Social stories are carefully designed short stories that help children with autism understand new social situations. These social situations can include any type of interaction involving other people such as riding a school bus, visiting the dentist, or ordering food at a restaurant. Research indicates that these stories help children with autism develop an accurate understanding of new social situations (Gray, 1995). 

As schools have switched over to more online remote learning there is an increase in opportunities for online bullying to occur, especially for children with autism

COVID-19 has led to a new way of rethinking all aspects of our daily lives. For many of us, it has meant huge shifts in our physical, social, mental, and emotional health. Organizations and corporations have had to reconsider what productive and efficient work can look like, while schools have had to reimagine learning in the virtual world. For schools, this switch to mostly remote learning presents more opportunities for students to engage in technology and various social platforms like chat rooms and social media. This also presents more opportunities for students to engage in or be affected by cyberbullying. 

This step-by-step guide is focused on teaching new skills using ABA therapy for a child with autism

Today we are going to discuss the basics of collecting data when teaching your child new skills. Data collection is a necessary part of any applied behavior analysis (ABA) program. It provides vital information about how the child is doing with that skill, if they are making progress, and can even help to troubleshoot when progress is not being made. It is also the best way to determine if the child is ready to learn a new or more difficult skill. 

Letter from the CEO: Authentic Leadership

Among my favorite books is Authentic Leadership by Bill George. The book opens with:

Summer is near end and it’s almost time to head back to school! Gearing your child up for a normal school routine after summer fun is no easy feat; however, practice makes perfect! We know children with autism thrive with consistency and previewing, so these seven tips should provide some comfort before that first day of school appears. 

There can be many benefits to having a service or therapy dog, such as an autism assistance dog, for children with autism. The following article provides information to help you decide if a dog is right for your child with autism.

Language development can be challenging for students with autism and can impact reading comprehension. Using sight word instruction is a great tool for helping children with autism succeed!

So much of a students’ understanding of language development and positive social skill development can come from the experiences students have while reading. Language development and social communication are areas that can be more challenging skillsets to develop for students with autism, thereby affecting their reading comprehension and fluency abilities (Teaching Exceptional Thinkers, n.d.). Sight word instruction provides a tool that can support students with autism as they learn to read by recognizing whole words quickly, rather than sounding them out. 

A growing community of inclusive exercise programs promises that fitness can be a source of fun, rather than one of frustration, for Children with Autism.

By choosing activities that will have a greater likelihood of success for your child, by adapting exercise programs for your child’s needs, and by drawing on ways to instill a sense of community, exercise can be fun for your child or teen and not frustrating!

Self-stimulatory behaviors with autism

What is stimming?

One mother’s tried and true recommendations for helping your child with autism get ready for an early wake up time once school starts.

Are you dreading your "au-some" child's first week back to school because he or she is used to sleeping in now? Are you wondering how they will shift their sleeping habits back to normal? I believe I have an answer to your conundrum...

Julia, the new character on Sesame Street can help all children better understand autism

Sesame Street is a treasured TV show that has educated children worldwide for more than 50 years. It has brought characters like Elmo, Big Bird, Abby, and Cookie Monster into children’s lives and has brought forth lessons that build foundational skills. Through this show, we have learned how to count, how to read, how to sing, how to build relationships, how to channel our emotions, and so much more. In March of 2017, Sesame Street proved that its life lessons are not diminishing. Instead, they are becoming larger than life. Sesame Street introduced their newest character, Julia, to America’s favorite street, bringing knowledge about the autism spectrum to its audience. Here are 5 reasons why this is such a positive initiative in terms of autism awareness: 

Use zones of regulation and occupational therapy insight to find the best coping strategies for your child with autism

The phrase “coping strategy” can be thrown around often in the autism (ASD) community. But what are they? How do we find the best ones for our children? How do each of them work? I had the chance to interview an occupational therapist, Gabrielle Mele-Algus (OT, OTR, MS) who offers her insight about types of coping strategies, zones of regulation, and finding the best fit for your child’s sensory needs.

Two BCBAs explain ABA and how to determine the level of support needed to ensure success for each child with autism

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is a common practice used with individuals with high functioning autism. The practice of ABA mainly focuses on the principles of behavior, and uses such to create an environment filled with consistency, predictability, and sensory intervention. I had the opportunity to sit down with Eleanor Brown and Jaime Povinelli, both Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) in Boston, Massachusetts. They enlightened me about ABA specifics, how they determine what level of ABA support is necessary, where ABA is found, as well as what needs to happen to increase access to ABA services.

What we know about ASD is largely based on research on boys with autism: New studies are telling us how different girls with autism are from their male counterparts

The issue of gender bias is as antiquated as it is familiar to women around the globe. Despite immense political, social, and economic advances in the last century, aspects of female biology continue to be grossly understudied, contributing to a knowledge gap that permeates the scientific community. This gender disparity greatly looms over the study of Autism Spectrum Disorder, contributing to flawed diagnostic practices that are still used today throughout the medical community and beyond.  

A Letter from the CEO: Girls and Autism?

We’ve wanted to do an article about girls and autism for some time now. There is so much to say: under-diagnosis, different presenting characteristics, treatment options… where to start? 

How to Provide the Most Effective Teletherapy Possible for Children with Autism

As schools around the world prepare for learning to continue in the fall, educators and service providers are wondering how to best tackle the possibility or reality of virtual learning for the foreseeable future. Many educators are concerned about the steep learning curve that comes with teletherapy and wonder how they might most effectively reach their students. For special education teachers and therapists for students with autism, teletherapy presents a unique challenge as many learning platforms are only geared towards typically developing students. 

In K-12 education, there is no dispute that developing reading skills is fundamental. In fact, research suggests that early literacy instruction for students with and without disabilities is essential for future literacy development³. Teachers across the world are constantly utilizing various strategies to support students’ reading comprehension and decoding skills.  For some, typical decoding and comprehension strategies may be fairly accessible. For others, reading comprehension or decoding may prove to be more difficult. Students with autism typically have challenges related to reading comprehension, such as answering questions or expressing ideas in traditional ways. 

COVID-19 took the world by surprise leaving us all to adjust quickly and renavigate home, school, and work life. A top question on many families’ minds is how to explain the virus to our children with autism. The uncertainty of new situations can be stressful for anyone, especially when we are still discovering the facts. Incorporated here are helpful tips and resources to discuss the pandemic with your children with autism, to help them best understand, cope, and thrive during this time.

A Letter from the CEO: Autistic Black Lives Matter

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of George Floyd and to the many other people of color who have been subjected to the insidious racism that continues to plague our country.