A Parent’s Question We were planning to practice ordering food and grocery shopping with our son this summer. Since he’s starting high school in the fall, we’re worried he won’t want to eat in the school cafeteria. However, he has absolutely no interest in practicing and doesn’t seem to grasp the consequences of not learning […]
S Asks (Reader Question) Our 16-year-old son just finished middle school. He is autistic and has ADD, social anxiety, and likely ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder). This fall, he’s starting high school in a different town, which means he’ll have to manage commuting by bus, eating school lunches, and navigating a completely new environment. Right […]
A Teacher Asks: I currently have several autistic students (seven, to be exact) who are completely unable to write essays or structured texts. Every single one of them has an excellent vocabulary and scores exceptionally high in reading comprehension, reading speed, grammar, spelling, and general word knowledge. In terms of language development, they don’t have […]
Carina Asks My adult son has traits of autism. He is now an adult with his own child and one on the way. I keep hearing that I did so much wrong when he was little, and I feel like I can’t say anything to his child. What should I do? Paula replies Congratulations on […]
In my last blog post, I discussed how those of us with autism aren’t necessarily afraid of the unknown – despite common assumptions. As I explained, there’s not always a reason to fear what you don’t know. However, if you’ve had negative experiences in a familiar situation, it’s perfectly reasonable to feel anxious, because you […]
One of my blog readers recently shared a really insightful thought. They were pondering why they often say that autistic people are scared of the unknown, and asked a great question: why should we be afraid of the unknown? After all, you can’t possibly know what that experience will be like! It’s only when you’ve […]
As autistic people, our facial expressions, gestures, and body language can differ from those of neurotypical individuals, often leading to misunderstandings. I experienced this firsthand, but receiving my autism diagnosis as a child helped me understand why. I used to think autistic people were the only ones who misunderstood others. It wasn’t until I learned […]
As many of you know, I’ve been having a really difficult time finding a suitable support worker. Things were great until about a year ago. I had a fantastic support worker who, unfortunately, had to take a prolonged leave of absence due to health problems, and it’s been downhill since then. As I’ve mentioned before, […]
Easter is finally here! While many of us look forward to a long weekend, it’s important to remember that Easter can be a challenging time – especially for autistic children, young people, and adults. The combination of disrupted routines, crowds, strong smells, bright decorations, and unexpected noises can be overwhelming. All of this can place […]
Those of you who follow my blog know I’ve avoided going to the dentist for years because of the anxiety it caused. I especially dreaded booking appointments with a dental hygienist for scaling, as that was particularly unpleasant. I used to go to the public dental clinic 2-3 times a year for scaling, because despite […]