You can’t ask for help if you don’t know you need help One common concern I hear from parents of neurodiverse individuals is that their child won’t ask for help. There are a couple reasons why neurodiverse individuals may not ask for help. The first one is that the individual may not even know that…
As I started teaching it I realized teaching the concept of public vs. private places was not as simple as I once thought. First, I will explain the basic concepts and then I will explain some of the more nuanced rules that will need to be taught as well. Basic Concept 1: “Public” is any place…
In my last post I talked about finding out your child’s organizational style. The reason we start with this is because the best way to help your child succeed is by creating an environment in which they can be successful. It’s like if we ask someone in a wheelchair to go to the 2nd floor of…
In the last post, I mentioned how teaching “Good Touch” and “Bad Touch” wasn’t the most effective way to teach safety skills. So, what do we do instead? Instead, we should be teaching “Wanted Touch”, “Unwanted Touch” and “Confusing Touch”. A “Wanted Touch” is a touch that is welcome and wanted. This will differ for…
I recently started doing some parent trainings on various socio-sexuality topics. My most recent one was about Abuse Prevention by teaching individuals to self advocate. For people who are interested, but couldn’t come, this is what we learned. Before doing these trainings I research a ton. I wish I could take credit for some of…
During the last training I gave on “Sex Ed: More Than Just Body Parts” we talked about teaching consent. Katherine McLaughlin (owner of Elevatus Training-an organization that teaches individuals with disabilities to become sexual self-advocates) said, ““The bottom line is, in order to consent, you have to know and believe that you are in charge…
The latest parent training I did was on “Sex Ed: More Then Body Parts”. I wanted to give this training because there is so much that incorporates a comprehensive sex ed program… and it is not just about an individual’s ability to identify a penis or a vulva. I remember teaching a previous student about…
I recently attended a virtual training by Dave Hingsburger. This guy is amazing! He has done some incredible work, especially with regards to respecting the rights of individuals with disabilities. During the session, Dave talked about the need to teach relationship skills to individuals with disabilities. In fact, he emphatically said that we (professionals, clinicians,…
I think it is extremely important for me to learn about autism from someone who has autism. I’ve been reading a book called “Sincerely, Your Autistic Child: What People on the Autism Spectrum Wish Their Parents Knew About Growing Up, Acceptance and Identity”. One of the contributors to the book was talking about people who…