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Stay informed and do your research

In the initial days of the diagnosis, you might find yourself clueless regarding Autism and your child’s behavioral symptoms. Sometimes you’d see your child struggling with their needs, but you might be unable to understand it. If you want to help your child and understand their wants and needs, one this is for sure- You need to make yourself an expert on Autism. Only once you know about it, you’ll be able to help them or at least be able to seek help from the right person. For this, read blogs, attend workshops, read his/her reports, and try to explore and grab as much knowledge and information as possible from a variety of credible sources.

Related: – An Introvert Mother of an Extrovert Child Craving for Solitude: Why You should Feel Guilty?

Be proactive

As a parent of a child with special needs, you need to be constantly on your toes. Write down the areas you think your child needs help with and discuss them with their special educator. Also, analyse and keep a note of the goals he/she has already achieved. For instance, if your child is about to attend a new class or will be going on a different bus, it is obvious that he/she might be meeting several new people. Generally, individuals diagnosed with ASD find it difficult to interact or accept a change, and so you need to proactively find out which new persons are going to take the responsibility of your child.

Fix a meeting with them and discuss your child’s requirements and understanding with them. Share your contact details, just in case they need your assistance regarding your child. For instance, if your child’s bus is going to take a new route from the next day onwards, you need to prepare your child beforehand for this change. Proactively, contact the school authority or bus fleet manager and ask them the directions. To ease out your child’s stress, you can drive him/her along the same route in the evening and tell the child, “You will go by school bus via this route tomorrow.”

Related: – The Best Things about Exercise for your Mental Health

Stay prepared with the documents

Related: – TikTok is a Time Bomb for Child

Communicate regularly

Constantly keep in touch with your child’s teacher, shadow teacher, (in case he/she has one,) therapists, clinicians, etc and enquire them about your child. You can make a short questionnaire for them to fill. For instance, when you go to pick up your child after school, you can hand out a questionnaire to his/her teacher.

“Vihaan ate by himself today. Yes/No

“He communicated when he wanted to use the restroom. Yes/No

“He waited for his turn to come while playing the swings. Yes/No

Also, try to communicate with your child and try to know if they are having any problems or issues at school or the therapy centre.

Reach out for help

At times when you find it hard to understand how to help your child, it’s best to reach out for help. Consult a therapist or a child counseling expert as he/she will be able to better guide you with the comprehensive treatment plan that works best for your child. You can simply type in your browser, “child counseling near me” or “autism counseling near me” and you will have several options to choose from. Look for a centre that has a team of Occupational therapists, Child psychologists, Speech and language therapists, Special educators, etc who can together for the best interests of your child.

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5 Most Effective Ways To Be Proactive In Your Career

Proactive in Your Career

If you break down the word “proactive,” you would get “pro” and “active.” “Pro” is a Greek word that means “before” or “sooner.” And “active” means “taking action constantly.” That means people taking action constantly before or sooner are proactive.

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If you have read Dr. Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” you would know that being proactive is the number one habit. Why is being proactive so important in our lives and our careers?

Nowadays, people always talk about being proactive. But what does it mean in the real sense?

Being proactive means the “ability to respond to an event before it happened.”

There are several reasons. Let’s look at them one by one.

Reclaiming your power

Most people give away their power by letting life run by default. The events happen, and they react. Thus they don’t feel empowered. Author Jim Rohn said – “What happens to us happens to everybody. It’s not what happens, but what we do about it that makes the real difference.” When you see that life is happening to you, you can ponder and reclaim your power by being proactive. Only 10% of the results you get are the creation of life. The other 90% you did yourself. Reclaim your power. Don’t let your life and career go in the default mode. Take charge of your destiny.

Take responsibility

If you’re proactive, you would have the ability to respond, not react. If you’re proactive, you can take responsibility for your career and life. If you break the word responsibility, you will see there are two words – one is responsible, and another is ability.

Change your results drastically

If you become proactive, you will not be among the mediocre souls. They are just going through life, not living it. If you become proactive, you will take responsibility for everything in your life. Thus the results you will create will be massive and drastically different from those who never become proactive.

