-
Neurodiverse Couples: Making Meaningful Moments of Every Day – Having a Good Afternoon
Every day there are countless opportunities for partners to create small connecting moments to enhance emotional connection in their relationship. Taking advantage of these little moments can make for big changes in your relationship dynamics. “Having a Good Afternoon” is the second of the...
-
“Putting Me in My IEP”: Encouraging Self-Advocacy in Younger Students
Parents and guardians may not know that students can participate in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) team meetings at any age and not just during post-secondary transition planning in high school. In describing the IEP team, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act states “the...
-
Neurodiverse Couples: Making Meaningful Moments of Every Day – Having a Good Morning
Many neurodiverse couples struggle with emotional connection and intimate communication. They yearn for a romantic touch, a knowing glance, a kind gesture to make them feel close. These little things make a big difference in an intimate relationship. And when these small connecting moments do not...
-
Recognizing and Understanding Neurodiversity in Couples
Many couples come to the realization they are in a neurodiverse relationship decades into their relationship, after listening to a podcast, reading a book, or watching a movie that includes an autistic character. But recognizing neurodiversity is just the beginning... Then what? How does...
-
AANE’s Online Training for Therapists Gives Hope to Neurodiverse Couples
In 2018, AANE launched our NEUROLOGY MATTERS IN COUPLES THERAPY, an online training for therapists. Since then, 27 therapists have completed both TRAINING 101: Fundamentals of Working with Neurodiverse Couples in Therapy, and CERTIFICATION 201: Case Presentations and Advanced Topics in Neurodiverse...
-
What NOT to Say…
It’s easy to say the wrong thing to someone, even when you have the best of intentions. Everyone has done it, and whether you realize it yourself or someone points it out to you, mistakes like these don’t feel good. All of us learn social and communication skills from many sources, including...
-
Neurology Matters in Couples Therapy – and Training is Now Available
“Working with neurodiverse couples is more complicated than neurotypical couples. In order to help the couple work as a unified team, the therapist first has to help the partners understand each other’s neurological differences. The therapist has to understand each partner’s unique language...
-
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...
-
Support that Really Works – LifeMAP Coaching for Adults with Asperger Syndrome
Toni (name changed) has lived alone for most of her 63 years, plagued with a nagging sense of hopelessness and never enough money. With no family supports to speak of, she often felt utterly alone. Her tiny government-subsidized apartment used to be crammed floor-to-ceiling with old books, papers,...
-
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...
