At School
First, Then
Imagine that you sit down to watch a movie. You pop yourself a bowl of popcorn to go with it…maybe your favorite toppings, whether salt and butter or marshmallow or Parmesan cheese or something else…you […]
Autism
At Home
My Brain Won’t Stop
One thing went wrong. And it led to another. And it was too many things. And he was MAD. I carried him into his room so that we would have a safe space to melt […]
At Home
A Walk Through Dysregulation, Together
My son was feeling a little bit “out of whack” (that’s usually the least-jargony way I can describe the word “dysregulated”). He was picking at everyone in the family, emotionally, verbally. He pushed his sister, […]
At Home
You Don’t Have Any Blocks
“I want you to build a tower,” I say. You agree, and you stand up to go get the bucket of blocks off the shelf. I shake my head sternly. “No. Did I tell you […]
Autism
New Space in Your Brain
I want you to imagine for a moment that…everything is really good right now. Imagine that all the things on your to-do list that feel like “have to”s (instead of “get to”s) are taken care […]
Autism
In Pursuit of Diagnosis
If you are pursuing diagnosis for your neurodivergent child, it’s okay to take your neuro-affirming lens back “off” in order to talk to the doctor about your child. What I mean is that you are […]
Activities
Six Ways to Play with Vacuums
At my lecture last Friday, during the Q&A session, somebody asked me if I had any ideas for connecting meaningfully and playfully in therapy with a child whose special interest was vacuums, and who spent […]
Autism
Autism Acceptance Month 2023
I don’t think I could say it better or simpler than the I CAN Network said it here. That’s why I’ve posted all month about Autism Acceptance instead of just awareness. That’s what the difference […]
Autism
Self-Diagnosis (AA23)
I mentioned in an earlier post this month how a lot of adults will get diagnosed with autism later in life, especially if they have a child who is diagnosed as a child. They’ll recognize […]
Autism
Fluctuating Skills (AA23)
Many neurodivergent people (not just Autistic people, but including Autistic people) have skills that fluctuate from day to day. This comes up so often in IEP meetings that I’m sitting in. People will say of […]