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Managing Back-to-School Jitters: Tips to Help Children With Special Needs Ensure a Smooth Transition
Remember how it felt as a child before your first day of school? Perhaps you experienced butterflies in your stomach or loss of sleep the night before. You were excited to see your friends, but also nervous about what the new school year would bring. That is exactly how I am feeling about sending...
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The Pandemic Has Devastated the Autism Community. It’s Also Been an Important Learning Opportunity
The world has been living through a global emergency since the coronavirus pandemic took hold early last year, and autism families have been hit particularly hard. People with autism thrive on routine and predictability, which are precisely what was lost amid COVID-19. While I know autism families...
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No Labels on My Clothes, No Labels on Me: Why Functioning Labels Need to Be Cut Off and Tossed
Autistic folk spend an inordinate amount of time discussing the torture of labels on our clothes. In a discussion about sensory issues, right after we discuss how much we loathe the grocery store, the hatred of tags on our clothes comes up. It’s amazing how something so small, can invisibly...
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“Profound Autism” Is the Term We Need to Provide Critical Specificity to a Broad Spectrum
“What is your disability, because I’m not seeing one?” a young man on a date asks during an episode of Love on the Spectrum, Netflix’s recent reality show hit. “What does autism look like to you?” the young woman sitting across from him retorts. For many families struggling with...
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Where Is the Reform Movement in the Field of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in New York State?
All human services are facing twindemics of the Coronavirus and its economic consequences. The losses of staff and people in need of services are tragic. Here is the dilemma: Does even talking about reform in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) make sense in the face...
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High School Student Forms Nonprofit Devoted to Improving Neurodiversity in the Workplace
Isabella He, a junior at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, California, started the nonprofit organization SN Inclusion to bring career-technical education to individuals with special needs. SN Inclusion is dedicated to preparing individuals with special needs for careers through...
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Remote Learning: Autism Science Foundation Goes Virtual with Day of Learning Conference
We all know 2020 is a challenging year, but it’s not without its silver linings. One unexpected upside? The Autism Science Foundation’s annual Day of Learning, a TED-style science conference, went virtual this year on Sept. 22, allowing attendees to take part from all over the world. Although I...
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Human Resources: Doing Performance Management in an Environment Where Managers Are Working Remotely
There is no question that COVID-19 has dramatically and tragically affected so many lives and challenged basic business norms. It has pushed the outer limits of human resource management. The one overwhelming observation is that senior management in human services responded with compassion,...
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Transitioning Back to School During COVID: Using Visuals and Other Evidence-based Strategies for Children with Autism
To say that schools have changed a lot in the past few months is an understatement. And, as a result, our students need to learn new rules and routines before they can start learning about academics. At the beginning of each school year, you typically teach this information. This year, it is much...
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Mental Health News Education (MHNE) – Your Trusted Source
Mental Health News Education (MHNE), publisher of Autism Spectrum News and Behavioral Health News, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides a trusted source of education, information and community resources on mental illness, substance use disorders, and autism spectrum disorders to...
