The following slides introduce apraxia and presuming competence to adults who support nonspeaking Autistic children. You will find links to further your learning throughout this article. A downloadable PDF of the slides is available at the bottom of this post. The information throughout this post primarily comes from Communication for Education‘s new course for educators and communication partners, which I highly recommend. My own opinions are written in italics. Remember, these slides are simply an introduction for parents and educators. Continue your education by visiting the links beneath t ..read more

This summer’s Unprofessional Development Series is open for registration! These won’t be your typical conference workshops. Oh, no! Those things are BOR-ing! The entire point of this summer’s UPD (Unprofessional Development) is to learn, share, grow, and leave with more tools and excitement than we came in with. Each session will provide strategies, resources, and ideas you can implement this school year to create more inclusive environments in your school, classroom, library, and community. Come meet with educators, administrators, advocates, therapists, and parents who are passionate about ..read more

Are you an autistic adolescent looking for a good book to read for yourself? Are you a parent or educator looking for books that support autistic adolescents, teens, and tweens? The following titles were carefully selected in That Au-Some Book Club – a group dedicated to discussing books about autism and neurodiversity. This list will help you take the guess work out of choosing a few fabulous books. CLICK HERE if you’re only searching for children’s books. CLICK HERE if you’re an adult exploring your own autistic identity. CLICK HERE to view our complete list of book recommendatio ..read more

Guest Post by Amanda Diekman “I feel like someone died.” “I can’t stop crying.” Many parents of autistic children grieve their child’s diagnosis like a death, the death of the child and the life they dreamed they would have.  It puzzles me that they rarely describe it as a new birth, the birth of a new autistic child, fully alive to love and cherish.  My son and I are diagnosed as autistic within 4 months of each other. Him at age 6, me at 38. His diagnosis feels like coming home. After suppressing my hunch that this incredible boy is different, categorically different, than your “ty ..read more

Guest Post by Amanda Diekman One of my parenting gurus made me believe that holding boundaries with kids is the most important thing. I find myself holding firm to all kinds of bizarre things that I say but don’t mean – “I told you if you didn’t keep two hands on the grocery cart I would put back those Oreos.” “If you even look at your brother, we’re leaving!” I begin to even annoy myself with my rules and expectations, and I am drowning in follow through. My neurodivergent children are determined to exploit my painful obsession with consistency, pointing out each rule that another breaks and ..read more

Guest Post by Kimberly Collins The real world won’t coddle your child like that. You’re doing a disservice to your child. They won’t be ready for the real world if you let them get away with that. Things don’t work that way in the real world. These are just a few statements parents of autistic children hear from professionals, teachers, and well-meaning, yet intrusive family members when we parent our children in a compassionate, respectful way. Apparently there is a defined real world out there that everyone – but us – got the memo on. But what does that mean?  Actually, scratch that que ..read more

This is a book recommendation list for newly identified or diagnosed autistic adults, or adults who are exploring their own neurodivergence. The following titles were carefully selected in That Au-Some Book Club – a group dedicated to discussing books about autism and neurodiversity. It’s important to remember that there are no perfect books. All books related to autism and neurodiversity come with several trigger warnings. Some may contain person-first language, while others may include internalized ableism. Consider this a working document. It is in no way complete, and I’ll be ad ..read more

Does ASHA hate autistic people? I can’t count how many times I’ve asked myself that question over the past few years. If you’re a parent, educator, or provider of a nonspeaking or minimally speaking child, this is an article you’ll want to read – even if you’ve never heard of FC or RPM. I’ve included hyperlinks throughout this article for further reading. ASHA (American Speech-Language Hearing-Association) is the organization that sets the standard for SLP’s and related fields in the United States. In 2018, ASHA wrote a position statement, discrediting Facilitated Communication (FC) and Rapi ..read more

Written by Angelina H. (she/her) The holiday season is upon us! With all the hustle and bustle, the shopping and planning, and the baking and gifting, our traditions are the thread pulling us through this time of year. If your child is newly diagnosed as autistic, you might be wondering what the holidays could look like for your family this year. Or maybe your kid has been diagnosed for years, and you want to shake up your traditions because previous years just didn’t work for your family? Either way, read on to see how my family makes the holidays work for us – autistically! Our family’s ..read more

AAC stands for augmentative and alternative communication. AAC includes any type of communication that is not speech – sign language, choice boards, body language. This article goes over the basics of robust AAC systems and how you can get one for your autistic child. What is an AAC Device? The phrase AAC device sounds like something super complicated. In reality, most AAC “devices” are simply apps downloaded on an iPad or a tablet. Some of them are symbol-based (using pictures). Others are text-based (using letters). Many are multimodal (using both). One of my children started using a symbo ..read more