Education
When searching for the right college, autistic students will find that many schools offer a wide variety of supports to help them succeed and acquire a college degree.
If your teen does not have a diagnosis yet, we share steps to take. There are two options that can give your teen accommodations: IEPs or 504 Plans. Learn about transition and vocation planning.
Many autistic people have challenges with executive function skills. Executive functioning is a set of brain functions for managing daily living including working memory and organizational skills.
Many autistic children have challenges with executive function skills. This refers to a set of brain functions for managing your daily living including working memory and self control.
Tips and strategies for before each school year starts, issues to discuss with the school team and preparing your teen for success.
Many autistic teens have challenges with executive function skills, which refers to a set of brain functions for managing daily living including working memory and organizational skills.
The back to school time can bring nervousness as your child adjusts and gets to know their teachers and team. Here are ideas for helping them adjust and for school staff to get to know them.
An overview of issues to consider for graduating from high school and transitioning to college, technical school, work or volunteering. Includes information on if you are seeking a diagnosis.
Ensuring best education starts with diagnosis, assessment, starting intervention and seeing if they qualify for IEP or 504 plan. We walk you through steps for getting started and IEP process ongoing.
An overview about graduating for high school by 22, finishing college or technical school, and the joys of lifelong learning.
Tips for starting community college, university, trade or technical school including issues to consider, executive functioning and sensory issues.
Tips for the transition to high school, preparing for each school year, strategies for during the school year, handling sensory issues and executive functioning.
This is a time of so many changes. We provide an overview of most important goals, strategies and issues to consider for IEPs and the transition to adulthood and high,school.
For young children the first step in ensuring their best education is to get a diagnosis, assessment, intervention and once they are 3 years old an IEP or 504 in school.
Tips and ideas for helping your child have a smooth start at daycare or preschool including communicating with school and issues to consider such as sensory.
Getting the right start each school year and during the year, including working with the school team, executive functioning and the impact of sensory issues.
The intersection of autism and trauma is not an uncommon one in the greater autism community, and navigating trauma-informed care often requires a different and more delicate approach.
Physical & Mental Health
For individuals seeking an assessment and diagnosis, contact a neurologist, psychologist or psychiatrist. Your goal of diagnosis, ie for self-knowledge vs to access services or benefits, may vary.
We know it’s stressful to worry about your child and what the signs and any unusual behavior may mean. The first step is to get an assessment and diagnosis, then interventions and support.
We know it’s stressful to worry about your child and what the signs you are seeing may mean. The first steps are to get an assessment, diagnosis, and get started with interventions to help.
If your teen does not have a diagnosis yet but you suspect they are autistic, an important step is to get a formal diagnosis and start intervention as soon as possible.
For seeking an assessment and diagnosis, contact a neurologist, psychologist or psychiatrist. Your approach may vary based on your goals, such as for self knowledge vs. to access services or benefit.
Many autistic people have challenges with executive function skills which refers to a set of brain functions for managing daily living including working memory, organizational skills and self control.
This time of transition can bring a lot of ups and downs emotionally. As you learn how to handle things for yourself it’s natural to make mistakes and to need help. We share tips and information.
At different stages and relationships, life has ups and downs to deal with. Finding ways to manage stress and feelings like anxiety and depression are vital to feel your best physically and mentally.
Learning strategies to handle your sensory issues can help you feel your best and find social outlets. This is a transition time for most people whether you're in school, work, or a day program.
The teen years can bring a lot of ups and downs emotionally. Handling the daily challenges, such as sensory and social communication issues, brings stress that impacts mental health.
While sensory issues can cause challenges in our daily lives, learning strategies to cope can help us feel our best, be successful in the workplace and find social outets. Tips from self-advocates.
Handling challenging behaviors in more impacted young adults can be overwhelming. We share information about understanding meltdowns, checking for a medical cause, and strategies to try.
Whatever you are doing in your day, whether work, day program or volunteering, can cause stress from social communication, relationships, sensory overload and workload. This can cause frustration.
Handling or better yet preventing challenging behaviors can feel overwhelming when you’re trying to get through the day and help your loved one. Understanding meltdowns, causes and finding strategies.
Many autistic children have sensory issues, meaning they may experience touch, sound, light/seeing, smell or taste in a much more intense or much lower degree than neurotypical children.
Many autistic teens have sensory issues, meaning they experience touch, sound, light/seeing, smell or taste in a much more intense or lower degree than neurotypical teens. Learn strategies to help.
Tips for supporting your young child’s social emotional development. Helping your child learn how to express their feelings, strategies for managing sensory issues and challenging behaviors.
For autistic school aged children, learning to understand and handle their emotions will help them enjoy life and deal with the natural stresses of life. Help your child learn to express their feel,
Whatever you are doing in your day, whether work, day program or school, can cause stress from communication, relationships, sensory overload and workload. That stress can be difficult to handle.
This tool features happy to sad or mad faces to help children and adults learn how to recognize when they are starting to feel anxious, upset or mad and how to use strategies that work for them.
