Update: The Family Resource Centre library is now located on the main floor of the SSCY Building at 1155 Notre Dame Avenue. If you go into the Rehabilitation Centre for Children and head down the hallway, you’ll find yourself in a large, welcoming room. At one end there is a well-equipped play area with lots of toys, and to one side […]
Read moreUpdate: Making Waves is now known as Swimmingly. Information can be found at www.swimminglymb.org. Our kids love water play. Especially at the lake. In fact, our daughter won’t come out – she so enjoys the feel of the water as she bounces and splashes. Two summers ago, we noticed she really had no fear. If we weren’t nearby, she would […]
Read moreOur family belongs to a church. And in all honesty, without the support of our church community, I don’t know how we would have survived the last five years. Having a community to stand alongside you is important for any family, and all the more so for a family of children with autism or other special needs. Last weekend I […]
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The book by America X Gonzalez, Lois Jean Brady and Jim Elliot, Speech in Action: Interactive Activities Combining Speech Language Pathology and Adaptive Physical Education gives parents and support staff plenty of activities which compliment nicely with Floortime fundamentals to bring together language and movement. What is Speech in Action? Speech in Action is a combination of speech therapy and […]
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Something innovative is happening in Canadian schools – particularly in British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. It all has to do with self-regulation: the ability to remain calm, alert and ready to learn. The Canadian Self-Regulation Initiative is a project based on the research of Dr. Stuart Shanker of York University. The goal is to to coordinate and share the best […]
Read moreBooks and reading are important in our house. My husband and I are both readers, and we believe reading is an important foundation of learning at any age. When our children were born, we filled our bottom bookshelves with books for babies and toddlers, and got ready…but there was a glitch. Both of our children were very averse to letting […]
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Editor’s Note: DIR/Floortime and RDI have some principles in common. Both are based in developmental psychology, and both build strong relationships between children and caregivers to help children move along developmental pathways. The emphasis is different, but we appreciate the wisdom both approaches contribute to our parenting! The RDI®program is a result of fifteen years of ongoing development and […]
Read moreI want all parents to hear this: you are not alone in those feelings of being scared and anxious. Even ‘veteran’ parents who have been living with a diagnosis of autism for their child or children have days when they do not have it together. Don’t kid yourself, we all go through a “pity party” from time to time, and […]
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The air is getting crisp, and September is approaching… If you have very young children, maybe they’re getting set to enjoy nursery school or kindergarten. Their classrooms are child-centered – lots of opportunities to play with a variety of toys, to explore and learn at centres, to interact in small groups with adult support at the developmental level that they […]
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A few weeks ago I came across a great web site www.ChallengeTheMyths.com. It was a site that debunks the negative stereo types that our ASD children face including: Children with autism can’t share affection. Repetitious behaviour (stims) are bad and should be stopped. Children with autism should be pushed to socialize as early as possible. ABA is the only evidence-based treatment for […]
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