You will become happier

Happiness is the holy grail of living and attaining a great career. If you’re not happy, what else is there? Being proactive would make you feel that you’re in control instead of feeling that others are in control. Being in control of yourself will make you happier.

You will only think about what you can control

If you become proactive, you will give up worrying completely. You will only think about what you can control. Dr. Stephen Covey called this an “area of influence.” You will not worry about what you can’t do. Dr. Covey called this an “area of concern.” This will significantly reduce the stress level. Your way of thinking would achieve clarity. And you would drastically change your outlook on life.

But how would you do that? How would you cultivate the habit of being proactive?

Here are some ways you can use to become proactive.

If you’re proactive in your life and simply starting your career, don’t try to take too much. Initially, start with one thing where you want to be proactive. For example, if you’re putting off one type of task regularly, promise yourself that you will do it every day first thing in the morning before you do any other task. After a few months, if you continue this practice, you will see that it has become permanent in your nature.

The greatest issue of our professional relationships is that we become defensive when we face criticism. But if you become proactive, you will not become defensive; you will try to understand whether there’s any issue with your work or if a particular part of your work needs improvement. If you find that the critic is right, you will improve; if the critic is wrong, you simply ignore it. But it’s a difficult practice because we’ve installed the habit of reacting immediately to criticisms. Thus, the best way to deal with it is to put down everything in a journal.

When you’re getting defensive and unable to gauge constructive criticism, write everything down in your journal. Suppose you put down your thoughts at the beginning when you’re angry or sad, or anxious. In that case, you will release your emotions, and you will also be able to maintain a professional relationship with the person who criticized you.

The 90-second rule will help you become more proactive. Suppose you decide to complete your task within a time frame. But things keep coming up. Instead of getting bothered, tell yourself you will do the job for 90 seconds. And then you will stop. By using 90 seconds rule, you can start on any work immediately, and then you can keep on going. Now you may think, how would you relate this to proactivity? Remember being proactive is all about taking action before something goes out of hand. So, it will jump-start you on the move. Anything you want to start and you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just use this 90 seconds rule, and you can begin the task immediately.

You don’t need to become a victim. You can be a victor. The only thing you need to do is to understand that you have power. Whatever happens to you in your career up until now may not be your fault, but you must take responsibility for everything in your career. How would you do that? Simply try this. Take a piece of paper and divide it into two parts. On one side, write down – “my area of control,” and on the other, write – “not my area.”

“My area of control” is all about things you can control in your professional life, for example, your daily work, how you behave, how you develop yourself, how you maintain coworker relationships and peers, how you respond to any crisis period, etc.

“Not my area” is all about things you don’t have direct control over, like an angry boss, lazy colleagues, hot weather, etc.

Keep this paper with you daily and add both sides as you feel. Then whenever you see yourself getting bogged down by events, ask yourself, “Is it my area?” If it’s not your area, concentrate on what you can control (“my area of control”) and be happy. Keeping this list will help shape your attitude and make you more proactive in your career.

The tips mentioned above are not comprehensive. But if you do them, you will see that you don’t need anything else. Being proactive is a shift of attitude – from being reactive to being responsible. Being proactive also means realizing that you can choose to act even if things don’t go your way. That’s the power of being proactive.

To begin working on your attitude, start with “practice focus.” Because this one thing will help you achieve all others, simply try it every day for 5-10 minutes, and you will realize that you have power, a choice, and can be proactive in your career.

How To Teach Your Child To Code During Lockdown

Computers have a somewhat negative reputation among older generations. There are plenty of reasons for this, as, arguably, the public perception of computers has historically been low.

Many of those not born into “Generation Z” have had to learn that computers teach valuable skills for life and work. In contrast, the image of computers has been that they simply help children kill time after school.

However, this is discounting the work poured into developing more “serious” software – and the rise and domination of Internet tech. Now, schools teach so-called Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects as an ongoing concern.

