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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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The Top 5 Favorite Apps for iPad & Autism We conducted a survey of more than 2700 Speech-Language Pathologists, Educators and parents who support individuals with ASD . . . keep reading More

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 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-Video - 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 Disclosing Asperger's Syndrome to an Employer Barbara A. Bissonnette Clients often ask me whether they should disclose their Asperger's Syndrome to an employer and my answer is, "It depends." My approach is to weigh the many factors that affect employment outcomes and develop a personalized plan for each person. Disclosure can benefit individuals who are currently employed as well as those who want to be. If your challenges are very noticeable or hard to manage during the work day, disclosing can be much more effective than simply hoping that your social and communication problems or organizational difficulties will go unnoticed. . . . keep reading Drinking Water for Good Health - What's Different for Children with Autism? Elizabeth Strickland The eating and drinking patterns of our students with autism may be different from other children. Here is some important information. Water is the most basic nutrient our bodies need, and it's also one of the most neglected components of our diet. Our bodies need a certain amount of water each day for proper body temperature regulation, muscle function, absorption of nutrients, transporting nutrients into body cells, transporting waste out of body cells, and the elimination of waste and toxins from the body. We get water not only from drinking it, but also from other liquids such as milk and juice and from vegetables and fruits. If we don't have enough water in our diet, we are at risk for dehydration . . . keep reading Caity Meets Her Countdown Visual Marianne Bryant I'm sure you will all know what I am talking about when I re-tell this next story. Your child finally gets invited to a birthday party and then you begin to get nervous. There is this little tiny part of you that almost wishes it hadn't happened because of all the anxiety that you, the mom, will go through. I used to always worry about how Caity would . . . keep reading Additional Autism Apps: MyTalk v2.2 Shane Numberg MyTalk is a communication app (AAC) that talks for you. Rather than storing their vast database of images on your device, the developer chose to store it online, which is nice . . . keep reading Social Challenges for Individuals with Autism Paula Kluth For many with autism, engaging in a social interaction is like playing a game without knowing the rules. Some individuals report that the social demands of making small talk or walking into a party can create stress, anxiety, and panic; they may feel as if everyone else knows the secrets necessary for success and they do not. Liane Holliday Willey (1999), a woman with Asperger's Syndrome, illustrates how stressful it can be when one does not understand certain social requirements: "The most simple-sounding duties blew me away. For example, what exactly did it mean to plan a child's class party? With no precise guidelines or definition of terms in tow, I had no answer but plenty of questions. . . . keep reading When Everything is the Not Same: Handling Change with Autistic Students Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP That is what the new school year feels like When a new school year begins, there are two common scenarios. One is where an autistic student makes a huge change. Going to a totally new school. Changing buildings. Like moving from elementary to middle school. This is not the kind of change we will be discussing. The second scenario is returning to where you were last year. It might be the same classroom or some place very near by. Perhaps it's a move across the hall to another room, but the rest of the surroundings are the same. Many teachers and school staff are the same. The school bus routine is the same. The lunch room ladies have returned. . . . keep reading