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Music Therapy for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
The Therapeutic Power of Music - Music occupies a significant place in human activity across cultures, reflecting its deeply rooted biological origins. A growing body of evidence indicates that the physiology of the human brain is specialized for musical perception and activity. Our sensitivity to...
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Autism Advocacy Groups Join Together for the “Advancing Futures for Adults” Initiative
Autism Speaks to Host AFAA Web Site with Updates and Links to Resources and Information Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism (AFAA), an initiative led by a consortium of leading autism advocacy organizations, today announced the launch of a new web site, www.AFAA-us.org, that will...
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Adults, Autism, Asperger’s and Social Skills – All the World is a Stage
The ever-growing number of children with autism spectrum disorder aging out into adult systems of care should give us pause. Finding the constellation of services for this population will be one of the great challenges any of us working the field today will be faced with. Whether talking about...
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Your Child is Turning 18 – Now What?
A Primer on Guardianship and Surrogate Decision Making for the Parent of a Special Needs Child You have protected and advocated fiercely for your child with special needs, almost since the day she was born. You fought insurance companies, school systems, you name it; all to get your special...
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Summer Jobs
For most of us a first summer was a kind of rite of passage. Motivated by making some money and by trying on a more adult role way we were ready to take on the responsibilities of work. Knowing we had to commit ourselves to a set work schedule, to learning and performing unfamiliar tasks, to...
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Strategies for Effective Advocacy
How can one person’s voice make a difference? That question is often posed, or at least thought about by most people. You read something in the paper and know for a fact it is misinformation; you hear about an incident that reeks of injustice; you are personally impacted by thoughtless and...
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Preparing for Work
Recently I received a phone call, and the caller asked me if a bright man with Asperger’s was capable of having a job. He was in his late teens and his father thought that he was fully capable of working but his mother felt that her son would not be able to live independently. This youth had...
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Planning for the Care of Your Special Needs Loved One
We will start out by discussing the rules of eligibility for certain types of assistance programs. Next, we will discuss problems and pitfalls in planning for a Special Needs loved one. This will evolve into a discussion about what are believed to be the best options of planning for special loved...
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Navigating the Transitional Years – With a Little Help
Each year, Andrea Melvin welcomes young adults with autism spectrum disorders to Manhattan Employment Services at YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities, where she is supervisor. Having aged out of the school system, these young adults are often highly motivated to work and have...
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Autism Science Foundation Launches Operations New Advocacy Group Will Focus on Non-Vaccine-Related Autism Research
The Autism Science Foundation, a new not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting and funding autism research, launched its operations in April, debuting its web site and blog (www.autismsciencefoundation.org and autismsciencefoundation.wordpress.com) and kicking off its “First 100 Days”...
