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Who is this site for? Parents, family members, educators, Speech Pathologists, therapists and others who work to support the learning and living needs of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders and related learning challenges.

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Webinar: Picture Talk for Autism Linda Hodgdon A special gift to YOU Linda Hodgdon interviews Emily Colson. They discuss Picture Talk for Autism, a visual communication strategy Emily has developed to help her son, Max. (You can also access this webinar from Sample Articles found under About Us in the left column.) . . . keep reading

The Top 50 Favorite Apps for iPad & Autism We conducted a survey of more than 3500 Speech-Language Pathologists, Educators and parents who support individuals with ASD . . . keep reading Capture the IPad APPS Possibilities for Autism Spectrum Disorders Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP People are so excited about the possibilities with IPads. And what is more important, they share some great stories about the social and communication benefits for their students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. . . . keep reading More

Additional Helpful Autism Apps: SLP Field Kit v1.1 Shane Numberg SLP Field Kit has the potential to be a very useful tool for parents and speech therapists. And I applaud the developer for innovating and making speech fun. I always say that kids learn more when they're having fun. This app is certainly more than an electronic . . . keep reading Cheap iPads : Ways to Purchase Them Linda Hodgdon The iPad has created a technology "feeding frenzy." Here is a list of some less expensive options to consider. . . . keep reading Funding Sources for IPads & Apps Tablet Technology Linda Hodgdon Who buys the iPad? This is one of the most common questions I get about this technology. . . . keep reading Additional Autism Apps Reviews: QuickCues v1.0 Shane Numberg Clearly geared toward teens and young adults, this autism app offers great reminders on how to appropriately behave in different circumstances. Those reminders are in the form of a blue cue card you read. You then swipe your finger across the screen to move . . . keep reading Awesome Autism Apps: Proloquo2Go v1.3.1 Shane Numberg One of the more complete apps. This one is revolutionizing Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices! This app doesn't need much improvement, yet the developers are constantly looking at ways to improve it. Kudos to them! This is a great . . . keep reading Other helpful Autism Apps Reviews: Pocket SLP v1.21 Shane Numberg Pocket SLP is a tool designed to be used by parents or speech path's to help with articulation delays or disorders. Since every kid with autism has problems pronouncing sounds correctly this seems like a great autism app! It's basically . . . keep reading When Something is Bothering Me - Visual Aid for Individuals with Social and Cognitive Challenges Visual aid outlining how an individual with social and cognitive challenges should react when concerned about a negative event. . . . keep reading Using Positive Commands to Instruct Students Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP Emily was putting pink frosting on the newly baked cake. Sitting up at the kitchen counter, she had a table knife in her hand with a large glob of that frosting on it. Her eyes were twinkling and that glob of frosting was getting really close to her mouth. So guess what Dad yelled!!! "Don't put the knife in your mouth!" Guess what Emily did. It was such a natural, impulsive response. And that frosting tasted so good! It was almost like she was doing exactly what Dad told her NOT to do. The natural reaction of the adult is to think the child is purposely disobeying. But it might not be exactly like that. . . . keep reading Managing the Explosion of IPad APPS for Autism Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP There has been an explosion of interest in using the iPhone, IPad or IPod for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. . . . keep reading Using Visual Strategies for Students with Auditory Processing Problems - Audio - 51 seconds I work with children who do not have Autism. They do have severely impaired auditory processing problems. Do visual strategies work for students who do not have autism? . . . keep reading More Autism Apps Reviews: Picture Scheduler v1.5.4 Shane Numberg Picture Scheduler has the potential to fill a unique need for the autism community. This little app reminds you when to do tasks, any tasks. It's very easy to use and you get to choose what day/time you want to be notified. When the alarm/alert is triggered . . . keep reading 5 Guidelines to Help Clinicians Work With Parents of Special Needs Children Denise Meissner WANNA GET INVOLVED? 5 GUIDELINES TO HELP CLINICIANS APPROACH & WORK WITH PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. Imagine how you feel when your ideas of what should happen (i.e. when you start a new job, go on vacation, or make plans to have children) collide head on with what really happens (i.e. co-workers are difficult to deal with, hurricane disrupts your vacation, or child begins to present with developmental irregularities). This is a classic fantasy-meets-reality situation in which feelings of excitement and joy may be replaced by feelings of fear and despair. As a mother of a child with Autism, I have first hand experience regarding the fear, despair, anger, and frustration that challenges a parent. . . . keep reading Using Visual Cues to Overcome Negative Behaviors QUESTION: How do you get the children to use the visual cues instead of acting out in a fit of rage? ANSWER: I will need to give a short answer to a question that deserves a much longer one. Here is the question for you. Why is he