The Christmas season is upon us and with that comes expectations and busyness that many autistic people find anxiety provoking. The holidays mean changes in the schedule, visitors, crowds, line-ups, noise, and socializing. Meeting family demands can be especially nerve-wracking, particularly if you want to break with time-honoured traditions that just don’t work for an autistic person. Here are a…
COVID-19 has touched every aspect of our lives – the workplace, home, leisure activities, health, social life, and the family unit. For children and youth, their childhood experience has been anything but typical with online schooling, lockdowns, school closures, loss of extracurricular activities and separation from friends and extended family members. School opportunities disappeared that can really make a difference…
Many restrictive measures around the world are being relaxed as we head into summer. With vaccination programs in high gear, life is starting to feel safer. Leaving lockdowns behind and entering back into a more free world can also cause anxious feelings. Will the virus come back or a new variant emerge? What things can we do this summer? How…
Death and loss are a natural part of life. All of us will have this experience at different times in our lives. Because of the pandemic, families may be experiencing more loss and changes at this time. There have been so many challenging situations – death of a loved one, long term illness, job loss, unavailability of favorite activities, shut…
Going back to school is always a little nerve wracking at the best of times. It’s filled with change as we say goodbye to summer and hello to fall. This year, back to school is going to look very different for every town, city and country. Preparing our children and students with for the return to class will involve many…
During this period of isolation, staying at home, and school closures, the internet has been a way to stay connected to the world and have access to information and education. Screen time has its pros and cons. Technology is not good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. It is the way it is used that makes the difference in how we…
It has been over 10 months now since the COVID-19 pandemic began. For many, nerves are beginning to fray and mental health issues are on the rise. Everyone is struggling trying to juggle online schooling, supporting the health and well being of their family, unpredictable changes to protocols in the outside world, and the uncertainty of the future. Sometimes it…
We are seeing out first glimmer of hope after weeks of bad and frightening news -the COVID-19 curve is flattening. Our communities are going to reopen, albeit in stages and at different times and rates depending on regional data. It is exciting to be able to move about again, to have some shops open, and resume enjoyable activities. There are…
I am the parent of two children, now adults, on the autism spectrum. Marc is 23 and Julia is 21. They’ve been out of school for almost 3 years now. We’re constantly at work building skills, expanding interests, exploring new recreational activities, volunteering in the community, exercising, cooking, and furthering their education. Things were moving along quite well, then COVID-19…
I am getting requests from teachers and other support staff on how to best serve their students with special educational needs while at home. Some individuals will not have the ability or capacity to engage in traditional online learning formats that are currently being offered through the Zoom platform, for example. Instruction still needs to be personalized for the best…
The recent events around COVID-19 have dramatically altered our world in a short period of time. Each new day is bringing different challenges, restrictions and uncertainties. For our autism community, these changes create a unique set of problems. Activities have stopped running, day programs are shut down, schools are closed, and at home support/respite staff are not working during this…