Drinking from a straw??

I have my DS for the next 4 days, and I would really like him to learn how to drink from a straw. He is 6 and has autism. It seems like I can't teach him to suck in. He ends up blowing in the juice box and some ends up coming out that way.

Any ideas?

TIA

Re: Drinking from a straw??

Have you tried a "honey bear"?

Re: Drinking from a straw??

With my DS, I started with the straw sippy cups.

He was so thirsty one day, I just kept offering the cup and he just "got it". We then moved on to juice boxes and drinking everything from a cup with a straw.

Also, like above poster said the "honey bear" is good too.
We are just starting that with DD (she has Down Syndrome and will be 2 in May)...It's a lot of work, but, just keep at it!
He'll get it!!

Re: Drinking from a straw??

Have you tried squeezing the box for him to get it started? This way the juice comes up, and he gets the idea better?

also - cutting the straw close to the top encourages the lip closure sometimes....

Have you tried a big straw - like the kind for a milkshake? Get a McDonalds cup with a big straw, and either use a shake, or put juice in there and cut the straw close to the cup....

Re: Drinking from a straw??

You can try teaching him to suck by playing a game.
Put tissue paper or cotton balls on a table and you are going to teach him how to blow them off the table. However before you "start" the game show him how to suck in the air as if you are teaching him to fill up his cheeks -and then blow. This shows them how to pull air in and then use lip closure to blow it out. If lip closure is a problem then have him blow the objects off the table with a fat straw - make sure his lips are closed around it. After playing the game a few times try and give him the straw to suck the tissue or cotton balls into himself so they stick to his lips or the straw. HTH