Just before April started, the website The Art of Autism posted a list of 84 or so favorite quotes about autism. Many of them were written by people with autism. It is a great list. I thought that in honor of autism acceptance, this might be an opportunity to play with one of the other things I’m interested in: sketchnoting. […]
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Your child has just been diagnosed with autism. What does that mean? As parents who have walked the road awhile, here are some things we wish we could have known at the beginning: Your child is amazing. Your child loves you. Even if they don’t say it, they do. You’ll find your own unique ways to connect. Take a breath. […]
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Often in the first years of parenting, childcare takes the centre stage. The things we liked to do before we had children can just fall away. Children (with and without autism) tend to like what’s familiar and don’t always behave the way we’d like when we take them out in new situations – so it’s easier to stay home and just stick with […]
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Service dogs can be a great help to people with autism. In October of 2015 Jackie shared about her family’s reasons for getting a service dog for her daughter. Here’s a followup post on how things have gone, and how a service dog has helped Signey grow. So, when we decided to buy a service dog for our daughter, Signey, […]
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After our first child was diagnosed with autism, I started looking for resources that would help me understand my child’s diagnosis and what I could do. I read dozens of books about autism, and “More Than Words by Fern Sussman is one of the most helpful. It is an easy to read and practical book that can help parents and […]
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One of the challenges of having a child with a disability is the extra expenses. In addition to increased child care needs (perhaps leading to a loss of income), we tend to have extra costs like therapies and diaper purchases longer than expected for a typical child. We also need to consider the future: will our children need help longer […]
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One of the difficult things about learning your child has autism is deciding what kind of services are best for them. For example, early childhood intervention can be offered in many different formats, each based on different philosophies of child development. From time to time, parents of children with autism talk about combining therapies – they hope to be working […]
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Credit for this topic goes to Marlaine Willborn, a retired speech therapist in Winnipeg, who demonstrated the use of ideas from Giggle Time: Establishing a Social Connection by Susan Aud Somers. Overview Play is how children learn. Most adults want to play with their children. Sometimes we can feel that our children don’t want to play with us. Many of […]
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Christopher Ulmer is a special education teacher. In his third year of working with the same class of students, he wanted to highlight what he saw in his students – their brilliance, humor, and beauty. His first idea was a book in which his students would explain life from their perspectives, but when that didn’t work out, he started videotaping and […]
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ADAPT is a small, informal organization, but our only limitation is the time and energy of the people who make things happen. Here are some ways you can help: Share Your Story We’re looking for stories about families who have benefited from RDI, DIR/Floortime, or any developmental approach. Are you willing to share how a therapy helped your child? We’d […]
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