If your child is exhibiting challenging behavior, these 5 guidelines will help you to respond appropriately. When you begin looking at behavior as communication, you are able to determine what your child is saying and teach them appropriate ways to get what they want.

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One of the first interventions for children diagnosed with Autism is communication training. This often begins with sign language, with the hope (supported by the literature) that signs will help produce spoken language. If you and your service provider decide that sign is for you, it is important that everyone, especially parents, are on the same page in order to see the most success. Here are a few tips that might help you to carry over what your child is learning in therapy into your home.

Sometimes, you don’t need pages and pages of information on research, procedures, and techniques. Sometimes you just need a little inspiration or knowledge in bite sized pieces. The following are quotes to inspire and inform you on your journey as a parent of a child with special needs. Please email me at autismdvds@gmail.com if you have any to add!

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." -- Robert Brault

“If you’ve met one child with Autism, then you’ve only met one child with Autism.” -Unknown

This is part two of our post on flying with a child with autism. To read part one on how to prepare before the flight, click here.

During the Flight

Air travel can be difficult, but a family trip during the holiday season, especially with a child with autism can be an immensely stressful experience. There are ways to make the trip easier, but they requires planning and ingenuity.

In part one of this two part post, we will look at things you can do before the flight to make the trip as smooth as possible.


Before the flight

What if you could detect autism with a simple MRI? For some parents, that might seem like a dream come true and while scientists are see progress in the potential of this method, others in the autism community stress caution.

Because I work in the field of autism, I often get questioned by strangers which reveal that the current knowledge about autism is not widely understood by the general public. With statistics and myths all over the place, sometimes it is tough to separate the truth about autism from fiction. Here is what we know:

1) There are many theories as to what causes autism, but no cause has been scientifically proven

Transitions are part of everyday life, but they can be difficult for a student with Autism because of their preference of predictability. Yet, with the right supports and modifications in place, a student can easily make a meltdown-free transition. Here are a few strategies you can try. You may find that some work better than others but test them out, and use the ones that work for your child.

1) Use a visual schedule

Halloween is coming up, and for kids with Autism, the strange ritual of walking door to door asking for candy can be stressful. As with any unfamiliar situation with lots of hidden rules, you can help make this day easier for your child with Autism and prevent meltdowns by doing a little preparation ahead of time to make sure your little one is ready to go.

There is an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it.” While this might work for some things, it isn’t a wise plan when it comes to therapy for a child with Autism.