Aspergers101 welcomes Stephanie Pepi, founder and director of Starfish Social Club as an underwriting sponsor to our newest resource: Aspergers101 FAQ page! Stephanie’s experience and passion led her to open a program solely dedicated toward helping children – adults challenged (if not crippled) with a lack of social skills. WeContinue Reading
Do you have a place in your life that you retreat to when you are feeling the stressors of the world come down on you? For some, it might be as simple as your home. For others, it might be in a specific location such as sitting on a benchContinue Reading
24 Q: Dear Lisa, “I suspect my child has autism or some related disability. He is in the early elementary years. How do I get my child qualified for Special Education services in public school and what do they offer?” -Confused and Concerned in Texas A: Dear Confused and ConcernedContinue Reading
In a previous blog, we discussed the power of choice in increasing student academic success. In one of the examples, we discussed that students can be given several topics to choose from to complete an assignment. Another layer to add to the element of choice is the integration of a highly preferredContinue Reading
A flip card is a quick and easy visual strategy that highlights one behavior, and clarifies through graphics and words when certain behaviors are acceptable, and when they are not. Place a visual that indicates that it is O.K. to engage in the target behavior on one side of theContinue Reading
I find myself addressing the same topic each new school year as we develop individualized visual strategies: What to do about interests that are not age appropriate Due to this widespread question, I would like to devote this week’s blog to this topic through an excerpt from my book, “Visual Supports for VisualContinue Reading
As a person with Autism and having suffered tremendous amounts of abuse as a child, I believe that it is vital for the Autism community to understand how to deal with these issues. Being diagnosed with many disabilities along with Autism, I lived a childhood of often being rejected andContinue Reading
Although there are neurological differences that contribute to gaps in social connectedness, narratives can help to teach how to interact more appropriately and even how to self-regulate. Narratives usually offer key pieces of understanding that help the individual see a situation more fully, and have some strategies with which toContinue Reading
Perhaps most relevant to the classroom, when you are stressed, you are less likely to embrace difficult tasks. On your most stressful day, you will probably put the complex tax form in the “to do” box and leave it for a better day. For our students, neurological stress can beContinue Reading
Middle school. The darkest and most hideous, oppressive years a human can fathom. When the hormones are just ripe enough to make you want to take on the whole world, but maturity has not yet developed enough to realize there are things such as consequences. But me, I did not get intoContinue Reading
Meltdowns Guest(s): Herb Allen Situations and triggers that may cause classroom meltdowns and insights into some avoidance techniques are discussed in this Top of the Spectrum News segment. Jennifer AllenA graduate of Abilene Christian University, Jennifer had a long career in TV Broadcasting. Upon learning her oldest son Sam hadContinue Reading
Self-management techniques have been found to be more effective in managing student behavior than teacher-mediated interventions (Stage & Quiroz, 1997; Fitzpatrick & Knowlton, 2009). When self-management strategies are linked to functionally equivalent behavioral interventions, students increased the amount of time on-task, demonstrated more appropriate social behaviors, and completed more assignments.Continue Reading