What’s more, workplaces that want tech-savvy employees are increasing. Of course, many businesses are fully online, especially during the current global COVID-19 pandemic.

As such, starting your own children on STEM topics such as coding is a foundation that will give them a head start over their peers.

Of course, we don’t recommend sitting a child in front of the Nintendo Switch and leaving them be (although more on this later). In order to help them, you’ll need to employ “focused learning” techniques. Here are the fundamentals:

Schedule a block of time every day to work on some coding skills or projects.

Make sure that both you and your child keep to the schedule without fail.

Have an itinerary or roadmap for what you want to achieve on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

Next, look to split the time you spend coding into dedicated blocks relating to giving feedback, deliberate practice, and teaching learned skills to others. These are important aspects of focused learning, and each has proven benefits toward information retention – especially teaching others.

In a practical sense, you’ll want to make sure your child has a trustworthy and knowledgeable source of feedback for their work. Much of your time will go toward coding (as it should be).

To teach the skills to others, there’s no better way than creating a blog. Having a parent-child online blog to distil learned topics into straight-forward language, has a bigger effect on retention in long-term memory. What’s more, it’s a great bonding tool for both of you, especially when you both bring different skills to the table.

Of course, if teaching your children to code feels like school, it won’t necessarily be engaging. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources available to learn the fundamentals of coding, and more.

In fact, there are lots of great platforms that feel like computer games but are actually solid coding trainers. For young children (think three- and four-years old), Thinkrolls Play & Code is one of the best games for learning the thought patterns of code rather than writing it:

Swift Playgrounds is Apple’s way of teaching the Swift programming language. It’s great for older children who already use smart devices.

Swift is becoming popular with iOS and macOS developers, so grasping this will be important in the future.

To tie everything together, consider a platform such as Scratch.

This is a modular, practically code-free way of creating computer games, and the results can be surprisingly complex. It’s a great platform for applying learned skills to a real-world project that gives instant feedback.

Finally, if your child is practically glued to the Switch, consider Nintendo Labo.

This is a Virtual Reality (VR) platform that enables children to create and control various builds such as a robot or car direct from the Switch console.

In a nutshell, coding is not the domain of introverted teens in their parent’s basement; it’s the future of the workplace and will become an essential skill for the next generation.

Image credit: NadineDoerle

Tom Rankin

Tom Rankin is a quality content writer for WordPress, tech, and small businesses. When he’s not putting fingers to keyboard, he can be found taking photographs, writing music, playing computer games, and talking in the third-person.

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Rick Ross: Advocate For Developers

The struggle over Java is anything but casual. Passions run unusually high in everyone from casual observers to major players in what is described as a modern-day religious war. And while the big guns are slinging mud with the government and each other, the developer community is finding its own voice through an organization called the Java Lobby. Founded earlier this year by Java programmer Rick Ross, the Java Lobby unites the developers actually using Java so that their interests aren’t lost in the media and legal frenzy. But Ross isn’t a lobbyist by trade, nor a Sun Microsystems hired gun. So how did he go from a regular-joe developer to having Scott McNealy take his calls? Let’s just say he found the activist within.

Like many of today’s big deals, the Java Lobby began with one little e-mail. Fed up with the tug-of-war surrounding Java between Sun and Microsoft, Ross wrote a lengthy, bitter post to a newsgroup about how he felt the developers were lacking representation in the struggle. But, unlike many of today’s users, Ross changed his mind before he hit the “send” button. He revised the message to take a more positive, constructive tone. “I was tired of having bigwigs decide what I do. I decided to complain, but then realized I had written just another flame.” The response was overwhelming. Ross decided to harness this passion to form a grassroots group rallied around the cause. He set up the Java Lobby Web site and invited developers worldwide to join online. They did and Ross became their spokesperson. This turn of events came as a shock, but Ross embraced the opportunity to represent the interests of his peers. “I have no idea what happened. I am just like everyone else, but now I’m in the middle of this maelstrom.” Though his credentials did not scream “activist,” Ross’s obvious emotional commitment to the issues made him a legitimate candidate for the role.

