Autism News - Blog

Maureen Bennie’s blog on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Maureen is a mother of a son and a daughter ages 24 and 22 with autism. She has managed an at-home Intensive Behavioral Intervention Program for eight years for her children. She has written hundreds of articles and book reviews that have appeared in publications and on websites throughout North America and the UK. Maureen also gives presentations both live and online across Canada on various topics about autism, available books and resources and how to use them.

A grand mother and grand father play with their autistic grandchild

10 Ways to Make a Difference for Your Autistic Grandchild

You are a grandparent! Nothing can compare with the boundless love that a grandparent feels for their grandchild. No longer limited by the need to juggle work, home, school and raising children into mature, self reliant adulthood, the gift of grandchildren is one of life’s greatest blessings. But life doesn’t always deliver it’s blessings in the package we expect. The diagnosis of autism is for many a jolt into a new world; one that many have not even heard of or at least have no knowledge.

education, elementary school, learning, technology and people concept - group of school kids with tablet pc computer having fun on break in classroom. Autism technology and apps

How do I use technology and apps effectively for a person with an ASD?

Answer: iPads, iPhones and other tech devices are gaining popularity for assisting people on the autism spectrum. There are lots of positives going for technology: people on the spectrum often enjoy using technology, there is some autonomy, it takes the pencil out of the process to demonstrate learning, there are 1000’s of apps to teach a myriad of skills, and their use can be both motivating and rewarding. Nonverbal individuals have another way to express themselves. These tech devices are also becoming more affordable all the time. But is there a down side?

A full view of a casual, stylishly dressed teenaged girl. Teaching menstruation to girls with autism

How do I prepare a girl with autism for menstruation?

Answer: Introducing the topic of menstruation to girls on the autism spectrum can be a daunting task. Mothers worry about how their daughters will react to the event. Will there be sensory issues around blood flow and the use of sanitary pads? How will they feel about this change in their body? Will it be painful? How do you teach hygiene around menstruation? Will menstruation be understood and accepted?

Young people with autism holding down successful workj

How do we help a person with ASD be successfully employed?

Answer: In order to answer this question, we first have to ask ourselves the following question, “What does competent adulthood mean?” Often, the preparation that happens in high school is not what will help an individual be successful in the workforce. How often have we seen a sentence finished like this when talking about a person with ASD – “…allowing the student to reach their highest potential.” Peter Gerhardt from the Organization for Autism Research says this is an excuse for poor outcomes. Adaptive Daily Living skills is another way of saying chores. Keep in mind that adaptive behavior changes according to age, cultural expectations, and environmental demands. Learn to say no to working on unproductive activities.

children with her mother preparing cookies independent children large family. casual lifestyle photo series in real life interior learning Nurturing independence with autism

Nurturing Independence In Autism

Teaching independence is a baby steps process that starts at an early age. When working with children with autism on any skill, you have to think it forward. How will this look and function at age 5, 10 or 18? Imagining where you want this person to be as an adult is a good motivator to teach independence skills. It gives a framework to set goals.

There are small, gradual ways to build independence. The foundation of independence is using visual supports. I have written about the effective use of visual supports in a past blog. Visual supports can be used to break down the steps of any task. When the steps are put on a strip, the person with autism now has those for a handy reference. I’ve used this idea for routines like getting dressed, toileting, hand washing and brushing teeth. There are some great ideas for this on the Do2Learn website. Thinking this forward, these tasks strips could be used for doing laundry or dishes.

Sad Girl Sitting And Thinking In The Classroom. Girls with autism often go undiagnosed

High Functioning Girls With Autism Often Go Undiagnosed

A topic that is getting a lot of coverage in the news this past year is the discovery that autism research may have gender-skewed results leading to high functioning girls on the spectrum going undiagnosed. The main reason for this discrepancy is that girls and women haven’t been represented sufficiently in scientific study, and so the diagnostic benchmarks have been set by boys, and then assumed to be the same for girls. This assumption has been dramatically questioned in the past year through research that began to look at the brain development of boys and girls on the spectrum separately. Below are the three main ways that girls with autism have slipped through the cracks, and gone undiagnosed.

