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Wellbeing as a Buffer: Helping Autistic Individuals Thrive Through Life’s Transitions
Transitions are an inevitable part of life. For autistic individuals, they can also be some of the most stressful. Starting school, moving into adulthood, entering the workforce, or navigating new living arrangements can bring an array of changes - new routines, expectations, and social landscapes....
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Navigating Lifespan Transitions for Autistic Older Adults: Aging, Independence, and Dignity
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition characterized by persistent challenges in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Many autistic adults, like Michael, a 61-year-old man diagnosed later in...
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The Trauma of Relocation: Understanding the Autistic Experience
My military family moved house seven to eight times by the time I turned 8, and 11 times before I was 18. I didn’t yet have a diagnosis of Autism or ADHD, but I was diagnosed with Dyslexia and related learning disabilities at age 7 and had started special education. Then we moved. I don’t...
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Parent Involvement as a Metric of Quality Care
A family-centered approach has been considered best practice for many years in early intervention and pediatric rehabilitation (Bailey, Buysse, Edmondson, 1992; Baird & Peterson, 1997). For students with complex medical, physical, developmental, and behavioral challenges, a family-centered...
