Autism360 is a new website where you can share and learn about others with autism. It is a free service that matches a profile of someone with autism with similar people with autism and what types of treatment worked for them. You can track medical treatments and outcomes on the website. Essentially, it is an […]
Here is a video from the CBS Early Show on an artist with autism who has a photographic memory for architecture. This is true talent. (PS – Have to mention this: be sure to check out his pencil grasp. Just goes to show you that as long as the grasp works for you leave it […]
Came across this new tool for augmentative communication called Tap2Talk. Seems like a nice alternative for augmentative communication. Watch the video for how it works. The positive features are: the price point, no Internet access is required, cool age appropriate tool and you can put in your own pictures and voice. One negative is that […]
A researcher from NJIT, Architect B. Lynn Hutchings, offers suggestions for schools to make changes to the physical lay out of buildings to accommodate for students with disabilities. Some of her suggestions are: 1. Inter-disperse related services such as speech, occupational and physical therapy throughout the school 2. Auditoriums should have ramped aisles and stages. […]
Recently, there have been more studies on autism and motor skill development. Many children with autism exhibit delays in motor skill acquisition. Some research has shown deficits in the following areas: 1. dynamic balance and diadochokinesis (rapid pronation/supination of forearms)2. fine motor skills with regards to timed movements3. increased variability to perform simple movements4. performing […]
The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders published research on the effects of therapeutic horseback riding on children with autism. A 12 week intervention of therapeutic horseback riding for 19 children with autism resulted in less inattention, distractibility and sedentary behavior. In addition, the children displayed increased social motivation, sensory seeking behaviors and greater sensory […]
A Northwestern University study researched how children processed three sounds with background noise present in the room. The three sounds, “ba”, “ga” and “da” were difficult for children to interpret. The researchers used a new technology that is sensitive enough to measure how the nervous system represents differences in sounds in each person. This study […]
The journal entitled Nature Neuroscience recently published research on how autistic children use proprioceptive information and visual information. The researchers concluded that autistic children relied much more on the proprioceptive information to learn new movement patterns rather than external visual cues when compared to typically developing peers. In addition, they found that the children who […]
After writing many previous blog posts on the importance of physical activity in all children, I wanted to list some specialized programs for children with disabilities that encourage physical activity. These activities are not available everywhere but it does offer some suggestions of what you could be proactive in starting in your community. Hippotherapy – […]
Came across this website with free communication software downloads for smart phones and PDA’s (personal digital assistant) for autistic children. According to the website, it has been developed by a team of researchers and funded partially by Microsoft. It is meant to be used with young children or children with severe autism. You download the […]