While we know our autistic teens may struggle with communication, sensory issues, transitions and changes in routine, we need strategies to deal with difficult behavior. Find out more.
Handling or better yet preventing challenging behaviors can feel overwhelming when you’re trying to get through the day and help your child achieve goals. The first step is to understand the cause.
Handling or better yet preventing challenging behaviors can feel overwhelming when you’re trying to get through the day and help your child achieve goals. We provide strategies and tips.
Sleep issues are common for autistic people, including only getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night, having trouble falling asleep and waking up early. Here are tips to help.
Sleep issues are common for autistic people, including only getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep, having trouble falling asleep and waking up early. Here are tips to help.
Sleep issues are common for autistic teens, including only getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night, having trouble falling asleep and waking up in the middle of the night. Here are tips to help.
Sleep issues are common for autistic people, including only getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night, having trouble falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night, and waking up early.
Sleep issues are common for autistic people, including only getting 4 to 5 hours of sleep each night and having trouble falling asleep. Here are some tips to help.
Life & Social Skills
Parents can help their neurotypical children build a relationship with their autistic sibling.
Learning how to do chores teaches organizational and other critical life skills. These steps build to reach their full potential and live in the appropriate housing setting for their needs.
We offer here safety information for while you are out in the community, using different types of transportation, handling being on busy streets, and tips to avoid becoming a victim.
Information and tips for learning how to live on your own, alcohol, drugs, safety issues and friendship, bullying, phones/internet safety, and emergency planning.
Many people need help navigating how to develop friendships and issues to consider like social skills, different levels of friends, making conversation and tips to help you.
Finding the social communication approaches that work for you will help you express what you care about and need. Improving your social communication skills can help you in your relationships as well.
We know parents and family members of adults who are more impacted have many different safety concerns. Here we discuss a range of different issues and tips for you to consider.
Money management highlights for families with more impacted adults.
It is important for you to learn how to advocate for yourself, to be able to express your needs and challenges, and to ask for help when you need it. Learn tips and strategies.
It is important for young adults who are more impacted to learn self-advocacy skills based on their unique needs, strengths and challenges. We offer strategies and ideas.
Feeling comfortable advocating for yourself can make you more confident and able to handle life's challenges. Learning how to share your needs and ask for accommodations can help you succeed.
It is important for young adults who are more impacted to learn self-advocacy skills based on their unique needs, strengths and challenges.
Learning how to handle your finances helps you to live a comfortable life. Understanding how to pay your bills, budget what you can spend and handle challenges help you plan for the future.
We know parents and family members of young adults who are more impacted have a range of safety concerns. Here we explore various issues to address or consider.
Learning the basics of money management helps you prepare for your future. Whether you have income from work or government benefits, learn ways to budget your money so that you can live comfortably.
If your loved one is more impacted, planning for their financial future and how their needs will be met into the future when you are no longer there is vital.
As you go through different stages of your life, finding the routines that work best for you help you fit in and enjoy good hygiene. This also protects your health.
Managing chores and the responsibilities of your home while balancing other parts of your life gets easier when you figure out a schedule and what works best for you. We share tips here.
Finding foods you enjoy that give you the nutrition you need can help you feel good and stay healthy.
Leisure skills are what you do with your free time, both at home and in the community. Figuring out which activities and hobbies you like helps you find joy and fulfillment. We offer tips here.
Leisure skills are what you do with your free time, both at home and in the community. Figuring out which activities and hobbies you like helps you find joy and fulfillment. Here are tips and ideas.
It is common for autistic people to have limited foods you will eat. Sensory issues involving texture and smell can affect what you like. We share here issues and strategies to help.
Getting chores and household tasks done is an important part of life and our responsibility to keep our homes clean and organized. Here are tips and strategies to help you.
Taking care of your personal hygiene helps keep you healthy and makes people around you at home, work or in the community comfortable. Here are simple strategies and information.
Learning social communication skills is important to express what you want and to help you in your relationships. It may feel stressful to figure out how to communicate with neurotypical people.
Depending on your interest in friendships and relationships, here are tips and information to support you.
Building friendships takes time and involves learning many different skills. Help your teen with strategies and issues like these.
Everyone needs to understand how to behave if they are stopped by a police officer and what a police officer's role is. We offer safety strategies.
Safety guidelines and strategies for teens at home, including kitchen rules, information they should know, self-advocacy and what to do if there's a fire. Learning how to stay home alone.
Learning social communication skills is important to allow your teen to express what they want and need and as the building block to relationships. Here are strategies and tips.
Practicing money concepts with your teen is important to prepare them for adulthood. We share concepts, goals and tips for learning.
It is important for your teen to learn how to advocate for themselves, to empower their right to express their needs and challenges, to get help and to avoid victimization or bullying.
It’s natural for parents to be concerned about the safety of their teens. We provide strategies here for safety in the community, internet/device safety, bullying and friendship issues.