acting out in a fit of rage? What does he want? What does he not want? When does he do his protesting? Does the fit of rage work? Visual cues are not going to be very useful until you ask and answer a lot of questions. . . . keep reading Using Photos to Communicate with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP Learning effective conversation skills ranks as one of the greatest challenges for students with autism spectrum disorders (and lots of other students with communication or behavior difficulties). Conversation is complex. It requires exactly the abilities that are difficult for these students. Success with conversations requires many skills such as: Engaging another person Deciding what to talk about Using appropriate language to share thoughts or information . . . keep reading Thinking Ahead: Anticipating Negative Situations with Children with Autism Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP What was a recent situation you had to deal with where you did not have a visual support? Could you have anticipated the situation? Is the situation likely to be repeated? Is there some kind of generic visual cue that could have helped? For example: "wait" or "something is going to change" or some other phrase that could work in a lot of situations. We can't anticipate every situation that requires our intervention. There will always be surprises. But planning ahead for those most common events and needs will create environments where students can become increasingly appropriate and successful. . . . keep reading First Year of College: Lessons from a Parent of a Child with Asperger Syndrome Julie Coulter My husband and I began a new phase in life last fall as our son left home to attend college. After struggling with ADD and Asperger Syndrome through special education programs in a mainstream environment for 13 years, he had graduated from high school successfully. We are proud of his hard work and the steps he took to get to college. We are very grateful to all the teachers who helped our son prepare for college in high school. We are also very thankful for college programs for students with special needs. . . . keep reading Tips for Aiding Parents New to Using Visual Aids-Audio - 1 minute 16 seconds Ideas for parents who are new to using visual aids. Tips for embedding visual strategies into everyday life activities. . . . keep reading Using Visual Strategies to Help Children Understand Life Events Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP Life is full of events and circumstances that are difficult for children to understand. How do you explain? And explaining doesn't mean that they comprehend. And what happens when children don't understand? Emotional outbursts? Difficult behaviors? Problems can occur for good events as well as bad ones. Writing down information can provide a way to help understanding. Here is an example of how it can work. . . . keep reading More Helpful Autism Apps: M-CHAT v1.2 Shane Numberg The only validated tool for screening toddlers between 16 and 30 months of age to assess the risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). That's M-CHAT. And this app is colorful, functional, and easy to use. Obviously, if your child has already been . . . keep reading Using Visual Strategies in a Classroom with Both Regular and Special Education Students QUESTION: I have a blended classroom consisting of ½ regular education students and ½ special education students. I realize that all children benefit, but I need some ideas how to effectively implement visual strategies with both populations. ANSWER: Well, this question has an easy answer. Start by changing the focus of your thinking. Instead of looking at the students, look at your classroom and yourself. Establish two goals. The first goal is to create a "communication friendly" environment. Think about the visual tools that you develop as tools to enrich the classroom, no matter what students are there. . . . keep reading Understanding Students with Austism Spectrum Disorders Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP Autism can be a mystery . . . a puzzle . . . It can leave us perplexed . . . bewildered . . . confused. Here is our challenge We need to be detectives. Colombo and Sherlock Holmes were observers of details. And that is what we need to do. Watch. Pay attention. Look at the bigger picture. And this is what I find Those who really try to "learn" who these students are do learn. They figure out a lot about how individual students think and reason and understand. . . . keep reading Students with Learning Challenges Learn Vocational Skills Many middle schools have school stores that are run by students. One middle school store however, is currently being run and managed by students with learning challenges. The intended purpose of the store is help students . . . keep reading Strategies for Helping Kids Get Organized Ways to help children develop independence at home through visuals about chores, . . . keep reading Effective and Teacher-Friendly Ways to Incorprate Visual Strategies into Classrooms QUESTION: What is the most effective and teacher friendly way to implement visual strategies within the classroom? I am a speech therapist working with preschool children who are non-verbal. I have implemented a daily schedule for 1 student with autism, but there are other students in the room who would benefit. ANSWER: Be bold about sharing with others what you are learning. Now please understand. . .if you go in and tell a teacher "You need to do this," you are not likely to get an enthusiastic response. That is not "teacher friendly." . . . keep reading How to Create Visual Strategies with a Limited Budget - Audio - 2 minutes 22 seconds How can I make effective visual strategies with limited resources? Tips and resources for creating visual aids on a limited budget. . . . keep reading