Fellow blogger Neurodivergent Rebel, has published a list of useful sites for people with autism. Here is the link to the original article.
A list of helpful websites.
Against The Stream Buddhist Podcast
Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN)
International Aspergirl Society
Neurowonderful Blog & Neurowonderful on YouTube
This is a growing list. Please ADD SUGGESTIONS to the comments section below!
Children and adults with developmental disabilities have a higher risk of choking compared to the general population. Risk Factors Include: Some medical conditions that increase a person’s risk of choking are: Cerebral Palsy Seizure disorders Neurological and muscular disorders Down Syndrome Brain Injury Muscular Dystrophy Inability to swallow certain food textures and liquids Medication side […]
via Choking Prevention for People with Developmental Disabilities — Special Needs Resource Blog
In Addition
For New Jersey caregivers, this leaflet is a very good resource:
Back to school can be stressful for most children. For children with a learning disability, ADHD, dyslexia, or autism, these worries are often more severe. Our latest blog piece offers parents tips to make this transition ritual much less stressful.
Last Friday, we posted a link to our latest blog piece for parents of anxious children (often those with a learning disability, ADHD, or autism).
We add another free resource, from Autism Parenting magazine. It was published last year, but it is still available:
Here is another helpful link for parents of a child with autism. This free resource has been around since last year, but it is still available for free. It contains much helpful material. Of course, we have advocacy services for parents in New Jersey.
An expert blogger has compiles 40 resources to help students with autism. The list is from 2016, but it’s still valid.
The latest estimate shows that 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) as having autism spectrum disorder. This means that more than ever, special education teachers in order to be effective, will require additional resources and support. the following links showcase a number of blogs and information on working with children with autism.
Autism Teacher Blogs
Savvy teachers are creating and developing blogs on teaching children with autism. Many of the blogs give first -person accounts while others share classroom activities, lesson plans and classroom management.
Adventures in Special Education
The Autism Adventures of Room 83
Classroom Management
The following links discuss strategies on engaging learners and managing students in a classroom setting.
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“Forced intimacy is a cornerstone of how ableism functions …. This often takes the form of being expected to share (very) personal information with able bodied people to get basic access.”
A blogger with Asperger’s talks about her marriage to a neurotypical man for 25 years. It’s a very good four-part series.
Source: Asperger’s and Marriage
The Ablenet Blue2 Bluetooth switch offers easy wireless access to iOS, IOX, Windows, and Android apps and programs.
The Blue2 offers either single- or dual-switch access to Apple devices running iOS 7, as well as the company’s desktop or laptop computers running OS X Mavericks. Blue2 also provides access to apps and programs running on the Windows and Android operating systems. Connection to one’s favorite device via Bluetooth is easy and quick to set up.
Find out about the Ablenet Blue2 Bluetooth switch. It’s this week’s #AssistiveTechTuesday feature, described on our website blog. Not sure if you want to make the investment? New Jersey residents can try it out free at our Technology Lending Center!
Some two and a half years ago, maybe longer, I was listening to Jonathan Schwartz’s radio show on NPR. After playing his customary songs from the American song book, Jonathan gave a rave review of a children’s book he just read. As a love of animals is something we both share, I had to read the book. I am glad I did.
Most of the people with autism and some with Down syndrome, likewise have an affinity to animals… and vice versa. This review is dedicated to them.
“My, what big ears he has!” A little elephant was born in southern Africa. However, not long thereafter, the peace of that happy occasion was shattered by a sudden flash and a bang. Poachers claimed the little elephant’s mother. A twelve-year-old boy named Thabo watched a rescue helicopter bring in a baby elephant to the wildlife refuge, where he lives. The veterinarian, Bitri, will try his best to save her. Thabo was there to comfort the baby elephant with big, spread-out ears he has decided to call Butterfly.
