Sunday, April 11, 2010

La La Love It! ... Model Me Kids iPhone App

La La LOVE It! ...

Model Me Kids Going Places iPhone App

http://www.modelmekids.com/iphone-app-autism.html





Oh the dreaded haircut. LM has worked through a whole lot of his sensory issues, but the haircut is still our nemesis. We've tried them all ... specialty kids salons with race car chairs, Daddy's barber (but don't you want to be a BIG boy? Uh, nope.), Mommy's salon with tons of lollipop bribes, even the backyard with Daddy wielding the buzzer.

It always ends the same: A screaming kid and a lousy haircut.



As I was searching through the App store on my iPhone, I came across Model Me Kids.
Based on their DVD series, Model Me Going Places, this app is designed to familiarize children with locations that may be challenging, and to help teach appropriate behavior in these places through peer modeling. LM *loves* the iPhone and uses it every chance he can get, so I was fairly confident that this just might be a winner.



He watched the social story before we got into the car, and I used the dialogue from the video to talk it over with him as we drove to the barber. I must admit, in the past I have "ambushed" him and not told him where we were going until we walked in. Not the best strategy I know, but the hysterics usually start as soon as the word "haircut" is uttered. To my surprise and delight, LM actually walked in on his own accord. Again, I used exact dialogue to prompt him, and he sat in the chair and put on his cape with minimal fussing.

There were still tears when the buzzer started, but no full blown meltdown. We stopped once and he held the iPhone and watched the whole video again. The barber was actually able to give him a little bit of a "hairstyle" instead of the usual shave-it-all-off-so-we-don't-have-to-do-this-again-anytime-soon haircut.


Huge success! The Barber was impressed, I was relaxed, and LM? Well, the Little Man was as handsome as ever. Thanks Model Me Kids!


La La Later ...

Lea

2 comments:

  1. Awesome post -- my youngest is EXACTLY the same and I have begun the bribing in prep for a haircut recently since it has been nearly 6 months since my son's last one. This may just be a winner!

    Thanks!
    Hartley
    www.hartleysboys.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, you have a great blog here!, I definitely going to bookmark you.

    ReplyDelete