recently a new child with autism inrolled at the daycare that i am doing my summer co-op at. no one there specailizes in autisum or knows much about it, so i have been placed with her for my pacients. however, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO!. her name is sara and she is 3 yrs old. all she does is look at the sky and play with her fingures. i want to be able to do things with her, teach her somthing, make good use of my time with her. Does anyone have any suggestions of things that might get her attention, or ways that i can play with her?? PLZZZZZ, i need help badly!!

You could try different things. It sounds like she is distant. With my child, he goes into spells where he is distant (like staring off, flicking his lips with his fingers, shaking his head, etc) and I have to grab him up and play with him to pull him out of the spell. You could do different things with her that might even help her, like playing with different textures, sand, rice, whipped cream, whatever you can find. You could bounce her, swing her. Swinging would be great. I taught my 2 year old autistic son to count while swinging. up...1...down..2...up...3, etc. Dancing, singing, etc. Imaginary play probably won't work too well. Maybe she likes puzzles and you could teach her to take turns. Just use your imagination and try different things. There is a way to get her attention, you just have to be creative and find it! Also, talk to her parents and find out what she likes. There is also tons of information on the net or in the library.

Good luck!