The Three Main Causes Of Early Death In Autism

A new study from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden recently published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, revealed that the risk of premature death is about 2.5 times higher for people with autism spectrum disorder than for the rest of the population. The mean age of death for someone with autism is 54 compared with 70 for the general population. For…

Silhouette Wind Wheel Togetherness Neurodiversity Diversity Concept

What is Neurodiversity?

As most of you know World Autism Awareness Day was on Saturday, April 2nd. Every year, the United Nations determines a theme for this day and this year it is Inclusion and Neurodiversity. Most people understand the concept of inclusion, but neurodiversity is a relatively new topic that is gaining traction. What is Neurodiversity? Neurodiversity is the concept that humans don’t come…

Autistic black girl looking at schedule of timetable to create predictability

5 Ways To Create Predictability: Part 2 of “Triad of Impairments” in Autism

Predictability is the ability to know and understand what is coming up next in your day. Many of us feel less anxious when we know what is expected of us, and how we are going to navigate our day to day lives. For someone on the spectrum, where even knowing which washroom to use -unless it is exactly like the one they are used to using at home- can be a major challenge. Predictability is a way for someone on the spectrum to assuage their anxiety over the unknown, and empower themselves into their daily tasks. For some of the spectrum, not knowing what to expect at a new school, in a new restaurant, or while on vacation can make life unbearable for themselves and their caregivers.

Motivation and autism: little beautiful female child with blond hair choosing dessert holding unhealthy but tasty red candy licorice and apple fruit in healthy versus unhealthy die nutrition isolated on white background

How Can You Use Motivation To Help Autistic Individuals?

In my last blog post, I spoke about John Simpson’s triad for autism spectrum disorders. I wrote about the first aspect which is need for predictability. This week’s post is about second part of the triad – motivation.

What Is Interoception and How Does It Impact Those With Autism?

INTEROCEPTION: THE EIGHTH SENSORY SYSTEM by Kelley Mahler Sit back and close your eyes. What do you feel inside your body? Is your heart beating fast or slow? Are you breathing deeply or shallowly? Do you have to go to the bathroom? Are your muscles tense or loose? How does your stomach feel? Most of us are able to feel…

Autism ‘Triad of Impairment’ Redefined: Lessons From John Simpson

John Simpson is a young man with Asperger Syndrome who resides in the UK. He has spoken at our Birmingham conferences in May of 2007 and 2008. John is an articulate, intelligent, informative and entertaining speaker. He has been a huge influence on me as a parent because of his revealing inside look at autism. He has been a great teacher, making me re-think how I parent my two children.

Silhouettes of siblings with autism jumping from a sand cliff at the beach.

Autism x 2 : What Happens When Your Second Child Is Diagnosed

Raising more than one child with autism in a family is a unique experience and not without its challenges. Those of us that parent two or more children on the spectrum are not as small in number as you might think. When I tell people I have a son and a daughter with autism, they ask questions like, “Is is common to have more than one child with autism? Is it harder than having one? How do you cope? I’ve never heard of a boy and a girl in the same family – does that happen often?”

While I don’t have exact statistics on multiples with autism in a family, I can tell you I am meeting more families in this situation all the time. We are not as rare as you might think. I have no neurotypical children so have no idea what it’s like to parent normally developing children. I am in awe when I get together with friends and see how their children interact with each other. My stories about the weekend don’t sound like anyone else’s I know. Parenting two children on the spectrum is relentless – one is always off the rails. It’s hard to keep things on an even keel, yet there are some great rewards.

Three years old boy having autistic meltdown

Tantrum vs Autistic Meltdown: What Is The Difference?

Many parents and caregivers have witnessed the fireworks of anger and emotion from a person with autism, and for many people they look exactly like the tantrums that children have when they are young. While they may look similar in external behaviour, it’s important to understand the difference between the two because tantrums need one kind of response, but that same response will only make things worse for a person have an autistic meltdown from being overwhelmed by sensory stimuli.

Toilet Training an Older Child With Autism. Picture of feet and toilet and diaper

The Trials of Toilet Training An Older Autistic Child

There is almost no literature available on training the older child with autism. Traditional children’s books all use the potty chair to teach toilet training. Animated characters on videos do not explain the elimination process or show exactly what to do. It took us nine years to get my son Marc using the toilet on his own, and here is how we did it.