Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism at BlogHer11

August 12, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.thinkingautismguide.com Shannon, Aurelia, Robert, Julia Just one week ago, I spoke at the BlogHer11 Special Needs Minicon, joining moderator Julia Roberts from Support for Special Needs, speakers Aurelia Cotta and Robert Rummel-Hudson, and a room full of special needs community firebrands. I felt like the room was set alight by the rousing series of talks and full-room conversations about what knits the special needs parenting community together, and how we can best kick ass on our kids’ behalf. TPGA editors Jennifer Byde Myers and Liz Ditz made notable contributions to the discussion, as did TPGA contributors Laura Shumaker and Jen Bush, and TPGA friends Jen Lee Reeves and Ellen Seidman, and so, so many others (thank you!). You can check out the official transcript to get a sense of the session, but please know that said transcription is somewhat garbled and very much not verbatim. The…

Disability

I Want to Tell You a Secret About Autism Awareness

August 5, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.Squidalicious.com www.ThinkingAutismGuide.com I want to tell you a secret about Autism Awareness. I’m telling you because you have a stake in the autism community; whether you touch one or many lives, you can change them, you are powerful. And, like me, you care. You want to make a difference — for yourself, for your child, for someone you love, for someone who depends on you. And you can make a difference, you will, if you keep this cornerstone of Autism Awareness in mind at all times. Ready? Here it is: Behavior is communication. That’s it. That’s all. That’s everything. If you put your mental backbone into behavioral awareness, into trying to understand why a person with autism, or a person associated with autism, behaves the way they do — if you can make yourself truly aware of that person’s needs — then that is when the…

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Summer Strategies for Autism Families

June 20, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.thinkingautismguide.com www.squidalicious.com Summer. Now there’s a word that terrifies parents of school-aged kids with autism. We do not necessarily associate the word with “break.” For us, summer means potential implosion of carefully orchestrated school, services, and respite schedules — and the resulting scrambling and scraping to make new arrangements. My son Leo’s last day of fourth grade was Friday, and I am fretting. He is in such a beautiful space in his wonderful new school — progressing on his IEP goals, excited to get on the school bus every morning, arriving home trailed by email reports of successful, action-filled classroom days. Getting him to this point has taken months of routine-reinforced effort. I’m worried that summer will undo it all. Children with autism work hard to gain skills during the school year, and that learning can quickly slip away without ongoing, reinforcing learning opportunities. This means…

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TPGA’s Mission Explained, on HealthCentral.com

June 11, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

During IMFAR, HealthCentral’s Jeremy Shane inteviewed TPGA editor Shannon Des Roches Rosa about the Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism. Shannon talks about why we created TPGA, how our site and forthcoming book provide the “crash course” parents of kids with new autism diagnoses need (and which doesn’t currently exist), as well as the importance of finding positive role models, community, and information as soon as possible after an autism diagnosis. Jeremy also interviewed Shannon about Accepting Your Child’s Diagnosis, and on iPads & Learning Devices for Teaching Kids With Autism.

Disability

iPads and Autism Resources: Fundraising, Donations, Research, and Education

March 22, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.thinkingautismguide.com www.squidalicious.com www.blogher.com Leo playing Swapsies While so many of us are waiting for our iPad2s, many (too many) kids with autism and other special needs are waiting to get any iPad — any iPad at all. Families who want to buy iPads privately often don’t have the means (these devices are expensive!), and school districts and insurance companies often cite the lack of longitudinal studies supporting the effectiveness of iDevices in special education. To address both areas, I’ve been updating our iPad Apps for Autism spreadsheet with links to iPad Fundraising & Donations, as well as Research & Education links. I’ve pasted in the current listings below, but will be updating and expanding the list as more resources come in — or are brought to my attention (hint, hint). If you want to help a child get an iPad, look through the Fundraising & Donations…

