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Executive Functioning Enhancement for High School Students with ASD
Educators have made great strides in integrating students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) into general education over the past several decades; however, at the secondary school level, these students still often experience serious difficulties. A major obstacle to success for adolescents on the...
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Transition from Middle School to High School – Valuable Advice from a High School Senior with Asperger Syndrome
The hallways are crowded. Lockers are lined with chatty students and the cafeteria is serving what may or may not be food. Where will you fit in? The homework is demanding. Your teachers have high expectations and you may be unsure about how to meet them. Would they understand? As you’ve heard,...
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How to Effectively Advocate for Your Child’s Transition with Your School District
Parents of children diagnosed on the autism spectrum are often concerned about their child’s transition from the structured environment of a school-based program to the post-secondary world and all of the hurdles that transition entails. A student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is the...
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Learning Style Preferences of Students with Autism and How They Align or Differ from Their Typical Peers
Developing successful educational opportunities for students with autism has long been a challenge for educators. This challenge may well be due to the fact that students with autism have unusual intellectual and academic skills profiles making it difficult for teachers to accurately assess...
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Do Parents and Teachers Get Children with AS/HFA? These Children Lack the Insight or Social Skills to Explain Themselves
Many teachers and parents miss the connection between the diagnosis of children with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) or high functioning autism (HFA) (and nonverbal learning disabilities) and the behaviors of the child in day-to-day life. When adults don’t get this connection, they can’t communicate...
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Welcome to My World – A Mother’s Annual Letter to New School Teachers
After seven years of parenting a child enrolled in the local public school system, I’ve come to understand that, at least in our neck of the woods, each new grade begins with an automatic and inherent “do-over” mechanism in place. Regardless of how many copies of reports, summaries of...
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Compensatory Education is an Important Remedy to Consider
Compensatory education, an often overlooked remedy, is a legal term used to describe future educational services (or funds for services) that courts can award to a disabled student under the interpretation of the Federal IDEA statute. A compensatory education (comp ed) award is meant to compensate...
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How to Combine Cooperation and Advocacy at Your IEP Meeting
The IEP season is now in “full swing” and parents often wonder how they should conduct themselves at their child’s IEP meeting. It truly is a balancing act to be “cooperative” with your child’s IEP team while also advocating for the educational supports that are appropriate for your...
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New Source of Funding for Post-Secondary Education
Higher Education and Opportunities Act Allows New Opportunities for Individuals with ASD For the neurotypical population preparing for post-secondary education, a significant rite of passage is filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and indicating the colleges...
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Alleviating the Stress of the Post-Secondary Transition
Families with a child on the autism spectrum face adversity and stress on a daily basis. Transitions in particular can be extremely stressful for families who have a child with an ASD. The transition from high school is stressful for families with neurotypical children and is even more so for the...