My father was a huge influence in my life and ultimately, in my career. He was not a professional man. He was patriotic. He worked hard. He was kind and generous. He owned a café, The Red Rooster in Iowa Falls, IA. I worked there, first as a dishwasher, then as a waitress, and what I loved most, as a fry cook. I learned a lot about all three of ...

Hands have fingers, thumbs, nails, joints, skin, bones, muscles, and tendons. They are flexible and can be molded, folded, and wrapped. Use yours. I learned early in my career that one of the most meaningful things one person can do to assure sincerity, acceptance, and understanding is through the power of touch. Not a slap. Not a high-five. A ...

What did Humpty Dumpty do before he got on the train? What will Humpty Dumpty do after he gets off the train? There aren't any right or wrong answers to the questions about Humpty Dumpty and the train. The only answers are what ever the person thinks. That is, as long as the person with ASD understands what before and after mean and ...

Encourage Children to Talk to Themselves: that's right, to themselves as well as to others. Communication for children with ASD is difficult. That includes expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language skills. There is one other language skill that is not mentioned much with the autistic population, yet it is so crucial to daily living skills. As ...

''The study of change ... is the study of survival.'' Edward T. Hall Change is never easy for any of us. It causes stress and anxiety and when those set in even typical developing people revert to familiar behaviors and surroundings. That's why we can all learn a new behavior and transition to that behavior but we go right back to the old ways ...

              Joey was in preschool when I first met him. Everyone hugged Joey. It made the teachers feel good and that was OK when he was in preschool. Joey was 3 and as he grew to 4, 5 and 6, everyone continued to hug Joey when they greeted him. Joey entered junior high ...

''Kathie, what's the number one strategy you use with children on the autism spectrum?'' I get asked that question a lot and I always reply with the same response. Any item I can hold in one hand comes up by my face.   That's so simple. But it's not so obvious.   That's so easy. But most people don't do it ...

The title of this Autism Spectrum blog, ''Categorization,'' reminds me of jargon from something one would study in engineering classes or architecture. Now add divergent and convergent and for sure we are building something.  In last week's blog ''Temple and Categorization,'' I emphasized how important categorizing is to children and adults ...

Autism Awareness Month began on Sunday, April 1. My son Doug's birthday is April 1. The fifth annual World Autism Awareness Day was April 2. World Autism Awareness Day ''aims to increase people's awareness about people, especially children, with autism. The day often features educational events for teachers, health care workers and parents, as ...

When do you elicit a language sample? Certainly when you first see a child you would want to take a language sample. However, if the child is not comfortable on the initial assessment, there is nothing written in stone that says that it has to be completed the first time around. That in itself should tell you something. I feel that ...