No. There is nothing wrong if your child has autism. If it is yes, it’s like saying there is something wrong with your blue eyes. Or, saying that you shouldn’t have blonde hair because it should be black. Having autism is not wrong. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects a lot of areas (or some) in one’s life. It is neurodevelopment that means the brain is affected by neurological pathways that influence performance or functioning. Examples of this functioning can be reading performance, social communication, sensory issues, attention, or memory. Autism is innate. The brain is designed to have those neurons function in such a way. That…

Here are some tips that can help you parenting your child on an autism spectrum.  Learn to Accept This is the hard truth. Hearing the diagnosis is one hard impact in parenting. Many parents still have difficulty accepting the diagnosis. However, when in denial there are plenty of skills that are not addressed, plenty of memories that can be positively shaped, plenty of lost times to bond and learn with your child. Acceptance opens more doors to understanding autism spectrum disorder. Be consistent  A child with autism needs routine. They learn best when they are familiar with the routine. They work best when they know what to do as they…

Autism affects a lot of areas in one’s life. One major area is communication. Every day we talk to people, communicate with them, ask for help, ask for our needs, and express our feelings. Communication is NOT just expressing words. Gestures are a form of communication. Waving hand means hi. Nodding head means yes. Shaking it means No. Pulling hands means help. Brain There is a lot of sensory processing activities in the brain which involve communication. First, our oral muscles have something to do with our vocal cords, tongue muscles, oral movement, formation of lips, etc. Once we perceive the information through our senses, our nerves send signals to…

Why Meltdown Occurs in Children with Autism? A meltdown occurs for several reasons. Do not mistake meltdowns with tantrums. Tantrums usually happen when a child wants something and adults don’t give in to what he wants. Meltdown based on my experience is a strong outburst of emotion that is difficult to control within oneself. It is usually escalated from a small cry until the emotion is unbearable and gets to its peak then goes down until a child can cope, accept, or calm down for a reason. When a child is intensely crying, it lasts a few minutes or it can last longer like an hour or more. Sometimes, a…

I got 5 IDEAS to Improve Your Child’s Eye Contact! Do you have a problem with your child looking at you? Are you trying to talk to your child and wishing that he would look at you while you are talking or playing with him? Eye contact is one of the difficulties in the social skills of children with an autism spectrum disorder. In this blog article, I’m going to share with you how you can help improve your child’s eye contact. However, teaching this is not a quick-fix solution to the problem. Sometimes, there are parents’ expectations that are not met, thus they find it frustrating that their children…

What can you give to occupy your child with autism?  Do you know that they would like to do work? Most of them, are actually workaholics! They like to do work because of start-do-finish concept. They like that “FINISHED” concept.  That’s why giving worksheets are good for them! It does not only boost their skills in different areas but also gives them the feeling of success.  However, what i’m sharing with you is not a worksheet wherein you use pencil to draw lines or answer on paper.  This is a FILE FOLDER GAME.  File Folder Games are not Filing Folders as clerks do but tasks that are designed for children with…

Hi Parents! I’d like to share with you 5 Activities you can do for your children when at home. You don’t need fancy gym equipment for this or any tools just to develop your child’s core muscles and gross motor skills. We need to help our children improve their core muscles as it is the ‘core’ of our body we use to do work. Importance of Strong Core: It connects all the limbs that we use to do our gross motor and fine motor activities. If it is strong, it makes the activities easier to do. A weak core can be susceptible to poor posture, back pain, poor muscle control,…

HOW IT FEELS LIKE… There is a thinking that a teacher can do everything.  That teaching is easy and that teaching can easily be learned.  It’s not for me.  When I was new to teaching autism, I thought it would be easy to teach as I have special education background.  I was prepared to face my early intervention career.  But after I get the hang of teaching children with autism, I learn it was the most challenging but exciting experience to have.  Every student I handle is unique and needs different program and strategy.  That is why preparing an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) is meant to be provided to each…

SHAPES ARE FUN TO PLAY WITH! Are you looking for worksheets for your child? How are you teaching your child with shapes? Some parents believe that shapes are easy to be taught. That teaching this concept is easy and simple to be learnt. However, for children with autism, it may not. Some children may find shapes as too enticing so they may want to keep on using them over and over again. Sometimes, they may stim on it. Stimming is a common word used in children with autism. It is a self-stimulatory behaviour wherein a child repeats action or movement of the body. Since shapes are easy to look at, simple,…