Rick Ross earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy, and it shows. Get him talking about Java and he quickly enlarges the argument to include issues of technology, society, politics and the global economy. He is prone to sweeping statements about how these topics are intertwined, such as his belief that, “The Internet bodes well for freedom in a bigger sense. It’s not just about technology issues, it’s about us as a people.” Unlike some names that consistently make the papers, Ross’s claims are rooted in the truth of his own story, not sheer speculation. Calling the Java Lobby itself an “Internet phenomenon,” Ross has first-hand experience that anyone with a strong conviction can reach an audience and develop support online. “This is the first time in 10,000 generations we have the chance to change the way we connect with one another and defend our rights. And it’s up to us to make it happen.”

“Developers are like artists,” he says. “Michaelangelo once said that ‘inside every hunk of marble, there’s a great sculpture waiting to get out.’ You can look at silicone and electricity that way — they add beauty to the world.”

Making allowances for a bit of hyperbole, Ross’s claim that technology can change the world is certainly proving true in the area of big business. Never before has an industry of this size received such attention and scrutiny. When asked (inevitably) about Microsoft, Ross is adamant about the Java Lobby’s position as “pro-Java, not anti-Microsoft.” And though he concedes that “Microsoft is doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing, which is to raise the value of their shares,” his issue with the software giant takes on a personal tone. “Microsoft said they were going to be at the party, that they were going to support Java. They could have backed, ‘Write once, run anywhere, but run best on Windows.’ Instead, they turned on a dime and left Java developers hanging. It will be a long, long time before I believe anything they say again.”

The Java Lobby has brought together developers with this same passion for their craft. Though there is a board in place, most of the activity originates with Ross and the other volunteers who help put in motion initiatives such as the Java-ready PC plan which lobbies vendors to sell Java-enabled hardware. At the time of this interview, the number of members had reached 17,902; the Internet at work yet again. Outsiders would wonder what it is about Java that has caused such an uproar. Ross’s perspective is, not surprisingly, on a macro scale. “By the end of the 1980s, no one was interested in doing anything innovative because everyone was talking about how the technology industry had matured. Everyone was making homogenous software,” Ross recalls. “What Java did was reawaken the spirit by showing developers that, through technology, they could make the world a better place.”

Amazingly, the Java Lobby is Ross’s hobby. He also runs his own software company called Activated Intelligence, though these days you’re more likely to find him explaining Java to the Attorney General of New York than filling his corporate role. But his new-found fame is not at the heart of his motivation. “This is not about personal power, but about re-empowering a group of free-thinking developers who use technology to shape our lives. I’m just like every other developer. I don’t regard anyone as important to begin with.”

How To Use An External Storage Drive With Your Ipad

Back in 2023, Apple released iOS/iPadOS 13 which included support for external drives and storage devices for iPhone and iPad. Through the Files app, you can access and manage files on a USB drive, SD card or a hard drive. The Files app also allows you to create and manage files and folders on your iPad, iCloud Drive, file servers and in other cloud storage like Box and Dropbox.

How To Create An Alcohol Policy For Your Office

Some businesses embrace the idea of allowing alcohol in the office to celebrate a big win, facilitate team bonding or offer an attractive perk for employees. Still, there are several serious and practical concerns to consider when your business is mixing work with drinking, such as insurance, legal considerations and cultural fit. That’s why it’s important to develop a thoughtful alcohol policy before you make office happy hours an official perk.

The founding principle of an office alcohol policy is to establish guidelines for responsible drinking in an office setting. If you’re thinking about instituting an office alcohol policy, here are a few points to address:

When the use of alcohol is appropriate on company property.

The importance of drinking responsibly and remaining fit for work.

Whether specific departments or roles, such as employees who operate or drive heavy machinery, are prohibited from drinking at work.

To create an office alcohol policy, start by acknowledging the potential risks of allowing employees to drink while on the job or in the office. Alcohol should be off-limits in any industry where there is a high probability of causing serious injury to oneself or others, such as healthcare, construction and transportation. But even in industries where employees aren’t making life-and-death decisions, consuming alcohol at work can have several repercussions, including absenteeism, increased healthcare costs, injuries or accidents on the job, and damage to equipment or products.

