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Vital Services to Promote Child and Family Resilience
It is common knowledge that having a child with ASD has an impact on the family, and the family has a profound impact on the developing child. Why then are there so few services to support families as they deal with the cumulative challenges they face managing child behavior, family relationships,...
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Using Relationships to Support Children with ASD
Working with children, whether as a parent, teacher, or caregiver, is an inherently social process. This is no different when we are talking about children on the autism spectrum. In order to impact children with ASD, the adults in their lives need to employ a set of activities, strategies, and...
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Parental Stress and Family Relationships During the Transition to Adulthood
Previous research has found that parents of children with ASD across different age groups exhibit significant levels of stress and are at greater risk for mental illness. The stress exhibited by parents of children with ASD has been found to be even greater than parents of children with other...
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Healthy Relationships and Sexuality for All
It has become commonplace to read about or hear stories about issues related to people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Healthcare, education, mental health and social services offer options for children that did not exist years ago. As these children grow up, their needs change. Older...
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From Hopeful Graduation to Hopelessness – The Transition That Many Parents Face
Recent updates by Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that 36,500 children out of the 4 million born in the United States will have an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. An individual with ASD will require care and services for up to 50 years, according to CDC, at a cost...
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An Overview of Strategies to Address Food Selectivity and Refusal in Individuals with Autism
Feeding difficulties are common in typically developing children (2-35%), and are even more common in children with developmental problems (33-80%; Babbitt, Hoch, & Coe, 1994; Burklow, Phelps, et al, 1998). Feeding difficulties in individuals with autism is one of the most challenging...
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Emergencies Happen – You Must Plan Ahead
At the time of this article’s publication, many of us will have been affected by Hurricane Irene. In light of this weather emergency we can look at this event and learn some valuable lessons. For those of us raising children with autism, high functioning autism or Asperger’s the challenges...
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Supporting Grandparents of Children with ASD – The Story of a Grandmother’s Adult Daughter and Her 12-Year-Old Autistic Grandchild
Early on, doctors had given them little hope, announcing that her granddaughter would never talk, play with others, or make eye contact. She proudly tells the member of the Grandparents Support Group of children on the autistic spectrum that, although her granddaughter struggles, she is now in a...