Learning how to do chores that gradually build in complexity teach organization and life skills. It helps teens reach their full potential and live in the appropriate housing setting for their needs.
Depending on their age and stage, autistic teens may be at different levels of handling basic hygiene tasks. We share tips and strategies.
Building friendships takes time and involves learning many different skills. Help your child with strategies and issues like these.
Leisure skills are what you do with your free time, at home and in the community. For teens, learning recreation skills and which activities and hobbies they like plants seeds for a fulfilling life.
It is common for autistic teens to have limited foods they will eat. Sensory issues involving texture and smell can affect preferences.
Learn strategies for safety at home including in the kitchen, creating a safety plan self-care, self-advocacy, emergency planning and helping your child learn to be at home alone.
Learning social communication skills is important to allow your child to express what they want and need and as the building block to relationships. Here are strategies and tips.
It is common for autistic children to have limited foods they will eat. Sensory issues involving texture and smell can affect what they like. Limited diet can impact getting enough nutrition.
For school aged children, learning recreation skills and figuring out which activities they like plants the seeds for having a fulfilling life as an adult.
It's natural for families to be concerned about the safety of their children. We provide strategies here about wandering, pool/water safety, bullying and safety in the community.
Learning basic financial concepts helps children prepare for adulthood. Here are tips to practice simple money concepts with your child.
Giving your child choices serves as an early opportunity to build self-advocacy. Ask “do you want to do this or that,” but give only a couple of choices at first. See more tips and strategies here.
Learning how to do simple chores that gradually increase in level teach organizational and other critical life skills. Here are tips and steps.
If you do everything for your child it will be challenging for them to learn what how to take care of themselves. Encourage your child to learn basic hygiene as early as possible with these tips.
Start encouraging your child to learn basic hygiene as early as possible. Some children are eager to try to learn by themselves, and others need a gentle push in the right direction. Here are tips.
Young children can start learning simple money concepts, which can be an Individualized Education Program (IEP) goal.
Help your child learn how to advocate for themselves starting at a young age. Start by offering them choices and opportunities to share what they prefer.
Learn strategies and guidelines for safety in the community for autistic young children including wandering, parking lot and water safety.
Tips for child proofing, emergency planning, kitchen safety, self-advocacy and learning how to share their parents' names and contact information.
Learning social communication skills is important to allow your child to express what they want and need and as the first building block to relationships. Tips for gradually building skills.
Leisure skills are what you do with your free time. In early childhood, learning play and recreation skills and discovering what you like plants the seeds for having a fulfilling life as an adult.
It is common for autistic young children to have limited foods they will eat. Sensory issues like texture and smell can affect what they like. We offer tips and strategies.
Helping your child learning how to do simple chores that gradually increase in complexity teaches organizational and other critical life skills.
Working on life skills, sensory, social and other issues can help you succeed in jobs. Tips for understanding workplace dynamics and interacting with your supervisor.
Employment
Each autistic individual has different needs, strengths and challenges. There are many types of employment for autistic individuals based on your abilities and interests. Learn more.
Employment is not something you’d typically think about when your child is young, but there are skills they can start to learn that will help plant the seeds for when they are a teen and then adult.
Employment is not something you would normally think about yet but your child can learn skills now that will prepare them. It can form the foundation for whatever job is right for them. Find out more.
The transition to high school and adulthood officially starts at age 14. A major part is building employment skills and exploring their interests, which is called vocational planning and preparation.
Each young adult has different needs, strengths and challenges and path that’s right for you. Whether entering an on the job training program, trade school, college or internship, we provide tips.
What legal documents should you consider when planning for your loved ones with disabilities? These are suggestions that can be drafted for you by a special needs attorney.
Law & Finance
Explore educational and government support options, issues and resources. Topics include IEPs. financial savings accounts for people with disabilities, Board of Developmental Disabilities and SSI.
An overview of educational and government supports and issues to know for the transition to adulthood, including what to consider at 16 years old and before your teen turns 18.
In most states, 18 years old is considered the age of majority and is considered an adult. If you are not pursuing guardianship, your teen needs to give permission to parents to participate in care.
An overview of adult services in healthcare and government support such as SSDI.
Learn about support options and important requirements such as your child must be enrolled in school by the age of 6. Tips include enroll in early intervention as early as possible.
Each autistic individual has different needs, strengths and challenges. We share information and strategies for housing for people with disabilities based on your abilities and preferences.
Housing
We provide an overview of housing choices, including independent living, supported living or residential.
Whether you are in college, trade school, working or staying enrolled in your school district, this is a time of transition and the beginning of adulthood. Keep increasing your life skills.
Thinking about housing can feel overwhelming when you’re dealing with all the other teen issues. But think of it as a process you can start now step by step so you are preparing for their adulthood.
Helping your child learn life skills and find opportunities to spend time independently can help them reach their full potential and live in the level of housing appropriate for them as adults.
Helping your child learn life skills and find opportunities to spend time independently can help them reach their full potential as adults and live in the level of housing appropriate for them.
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