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Monthly Archives: November 2010
A Dance of Joy
One of the most obvious behaviours that sets my five-year old son apart from other children, is what we have always called his “happy dance”: When he is excited or very happy, instead of simply laughing or smiling, he will … Continue reading
Posted in Attitudes to Autism, Parenting an Autistic Child, Resources for Parents, Therapies
Tagged aba therapy, acceptance, ASD, Autism, dance of joy, developmental delay, expressions of joy, happy dance, Occupational therapy, self stimulation, socially undesirable behaviour, speech therapy, stereotypy, stimming
9 Comments
Hurry up, he’s three already..!
I coloured my world all the shades of guilt during the months after my son’s diagnosis. I used the classics (“did I do something wrong during my pregnancy, did I cause this with vaccines?”) and threw in some extremes too … Continue reading
Posted in Parenting an Autistic Child
Tagged Autism, Autism spectrum, Diagnosis, Early childhood intervention, guilt, Mental Health
7 Comments
A Right to the Wrong Education?
I am told that my son has not only the right to a free education, but the right to an inclusive education: I am told that I may – and should – insist that he be educated within the mainstream … Continue reading
Posted in Schooling
Tagged Child, disabilities, Education, homeschooling, Inclusion, mainstream education, montessori, right to education, School, Special education, Special needs, State school
4 Comments
Autism, Choice, and Morality.
Autism affects almost every aspect of the person’s life – their speech, movements, relationships, senses, their very thought-patterns. And so (the argument goes), to love a person with autism, is to love autism – the person and the condition cannot … Continue reading
Posted in Attitudes to Autism
Tagged acceptance, ASD, attitudes, Autism, choice, freedom, independence, Morality, Neurotypical
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Read my Face
Autistic children struggle to identify other people’s emotions. Not being able to figure out when someone else is happy, sad, afraid or angry, can lead to a mess of other problems with their social interactions and behaviour more generally. I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Emotions, Resources for Parents
Tagged ASD, Autism, behaviour, Education, Emotion, Games, online games, reading faces, social interaction, teaching, Whiz Kids
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Discipline and Autism
How to discipline, and not discipline, your children, is a topic that every parent has had to think about and form an opinion on. It’s been a very public topic throughout my adult years – with ongoing debates about laws … Continue reading
Posted in Discipline
Tagged advice, ASD, Autism, Child, Child discipline, discipline, Family, Parent, Parenting
12 Comments
That’s a Scribble
My autistic son struggles with his fine motor skills, so art-work has never been something he particularly enjoys or excels at. As he learnt to hold and move a pen, he became a great little scribbler. It started out random, … Continue reading
Posted in The Lighter Side of Autism
Tagged art, ASD, Autism, Drawing, Fine motor skill, hidden meaning, humour, scribble, Special needs
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Autism Burnout
I had intended to write a post on the autistic children who are expected to take part in intensive therapies when they are young, and then burnout (and thereby significantly regress) in later years. This debate is usually in regards … Continue reading
Posted in Parenting an Autistic Child, Therapies
Tagged aba therapy, ASD, Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, burnout, Education, Mental Health, parents, Stress, teachers, therapists
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