The impaired judgment that comes from alcohol consumption can also lower productivity, loosen inhibitions and result in inappropriate behavior.

“Employees who become impaired are more likely to say or do things that could lead to claims of a hostile work environment,” said Robert Dominguez, corporate counsel for Ember Education. “We’ve all heard horror stories about things that happen at company holiday parties. Now imagine that scenario every Friday or every day.”

If, after examining the potential risks, you decide that drinking at the office is worth exploring, follow these steps:

If your employees commonly go out for drinks to celebrate a new deal, unwind at the end of a busy week or entertain clients, you may already have an alcohol-friendly workplace. If this is the case, it makes sense to establish a formal alcohol policy.

Reach out to your employees to see if they are interested in an office alcohol policy or if they would prefer a different employee benefit, such as additional paid time off or the ability to bring pets to the office.

Did You Know?

Allowing employees to bring their pets to the office can help increase productivity by creating a healthy work-life balance. Having pets in the office allows employees to take mental breaks throughout the day to reduce stress, thus enabling them to accomplish more when they resume working.

Tip

Regardless of the type of business insurance coverage you have, you might be able to customize your policy to increase your liability coverage should you choose to implement an office alcohol policy.

Research federal and state laws to determine if your business is required to have a drug and alcohol policy in place. Much like a visitor policy helps to protect your employees, data and guests, an office alcohol policy may help you avoid fines and other penalties for any statute breaches, as well as potential litigation from employees.

Even if you are not required by law to institute an official policy, developing one is imperative if you are thinking of making alcohol a part of your office offerings. Your policy should explicitly indicate the amount, times and places where it is acceptable to drink, as well as the types of beverages that fall within company guidelines. Some workplaces, for example, allow beer and wine but not hard liquor. Others limit the number of drinks employees can have on a given day. They use tracking methods such as hand stamps, tickets or even an app to keep an eye on how much employees indulge.

The policy should also state the consequences for any infractions or violations. Consequences can include a host of disciplinary actions, termination or even the facilitation of an employee’s enrollment in an alcohol rehabilitation program. Be aware that employees with alcoholism are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); however, ADA rights do not prohibit these employees from being terminated if the situation warrants it. Still, it does mean they cannot be treated more severely for the same conduct or infractions as their co-workers.

When you’re ready to implement the policy, follow these best practices:

“We incorporate informal rules into onboarding,” said Taylor Toce, president and CEO of Velo IT Group, whose employees have access to a beer-stocked refrigerator. For example, in addition to discussing your policy during new-hire orientations, you should review it with more seasoned employees during annual training. All employees should also be required to read and sign a copy of the company alcoholic beverages guidelines.

Have an arrangement with a taxi, car or ride-sharing service so that employees who choose to drink at the office always have easy access to transportation that doesn’t put themselves or others in danger.

Companies can temper the availability of alcoholic drinks in the office by providing a range of snacks and a variety of nonalcoholic beverages. This helps to ensure that employees who can’t drink or choose not to for personal, health or religious reasons don’t feel excluded, which would defeat the original purpose of allowing employees to drink: increased opportunities for bonding and camaraderie.

To avoid any perception of coercion, management should communicate that there is no expectation to drink. It’s also important to be aware that an environment where alcohol is present can be triggering for people who are recovering from addiction. Senior management should be ready to step in and support employees who may find this type of work environment challenging.

Your entire staff can benefit from access to an employee assistance program (EAP) that helps employees deal with difficult or challenging life situations, including dependent care and mental health issues. Moreover, an EAP can provide access to counseling, assessments and treatment referrals for employees who struggle with substance abuse.

Establishing this type of resource is the responsible action for any company that makes alcohol part of its culture, but it also makes sense from a fiscal perspective. According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, alcohol and drug treatment is a worthy investment that pays for itself in reduced healthcare costs that begin as soon as people enter recovery.

