Reviewed by Jennifer Minnelli, M.S., CCC-SLP Coloring Outside Autism’s Lines: 50+ Activities, Adventures, and Celebrations for Families with Children with Autism by Susan Walton I have finally found the book the School Psychologist was supposed to hand me when they gave us my child’s murky neurological diagnosis of Borderline Asperger’s and Sensory Processing Disorder. Susan Walton’s Coloring Outside Autism’s Lines is a must-have for anyone who finds themselves at the intersection of social inclusion and the company of actual people. It is operating instructions for parents of sensitive, quirky, and differently-abled children. With her proactive and practical suggestions for how to keep your quirky child entertained and engaged in a variety of real-life situations, Susan Walton deserves honorary degrees in Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Child Psychology. Her skillful way of supporting and encouraging grieving parents to push on and pursue family dreams makes her also one part…
Tag: Jennifer Minelli
Jennifer Minnelli, M.S., CCC-SLP www.autismsphere.com The grief process, for a parent coming to terms with having a child with special needs, differs from the grief process that one might undergo with the death of a close family member. At a certain point, with a death, there is the finality of the headstone, and the cold absence of that dearly beloved person. However, with a child with special needs, parents and siblings can cycle through the different parts of the loss, depending on what is going on developmentally with the child, and what is going on within the family or the community. Here are some examples of the Stages of Grief (Kübler-Ross) married with my own personal self-talk: Denial: “This is not my child. She can do what you’re asking, under the right conditions. No way is my child in the same developmental category as that. I completely disagree with the…