When a Parent is on the Autism Spectrum: Tips for their Kids
by Barbara R. Lester, LCSW – author of My Parent has an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has led to…
by Barbara R. Lester, LCSW – author of My Parent has an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has led to…
“Some things that our children say or do can be especially poignant in certain situations and, quite often, they can say things that are so truthful, we just wouldn’t dare say them ourselves! There shouldn’t be anything sad or embarrassing about situations like these. We should see the humour in it and not feel guilty to laugh out loud. I think it is important to embrace moments like these as we have enough of a hard time and laughing can help redress the balance. Laughter is very good for stress too, so there’s no excuse!”
“Children with ASD are not good at generalising. They cannot transfer knowledge from one situation to another. Something as simple as having a different symbol to show ‘choosing’ for example, may result in the child being unable to understand what is expected. Not all schools have access to symbol writing programmes or they may be different from those used by early years practitioners. Parents usually have no access at all and are not even aware of the visual symbols they could be using to aid their child’s understanding at home…The aim of the book is to promote and foster collaboration between the home and the school. This will result in improved generalisation of skills and opportunities to exchange ideas and to decide what methodology works best for the child.”
By Chris Mitchell, author of Asperger’s Syndrome and Mindfulness: Taking Refuge in the Buddha. Body language, or non-verbal communication, is an aspect of life that…
Carol L. Spears and Dr. Vicki L. Turner are Speech Language Pathologists, Assistive Technologists, and Alternative/ Augmentative Communication Specialists. Here, Carol and Vicki answer some…
In December, JKP author John Merges shared some thoughts about his passion: helping young people on the autism spectrum enjoy social interactions – an important skill…
In this series of videos, Nancy Williams – author of Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child – talks about the many benefits of Yoga for…
The Extreme Makeover Challenge: Room Re-Design! by Carol L. Spears and Dr. Vicki L. Turner As discussed in our book Rising to New Heights of Communication and…
“The bottom-line, is that the programs, materials, and curricula that are sound-based do not match with the way the children think to learn. So, teachers work harder but don’t always receive the positive success they deserve. Older students work harder to produce the sound-based patterns for tests, homework, and so forth without the conceptual learning. Working harder but not smarter stresses everyone–students, families, and teachers.”
The 2010 American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Conference took place at the Cleveland Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, this year and JKP was, once…