First signs something was wrong Erika and Steve first noticed something was different with their son Blaise when he was 18 months old. Erika recalled, “He went to daycare and we would go in and notice that all the kids are playing in one area and he's over to an area by himself. He always did individual play.” That wasn't the only...
First signs something was wrong Erika and Steve first noticed something was different with their son Blaise when he was 18 months old. Erika recalled, “He went to daycare and we would go in and notice that all the kids are playing in one area and he's over to an area...
Communication is a basic skill that provides an avenue for our needs to be met. What happens if your child doesn’t have the language to convey their needs? What happens if your child does have language but the way they talk makes it impossible to understand what they are saying? This is where a speech therapist and language therapist can step in to help!
Sensory play is essential for all children during their development. When a child engages in sensory play it stimulates different parts of the brain which strengthens neural pathways in the brain. Sensory play also can help children learn to adapt and deal with unpleasant experiences in their world around them.
Traveling in general can be a very stressful event. However, adding children into the mix can create even more stress and chaos. What if your child has a disability? What if they have medical equipment that needs to be with your child?
Below is a list of 9 children’s books that highlights different types of disabilities. They are a perfect avenue to show your child with a disability that they are truly special and that there are others who look and act like they do. These books are also great teaching tools for friends, classmates, and siblings of someone with a disability.
If your child would benefit from continued social skills practice during this time at home, there are a variety of different activities that can be used to target social skills virtually via platforms such as Facetime, Skype, or Zoom. Many children who are currently working to improve their social skills require cues and reminders for appropriate body language, eye contact, and topic maintenance.
As a result of the current highly contagious COVID-19 pandemic, the practice of wearing a face mask in public is becoming more common. Not only have health officials recommended face masks to reduce the spread of the virus, many public places now require it.
With all our children back in school, whether face to face or virtually learning, parents are needing strategies to promote on-task working, paying attention, and participation. A common strategy that works is something called the good behavior game.
One of the questions I am most often asked is if a child is presenting with sensory responses or behavioral challenges. This question can be difficult to answer as oftentimes challenges with sensory experiences can result in behaviors and vice versa. The most important thing to remember in either a sensory or behavior-based situation is to provide your child with an intervention BEFORE the meltdown occurs.
Handwriting is a key skill that children start to learn as soon as they grasp a marker and try to color on the wall. There are so many different skills that must work together with handwriting including hand-eye coordination, grasping, strength, vision, and control of the tool the child is using to write. It is key to begin working on handwriting skills as soon as a child shows interest as we must first learn how to make simple shapes before we are able to write short stories.
Some parents don’t believe their child will ever go to college once they have been diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum. College is stressful enough for any kid, but when your child lacks social skills and cannot function independently, college seems a step too far. However, whilst autistic students do struggle with college, many colleges are introducing education programs specifically designed for students on the autism spectrum.
