‘Sesame Street’ introduces family of Julia, first muppet with autism
So excited to share this video. Hoping young children will learn about this disability that touches so many of us!
Happy Autism Awareness Day!
Autism Awareness Day is about celebrating and recognizing people on the autism spectrum, as well as researching and fundraising initiatives which promote inclusivity for people with autism. The world’s understanding of autism as a disorder has changed drastically over time; until the second half of the 20th century, only people with severe symptoms were diagnosed with autism, and those who were diagnosed were often institutionalized. Thankfully, special events such as the Power of One March, awareness campaigns at schools, and…
Please Take the Blue out of Autism Awareness Month
The color blue stands for shyness, sadness and grief. I keep trying to tell myself that Autism Awareness Month is a good thing – so why is it blue? It is a way to help raise funds for autism research but for whom? Less than 4% of Autism Speaks goes towards Family Service grants. While 32% of its budget goes towards research, only a small percentage of this research is aimed at improving the quality of life for autistic people. …
Contracts May Help Behavior Issues in Tweens and Teens
Both Arika and Robbie have had their share of challenges but the one that is the hardest for me is that they do not get along and that they are so tough in the morning. Honestly we thought it was their challenges and we let to on way to long in our house. Finally our amazing therapist suggested a contract as a way to hold the kids accountable for their actions. I almost don’t want to say it as it…
Give the gift of Services & Grants to Parents of Autistic Children – 50% off – now $5.99
Every Autistic parent knows that it takes an army to raise an autistic child. Not only is it an army of people like doctors, therapists, teachers and more but an army of money as well. All parents want to do everything they can for their children but it is just so expensive! According to Autism Speaks it takes an additional $60,000.00 – $90,000.00 per year to raise a child with Autism. As a result of these figures I wrote this…
What to do if the teachers are not following your child’s IEP?
After writing my book on How to Ace your Child’s IEP Meeting I was feeling pretty smug thinking I knew everything about IEP’s and wanted to share with all of my readers. Then my daughter’s IEP meeting came and I found myself stuck. I prepared as I should, I did everything in my book but I was still nervous. Her diagnosis was new and I did not know a lot about it. Then the day of the doctor needed to…
Happy thanksgiving
Auditory Processing Disorder – What are the signs
Some of you know that I have been struggling with Arika recently. She has always been a straight A student and outside of her ADHD, attachment disorder and just not showing respect (I love tweens) she has been the one that I did not have to worry about or not like I have been. Robbie was the one with the alphabet soup of disorders but now it is Arika’s turn. So I have gone a little black here and I…
Writing IEP Goals
IEP goal writing is the hardest part of an IEP. The IEP should: Meet the child’s academic, development, and functional needs that result from the disability; Enable the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum; Meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the child’s disability. IEP goals cannot be broad statements about what a child will accomplish in a year, but must address the child’s academic achievement and functional performance. The IEP must…
What is Misophonia?
Arika started this summer having a lot of problems when any of us eat and the fork hits our teeth. She would scream out stop and said it “gave her shivers down her spine.” I, being the uneducated mom, would say that is how people eat so get over it. I would say it is just like scratching nails on the chalkboard. Then I thought it was a sensory issue like Robbie has had. Well boy I was wrong. Apparently…