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The Silent Roadblock: Understanding the Ripple Effects of Feeding Difficulties on the Spectrum
While it’s widely documented that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects social interaction, communication, and behavior, there is a less spotlighted, yet pivotal, piece to these neurodivergent children: feeding difficulties. It’s estimated that up to 80% of autistic children have some form of...
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Navigating Autistic Burnout as an Autistic Parent
Being an autistic parent is hard. When your kids are also neurodivergent, this can make life even more challenging when trying to navigate everyone’s complex, often diametrically opposed needs. When we need space, a lot of the time our children need connection and closeness, and we can become...
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How to Overcome Dental Health Challenges for Children with Autism
Dental visits can be difficult, if not impossible, for children and teens with autism and developmental disabilities. These challenges can preclude important preventative care that impacts underlying health issues. In these situations, dental care also becomes a quality-of-life issue - not only...
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Self-Care is Not Selfish: The Important Role Self-Care Plays in Promoting Good Outcomes in Autistic Individuals
Self-care is one of those buzzword phrases that often goes in one ear and promptly out the other. Well-meaning clinicians, and even the latest podcast gurus, talk about prioritizing self-care in a world that is constantly demanding more and more of your time and energy as a family member. We are in...
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Virtual Reality: A Tool for Making Healthcare More Accessible to Patients with Autism
For patients with autism, getting healthcare is often a struggle. My views in healthcare were heavily influenced by watching my brother, who was non-verbal and autistic, and my mother navigate the healthcare system with much difficulty. He, like many patients with autism, struggled with doctor...
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A Call to Action: The Need for Advocacy in Healthcare Access in Autism
Although specific estimates vary substantially, autistic children and adults have a higher prevalence of comorbid medical conditions than those reported in non-autistic individuals. Among the most commonly reported comorbid medical conditions are neurological disorders, including epilepsy,...
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Adaptive Sports Promote Physical, Social, and Emotional Health for People with Disabilities
As COVID hit in March 2020 I was let go from my job at an adaptive sports organization for people with physical disabilities. Instead of bemoaning the fact that, along with many others, I now had no income, I started talking to some friends and colleagues about starting an adaptive sports...
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My Child with Autism Needs Anesthesia, What Should I Know?
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have an increased rate of hospital contact and are likely to require sedation and anesthesia for surgeries, procedures, and imaging tests. Lee et al. has demonstrated that children with autism were about two to three times more likely to experience an...
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Physical Fitness Activities and Nutrition Support for Autism Families
It’s hard enough to find support and respite when you have a child with autism, but add a pandemic to the mix, and you’ve really got your hands full. While it’s easy to give in to your child’s requests for sugar and stimulating games (they’re adorable and you want them to be happy, after...
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Be Mindful, Be Present, Be You: How to Handle Crisis Anxiety
With the world around us a chaotic mess, it is getting harder and harder to avoid becoming a giant, swirling, ball of anxiety. The current pandemic has disrupted our lives and the world as we know it is on hold for the foreseeable future. It has interrupted routines, forced schools to close, and...
