Category Archives: Autism

Back to school. Three simple words that strike fear in the hearts of moms universally knowing the mad game of musical chairs required to shift successfully from unstructured summer to the military precision required by the school year routine.

For those gluten-free it can be even more so. Perhaps kids have only learned they need to be gluten-free eaters over the summer. They might be changing schools with new routines and unclear processes lay in wait. Even if gluten-free eating has been something of a norm, I find each new year required connecting with teachers to ensure the classroom situation supports the needs of my ‘GF’ students and with little impact to the teacher.

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What's not to love about a freshly baked scone? This gluten-free version can be made sweet or savoury and makes a dozen.

Ingredients:

3 cups gluten-free self-raising flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

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Early in my adult life, I realized I don't have the rice-cooking gene. No amount of measuring, and rinsing, and simmering, and steaming will help me produce a perfectly cooked pot of rice. I have proved to be equally inept with white rice, brown rice, basmati and jasmine rice, though I can make a pretty great pot of risotto. For everyday rice, I rely on my little electronic rice cooker, which never lets me down. (I use it for quinoa, too.) I like to make as much as the rice cooker will hold, and keep leftover rice in the refrigerator to make dishes like this coconut peanut rice bowl recipe, which I created for Lynne, my friend Bev's daughter, who eats gluten-free and dairy-free. You can make this recipe vegan by omitting the turkey and adding more vegetables, and make it spicier with a squirt or two of Sriracha sauce. Serves 6-8. (more…)

This video will show you how easy it can be to bake a gluten-free cake. All you'll need is to put everything into a food processor and you're good to go in the oven. So simple for those days you want to eat something sweet but home-made. Please leave a comment if you liked this recipe and let me know if you tried it for yourself. To view my previous video please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-R5k... Ingredients: - 4-5 Clementines (Pre-Cooked) - 250g Ground Almonds - 225g Caster Sugar - 1tsp Of Baking Powder - 6 Eggs - 1 Lemon + Zest - 1tsp Vanilla Extract (more…)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va (WVIR) - Researchers at the University of Virginia are looking for autistic teens and young adults to join their Learn to Drive program. WATCH VIDEO Participants use a video simulator to help them feel comfortable with the chaos of the road. It's almost like a big arcade game. But for some teenagers and young adults with autism, this simulator is actually their key to being able to do the thing many of us do every day: drive a car. To learn more about this program, watch the video above.

In a community like Naperville, many of us know a family that has a child touched by autism. With one in 88 children affected by autism spectrum disorder, early intervention therapy can improve the child’s outcome and finding the right therapist is the key to that success. Kiya Olson, 36, of Romeoville, knows that all too well. In 2005, Olson started Autism Service Providers & Beyond Therapy Pathways in her home. Since then, ASPB has grown to include five staff members and an office space in Naperville. Olson knew she wanted to work with children at an early age. “When I was 12, I got my first babysitting job watching a family with five children,” Olson said. It was that experience that lead her down the path to her career. After receiving a master’s degree in developmental psychology, the Naperville Central High School graduate returned home to start her dream. (more…)

There are roughly 500,000 adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) who have completed high school and/or college and offer certain attributes that make them better suited to high-level jobs like testing and debugging software than their neurotypical (i.e. not autistic) counterparts These characteristics include a heightened ability to focus, pattern recognition, attention to detail, and a high threshold for repetitive tasks. Approximately 80% of these ideal candidates for employment in an ever-growing field remain unemployed, largely because of social difficulties faced in typical work places. ULTRA Testing, a New York City based software testing company, however, is anything but typical. Rather than expect the candidates who are best qualified to adapt to uncomfortable and unpredictable environments, the founders of ULTRA testing devised a new business model that adapted the work environment conducive to allowing ASD workers to produce the best software product testing possible. Testers with Asperger’s or similar ASD profiles are given specialized training in a professional environment suited to their unique needs. Testers are teamed with managers not on the autism spectrum, who interface with clients and oversee project execution. The company believes this allows them to provide their clients with their best product, while providing opportunities for high functioning adults on the Autism Spectrum to excel at their jobs. (more…)

