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Walking the Tightrope: Promoting Success in the Adolescent with ASD
It is tough being an adolescent. Adolescence is a time fraught with changes at many levels. Physically, the body is growing and changing, evolving from the body of a child to an adult, and becoming physiologically capable of bearing children. There is a tremendous surge of hormones that allow for...
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Developing Independence: Teaching Goal Setting Skills to Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum
Research conducted amongst the broader population has reported that goal setting is a teachable and effective support strategy, yet it is one that remains under-utilized by the Autism community. The ability to live a meaningful life, with as little reliance on others as possible, is the aim of...
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Support of Coaching to Develop Key Skills that Facilitate Independent Living
Independent living skills, or life skills, are important tools that are needed in order to successfully navigate the world. In the 1990’s, a surge of children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and are now approaching adulthood (VanBergeijk, E., Klin, A. & Volkmar, F....
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Treating the Adolescent with ASD: The Quest To Establish Selfhood
In our society, adolescence is thought of as a time of self-discovery and identity formation. It is a time when the individual is not quite a child anymore, but is certainly not an adult; it is the transitionary period between the two. During the span of roughly seven to ten years, or in some cases...
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Developing Self-Reflection and Resilience in Adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome and High Functioning Autism
Some key ingredients to success as an adult in college or in work are: self-awareness, self-reflection, stress management, social competence, and resilience. This is true for everyone with and without disability. It would be fabulous if we could eliminate stress from all our lives; however stress...
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Summer Programs for Adolescents and Young Adults
Summer vacation is a time ripe with opportunities for growth – a time to catch-up on academic learning, strengthen executive functioning, and improve social and communication competence. Opportunities abound during the summer months to engage in learning outside of the traditional classroom by...