Four years later and half a world away, Emma was enjoying the splendors of her New York City courtyard garden, when a tall teenage boy approached her. Thabo introduced himself and explained that he was there with his father, who was giving a speech at the United Nations to urge world leaders to help his country’s endangered elephants. Emma was astonished; she didn’t realize that such big, strong animals needed protection. It was then that she learned about poachers killing elephants for their tusks for the illegal ivory trade. She removed the ivory butterfly necklace pendant she received for her 11th birthday. (The coincidences here will have some readers wondering if the ivory from her pendant came from Butterfly’s mother; at the very least, the metaphor is very strong.) She loved the picture of Butterfly Thabo showed her, which she thought of as she returned the pendant to its velvet box and hid it in a dark drawer. That night, Emma dreamed of a parade of animals.
Suddenly, Emma was aroused by a loud trumpeting sound. Outside her window was Butterfly, looking for Thabo. Hearing the noise, Thabo rushed to her side. Butterfly spoke to both teens of her fear of Africa and was seeking a safe place. But what to do with an elephant in the city? After all, an adult elephant would need some 320 pounds of plant material and 30 gallons of water every day. The seemingly obvious first choice was the circus! All three were excited as they watched the pageantry, especially the regal elephants. After the show, Butterfly met up with the circus elephants. Butterfly and her human companions quickly learned—along with the reader%mdash;that many circus elephants are taken from the wild and poorly treated. Later that night, Emma learned that the keys of her baby grand piano were made from ivory. Emma was left wondering whether the Bach prelude she was playing would be able to “heal the aching heart of a baby elephant.”
Helen Keller is the most well-known deaf-blind person. With the advocacy of her teacher, Annie Sullivan, and her own determination, Helen proved one could undertake higher education and graduate.
We all know about Helen Keller, notably through the astonishing performance by Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker. Helen Keller is the most famous deaf-blind person; her name is a household word – and rightfully so. Yet, many people do not fully understand what it is to be deaf blind. With that, President Ronald Reagan in 1984 proclaimed the last week of June as Helen Keller Deaf Blind Awareness Week. To keep the awareness fresh, every year the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Adults Youths and Adults (HKNC), publicizes this important declaration with a national campaign. HKNC is part of the National Family Association for the Deaf-Blind (NFADB).
What is deaf-blindness? According to the NFADB, “The term ‘deaf-blind’ seems to indicate the sum of deafness + blindness. However, the combination of these two sensory losses is much more like deafness multiplied by blindness = Deaf-blindness.” The combined loss of both senses poses unique challenges, with independence, access to information, interpersonal communication, and special navigation is indeed profound. However, contrary to what most people believe, deaf-blindness is not a total loss of seeing and hearing. This is rarely the case. The National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) provides an excellent overview of the condition covering children, assessment in school, educational services, environment, communication, social-emotional concerns, and motor-movement issues.
Assistive technology in the form of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices are an important pathway to accessibility to full inclusion in society and independent living. http://www.assistivetechnologycenter.org/at/augmentative-communication For New Jersey residents, the Advancing Opportunities Assistive Technology Center can be an excellent resource, offering both one-on-one assistance and the chance to try out costly equipment before committing to a purchase.
Haben Girma is an Eritrean-American woman who was the first deaf-blind person to graduate Harvard Law School. As an attorney, she has been an outspoken disability advocate for inclusion, accessibility, and Universal Design. Haben recently with current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, all of whom have praised her important work as a disability advocate and self-advocate.
The most common form of deaf-blindness is a condition called Usher syndrome. Usher syndrome is characterized by hearing loss, combined with a loss of vision over time and deficiencies in balance, as the condition starts in the inner ear. There are three types of Usher syndrome, which are characterized by the severity of the symptoms. Usher syndrome is genetically inherited.
Project Sparkle Family’s Guide
National Coalition on Deaf-Blindness
From fellow blogger, Neurodivergent Rebel, here is an interesting piece, “Why the World Needs Neurodiversity.”
Neurodiverse people have a lot to offer society, but first, we must accept them. Neurodiversity is the key, a tool for acceptance. The world needs neurodiversity for this very reason. Why is this neurodiverse acceptance such a threat to some people?
via Why the World Needs Neurodiversity — Neurodivergent Rebel
Celebrating Individual Abilities 