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“Behavior as a Voice”: Medical Comorbidities Expressed Through Challenging Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition defined by social-communication challenges and restricted/repetitive behaviors. However, these behaviors often serve as a form of communication, particularly in non-verbal or minimally verbal individuals. Medical...
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The Silent Roadblock: Understanding the Ripple Effects of Feeding Difficulties on the Spectrum
While it’s widely documented that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects social interaction, communication, and behavior, there is a less spotlighted, yet pivotal, piece to these neurodivergent children: feeding difficulties. It’s estimated that up to 80% of autistic children have some form of...
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Are Autistic Students Traumatized in Schools?
According to a 2017 study, “77% of autistic high school students play a very limited role or no role at all in post-secondary planning compared to 47 % of students with intellectual disabilities and 27% of students with all other disabilities” (Gillespie-Lynch, K. et al., 2017). Why do so...
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Using IvySCIP to Guide Data-Driven Social and Emotional Learning Instruction for K-5 Autistic Students
For the past two decades, educators have placed increasing emphasis on social and emotional learning (SEL) as part of a well-rounded K-12 curriculum. Research shows that SEL plays a significant role in students’ academic success (Corcoran et al., 2018; Schonfeld et al., 2015), and contributes to...
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Using Siblings as Peer Models During Telehealth Sessions
In the past few years, the use of telehealth services in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has grown substantially. Due to health concerns related to COVID-19 and social distancing recommendations, ABA providers now use telehealth more than ever to deliver services remotely. Telehealth...
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Suspect Molecules Overlap in Autism, Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Most medical disorders have well-defined physical characteristics seen in tissues, organs and bodily fluids. Psychiatric disorders, in contrast, are not defined by such pathology, but rather by behavior. A UCLA-led study, published in Science, has found that autism, schizophrenia and bipolar...
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Extending a Helping Hand
As a behavior specialist working in the home with the families of individuals with disabilities there is an exceptional opportunity to identify needs and concerns of not just our direct client, but also the family as a whole. While the primary focus is on the adult or child who needs support, it is...
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Students with Disabilities and the Juvenile Justice System: What Parents Need to Know
Students with disabilities, including emotional and behavioral disorders, or learning and developmental disabilities, are at a higher risk for involvement in the juvenile justice system. A disabled youth may enter the “School-to-Prison Pipeline” because of the lack of an Individualized...
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Behavior as Desire for Control in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Occasionally we all need a gentle reminder that autism is not an abstraction floating around in the ether. Autism is real precisely because people experience it, and separate cases of autism spectrum disorders differ so markedly because their subjects are unique individuals with different...
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Bitten by the Truth
Three years ago, at 4 am in the morning, my life began to unravel when my daughter sank her teeth into the fleshy part of my inner thigh. “Mommy, please help me!” she begged as she fell to her knees and grabbed my legs. Then she clamped down hard and held on tight like a pit-bull. I screamed,...
