THE SOCIAL SCENE

BY MELISSA HOWARD AND LAUREN TURIELLO How often do members of this WONDERFUL SPECIAL NEEDS POPULATION have the opportunity to GO SOMEWHERE, after school or work, where they can be as COOL AS THEY WANT, or as GOOFY AS THEY WANT, and still be COMPLETELY ACCEPTED? It is 3:00. The door chimes and members start to come in. As they find a place for their things and grab a snack, we see them begin to […]

Forgetting Milestones and Learning to Measure Progress…a New Way of Thinking! #Interests/Talents

By Mary Ellen Bogucki When my daughter was diagnosed with Autism, I immediately started researching and learning all I could on the subject. One of the first people I learned about was Temple Grandin and I immediately became a big fan of hers. Temple provided insight into what my daughter was experiencing, long before Bree could communicate with me. There are so many things I learned from Temple, but one important lesson was to focus […]

The Whole Story

PUZZLES & CAMO BY SHELLY HUHTANEN This is the story of autism that we need to hear, not just the young adult with autism that is a surgeon… We need to hear the whole story, no matter how uncomfortable it may be. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me if I had seen the new show on television entitled The Good Doctor. I told them I hadn’t since I don’t watch too […]

Did you hear the big news?!

I have been debating on whether or not to share the awesome news that we recently received. Like, big news. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone. The truth is, the news was so exciting to me, that I wanted to stop random people to tell them…but I’m going to venture a guess that Bob, the cashier at Wawa, wouldn’t have reciprocated my enthusiasm. Thanks a lot for the buzz kill, Bob; the coffee was good though! I’m […]

How to make meetings with school staff work.

by Lynne Pearson If you are the parent of an autistic child the chances are high that you’ll have plenty of meetings with school staff. It’s always a good idea to go into meetings prepared and with an attitude that is the most likely to bring about a favourable outcome for your child, you and the school. Basically you are going to have to become a skilled negotiator. Recently  I read a famous book about […]