Autism Awareness Centre Inc. frequently has guest speakers post articles, news or research pertaining to their specific autism related topics on our site.
The following extract is from a recent practitioner article on the role of exercise in reducing stress, written by Assistant Psychologist Matt Cotterill at WALK, UK. The full article can be accessed here. Providing care and support to people in the caring professions is often fraught with stressful interactions. The stress-induced cascade of hormonal and molecular responses can, if left…
Kelly Mahler, regular speaker/presenter at Autism Awareness Centre Inc., is our guest writer for this post. In this post, Kelly talks about interoception, self-regulation and the detrimental impact that compliance-based approaches can have on the development of these critical areas. Compliance often teaches someone to ignore their own body signals/needs in order to comply with a demand and receive a…
This article was written by Aylish McFarlane, Studio 3 Assistant Psychologist. It was reprinted with permission from Studio 3 UK. ‘Trauma-informed practice’ is a phrase we hear more and more in our work, but what really is trauma, and how can we learn to recognize it? This simple guide illustrates how trauma can affect the body, and how to support…
Low Arousal Approach training, developed over 30 years ago in the UK, has been offered in Canada through Autism Awareness Centre Inc./Studio 3 Canada for 6 years. This training is for professionals, support workers and EAs, carers and family members. The Low Arousal Approach emphasizes a range of behaviour management strategies that focus on the reduction of stress, fear and…
Brenda Smith Myles has been a long-time presenter for Autism Awareness Centre Inc. for the past 17 years. This article that she wrote has been reprinted with her permission from the The Autism Advocate Parenting Magazine. If you want to learn more about autism from Brenda, she will be presenting a webinar for us on The Brain and Autism February…
Studio 3 clinician Dr. John McDermott discusses relationships and autism, and the role played by the emotional and relational world when supporting clients. The importance of relationship in the lives of people who have an autism diagnosis is a crucial part of our practice at Studio 3. When working therapeutically with clients, parents or caregivers, we aim to capture individual…
Autism is a lifelong, nonprogressive neurological disorder typically appearing before the age of three years. The word “autism” means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction.
This article is based on one written by Leslie Broun, M.Ed. September was national literacy month, and every year I am reminded of my own journey teaching both of my autistic children to read. Reading is a skill that has brought my son, Marc, an amazing amount of joy and fulfillment; however, teaching a child with autism to read isn’t…
Advocating for your child at school is not an easy task. To be effective, you have to keep your emotions in check, be concise about what problems your child is experiencing, bring possible solutions to the table, and be prepared to wait for change to take place.
At a holiday gathering, your 8-year-old son is telling his aunt exactly how he went about constructing a complicated Lego spaceship. He spares no detail as Aunt Ann smiles and nods, eyes glazing over. You walk over to join them and try to help him become aware of her nonverbal clues and wrap up his one-sided conversation. With no success,…
When a family receives a diagnosis of Autism for their child they may deal with this information in a variety of ways; many experience grief, anger, disappointment, and confusion. The last thing that they are thinking about is sexuality, much less how or where to begin introducing this topic.
This fall I had the opportunity to attend to the Autism Europe Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland from September 16-18 . This conference happens once every 3 years and is hosted by a European country (2019 will be in Paris, France). This sold out event had 1750 delegates from 60 countries attending. There were 300 speakers from across the world sharing advances…
I think the ‘Claire Buron Project’, as we have come to call it, began years ago when I read about the positive effects of dog ownership. I began thinking that if owning a dog could lower a person’s stress level, and if just petting the dog could release pleasurable hormones, then maybe a dog could help calm highly anxious students with autism in a school setting.
Happy Autism Awareness Day! This year’s theme is inclusion and neurodiversity. This post was originally published on Judy Endow’s site, and is reposted here in honour of Autism Awareness Day. French Translation: Se faire violence pour « passer sous le radar » de l’autisme http://www.judyendow.com/french-blogs/se-faire/ It is a lot of work to look non-autistic …and yet, looking non-autistic is the ticket to…
Adapted from an article by: Elizabeth Sautter, MA, CCC-SLP Phrases like “pay attention” and “listen carefully” ring out in classrooms across the country. Moms, dads, and other caregivers can be heard saying some version of these same words to children everywhere. Paying attention and listening to others are not only considered essential for social communication, but also for learning to be…