One of the biggest concerns for teens with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is their social communication skills. As students become older, the focus of their speech therapy starts to stray away from the academic side and focuses more on the social aspects of communication. For example, how to initiate, continue and end a …
Why Incorporate Visuals? Visuals are beneficial supports for children with limited verbal communication. Hodgdon (1995) proposed four reasons for using visuals within home, school, and community environments: (a) visuals increase children’s reliability (they are more likely to know what to do and then to do this repeatedly), (b) visuals encourage children to be more independent, …
The last 18 months have been like no other. We know that the impact of the global pandemic was different on each community. For individuals experiencing food insecurity, their world looked much different than the overworked executive who welcomed the change of pace. Working parents who were home with school-aged children had an entirely different …
Start with you. Learn to recognize and manage your own stresses. Take advantage of available support services to understand how your own feelings, experiences, and well-being influence your interactions with your child. Add mind-body activities to your daily routines. Simple activities, such as mindful breathing or yoga, can have big benefits. iCan Dream Center social …
A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is hard for both your child and you. Autism symptoms can vary widely. Different or incorrect behaviors, problems with communication, and repeated routines and rituals are all linked to ASD. This can make life hard for the entire family. Some children with ASD are less affected than others. The …
Social communication is essential for everyday life to build social relationships and express unmet needs. For youth having difficulties with self-expression, it can be emotionally overwhelming, leading to frustrations, socially inappropriate behavior, and refusing or ignoring requests. Try Social Stories In Ghurair and Alnaqi (2020) research, they utilized a technique called Social Stories that uses …
For parents of neurodiverse learners, the “back to school” season usually brings with it one consistent emotion: feeling overwhelmed. Any kind of abrupt change, in general, can be difficult for learners with autism, attention deficit disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, or other neurodiverse diagnoses. Tack on navigating a post-pandemic world, and we are all facing challenges that are unprecedented, …
In the early intervention world, occupational therapists serve children by providing the services they need to support educational skills like handwriting, self-care activities like putting on and taking off their backpacks, and emotional regulation skills like learning to remain calm. Occupational therapists are truly like Swiss Army Knives in that we have a diverse range …
“So you help people get jobs?” The dreaded question that occupational therapists (OTs) hear all too often about their role as a practitioner. To us, the word ‘occupation’ is our pride and joy, and it is often misunderstood. In occupational therapy, “occupations refer to the everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families, and …
ACES, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, come in many forms, from physical and mental abuse to neglect and household dysfunction. In 1998, CDC-Kaiser Permanente published a groundbreaking study that investigated the impact of ACEs on physical and mental health problems in over 17,000 adults. Now that we understand how toxic stress affects the minds and bodies …
