Autism A to Z: E is for Education

As we begin a new week, and with Sweet B on vacation this week, so begins another day of the Autism A to Z series. Today’s letter is E and for us, that means: E is for Education. Now, I could mean educating the public and/or the uninformed about autism but I’m going to talk about special education and homeschooling. We already do an autism and afterschooling series here and I have talked about special education before as well. Both our own experience and a basic beginner’s guide. Autism and Educational Services When it comes to education, yes, an individual with autism is more than capable of participating. This can either be in a public or private school setting or you may want to pursue…

What is a developmental disability?

Welcome to another day of Autism A to Z. Today I want to talk about developmental disabilities because that’s what autism is. So what is a developmental disability? We’ll talk about the general definition as well as talk about a few developmental disabilities in addition to autism. When it comes to autism specifically, usually the terminology is lifelong developmental disability. That is also the case with other developmental disabilities. As defined by NIMH, a developmental disability is: Developmental disabilities are severe, long-term problems. They may be physical, such as blindness. They may affect mental ability, such as learning disorders. Or the problem can be both physical and mental, such as Down syndrome. The problems are usually life-long, and can affect everyday living. Often there is…

What is Autism?

What is Autism?

As you know, autism is very much a part of our lives. It’s been an immediate part of my life since Sweet B’s diagnosis. But prior to her diagnosis, I was mostly unaware as to what autism really is. If you had asked me what the early signs of autism were? I didn’t have a clue. Now it’s different but back then? I was clueless. I had a vague idea.. mostly from watching Rain Man but beyond that? I was clueless. After her diagnosis, I gave myself a crash course and started to learn as much as I could. And of course with the internet, now it’s easier to answer the question: What is Autism? And it’s also easier to find out what it is…

Learning About World Landmarks

With Sweet B’s week off from school, we did some of the activities that we would normally do in our afterschooling during the day. First, we reinforced her Letter A skills. And the next thing that we did was use our Early Explorers kit from last month so we could start learning about world landmarks. I wasn’t sure how Sweet B was going to do with this particular set, but then it was just a matter of tailoring it to fit her abilities. Just like everything we do with her afterschooling, I modify what I need to modify so she can accomplish it but still be challenged. Autism and Afterschooling: Learning About World Landmarks This post makes use of affiliate links at no additional cost…

Afterschooling with Sweet B- Letter A

Afterschooling with Sweet B: All About the Letter A I wanted to share with you, one of our afterschooling sessions now that we have most of the components in place. Last week, Sweet B was off from school for February break so I thought we could try some of her afterschooling stuff during the day instead. Prior to this we had only been using a simple system that wasn’t really formal or had a set routine. Now, of course, it’s a matter of integrating the afterschooling activities throughout the week in their correct time. But, the premise is the same when we did this over the course of last week. To kick things off, we’re learning all about the letter A.

One of the Pillars of our Afterschooling

  Pillars of Our Afterschooling As we’re continuing to refine our afterschooling program with Sweet B in terms of supplements and other things, I felt that it was high time that I should talk about one of the pillars of our afterschooling program. One of the reasons I wanted to start afterschooling with Sweet B was to increase her literacy and fine motor skills. Fine motor skills have always been a big area of hers as far as what to work on and literacy is close behind. It’s difficult to measure her literacy since she’s non-verbal but she has shown improvements over the past few years. She’s still nowhere near peers of her age and developmentally is around 6 or 7 years of age. This…