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Advocating for a Student-Centered Approach in Special Education
Autism Spectrum Disorder is on the rise. Autism Spectrum Disorder is on the rise? While pondering over information found on the National Institute of Mental Health website (www.nimh.nih.gov), one cannot help but fluctuate between statement and question. The latest edition of the diagnostic manual...
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PEERS: A Parent-Supported Evidence Based Social Skills Intervention for Adolescents with ASD
Martin is a 14-year-old boy who has recently starting expressing increased levels of anxiety, particularly about his impending transition into high school starting this fall. Martin was diagnosed with ASD as a younger child and finding a place among his peers has always been an obstacle. Although...
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When an ASD Diagnosis Isn’t the Whole Answer – A Diagnostic Perspective
Receiving a diagnosis of ASD or Asperger’s Syndrome can be intense, emotional, and validating for an individual and his/her family. For many, it can begin a journey of self-discovery and understanding concerning one’s past experiences. Even in the best-case scenario for an ASD individual to...
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How Technology will Shape the Future of Autism Therapy and Form the Backbone of Multi-Disciplinary Collaboration
It is an exciting time to be working in the field of autism. The amount of research being conducted on autism diagnosis and treatments now cuts across many disciplines and specialized fields. At major conferences, it is not unusual to hear about breakthroughs from geneticists, psychologists,...
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Unique Collaboration for Youth with ASD
Despite the abundance of supports available today to help young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), many youth are still struggling behaviorally. In most cases families do everything they are advised to do by professionals, but their children are still getting suspended from school, causing...
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Treating the Adolescent with ASD: The Quest To Establish Selfhood
In our society, adolescence is thought of as a time of self-discovery and identity formation. It is a time when the individual is not quite a child anymore, but is certainly not an adult; it is the transitionary period between the two. During the span of roughly seven to ten years, or in some cases...
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The Regular Tiger: A Father Deals With His Son’s Obsessions
A little past 10 on a Tuesday night my 16-year-old son Alex jackknifes up in his bed, throws down his blanket, looks at me, raises his arm and moans, “Tiger.” “I don’t have it, Alex. Did you have it in here?” Does he mean the $5, four-inch tiger or the $4, four-inch one with his...
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Tell Me About the Last Time You Were Embarrassed
In 1985, Simon Baron-Cohen published his now-famous study of emotional perspective-taking among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder1. In it, he and his coauthors found that children on the Autism Spectrum were unable to impute beliefs to puppets in pretend play. They saw this a failure of...
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Social Problem Solving: Best Practices for Youth with ASD
Joey, age 9, has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and due to his high functioning has been mainstreamed into a fourth grade classroom with a shadow. His challenging behaviors typically center on his peer interactions in spite of adequate academic performance. When in a group...
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Adults with Autism May a Have High Burden of Health Problems
Adults with autism may suffer from various health problems, ranging from psychiatric conditions to motor symptoms that resemble Parkinson’s disease, according to two studies presented Thursday at the 2014 International Meeting for Autism Research in Atlanta. Some of the conditions may stem...
