autism a to z

In 2015, I endeavored to write a series of posts called Autism A to Z.  One of those posts was written about autism acceptance. This post was created out of a frustration around autism awareness month and autism awareness day. I wondered- why. Why are we limiting this to just awareness? Why are people stopping at just creating awareness? I wish and strive for autism acceptance. Now more than ever. Beyond autism awareness and instead autism acceptance. Why is Autism Acceptance Important? April is Autism Awareness Month. But I want it to be so much more than just awareness. I wish for autism acceptance and understanding.  But how do we get to a point of autism acceptance and understanding? By continuing to raise awareness, by educating,…

As a parent, you need to take a break every so often. You cannot pour from an empty cup. That’s when you should start considering respite care for your autistic child. Trust me on this, you will be grateful.  What is respite care for autism Have you ever heard of respite services? One of the ways that parents can find some relief, is through respite services. Caregiver burn out is bound to happen to anyone. But for parents of special needs kids, it may sneak up on you faster than you realize. That’s not to say that we’re ready to just give in and call it quits; but even we reach the end of our rope from time to time. The problem? We’re all too…

If your autistic child was diagnosed as a toddler, it’s hard to imagine them becoming a teenager– but it will happen one day. Here’s how to best support your autistic child through puberty. Children grow up. It’s inevitable. It’s a part of life. All children grow up. But how do you handle this with autistic kids? How do you handle puberty in autistic kids? This, is after all, something that we deal with when it comes to parenting an autistic child. That’s something I’ve wrestled with since Sweet B was a toddler. And clearly, it’s not something I could ever stop. She’s turning 14 this year (in 2015) and has developed into a young woman. Even without her autism, this could have been difficult to…

Here we are with Day 3 of the A to Z challenge, which in conjunction with Autism Awareness month, I’ve chosen to do Autism A to Z. Day 1 covered 10 Myths About Autism and Day 2 was about behavior and ABA therapy. For Day 3, the topic I’ve chosen is Comorbidity and Autism. But just what is comorbidity? It certainly doesn’t sound like a great word, what with morbid being in it’s name at all. So before we get to talking about how it relates to autism specifically, I’ll talk about what it is. Just what is comorbidity? First things first, let’s get to the definition of comorbidity. Because, I’ll admit, when I first saw the word I was more than a little confused…