Posted by Michelle Gonzalez on Sunday, March 4th, 2012
A disturbing story has emerged from Deer Park, Texas, where a teacher has been accused of verbally mocking, taunting and in some cases, abusing children with autism and other special needs. Allegations surfaced back in December at a Deer Park ISD campus, claiming the teacher verbally and physically mistreated her students. Whistleblowers eventually came to [...]
READ MORE 
Posted in Autism Controversy, Commentary, Education, Students 
7 Comments »
Posted by Susan Moffitt on Friday, July 15th, 2011
A recent article decrying the fact that Mississippi requires no autism training for its special education teachers struck me as hardly newsworthy. The reality is that special education teacher requirements vary drastically from state-to-state and when it comes to autism, they are abysmal. As far as I could tell from my research (and I would [...]
READ MORE Posted in Autism News, Education, Mississippi, Students 2 Comments »
Posted by Susan Moffitt on Thursday, July 7th, 2011
Many parents of children on the autism spectrum are unable to find a successful place for them in the school system. Often, teachers and staff have little or no training in autism and treat our children’s symptoms as disciplinary problems rather than manifestations of sensory overload and anxiety. We may grow tired of being afraid [...]
READ MORE Posted in Education, Parents, Students 35 Comments »
Posted by Susan Moffitt on Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
A wonderful story has been reported out of Kentucky where a mother of twins with autism created an event for neurotypical children at her sons’ school to experience what it’s like to have autism. During Cumberland Trace Elementary School’s Autism Awareness Day, organizers manned five different sensory stations designed to let children experience first-hand the [...]
READ MORE Posted in Autism Awareness, Autism News, Education, Events, Kentucky, Parents, Students No Comments »
Posted by Susan Moffitt on Sunday, March 20th, 2011
Lately, I’ve been addressing the many hard and scary aspects of autism, in particular, safety issues at school and in the community. I now feel the need to shift my attention. It’s easy to see the world of autism through a glass darkly when there’s so much work to be done to ensure our children [...]
READ MORE Posted in Aspergers Syndrome, Autism Advice from Parents, Autism and Employment, Autism Communication, Commentary, Families, High Functioning Autism, Parents, Students 6 Comments »
Posted by Susan Moffitt on Sunday, March 13th, 2011
Sal Khan was a hedge fund manager tutoring his cousins through distance learning. He started making them instructional videos to reinforce their learning when he couldn’t be there in person and after a few lessons, his cousins told him that they liked him better on video. After absorbing the shocking statement, he realized it was [...]
READ MORE Posted in Autism Activities, Autism and the Internet, Education, Students, YouTube 5 Comments »
Posted by Brenda Anderson on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
A group from Washington University in St. Louis reports that upon finishing high school, many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are left without the proper supportive or health services that they previous had access to. According to the report, nearly 40 percent of youths with ASDs from among the more than 400 surveyed participants [...]
READ MORE Posted in Autism Support, Autism Treament, Education, Families, Students 1 Comment »
Posted by Brenda Anderson on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
For families of children with autism, we know all too well the challenge of communication between us and the child. Autism affects both receptive and expressive communication skills and can often leave everyone frustrated at the inability to convey a simple request. But Apple has unwittingly revolutionized the autism world with the technology of the [...]
READ MORE Posted in Autism Advice from Parents, Autism Support, Education, Families, Product Reviews, Students, Technology 17 Comments »
Posted by Susan Moffitt on Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Any parent with a school-aged child knows that both classroom issues and homework can often be overwhelming for students. And no one knows that better than the parents of a child with autism. Not only do autistic students have an academic curriculum, but they have a social curriculum which is every bit as demanding and [...]
READ MORE Posted in Autism and the Law, Autism Services, Education, Parents, Students, Technology 2 Comments »
Posted by C.A. Curie on Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Earlier this month, we wrote about an upsetting incident involving the arrest of a girl with special needs on a school bus. The officer in the incident, Deputy Mark Perrin, was fired as a result of his actions: One of the pressing questions that has yet to be asked in that case is, "Where was [...]
READ MORE Posted in Autism Advice from Parents, Autism Support, Education, Families, Parents, Students 1 Comment »
