Sleep problems are very common in children with autism. With my own son, Lucas, I struggled with getting him to sleep in his own bed through the night for ten years. Using ABA techniques though, I was finally able to establish a step-by-step procedure that resulted in him sleeping through the night consistently in his...
How long should you go hiding spinach in brownies just to get a picky eater to eat some kind of vegetable? How much milk or juice should a child consume in a day? At some point, baked goods cannot be the only way your child eats a fruit or vegetable and a quart of juice a day isn’t optimal for many reasons, but making that transition into healthy eating for children with autism is a careful process.
Many kids with autism or signs of autism are prompt dependent. But it's not the child's fault as prompt dependency is caused by well-meaning adults who are trying to help the child gain skills, but not necessarily fading prompts quick enough. This can be really detrimental to a child's independence so today I am going…
How do you know when it’s time to explore an out of home placement for a young adult with autism? Lisa C, a fellow autism mom of three, had to make this difficult decision for her 19-year-old son Ethan recently, and she shares her story with me today. Just making the initial decision was hard, but navigating insurance concerns and potential homes hours away made the decision even more daunting. Lisa’s story is one of hope, and I think you’ll appreciate her thoughtful perspective.
Children with autism often experience other medical issues, including anxiety. Today, I'm discussing the different types of anxiety that you may be seeing in your child or clients and I'm also going to give you next steps that you should take if your child has autism and anxiety. Chrissy was one of my clients at…
Hand Flapping in Kids with Autism Hand flapping is a common self stimulatory behavior for kids with autism. Today, I'm talking all about hand flapping and giving you insight on what to do about it. Have you ever been in a lecture where the material is way too easy or completely over your head? Or…
I’ve been consulting with children and a few adults with autism for many years now. I had a revelation soon after I published my book The Verbal Behavior Approach. I now believe that there are three main skills every child and adult with autism needs to be successful. These skills for autism, I believe, are the...
Everything in the body works together, like an orchestra, and you need all of these pieces in place. Denise Voight practices Functional Medicine with an emphasis in Human Nutrition, and she brings this whole body approach to seeing patients with autism and ADHD. By addressing a patient’s nutritional or vitamin deficiencies, Denise is able to help children improve their behavior and diet.
I gave a keynote presentation called “Lessons Learned on my Autism Journey.” One of the lessons is about positive praise. The best part of this lesson is that you will most likely benefit no matter how old you are, no matter if you are male or female and no matter if you know anything about...
Medication in the autism community can be a touchy subject. As a professional in the autism community, I feel it’s part of my responsibility to shine a light on autism conditions and medications, and give you factual information. That’s why I’m interviewing Dr. Missy Olive, a doctoral-level BCBA and a licensed behavior analyst with experience in the medical autism field.
