Searching for autism information on the web can be overwhelming. The word “autism” alone results in over 64 million and counting hits on Google. So, where do you turn to for the most relevant information and resources when there are so many different options? These are the top ten results: […]
Digital tools have the power to help students with learning disabilities communicate and gain confidence. It is a statistic that most Americans would probably be stunned to find is so prevalent: One of out every 68 kids in the United States is on the autism spectrum, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While it’s true that most children these days are considered “digital natives,” children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also find themselves most comfortable with a device in their hands. In an article for the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, author Kristie Brown Lofland notes [...]
Reading problems are the most common type of academic underachievement. Especially for students with dyslexia, learning to read and write can be exceedingly difficult. Dyslexia and related reading and language difficulties are the result of neurobiological variations, but they can be treated with effective instruction. Effective instruction is instruction that is tied to student needs, as determined by diagnostic testing and evaluation. It is instruction delivered by knowledgeable and skilled individuals in a step-by-step fashion that leads to the achievement of desired outcomes or goals by targeting a student’s relative strengths and strengthening his or her relative weaknesses. Effective instruction also [...]
The goal of speech therapy is to improve skills that will allow your child to communicate more effectively. There are other benefits as well.
The following therapies—also called “allied health services”—address symptoms commonly associated with autism, but are not specific to the disorder. Speech-Language Therapy Most autism behavioral intensive therapy programs include speech-language therapy. With a variety of techniques, speech-language therapy addresses a range of challenges often faced by persons with autism. For instance, some individuals on the autism spectrum do not speak, while others love to talk but have difficulty using conversational speech and/or understanding the nuances of language and nonverbal cues when talking with others. Speech-language therapy is designed to coordinate the mechanics of speech with the meaning and social use of language. [...]
It is part of federal law that students with special needs should have their strengths identified and described in their IEPs (IDEA 2004 Section 1414(d)(3)(A)). And yet, when I search the special education literature online, I find virtually nothing dedicated to identifying strengths in these students. If a student is having difficulty in school, what they need is to have adults around them who see the very best in them, not just their deficits, disorders, and dysfunctions. I’ve created an informal 165-item strength-based checklist in my book “Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School [...]
