Often in the first years of parenting, childcare takes the centre stage. The things we liked to do before we had children can just fall away. Children (with and without autism) tend to like what’s familiar and don’t always behave the way we’d like when we take them out in new situations – so it’s easier to stay home and just stick with […]
Read more
Engaging and Respecting Autism: A Pathway to Understanding and Engaging a Child with Autism is a 90-minute LIVE ONLINE Introduction to DIR® and DIRFloortime®. This presentation will explore how DIR® and DIRFloortime® can help families and professionals better engage, respect, and understand Autism. Jeffrey Guenzel, MA is a Professional Counselor and the CEO of ICDL and Kathleen Platzman, Ph.D is a […]
Read more
Service dogs can be a great help to people with autism. In October of 2015 Jackie shared about her family’s reasons for getting a service dog for her daughter. Here’s a followup post on how things have gone, and how a service dog has helped Signey grow. So, when we decided to buy a service dog for our daughter, Signey, […]
Read more
More Than Words: Helping Parents Promote Communication and Social Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder by Fern Sussman Published by The Hanen Centre, 1999 After our first child was diagnosed with autism, I went on the hunt for resources that would explain to me what this diagnosis meant, and how I could help. I’ve now read dozens of books […]
Read more
One of the challenges of having a child with a disability is the extra expenses. In addition to increased child care needs (perhaps leading to a loss of income), we tend to have extra costs like therapies and diaper purchases longer than expected for a typical child. We also need to consider the future: will our children need help longer […]
Read more
From time to time, I read comments from parents who talk about combining therapies – they hope to be working with ABA and RDI clinicians, for example. Or they are doing ABA but are using developmental strategies to round things out. It’s a goal that seems reasonable, on the surface. Why not pull the best from each approach? There […]
Read more
Credit for these ideas goes to Marlaine Willborn, a speech therapist in Winnipeg. This post is based on ideas she had compiled and shared with me when I was trying to get better at engaging my children in play. Her resource came primarily from ‘Giggle Time: Establishing a social connection’ by Susan Aud Somers. One of the most daunting […]
Read more
Our Federal government is planning on creating legislation to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Citizens are invited to give input as to what this legislation should look like. From the government website: Many Canadians continue to face barriers that affect their ability to participate in daily activities that most people take for granted. These could include: physical and […]
Read more
Christopher Ulmer is a special education teacher. In his third year of working with the same class of students, he wanted to highlight what he saw in his students – their brilliance, humor, and beauty. His first idea was a book in which his students would explain life from their perspectives, but when that didn’t work out, he started videotaping and […]
Read more
ADAPT is a small, informal organization, but our only limitation is the time and energy of the people who make things happen. Here are some ways you can help: Share Your Story We’re looking for stories about families who have benefited from RDI, DIR/Floortime, or any developmental approach. Are you willing to share how a therapy helped your child? We’d […]
Read more