of 21 things NOT to say to a person with an autism spectrum disorder, compiled with the help of members of my facebook autism forum: 1. Shame on you. *It depends on the circumstance. Let’s say your child bit his brother. Calmly say “no biting,” and separate him from his brother. 2. How many times do I have to tell you? *No alternatives. Just don’t say it. Don’t you hate it when people say that to you? 3. Maybe (or maybe next time). *”Yes” or “Not this time.” You’ll notice I didn’t use the word no. I like to reserve no for emergencies, like when a child is about to run into the street. 4. If you are good all week, I’ll give you blah blah blah. *A whole week?? Even I can’t be good all week. Instead, give praise for little slices of time. If there is a chore your child needs to do each day, or a behavior that he needs to master, give them a star for a job well done. Once they collect a bunch of stars, they can pick out a toy from your secret toy stash. Mine had watercolor sets, small Lego sets and silly putty. 5. What is wrong with you? *Grrr…Don’t you hate it when people say that to you? Instead, try “It seems like you are having a hard time. Is there something I can do to help?” 6. Focus. *”Do you want to try this again, or do you need a break?” 7. It’s not loud to me. * We wouldn’t say that, would we? 8. I told you yesterday. *Just don’t say it. Repeat what you need to tell your child calmly. 9. Wait just a minute. (Unless it’s truly just a minute) *”I’m just finishing this phone call, and then I can help you.” Then get off the phone and help him. 10. I promise. (Unless you are absolutely sure you can do what you are promising.) 11. It’s not a big deal that your Pokemon cards are out of order. *Do you want me to help you put them back in order? 12. Look me in the eye. *(We all know this is a no-no) 13. Stop obsessing.(It’s like saying “stop breathing” to a child with autism.) *I know you like to talk about airplanes, and you sure know a lot about them. We are going to talk about something else for a while. 14. Idioms of any kind, such as “It’s raining cat’s and dogs.” 15. Shhh! You need to be quiet in here. (The guaranteed response to that is, “BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE QUIET!” at max volume.) 16. You need to wait. *(see #9) 17. You’d better behave. *See #4 18. Look at me when I am talking to you. *(see # 11) 19. “Go ahead and ______ . See what happens.” (sarcasm, however slight, is bad. Autistic or not. ) 20. It doesn’t matter, you still need to… *”Do A, and then you can B” 21. Do you want a time out? *Do want a break?

Nearly 60 percent of the risk of developing autism is genetic and most of that risk is caused by inherited variant genes that are common in the population and present in individuals without the disorder, according to a study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in the July 20 edition of Nature Genetics. “We show very clearly that inherited common variants comprise the bulk of the risk that sets up susceptibility to autism,” says Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD, the study’s lead investigator and Director of the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment and Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “But while families can be genetically loaded for autism risk, it may take additional rare genetic factors to actually produce the disorder in a particular family member.” Dr. Buxbaum and colleagues of the Population-Based Autism Genetics and Environment Study (PAGES) Consortium conducted a rigorous analysis of DNA sequence variations from an ongoing, comprehensive study of autism in Sweden. (more…)

 New after-school youth sports program in Canada brings golf to students with Autism TGA Premier Junior Golf together with Autism Ontario will impact and enrich lives SAULT STE. MARIE - TGA Premier Junior Golf (TGA), the global after- school youth sports enrichment program, will partner with Autism Ontario to teach the game of golf to 12 autistic students this summer. The TGA/Autism Ontario golf classes will begin on July 14 at Silver Creek Golf Course in Garden River, Ontario, and run for six weeks into mid August with plans to continue into the fall and beyond. TGA, new to Canada this year, has become a popular outlet for special needs and autistic students who get to experience and learn the game of golf in the safe setting that is their schools. TGA’s specialized curriculum, designed specifically for schools, has been found to be a perfect fit for Autism Ontario. (more…)