Autism Blog

7 tips for disciplining children with autism

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Recently some of you have asked for my opinions on the subject of disciplining children with autism.

Just a quick note. If you ever have any questions, comments or opinions to share, you can leave them at the bottom of the post.

This topic is very detailed and I handle this area of development very individually with each of my clients. As you can imagine there are numerous ways of dealing with situations. This depends on the age, severity level and personality of the child, etc.

I think the best way of getting this conversation started is to look at an email I received requesting some advice… Read more …

Help! My child finds it hard to concentrate

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Firstly, welcome to our new readers out there!

I thought I would share with you an email that I received from one of my clients. This topic is something that I am dealing with on a day to day basis in my work so I thought that it would be very relevant for many of you.

How many of you would love your child to be able to sit down and concentrate on a game, activity or piece of work for longer than minute or perhaps even a few seconds!???

Then Henry’s mum’s story will probably sound familiar to you…

“Thank you for putting together the Autism Essentials pack it has indeed helped us with our son Henry. We are going ok implementing the sensory diet but Henry is very physical and seeks movement activities all the time. So when we want to do something “low key” (eg: a puzzle) he really lacks interest and the balance between the two is hard to establish”

So what is a Sensory Diet and what can you do in these situations to help your child? Read more …

What makes your child tick?

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People are often curious what is the ‘secret to my success’ when working with children with autism and I reply by saying… “I always work with the strengths and motivations of the children I treat.”

Working in this way is a ‘no brainer’ to me and it puzzles me why more professionals do not work in this way.

It doesn’t matter what your child is motivated by, you can always use this to build other areas of development. Let me give you an example… Read more …

Full Marks for Fabulous Teachers

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Today I experienced something at a client’s preschool which certainly added an extra spring to my step for the rest of the day…

It gives me such a buzz when I attend goal setting meetings at preschools and schools and the teachers truly celebrate the positive contribution that the child, diagnosed with autism, makes to the classroom.

This got me thinking…

‘Why are particular schools and preschools SO much better than others, for kids with ASD?’

Here are some of my initial thoughts that became very evident from my meeting today.

Read more …

Back on Deck for 2009

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Hello everyone.

I hope things are going well for you and your family.

For those of you who have recently joined our ‘Autism Essentials‘ newsletter, welcome and I hope that you are finding it helpful!

For others, who may not have heard from me in a while, apologies that I have been out of touch. I have been off on maternity leave for the last little while since being blessed with my beautiful daughter Siena, who is already one… doesn’t time fly!

Siena and me

The rest of the team here at Connect Therapy have been doing a great job managing the clinic and website in my absence.

But I just wanted to let all our subscribers know Read more …