Ultimately, the goal is to arrive at a happy medium where employees enjoy their fair share of freedom while the company protects the integrity of its work and reputation.

As workplaces become less rigid and find new ways to attract talent, more employees may kick off the weekend early with a few drinks in the office lounge or celebrate a new account with some beer or Champagne. As long as the drinking does not overshadow the work, it may become a standard employee perk at certain organizations.

“A little imbibing makes for a happier team, improves overall morale and fosters internal connections by giving employees a chance to bond,” Toce said.

It can incentivize employees to perform better and may improve creative problem-solving. Instituting an office alcohol policy as an employee benefit helps make your workers feel appreciated, which is a win-win situation: When your employees feel valued, they’re more inclined to stay loyal to the company, and that loyalty can boost productivity and overall performance levels. Another pro of allowing your employees to drink in the office is that it may improve creative problem-solving. A study published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition found that slightly intoxicated people solved problems more creatively than people who hadn’t consumed any alcohol.

It can foster strong employee connections. The primary goal of instituting an office alcohol policy is to help employees connect and develop more lasting relationships with one another. By having alcohol available in the office, employees may feel more encouraged to socialize with co-workers they otherwise might not have met.

It can attract talent. When you’re trying to attract new talent to the business, listing in-office drinking as one of the employee benefits you offer may stand out as a unique perk.

It could compromise people’s addiction recovery and possibly cause other employees to develop a drinking problem. The office can sometimes be considered a safe zone for people who are recovering from addiction. Establishing an office alcohol policy could compromise the sobriety of those employees. It could also set employees down the path to developing a drinking problem if they become dependent on drinking at work, especially if they develop a habit of turning to alcohol when facing a workplace problem or challenge.

It could make those who don’t drink feel excluded. As mentioned earlier, allowing drinking in the office may alienate employees who do not drink. This unintentional exclusion can lead to uncomfortable personal conversations about why someone isn’t drinking or, worse, peer-pressure scenarios that may devolve into bullying.

It could increase the chance of sexual harassment, and you’d be liable for any legal repercussions. When inhibitions are lowered, the risk of sexual harassment occurring increases with every drink consumed. If an employee were to press charges against a co-worker for assault or if an employee were to get into a car crash after drinking at the office, the company could be held partially or entirely responsible.

If you’re developing an office alcohol policy for your business, you’ll need to consider how it will apply to employees who work remotely. It may seem like common sense to extend the same policy to your remote employees, but there are some additional considerations to keep in mind.

Whereas you can closely monitor in-house employees’ drink consumption, it’s almost impossible to do so for remote employees. Given a Centers for Disease Control report showing a spike in substance abuse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, an office alcohol policy might exacerbate the problem. Another study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, found that nearly 9 million U.S. workers use alcohol during the workday. Discovering that your remote employees are abusing your office alcohol policy could lead to substantial liabilities for your business.

FYI

Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2023, one-third of employees admitted to using drugs or alcohol while working from home, according to the American Addiction Centers.

If you’re looking to create an office alcohol policy for your business, consider taking the following actions to ensure your remote workers don’t feel excluded but aren’t tempted to abuse the policy:

Send frequent reminders to your entire staff about the consequences of abusing the office alcohol policy. While you may welcome occasional drinking at work, your office alcohol policy should outline specific instances in which drinking at work is inappropriate and the consequences of abusing the policy.

Develop comprehensive drug and alcohol training. If you’re planning to allow your employees to drink at work, you should also develop comprehensive drug and alcohol training. The training assessment should cover the effects of drug and alcohol abuse on the body, the risks such behavior poses to the organization, and ways for employees and management to spot and address the warning signs of substance abuse.

Share available resources, such as your employee assistance program, with your employees, and encourage them to prioritize their mental health. In addition to creating an EAP for your staff, share other resources for substance abuse and addiction, such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s national hotline (1-800-662-4357) and a list of reputable treatment centers.

Paula Fernandes contributed to the writing and reporting in this article.

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