Disability

Takeaways From The 10th Annual UCSF Developmental Disabilities Conference

March 14, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.thinkingautismguide.com www.squidalicious.com I had the good fortune to speak at at well as attend last week’s UCSF Developmental Disabilities Conference, thanks to the networking wizardry of TPGA contributor Laura Shumaker. It was an experience for which I am profoundly grateful — it exemplified The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism’s mission of bringing together parents, professionals, and adults with autism so we can learn from each other, so our community can become stronger and more effective. Though the conference covered more than autism, I am going to focus on a few autism-related takeaways. iPads and Autism Danielle Samson, MA CCC-SLP and Shannon Des Roches Rosa, MA My talk with crackerjack SLP Danielle Samson opened the conference. Danielle covered autism, iPads, and AAC devices from the professional’s perspective, followed by my perspectives as an autism parent, community member, and former educational software producer. It was on most points…

Disability

Bullying and Special Needs: Walk a Mile in Their Shoes

February 15, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon Des Roches Rosa www.thinkingautismguide.com www.squidalicious.com According to Tim Shriver, Chairman and CEO of the Special Olympics, FX is currently the only TV network that bans the word “retard.” Bullying of people with special needs remains entrenched, and insidious. According to AbilityPath.org, “Some reports estimate that nearly 85 percent of children with special needs experience bullying.” But it doesn’t need to stay that way. In partnership with the Special Olympics and Best Buddies, Abilitypath.org is launching a nationwide “Disable Bullying” campaign that will “engage a broad coalition of parents, educators, activists and policymakers to prevent and combat behavior that is widespread but has until now not been clearly documented.” Glee’s Lauren Potter and her mother Robin Sinkhorn are leading the call for action: AbilityPath has created Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, a toolkit-rich campaign report and guide [PDF]: AbilityPath.org is an online hub and special needs community for parents…

Disability

Interview: Rupert Isaacson, author of The Horse Boy

February 4, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Rupert Isaacson www.horseboymovie.com horseboyfoundation.org Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff were in crisis after their son Rowan was diagnosed with autism, because for Rowan autism meant constant distress, tantrums, and social isolation. His parents sought out the best help and therapies, but little helped ease Rowan’s dysfunctional autism symptoms until the family stumbled upon Rowan’s connection to horses and shamans, which then drew the three of them to Mongolia for “an epic quest for healing.” The Horse Boy is not just different from other autism books — in its depiction of a family who accepts their child for who he is while refusing to stop until they heal that which is causing his misery, it is unique. I was very inspired by The Horse Boy, by the fact that you sought out your son with autism’s strengths and interests and affinities in horses, in shamans — and did your utmost to…

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Interview: Vaccine Expert Dr. Paul Offit

January 31, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit is the author of the new book Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All. We talked with Dr. Offit about realities of vaccine-preventable diseases, the importance of herd immunity, just how contagious measles really are, why you shouldn’t have chickenpox parties, why neither he nor Jenny McCarthy are autism experts, why it is unethical to run studies featuring vaccinated versus unvaccinated children, and just how extensively the autism-vaccine hypothesis has been debunked. [update 2/1] Dr. Offit discussed many of these same topics during his 1/31 guest spot on The Colbert Report. What is your elevator pitch for parents concerned about vaccines and autism? I think raising the concern is reasonable. Children get vaccines, and for some children, the signs and symptoms of autism may appear soon after receiving the vaccine, so asking those questions is reasonable. The good news is that the question…

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An Interview with Seth Mnookin, Author of The Panic Virus

January 18, 2011January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

It is bizarre that claims linking vaccines to autism have persisted for more than a decade when they can be debunked by a sixty-second Google search. But, as investigative journalist Seth Mnookin explains in his new book The Panic Virus, vaccine facts can’t always compete with parent-, internet-, and media-generated vaccine beliefs. The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism talked with Mr. Mnookin about his book, about the risks of complacency regarding public opinion on vaccines and autism, the flaws of modern science journalism, why and how pediatricians need to step up their participation in vaccine education, the tragedy of an autism community divided, and why we need to keep blasting holes in echo chamber walls. —– Why did you feel compelled to write this book? It was not because I had a personal connection, which is odd because it’s such an emotional topic. But I was shocked at how people…