Articles
Your Child with Special Needs Is Entitled to a Free and Appropriate Education
In the famous story, Rashoman, four blind men feel an elephant. “Why an elephant is like a tree,” says the one man feeling the animal’s leg. “No, my friend, it’s like a snake,” claims the one feeling the beast’s trunk. “You are both wrong,” says the third who is...
5 Practical Ways to Help Adults with Autism Gain Employment
After I graduated from Oral Roberts University with a Master of Divinity, I was employed four years as a youth pastor. When metro Detroit experienced harsh economic conditions due to the automotive industry I found myself unemployed. For the next two years, I...
How Do You Know When Your ASD Child is Being Bullied?
Most of us have experienced the physical and/or emotional pain of bullying in our lifetime, the negative effects of which sadly can last a lifetime. Even as adults, we aren’t free from bullying either. There’s potential harassment on the job, prejudice, favoritism,...
5 Ways to Deal When You Don’t Want to Talk About Your Loved One’s Disability
I recently attended a networking dinner during which one guest asked another to share a bit about her previous career in education. “I’m done with that part of my life; I don’t talk about it anymore,” the woman said without a moment’s hesitation. While initially, her...
Evolution of moral outrage: I’ll punish your bad behavior to make me look good
WHAT MAKES HUMAN MORALITY UNIQUE? One important answer is that we care when other people are harmed. While many animals retaliate when directly mistreated, humans also get outraged at transgressions against others. And this outrage drives us to protest injustice,...
5 Lessons Learned From Businesses Hiring Adults With Autism
Ever worked with a colleague or boss and struggled to get them to do something that needed to be done? In many situations, we have the benefit of controlling a wide range of consequences and the authority that allows us to encourage the needed behavior. A boss has...
We Need to Make Digital Navigation Tools More Human – Here’s How
Imagine you’re in a city you don’t know, and need to find the way to the train station. You ask a stranger in the street, and she answers: “Walk east for 144ft, turn right towards the main road for 26ft, continue straight onto main road for 377ft. Your destination will be on the left.” You would probably think she sounded robotic – more like a digital route-finding system than a human being. And you’d be right.
How To Take Family Conversations From Painful To Pleasant
A parent writes: “My son likes to talk about the Octonauts (Cartoon). If I hear one more thing about Kwazii the cat, I may stab myself in the ear. Help!”
Going Green while Creating Jobs for People on the Spectrum
Imagine turning used toys into a sustainable green business that creates employment for people with autism and other challenges. PreLOVED Toys Inc., a San Francisco Bay Area 501(c)(3) nonprofit, proposes to do just that. Discouraged by the lack of full-time employment...