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The Value of Facilitating Social Groups for Autistic Adults in a Community Mental Health Setting
Providing comprehensive and meaningful therapeutic services for autistic adult clients in a community mental health center requires offering a range of therapeutic groups within which a client can work to reach their potential in a way that might not be possible via individual therapy sessions...
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The Power of Sensory Integration: Enhancing Communication for Non-Speaking Individuals
Communication is complex and extends beyond verbal expression. This is especially important to understand in non-speaking individuals. Non-verbal cues such as facial expression, body language, and sensory experiences play crucial roles in conveying and understanding messages. Sensory integration...
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A World Without Emotions: Alexithymia and Autism
Before we delve into defining alexithymia and autism I’d like to paint a picture in your mind. Imagine living in a world where emotions do not appear to exist - no clear indications of anger, sadness, or happiness. So much so that even categorizing these emotions does not exist - a neutral...
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Why So Many Autistic Individuals Have Eating Disorders
Eating disorders have a devastating effect on the lives of those affected and are associated with the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses. While they can affect anyone, there is a higher incidence of people with autism who have eating disorders compared to the general population....
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Finding David’s Space
I want to share a story from my recent experience or, more accurately, a story about the long journey leading to the experience. As I’m sure many of you know, the job of a speech-language pathologist is hard sometimes, but those challenging days also make the work overwhelmingly worthwhile. I’m...
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Anger and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Clinician’s Perspective
Psychology defines anger as a complex psychological phenomenon, a syndrome consisting of emotions, related thoughts, physiological reactions, and behavioral scripts or action tendencies that define the way in which the person acts when angry (e.g. Berkowitz & Harmon-Jones, 2004; Deffenbacher,...
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Developing Self-Reflection and Resilience in Adolescents with Asperger’s Syndrome and High Functioning Autism
Some key ingredients to success as an adult in college or in work are: self-awareness, self-reflection, stress management, social competence, and resilience. This is true for everyone with and without disability. It would be fabulous if we could eliminate stress from all our lives; however stress...
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Epic Scenes from a Barbershop
Yesterday afternoon I poked my head into the family room where Jack, Charlie, and Henry were sprawled watching Scooby Doo, and announced we were going for haircuts. “No!” they shouted in unison. “No haircuts!” I told them we’d stop at the school book fair first, and jollied them out...
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Summer Vacation: A Prime Opportunity to Develop Social Skills for the Workplace
For many students, the end of the school year represents a time to relax, celebrate the change of pace, and enjoy leisure time. However, each year, there are many individuals who approach the end of the school year and find that this is a time of transition; a time for entering the unfamiliar world...
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The Lighter Side of the Spectrum – A Mother’s View Dear President
Dear Mr. President, My name is Jack and I am eight years old. I love cars, license plates, and radios. My mother says I’m obsessed with these things. All I know is I like to ask every single person I meet what kind of car they drive and how many radios they have. I hear my mother...
