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Building Meaningful Lives: How Moving Forward Towards Independence Supports Neurodivergent Adults
Mac Anderson and Tom Feltenstein wrote; Change is Good... You Go First and understanding that change and the transitions it requires is a source of anxiety for much of humanity. Twenty-eight years ago, a group, all parents of neurodivergent children, were feeling the full weight of transition...
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A Special Education Adventure to Autonomy
I was that kid who couldn’t always focus well in class, and not mildly so, but in a way that interfered with my ability to blend in with society in a school setting. I would frequently miss instructions, not pick up on various learning cues and have difficulty processing many parts of concepts...
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Becoming an Autistic Mother: Navigating Pregnancy, Parenthood, and Support
Becoming a parent is an experience that reshapes people’s lives. For autistic mothers, it can bring joy but also create a unique set of challenges. Understanding of autistic women's experiences is increasing, but autistic women remain under-diagnosed and under-researched. Parenting information...
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This Is Me: Using a Personalized, Electronic Transition Tool to Support Self-Advocacy in Transition-Aged Young Adults
For young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD)1, transition to post-school life brings with it both new opportunities and new challenges. The transition to post-secondary education settings, vocational programs, community-based day programs, and/or supported living means having to teach all...
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The Care and Keeping of Home: How Executive Function Skills Aid in Daily Living
Navigating independent living requires balancing responsibilities and monitoring oneself. All individuals must strike that balance that makes the most sense for them and their lifestyle regardless of neurodiversity. To execute daily living tasks, one must self-start and sustain motivation...
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“How Was I Supposed to Know?” Navigating the Unwritten Curriculum Through Executive Functioning Supports
We are constantly navigating contexts that we may not have been explicitly guided through. Along the way, there was some experience of making sense of these unexplained rules. Even though no one specifically addressed them, you knew where the line was. This doesn’t always ring true to many...
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The Effects of Stress Are on a Spectrum Too: Why I Can’t Think
To say that stress and anxiety are issues these days is to state the obvious. I have been having trouble doing my long-term work. I couldn’t focus on anything that wasn’t immediately tangible like a zoom meeting or writing a blog. Autistic and neurotypical friends were having the same problems....
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My Professor Can’t Teach! What College Students Can Do to Accommodate Themselves
The stage is set. You successfully started college, ready to learn. Your teacher passes out the syllabus which states that you will have four tests and one paper. As the weeks go by, you realize there are assignments that were not mentioned in the syllabus. In addition, you are unsure what will be...
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How Can College Professors Create an Inclusive Classroom? Minor Accommodations to Support Students with Autism
As academic coordinator at the College Internship Program for the past 7 years, my main focus has been to help students with learning differences and Autism Spectrum Disorders build social and Executive Function skills in an academic environment. In addition to directly instructing the students, I...
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Beyond Academics: The Importance of Executive Functioning Skill Development
Children diagnosed with ASD are known to present with a range of executive functioning needs. While educators and special education teams work to implement accommodations, modifications and supports to provide students with ASD what they need to access their education and surrounding environment,...
