I asked to play the song on my teeth, he loved it. Then it finally started!  He felt comfortable with the routine and he knew the song all along. I bought the Party t-shirt and showed it to him. He knew that once he decided to let me brush until I get to recite teeth One and Two he will get the tee I bought. We had the routine for a few weeks, he felt comfortable, he trusted me during these 2 minutes, enjoyed with me and now also had a goal, to get the t-shirt! And yes, we are making it a routine morning and evening, with joy and he is very proud of telling everyone that he has a party daily. We are already brushing teeth for 2 minutes every time.
  
  
• In our experience what helped most using "Tooth Time is Party time!" rhyme for me was the parents' guide and the fixed routine for her. My daughter has very high sensory disorders and the rhyme time helps her to focus on the story and rhyme that she adores instead of focusing on her teeth. She still has her sensory disorders but for these 2 minutes "Tooth Time is Party time!" helps her to diminish what happens while I am brushing her teeth and she focuses on the words, she focuses on saying the last word that rhymes for each tooth, or claps and dance when needed in the party.