A Message to Parents

Dear Parents, I am finally back after a long silence for almost two years. It is very hard to disengage myself from thinking and writing about...

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Don’t Underestimate ASD Kids’ Intelligence

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

Sometimes we make the assumption that children with ASD wouldn’t be able to understand our regular language which is spoken in full sentences. When I catch myself talking to a student as if I was talking to a colleague of my mine, I would immediately rephrase my previous sentence and turn it into a much

Autistic Savants

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

Some people with autism are called savants (or ‘knowing person’ from french). These people are blessed with an extraordinary, outstanding, sharp talent in a certain area. It could be math, art, language, memory, …among other subjects. 1- The calender calculator, for example, is a person who can tell the day of the week of any

Arianna and The “Broken Cheeseburger”

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

An amazing story of a seven-year-old autistic girl in a resaurant and her perception about a cheeseburger cut in two halves. Arianna called it the “broken cheeseburger” and couldn’t eat it. Why? She can only eat a “fixed cheeseburger”. My Expanation I guess Arianna had never seen a burger cut in half in her plate

Tips to Maximize Learning Time

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

Dear Parents, This message is not aiming to burden you further with more efforts or worries. It is rather a call for co-operation with school to get the best out of the time your child spends in school. Here are some simple tips that can save you and the educators a huge amount of time

Save $10 (40% Off) On Book Purchase

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

To celebrate the “Autism International Day”, my book “Everyday Life with Autism” is now on sale for $14.99 only till April 13th. Autism International Day is April 2, 2013. Don’t forget to light up the blue light, and help raising awareness. nadia shanab

Grandparents’ Age ls Linked to Autism Risk

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

“A research published in JAMA Psychiatry states that older men who have children are more likely to have grandchildren with autism compared to men who have children at a younger age.” The risk factor of autism accumulates over generations. It might skip a generation. We always thought that the parents’ age may be a factor

A Humanoid to Improve Social Skills in Kids with ASD

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

NAO is the name of the humanoid robot, an elaborate and very sophisticated system, created to help children with ASD. The main function of NAO is to improve the social skills and communication abilities of children with ASD. Kids with ASD usually have poor joint attention. Joint attention, is the ability to synchronize the attention

Autism Prevalence Shot to One in 50 in The U.S.

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

Researchers believe that the increase of awareness might be behind the climb of this number. The ratio of boys to girls affected with autism is still the 4:1. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services believe  that the increase might be due to the diagnosis

Impairment in Social Interaction Is Linked to Deficit in Face Recognition

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

Neuroscientists in Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) discovered a brain odditiy in individuals with autism that explains the deficit in identifying faces . This deficit in turn explains the behavioral disorder in social interactions, which is one of the most common traits of autism. They suggest that the level of behavioral deficit may be linked to

Magnetic Stimulation of The Brain to Feel People’s Emotions

By Nadia Shanab | Uncategorized

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) of the area of the brain containing mirror neurons may open a window on other people’s feelings. John Elder Robison admits that TMS had changed his life. Even when its effect wears off, the knowlege and awareness of the existence of how one’s feels other poeple’s emotions doesn’t go away. Watch