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Supporting Grandparents of Children with ASD – The Story of a Grandmother’s Adult Daughter and Her 12-Year-Old Autistic Grandchild
Early on, doctors had given them little hope, announcing that her granddaughter would never talk, play with others, or make eye contact. She proudly tells the member of the Grandparents Support Group of children on the autistic spectrum that, although her granddaughter struggles, she is now in a...
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The Best Kept Secret – School Districts are Obligated Under Federal Law to Offer Parent Counseling and Training
When you have a child with autism, there are so many things to “stress about” but parents should not have to do it all alone. School districts are obligated under federal law to offer, as a related service on the Individualized Education Plan (IEP), parent counseling and training. It is the...
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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...
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Making Family Rituals and Traditions Work for You
For the last 10 years, Jann Tobias’s family has celebrated New Year’s Eve with a family dinner. With careful attention to detail, she uses her aunt’s tablecloth and her grandmother’s china, making a beautiful presentation of her family’s favorite foods. Jann’s husband, Bob, carves the...
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An Autism Spectrum News Interview with Charles N. Cartwright, MD, Director of the Autism Center at YAI – Part 2
When a young or adult child receives a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), stress frequently accompanies that diagnosis and can affect parents, siblings and other extended family member in different ways. This is the second part of an interview with Dr. Charles N. Cartwright, Director...
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Four Faces of Overstimulation
The word “overstimulation” is not listed in standard collegiate dictionaries. In the lives of people with Asperger Syndrome, however, this little-recognized form of stress reigns supreme. The ideas in this article are drawn from my own experiences – both living with Asperger’s and...
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Coping with and Avoiding Stressful Situations
A friend of ours once told us that two strong “Is” make a strong “We” in the context of marriage. Putting it in the context of a family dealing with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), parents should be mindful to allot enough time for themselves so that they are strong individually and as a...
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De-Stress, Not Distress
Living every day and night with someone with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be extremely stressful. We know this, but we often don’t know how to deal with that stress successfully and in a practical manner. Below are some suggestions from many people who have had to deal with stressors...
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Autism and Maternal Stress
Along with the countless rewards of parenthood come many stressors as well. The stress is compounded exponentially when the child is on the autism spectrum. In a study by Hutton & Caron (2005), “stressful” was the most used adjective to describe what it had been like to be a parent of an...
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Lessons Learned from the Front Lines
I have the unusual, gratifying, and yes, at times paradoxical role of both professional working in the autism field as well as parent of a child on the spectrum. This gives me some unique insights into the subject of autism and coping with stress. First, let’s define stress. Our friends at...
