-
The Use of Self-Monitoring Interventions to Support Inclusion for Adolescents Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
There are numerous benefits to inclusion in school settings for students diagnosed with autism (Harrower and Dunlap, 2001). However, there are also many challenges related to inclusion for many of those students and for the educators and the support staff in those settings. Problematic behavior...
-
Integrating Evidence-Based Models to Educate Adolescents with Autism
Educating adolescents with autism spectrum disorder require specialized programming that takes into account their complex learning characteristics. While certain practices have been shown to be effective in educating students on the spectrum; historically, the field has been vulnerable to claims of...
-
Overcoming Anxiety and Fear in Children and Teens
Study after study has shown that if you can get anxious individuals to gradually face their fears (a treatment called gradual exposure), their anxiety will decrease, and they will no longer be controlled by their fear. That is the science of treatment, to gradually face fears. But how do you get...
-
The Soft Skills – A Call to Remember the (Not so Easy) Steps to Success
As we prepare our students for transitions from school to work, we put much emphasis on academics and trade skills. However, more and more, the employers are putting an emphasis on hiring individuals with the right soft skill set. For our students to be successful, we need to assist them in making...
-
Early Start: Preparing Adolescents for the Transition Years
The transition years prepare adolescents for life as an adult, including living as independently as possible, securing and maintaining employment and effectively interacting in the community. Children with autism spectrum disorders approaching adolescence and their families are faced with great...
-
Finding David’s Space
I want to share a story from my recent experience or, more accurately, a story about the long journey leading to the experience. As I’m sure many of you know, the job of a speech-language pathologist is hard sometimes, but those challenging days also make the work overwhelmingly worthwhile. I’m...
-
Facilitating Plugged In: Helping Teens with ASD Navigate Life with Technology
Technology use is ubiquitous among today’s youth (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). This probably does not come as a surprise because it seems that kids and their gadgets are everywhere. The current generation of youth has even been referred to as the iGeneration or the app generation. From...
-
Parent and Adolescent Outcomes Following Participation in the PEERS© Program
As youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) navigate the complex social world of adolescence, they frequently have difficulty forming and maintaining friendships. Past research indicates that adolescents with ASD report lower quality friendships than their typically-developing peers (Bauminger...
-
Developing Independence: Teaching Goal Setting Skills to Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum
Research conducted amongst the broader population has reported that goal setting for independence 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...
-
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...
