The Christmas holidays are a time of great excitement and anticipation. Holidays also mean changes in the schedule, visitors, crowds, line-ups, noise, and socializing. For autistic children, the Christmas holidays can be a stressful and anxious time. Meeting family demands can be especially nerve-wracking, particularly if you want to break with time-honoured traditions that just don’t work for an autistic child. This can be a difficult time of year, but with some preparation and planning, the holiday season can be enjoyable. 15 Tips for Making the Best of the Holidays 1)Family Expectations – B ..read more

Autistic students often find learning in the classroom environment overwhelming. There are many demands and expectations such as shifting focus, taking tests, listening, following instructions, doing homework, coping with a noisy environment, processing information, socializing, and organizing tasks. These are just a few examples. Most autistic students will require accommodations to support their unique learning styles and needs. The word accommodate means to give consideration to or allow for, so when we use accommodations we are considering someone’s needs. Because every autistic student wi ..read more

Auditory processing is the ability to interpret the sounds that we hear. It has nothing to do with the ability to hear, but rather making sense out of—or perceiving—what is heard. A person with auditory processing disorder may have their hearing tested and perform fine, but will still struggle to process sounds. They hear speech sounds, but don’t perceive the meaning of the sounds. Sometimes the lack of speech comprehension is interpreted by others as an unwillingness to comply or follow directions, when in reality the person simply isn’t able to retrieve the meaning in that moment. Autistic p ..read more

Last summer, my husband and I were shopping for a fire bowl for our backyard. Since we knew nothing about them, I wanted to ask for guidance from a salesperson. This young man came walking down the aisle so I inquired if he could direct us. I told him about our vision of having our two autistic adult children, Marc and Julia, sitting around the fire bowl with us in the evenings. He said, “I have an autistic 4 year old daughter who doesn’t speak. Can I ask you what the future might look like because I’ve never come into contact with anyone with autistic adults. I feel like things will never cha ..read more

Tasks that might look simple to do or appear self-explanatory may not be so for autistic individuals. Every day activities like taking a bath, getting dressed, doing laundry, washing hands or brushing teeth are more complicated than we realize and need to be completed in a sequence. Autistic people often need direct instruction on how to do tasks and may not learn them by watching other people do them. In addition to direct instruction, there needs to be multiple times to practice in order to gain critical mass. Critical mass, true mastery of a skill, is the point where an individual has gaine ..read more

The school setting is often a difficult environment for autistic individuals. Classroom expectations, sensory and regulation challenges, a prescribed day, and learning differences can make a person feel overwhelmed and stressed. Creating a predictable day, incorporating interests into the curriculum, and teaching to a person’s strengths are just a few things to keep in mind when working with autistic students. Let’s explore some ideas on how we can best understand and support autistic children in the classroom. Understand and Respect Autistic Neurology There is some good information out there ..read more

I first became aware of the term splinter skills 16 years ago through an autistic friend of mine, John Simpson. The Autism Society of Minnesota has an excellent definition of what this is in their downloadable resource: A splinter skill is the ability to do a specific task that does not generalize to other similar situations; a “splinter” of a fuller set of skills. Splinter skills are part of what is called the “uneven developmental profile” or “spiky skills profile” that is typical of autism. John Simpson calls this the uneven cognitive profile.  Splinter skills are typically developed t ..read more

In my last blog post, Coping with Changes in Routines, I talked about ways to support an autistic person with changes in the summer schedule and routines. Summer is also a great time to explore the outdoors, try new sensory activities and enjoy a more relaxed pace. Let’s explore some sensory activities that can help reduce stress while improving sensory processing and quality of life. Introduce Seasonal Foods Through Cooking and Gardening Activities There are two activities that we had our autistic son, Marc, do that changed the scope of his diet. One was volunteering for 9 seasons at a local ..read more

The arrival of summer can mean a change in routine because of the school break, summer camps and activities, a family vacation, visitors, longer lighter days, and more free time. Change can be upsetting for autistic people because it makes things feel new and unpredictable. Changes in routine may require some additional support to make them less upsetting. Some transitions and changes to routines will be known about in advance making it easier to prepare for such as a vacation. Preparing for an upcoming change will provide predictability and lessen anxiety. Whether it be going somewhere new, d ..read more

The month of June marks our 20th anniversary at Autism Awareness Centre Inc. (AACI). Twenty years is a milestone and one I wasn’t sure that we’d reach given the turn of events that happened because of the pandemic. Our world has changed a great deal, affecting everything we do and plan going forward. Over the past 20 years, I’ve had the opportunity to run conferences, workshops, and trainings all over Canada and the UK. Many of the people I met became lifelong friends who have supported me both professionally and personally. You’ve made my life so much richer and I feel deeply grateful to have ..read more