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Executive Functions: Skills to Promote Success in School and Beyond
Many children diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) struggle with impairments in executive functioning (EF). Executive functions are defined as “an umbrella construct defined as the control, supervisory, or self-regulatory functions that organize and direct all...
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The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008 US Department of Justice Issues Long-Awaited Major Revisions
On March 15, 2011 revised federal regulations to implement the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) became effective. This change occurred because on September 25, 2008, former President George W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008, a federal statute with an effective...
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The Man Who Understood Autism When Nobody Else Did – A Tribute to Leo Kanner
In 1956, my younger son was born. He was about five years old before we finally found a name for the problem he had. We had visited many professionals and asked them to diagnose his condition and tell us what we could do. “There is no name,” most of them said, “and the only thing to do is...
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Truth or Consequences: AS Kids, Schools and the Law
Students with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) frequently have behaviors that cause problems in school and lead to extreme consequences. Parents need to know their rights to protect their children. Florida CBS News affiliate WFOR reported in December 2010 that a boy diagnosed with AS was “kicked out...
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Support for Parents and Progress for Children with Autism
Parents of children with autism are at the front lines of the challenges posed by autism. They are confronted with added responsibilities associated with parenting a child with autism. These parents are in the seemingly unending position of helping their child learn vital skills (e.g., social,...
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How the AANE Wallet Disclosure Card Turned Around an Unfortunate Situation
K is a 32 year old adult with Asperger Syndrome (AS), has been a member of the Asperger’s Association of New England (AANE) for about eighteen months. He participates in one of our weekly adult discussion/support groups, attended our adult summer conference (“Know Yourself: The Key to a Better...
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Using Video Modeling as an Evidence-Based Intervention for ASDs
New research indicates that video modeling is effective in enhancing social communication and functional skills in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Video modeling entails watching a video of a desired behavior and then imitating that behavior. Video models can be...
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Divorce with a Child on the Spectrum
Raising a child on the autism spectrum exposes a family to a whole host of stressors on top of the stressors normally associated with parenting. These stressors can overwhelm a couple and lead to marital dissatisfaction. In fact, there is some empirical evidence that families with a child on the...
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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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Planning for Your Child with Special Needs
One of the most challenging issues facing parents of children with special needs is planning for their child’s future without them. Planning the finances for a child with special needs deserves special attention from the child’s parents, grandparents and other relatives. With ever-changing laws...
