Exercises
Spring Fever – Time to Get the Body Moving!
Mar 20th
I am learning from my mistakes. Hey, that’s better than continuing a pattern for an indefinite amount of time, unwilling to look at what may or may not be working, right?
My son, being an unschooler for a little over six months, is very much out of shape. Oh, I know the reason. He spends the better part of his day programming video games (not playing them – WRITING them!). Because of his obsession and brilliance, he currently isn’t interested in joining the rest of the world.
Without turning this into an unschooling article, there is a certain degree of “deschooling” a child More >
7 Benefits of Practicing Yoga for Autism
Nov 10th
I recently purchased Yoga for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Dion and Stacey Betts. My son was quite reluctant to try this with me (because it sounded like “therapy”). I honored his request to not be bothered with it, but what I DID do was bring the book in his room and pretend to struggle with the poses myself, finally asking in an exasperated fashion if he could help show me what I’m doing wrong. It worked! Not only did he correct my moves, he hungrily kept asking, “Are there more in the book? Can we do another one? Do More >
8 Ways for Your Child to Burn off Energy Indoors
Nov 3rd
Brrr! The weather’s starting to get chilly (I hear it’s actually snowing in places other than Georgia… color me jealous!). The kids are spending more time inside – where does that leave fitness and movement?
Let me tell you what happens in our house if we don’t find a way to burn off that energy: bedtime somehow gets prolonged. A whirling dervish races up and down the hallway whilst screaming in a pitch heard by dogs in the next state. My son repeatedly tries to ride the puppy. Lots of crashing into walls. Frustrated family members grow impatient.
All it takes is More >
Regression or Progression?
Apr 4th
I recently did my mid-integration checklist and interview for Justin’s Listening Training. As he is getting ready for his next intensive, I wanted to share some amazing gains I observed – new behaviors that I attribute to his first round of EnListen® and additional supports from home, including:
- Introduction of Chewelry to redirect chewing (I’ll be dedicating an entire blog post to this great product shortly!!)
- Addition of digestive enzymes, probiotics, and Omega Fatty Acid oil to his diet
- Increased yoga and fitness routines after school
Understand that every child is different and may or may not show the same gains or at the same More >
Can’t Afford Certain Therapies? Things to Do at Home
Nov 8th
Early on in my son’s diagnosis, we were on the six-to-nine month waiting list for Occupational Therapy at one of the top sensory centers here in Atlanta. After struggling through many public school behavioral disaster situations whilst on that list, we finally had a shot at getting into therapy… only to find out that my insurance didn’t cover it.
Almost five years ago I embarked on a journey to really understand what my child was experiencing, how it compared and contrasted what other children experienced, all the components involved in the big picture, and what I could do at home to help More >
How Does Fitness Help My Child With Autism?
Sep 19th
I don’t know about you, but for the past four years I’ve been trying to get my child involved in an extra-curricular activity, achieving less than stellar results. At age four, even before an Autism diagnosis, I knew he had an extraordinary amount of energy to burn and his sister was in Karate. It made sense to me to get him started in the youngest group. I thought it would teach him focus and give him an outlet for some of that energy. HA! Nice try, Mom. He was kicked out in the first two minutes of his first class, More >
Mmm, the Kitchen Smells Like Brownies!
Jan 31st
My son exclaimed these words recently and I almost cried.
I have found that a significant number of children with Autism have a poorly developed, if not absent sense of smell. Many don’t even know how to actually sniff, they blow out of their nose instead of breathing in, even after being shown how to do it properly.
I had always thought it odd that at a young age my son never seemed to remark or react to strong scents we encountered in our daily lives. I frequently went back through his older sister’s baby book, searching for any notes about smell More >
