A recent research on the impact of traffic air pollution and early childhood autism. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj-persaud/traffic-pollution-elevates-autism-chances_b_2485239.html

Today’s Anecdote While so engaged in working with a student on a math assignment I made one of the most common mistakes. I’ve spontaneously used an idiomatic metaphore that I don’t finally regret -at all- having used it. It is up to the reader to tell whether this was a mistake or not. The student [read more]

In previous articles “Art and Autism” and “Success and Autism”, I talked about this talented British artist. Stephen has a unique skill and gift in drawing the big cities like Rome, London, Paris… landscape to scale without omitting the tiniest detail after flying above it for only few minutes. He flew over New York in a [read more]

John Robison, a man with Asperger’s Syndrome who became an inventor, an author, and an engineer. He is a high-school drop out. www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=vpEubnIf

It is never enough to emphasize the importance of communication between home and school. I strongly encourage parents to be more envolved in their children’s school day. If you are a working parent you can still get envolved by corresponding with school either through a notebook, that I talked about before, or by email. Both [read more]

A study found that boys are three times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/21/adhd-diagnosis-kids-hyperactivity

Get your child her/his favorite doll, stuffed animal, movie character toy,…and create a story, a dialogue, or a senario of your imagination. Steer the conversation between you, your child, and the doll in the direction of the area you wish your child learns about. During the play pretend a situation that solicits sharing concerns, empathy, [read more]

It might seem to be a simple request to ask a child with autism to write down a paragraph or even a sentence or two. According to Kathy Oehler, a Speech and Language Pathologist, the process of writing is a very complex task. It engages and sollicits several parts of the brain to work simultaniously in [read more]

We keep repeating over and over that the main two traits of autism are the lack of communication and social skills. Are educators and parents really doing enough to help improving these two areas of weakness? Acadamic achievements in schools is with no doubt the main focus. Nobody denies the importance of teaching all kinds [read more]

A creative, compassionate teacher decided to call the buddies coming from SDC (Special Day Class) to join her class the Combo Class. She has actually been very factual by inventing this name. In SDC there is actually at least two grade levels combined in one class. Given the small number in each program, schools cannot afford [read more]