These High-Tech Shirts and Pants can Help Protect Kids with Autism
By Damon Beres, associate editor of Huffington Post: Tech Many children with autism are prone to wandering away from their home or supervised space. While parents of these children face the daunting task of keeping tabs on them at all times, a GPS-equipped clothing line designed specifically for these families aims to help. Nearly half the parents of children with autism said their youngster had tried to wander off or run away at least once after age 4, and most said the chil
The One Question Your Child Should Ask After Having an Anxious Thought
By Renee Jain, contributor to PsychCentral and creator of the GoZen! anxiety relief program Sixth grade history was a tough subject for me. Anytime Mr. Brown asked a question, I desperately averted my eyes or doodled in my notebook to look busy. Once in a while he called on me anyway. That triggered my anxiety: "What if I get the answer wrong?" "What if everyone laughs at me?" "What if...?" I usually hemmed and hawed because even if I did know the answer, I preferred to doubl
Wake Up and Smell the Calmness
I created a game with rewards for my ADHD son, and guess what? We no longer go crazy in the morning. I have been involved with the ADHD community for over six years. I feel like I've seen it all - the highs, the rock-bottom lows, and everything in between. Truthfully, I've read about it all, but I haven't lived it all (thankfully). Each of our kids with ADHD has their own crazy quilt of behaviors and symptoms. I've noticed some common threads, though, that run through a lot o
Behavior Therapy Improves OCD Symptoms in Young Children, study says
Reported by Reuters via FOX News A family-based cognitive behavioral therapy markedly improves symptoms in children as young as five years old with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), according to a new study. The behavioral treatment, which involved parents heavily and is already known to work for older kids and teens, left almost three quarters of the young children significantly better off, according to objective measurements. "I really think that the results highlight th
Common Thanksgiving Challenges for Kids with Attention Issues
By Lexi Walters Wright, contributor for Understood.org (for learning & attention issues) As delicious a holiday as Thanksgiving is, it can be difficult for kids with attention issues like ADHD. Read about typical Turkey Day trouble spots and find out what you can do to help. Scenario #1: Interrupted Routines The problem: If your family is traveling for Thanksgiving, your child may be sleeping in a strange place and following an unfamiliar schedule. Even if you’re hosting, you
The Kids Who Beat Autism
By Ruth Padawer, Contributing Writer for The New York Times At first, everything about L.'s baby boy seemed normal. He met every developmental milestone and delighted in every discovery. But at around 12 months, B. seemed to regress, and by age 2, he had fully retreated into his own world. He no longer made eye contact, no longer seemed to hear, no longer seemed to understand the random words he sometimes spoke. His easygoing manner gave way to tantrums and head-banging. “He
What About Mom? Reducing Stress in Mothers of Children with Autism
By Jenn Savedge Pick up any book, read any article, or watch any program about autism and you will see that the focus is front and center on the child. His wants. His needs. His troubles. And that is how it should be. Kids with autism face varying degrees of social, economic, and academic struggles and most information about the disorder focusing on helping them deal with these issues. But take a closer look at these kids and you will see something almost hiding in the
Behavior Plans: Another Type of Teaching Plan
Each week teachers and special educators ask how to respond to a disruptive student. "What should I do when he screams?" "Should I remove her when she cries?" Actually, by the time the student has misbehaved the teacher has very few response options and even fewer opportunities to teach that student. Behavior plans, which provide students a roadmap to correct conduct, are often misperceived as being nothing more than a response to inappropriate behavior. In fact, 90% of an ef
ADHD Behavioral Therapy May Be More Effective Than Drugs In The Long Run
By SciCurious of Scientific American Cognitive and behavioral therapies that help young people reduce impulsivity and cultivate good study habits are costlier and take longer to administer, but may be more efficacious over time. Before stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall began their rise to popularity in the 1970s, treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) focused on behavioral therapy. But as concerns build over the mounting dosages and
District Mums Set Up Autism Group To Help Others
A lack of services for autistic children has prompted two district mums to set up their own support group. Friends Nikki Rodden and Su Buchholz both have sons who are autistic or suffer from Asperger syndrome – an autism spectrum disorder – and cannot attend mainstream school. They do not believe enough is being done locally to provide support not only for those with the condition but also to help their parents. So after months of planning, the pair are now in the final stage