Autism - Blog

It’s true that almost every blog post could fit into this category, but we try to keep it mostly to those blog posts and articles that specifically reference autism itself. News, research, any articles that talk specifically about autism, rather than a related disorder, or behaviour.

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.

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.

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.

Adults With Autism: Lack Of Resources and Misdiagnosis

Many of us fear what will happen to our children with autism as we both age, particularly those of us with children who will require life-long care. Aging in autism however, is a much understudied phenomenon. While there are many resources available to help parents of young children with autism, very little is discussed or available for those over forty. So…

photo of mother and daughter having fun at home

Early Detection And Intervention Can Help Children With Autism Communicate

Ido Kedar is a young man on the spectrum who has an excellent blog called Ido in Autismland. In his own words, he says: “I am an autistic guy with a message. I spent the first half of my life completely trapped in silence. The second – on becoming a free soul. I had to fight to get an education.…

Father and son with autism studying flash cards

Repetitive Training Not Helping Children With Autism

I’ve written about the difficulties I have had getting my own children to recognize and use washrooms that are not the ones from our home. It can be a real challenge for a child with autism because there is a tendency to represent, understand, and remember things in an extremely specific way. This tendency towards specific or inflexible learning is…

Cute funny little girl and adorable baby boy drinking freshly squeezed orange juice for healthy breakfast in a white kitchen with window on a sunny summer morning

Girls with Autism May Require Different Treatment Than Boys

Until recently, boys and girls on the spectrum have been painted with the same brush both in terms of diagnosis, and more importantly in terms of treatment. But as a mother of both a boy and a girl with autism, I can tell you that they have always been very different.

Cute child smiling on the camera while holding a tablet to show a thumb up icon isolated on white background

Social Media for the Not-So-Social: How to Get Your Child With Autism Online In A Social Way

Assistant Professor Paul Shattuck who lead the study, says that as children with ASD age, and as their cognitive skills improve, they spend more time using social media, which helps them to further develop social skills. So how can we get our kids technology time more social so they can build these skills?

Boys Playing Throwing the Fall Leaves Up in the Air

Top Five Tips for Getting Your Autistic Child Into Their Fall Coat

Because of sensory processing issues, individuals with autism may exhibit hyper or hypo sensitivities to heat and cold. A child may not feel how cold it is in the winter and take off his coat. Another person may start to shiver as soon as they come out of the sun and enter an air-conditioned room.

education, elementary school, learning and people concept - group of school kids sitting and listening to teacher in classroom from back

It’s Time To Update Classroom Strategies For Those With ASD

September means back to school, transitions, and changes in routines. Judy Endow, an adult with autism, wrote a blog post about changing classroom strategies, asking us to alter the way we do things based on past knowledge in light of new information. This is good advice for all of us as autism is a relatively new field where knowledge is rapidly changing, challenging our long-held views which may no longer be applicable.

Wrap Around Services for Children and Adults with ASD

researchers now recommend a place where everything is under one umbrella, where a team of experts can wrap around the child. This can happen in a hospital setting, agency or center. The concept of wraparound services also extends into independent living for adults on the spectrum. As adults leave their parental home, they will need support for medical and dental needs, recreation, employment, nutrition, and daily living skills. How do we best meet these needs simply and under one roof?

Enhancing the Life of an Autistic Individual Through Music

A woman who worked with a nonverbal, visually impaired young man with autism asked me an interesting question. She was told the young man had low cognitive ability but when he heard music, he came alive. Sitting in his wheelchair, he would rock back and forth in time to the music and hum along to songs. When the music was no longer playing, he would hum the songs and everyone around him recognized the tunes. She was wondering if there was a way she could explore this connection to music in some way to enhance his life and maybe teach him some things too. As a classical musician and former music teacher, my response was an enthusiastic yes!

Autism and Vacationing – Ten Tips for Predictability

I’d like to share some thoughts for making travel with children on the autism spectrum successful. I have spoken about predictability in past blogs. Individuals with autism need to know what is going to happen to them. Leaving home means everything is going to be different. Here are 10 ideas to create predictability when travelling: