Articles by parents or for parents with special needs children
Hi there! We are Desiree & Saiqa, moms of two beautiful boys on the autism spectrum! Parent support is something we both have been passionate about. A group where parents can be empowered to take the lead in their own…
When our child is different, there’s so much more we need to learn about parenting. Our first go-to will be to learn all we can about the diagnosis. We learn everything we can, so we can understand and provide the necessary support, intervention or therapy that they need to thrive. Whether it’s by reading books, attending courses or through community groups, we learn what we can, when we can.
PDA is a condition driven by very high anxiety. Therefore, the idea behind talking to someone with PDA is to deflect the request from yourself. Anything we ask from them, even if it’s as simple as "drink water" or "sit down" is considered a demand and is enough to trigger their fight or flight response. Here are 5 strategies on talking to some with PDA.
Children with autism are likely to suffer many more oral health problems, including tooth decay, gum disease and dental injury, than children without autism. Parents and caregivers can do several things to make oral hygiene and dental visits easier for their autistic kids.
I have been fortunate in many ways, to get support, help, understanding, love, kindness and many good things from loved ones. At the same time, there were many instances that I was totally unsupported. There were instances when I politely nodded and accepted help that did not actually help me
This is a combination of 3 pieces first published on Shao’s blog - Story of a Little Star . Shoa is a mum to an autistics girl who is knowns on her blog and social media accounts as Little Star. They are a SonRise family and Little Star is homeschooled. Shao shares some of their fun learning activities on her blog and social media account when she can. The following are 3 activities which Shao and Little Star had fun doing…
The 15th of May each year is PDA Day, an awareness day for Pathological Demand Avoidance which is currently understood to be a distinct profile on the autism spectrum. This profile is characterised by an anxiety driven need to avoid everyday demands and expectations and maintain control. Here is my story about how I came to completely change my approach to parenting, which may have happened so much sooner had my understanding and awareness of PDA come at an earlier point in our journey.
One of the most useful resources to me are the people who work with neurodiverse individuals everyday. They do this, because they choose to. This piece will highlight practitioners, what they do and their thoughts on stigmas around autism that need to be broken. This is the first of a 2-part series which will wrap up our series of articles themed “Breaking the Stigmas”, in April for Autism Awareness & Acceptance Month.
An augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device, is used to help non-verbal or minimally verbal people communicate. Augmentative means to add on to speech, while alternative means to be used instead of speech.
This piece aims to shed some light on a key stereotype and stigma on autism - stims! There are interventions which aim to stop stims, linking it to behavioural issues thus defining autism as a behavioural disorder. When behaviour is assumed as a “problem” interventions focus on “fixing” the undesired behaviour.
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