In today’s day and age, almost everyone has some knowledge of autism – from news articles, TV shows or film, or from a personal relationship with someone with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The probability of knowing someone living with ASD is on the rise at an alarming rate. According to the United States Centers for [...]
My son is the type who loves checklists, schedules, scripts, anything that will make his life predictable. But life isn’t predictable. Sooner or later, there will be a problem that he has to solve on his own. Everyone must learn how to adapt. Concrete thinking and rigid, inflexible habits are prominent features of many neurological [...]
Years of research has demonstrated prompts to be an effective teaching tool for people on the Autism Spectrum. Prompts are therefore an important and integral part of most ABA programs. However, their benefit doesn’t end there. Prompts can be equally useful for helping people both with and without special needs. Have you ever pointed your [...]
Parenting or teaching a child with autism spectrum disorder is both challenging and rewarding. The adults in the lives of children with autism have to organize their home or classroom environment to make it a pleasant place where these kids can thrive. Caregivers have to understand the characteristics of kids on the spectrum and know [...]
April 2, 2013 is the sixth annual World Autism Awareness Day. To be aware of autism, you have to know what it looks like first. Here’s a hint: it’s a spectrum made of people. Here are my 20 faces of autism 1. Autism looks like the child who is really excited that the President of the [...]
Most people don’t think about the process of remembering until they experience memory loss. But what if the ability to hold and retrieve memories was never there? How do you live life like that? How do you learn? Deficits in short-term memory, long-term memory and memory retrieval are common with neurological conditions such as traumatic [...]
Social interactions don’t come easy for children with Asperger Syndrome, Autism and other special needs. Many children with special needs need to be taught social skills and appropriate behavior the same way other kids are taught math and spelling. One of the most well known ways of teaching social skills is through reading social stories. Social stories help children [...]
Since 2011, the Twitter party with the hashtag #youmightbeanautismparentif has been alive and kicking. Every comment offers a little snapshot of the inner lives of families who love someone with autism. At times the conversation is poignant, but in the last few weeks it’s been mostly humorous. Here are 16 recent highlights from the party [...]
One day, I met the friend of a friend at an indoor play area, and we swapped stories of our sons’ diagnosis and therapies. The other mom was really struggling with her son’s recent diagnosis, and she was asking me some very pointed and personal questions about my son’s development, in the curious way that [...]
Children with autism and sensory challenges have many enemies when it comes to clothing. Clothing tags, exposed elastic bands and itchy socks are just some of the challenges facing children with special needs. As more parents start requesting sensory friendly clothing more stores will start to carry these products. To get you started in the [...]
