snagglebox: Awareness

Showing posts with label Awareness. Show all posts

How To Offer Services That Special Needs Families Can Actually Use

As I chatted over coffee with a couple of friends, both occupational therapists, they lamented the imminent closure of a program they’d worked hard to get up and running.

Hey guys! I'm still taking a self-imposed (and much-needed) break from all things online, but I thought I'd share this post from the archives that looks at the difference between atypical and dysfunctional behaviour.

Just because a behaviour is uncommon doesn't necessarily mean that it's a problem...

When Does Different Become Dysfunctional

A Letter To My Kids: You Are Not A Puzzle

Hey guys!

Wow, you’re growing up really fast. Well you’re growing at the same rate you always have, but that’s just something old people like me say when their kids grow taller than them.

You’re spending a lot more time on the internet now, so I want to talk to you about some of the stuff you might find there. You know how we talk about autism a lot at home? Well people on the internet like to talk about it too, especially during April because it’s Autism Awareness Month.

The behaviours that define autism are all atypical in some way, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re dysfunctional.

So what’s the difference, how do you spot it and why should we care?

When we moved house a couple of months ago, I came across a folder that the school had given us when I pulled the kids out to homeschool. It was full of notes and progress reports, only some of which I'd seen before.

On the last day of school I had shoved it into a box in the garage because I was so completely traumatized by anything with the word 'school' on it, and the garage is where things go to be forgotten.

It's a good thing I did, because putting some distance between us and the school meant that reading through the file this week only made my heckles go up to 3 instead of 11.

The Word I Choose

Autistic is the word that I choose to describe my kids.

It’s also how I choose to describe myself.

So therefore it’s the word I choose to use throughout my blog.

Here’s why.

Did somebody say FREE STUFF?

I've got five copies of this hard-cover children's book to giveaway, written by yours truly!

Earlier this year I wrote a children's book to promote inclusion and acceptance for kids with disabilities. It wasn't this one.

Friday night was the official book launch! Many yays!

So I don't know about you, but this kind of thing doesn't happen to me every day...

Today my kids watched a current affairs program in which they heard the word cure attached to autism for the first time.

This is their reaction.

It's no secret that I hate the term high functioning autism, I've mentioned it before.

But here's why.

Do your autistic kids have a new teacher this semester? Are you a teacher who has an autistic student for the first time? Then this guide can help!

This downloadable ebook is designed to help teachers get a feel for what to expect and how to make their new student comfortable in the classroom. It includes sections on making schedules and visual supports, getting to know your new student and understanding common autistic behaviours.

You can download a sample of the kit below, or get the full version using the Buy Now button which will take you via the PayPal* checkout to the download link.

PDF ebook - 77 pages - 12MB

$5.00

There Are No Autistic Behaviours

Let me tell you about my day.

This morning I had a cup of tea like I do every day, and cut the burnt bits off my toast while swearing at the stupid toaster. At the park I ran a mile out of my way to avoid a scary-looking dog.

I jogged until my muscles burned, but man did it feel good.