-
Cruising Tips for a Fun Autism Friendly Family Vacation
Do you wish you could go on a family vacation but think it’s too hard to manage with a child on the autism spectrum? With proper planning, a cruise can be a great way to combine fun and predictability for the perfect autism friendly family vacation. As a mom of children on the spectrum,...
-
Advocating for Sensory-Inclusive Education: IEPs, Classrooms, and Schools
There are many lists and suggestions for sensory-inclusive education for autistic students. Gaining a sense of your student’s unique sensory profile – what causes distress or helps them stay regulated – is important. They may be impacted differently at school than at home. How can a caregiver...
-
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...
-
Anderson Family Partners: Extended Family, Redefined
For Colleen Contreni, Family Liaison at Anderson Center for Autism, the concept of ‘extended family’ has long inspired her work. “I have always been a very family-oriented person, and this role at Anderson is a reminder that by cultivating a spirit of kinship among parents, caregivers, and...
-
Your Child Has Just Been Diagnosed with Autism – Now What?
Every family has their own personal journey towards an autism diagnosis for their child. Whether it brings the confirmation of what may have been suspected or the news of something completely unexpected, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder can have a significant impact on a family. Like the...
-
Supporting Families to Prepare Students to Be Participating Members of Their Community
For over five decades, I’ve had the privilege of serving students with autism and developmental disabilities and their families. I’ve been employed as a teacher, administrator, professor, consultant, and advocate in public, private, nonprofit, and for-profit settings, working in preschools,...
-
Helping Families with Disabilities Transition from Child to Adult Systems of Care
Having a child diagnosed with a lifelong disability is like planning a trip to one country, but unexpectedly arriving in a different country (read Emily Perl Kingsley’s essay Welcome to Holland). Just imagine, you have nothing packed that would make the trip easier or more comfortable, and you do...
-
Supporting Latine Caregivers of Autistic Children: Community Needs and Perspectives
Latine* caregivers of recently diagnosed children on the autism spectrum have unique needs and face unique challenges in supporting their children (Blacher et al., 2019). Latine families report feeling overwhelmed, confused, and concerned with information about the incidence of autism, the...
-
Parent Involvement as a Metric of Quality Care
A family-centered approach has been considered best practice for many years in early intervention and pediatric rehabilitation (Bailey, Buysse, Edmondson, 1992; Baird & Peterson, 1997). For students with complex medical, physical, developmental, and behavioral challenges, a family-centered...
-
Supporting Families with Autistic Children – What More Can Be Done?
According to a March 2023 press release from the CDC, about 1 in 36 (2.8%) children have been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder based on data gathered from 11 communities around the United States. This is a 22% increase from 2018, which found the prevalence of ASD to be 1 in 44...