Emma is a 37-year-old mother of two. One of the two, son Ian, is autistic. She is also currently earning her master's in special education with an autism endorsement.
Are You A Social Butterfly? My husband teases me that I could start up a conversation with a shoe. My son complains that he can’t get me to leave any group activities because I am being social. He sees this as a negative. For some, starting conversations come naturally. For others, starting a conversation can [...]
Taking turns is one of the most critical social skills needed in day-to-day life. Turn taking is necessary when it comes to developing friendships, communicating with others and playing games. Turn taking is not an innate skill. It needs to be taught, not in a classroom setting but in real life situations. Here are 9 [...]
I am not new to testing, both as a teacher and a parent. I was a certified middle school teacher and was familiar with the MEAP test. I have a ten year old who has experienced all kinds of neuro-psychological testing since he was two years old. We have assessed his IQ, academic achievement, speech, fine [...]
This year, when I am planning my Passover seder, I have been thinking of ways to make it more child and sensory friendly. As you may know, Part of the Seder includes a lengthy amount of time spent on reading the Hagadah and retelling the story of the Jewish people’s exodus from slavery and the [...]
Reading and understanding social cues don’t come easy for children with special needs. Here are twelve activities that you can do with your child to help improve his or her social skills. If you have any resources or ideas to help a child with his or her social skills please add them in the comments. [...]
When I was a child, people regularly told my mother that my sister and I had such nice manners. My mother’s response was thank you but really we just had nice company manners. In other words, we had one set of behaviors for the public and a less pleasant set for home. We had a [...]
What an amazing experience! I was so honored to be able to volunteer with Mr. Ed Krass, my gym teacher from elementary school, to run a full inclusion floor hockey league. The fact that there was a high energy sport that allowed high-functioning children to play in a team setting, when they normally have difficulty, [...]
Starting a conversation with “Please don’t take this the wrong way” or “I hope this doesn’t upset you” doesn’t mean that you can then go on to be cruel, insensitive or intolerant. It just means that really you know you are about to make a wrong decision but haven’t bothered to find an alternative. Now [...]
