Every so often, usually after advocating within the public school system, I contemplate home-schooling my 12 year old son with Autism.  I go through the same process, of listing the pros and cons as I see them, each time I consider taking the plunge and educating him myself.  This time, I have decided to seek out your opinions and advice!

My son with Autism has come quite far overall.  He has made great progress with language, academics and life skills.  When it comes to having a busy social life, or a group of friends, however, I know we still have far to go.  Socialization opportunities for children with autism can be difficult to find and, as our children get older, the idea of having your mom accompany you to activities is less then desirable! 

It seems like, no matter the day, I am advocating on behalf of my children for something or other. Having one son with autism and another with Asperger Syndrome, I advocate for everything from services to societal change.  No matter the particular situation, I know that written communication (the Paper-Trail) is critical to successfully advocating for your child with autism or special needs.

Communication is a complex skill and a typical challenge for children with autism.  As a parent, understanding language acquisition is vital to helping your child developmentally progress. Once understood, it’s time to apply what you know and begin working with your child to expand their communication skills.

ABC is an acronym standing for: Antecedent, Behavior and Consequence. The ABC ideology promotes knowing what happened before your child behaved in a certain manner, the details of the incident itself and how the behavior was subsequentlyresponded to. Keep a written record for determining patterns or triggers and you’ll be better prepared to identify strategies to modify them.

The daily tasks of parenting a child with autism can be exhausting and time-consuming.  In my home, morning used to be the most chaotic time of day.  The last thing I wanted was to start the day stressed out, so I decided to make some changes in hopes of making my mornings run smoothly.

I tried many things with varying degrees of success. What I found to work the best (at least for us) were these 4 tasks that are now a standard part of our routine. 

Statistics say that there are more than a half million people in the U.K. affected by autism, and the number of diagnosed cases is rising rapidly. It was seen that boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism, and twelve times more predisposed to have asperger syndrome.

While picky eating is an issue for many children, children with autism seem to have exceptionally limited diets.  Nutrition is a concern of many parents, since building variation into a child’s diet can be quite challenging.

The five tips below are intended to help you ensure better health and, at the same time, offer the opportunity for you to work on independent living, socialization and organizational skills with your child. 

Make a Menu

Parents Jon and Terry Poling spent eight long years fighting for compensation after their daughter Hannah developed autism following routine childhood vaccinations.  In spring 2008 they received news of the decision they had long been waiting for - that the Vaccine Injury Compensation Programme were going to pay compensation. 

Frankly, I haven't been on a horse since the Lowland Games Donkey derby but that's between me and my therapist! However it seems that Equine therapy may hold some real benefits for children suffering from epilepsy and autism. The National Ability Centre in Park City is just one of the many places which offer this opportunity.