Coping With Autism

The Call to Advocacy for Your Child with Autism Accepting that your child has autism takes courage and a strong dose of faith — the ability to believe that the four-year-old who is completely nonverbal today will one day learn to communicate. ...

Facing Your Child's Autism Diagnosis Getting an accurate autism diagnosis is a turning point. In practical terms, it means that you can stop wondering what's wrong and start learning everything you need to know about your child's condition. Inst...

Autism is a developmental disability, which can be difficult for children to understand when they witness their peers, family members, or strangers who struggle to communicate verbally or interact socially. Opening up the conversation with your c...

Standing up for your child with autism isn't easy, but every parent can learn the skills to become a powerful advocate and help improve the system for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). One mother of a child with autism, and a legal exp...

If you have a child with a learning disability, you know how hard it can be to get him excited about schoolwork. Check out these tips and strategies from our readers that will help your child accomplish his goals, and encourage him to go that ex...

As a parent, learning disabilities can be tough to deal with some times. Find strategies to help cope with your child's disability, and tips to help your child manage in and out of the classroom. ...

The Autism Spectrum Disorder Grief Cycle Shock and disbelief. The first reaction a parent usually has when hearing the diagnosis, even if they suspected something was wrong, is disbelief. "There must be some mistake." "This can't be happening." ...

Addressing Issues Central to Home Life with an Autistic Child Toilet training. This can be difficult for some, easy for others. Some children who have sensory processing issues and poor muscle control may not "feel" when they have the need to ur...

Family Travel with an ASD Child Traveling can be trying even at the best of times when you have small children. Traveling with a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be even more of a challenge. Airports and train stations are areas...

Handling Family and Social Gatherings with an Autistic Child Over the years when we get together with other parents of children with autism, we joke that we used to have a social life and we have pictures to prove it! In reality, although it is ...

Asperger Subtype: "The Rule Boy" Having a set of rules to live by is the most important issue for this type. Once he has a set of rules to follow, there tend to be few, if any, concerns, except in areas where you have not yet established rules. I...

Teaching Basic Communication to Your ASD Child The first skill your child should learn is how to communicate. Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are verbal and are able to communicate effectively; others may have enough speech ...

Family Life with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders The sooner you realize that your family life will not resemble the Waltons', the better off you will be. Take heart from knowing that your family life would probably never have resembled ...

Asperger Subtype: "The Emotion Boy" This is the most difficult type to deal with because rules and reasons mean much less to him or her. Many of the Asperger children fall into one of the emotion types. Their emotions control their behaviors. If ...

Your Asperger Child: The Reasons Behind the Behavior You need to understand what your child or teenager is thinking, how he interprets what is going on, and how his deficits cause problems before you can begin any intervention strategy. Do not ru...

Your Asperger Child: Preventing Problems Rather Than Reacting to ThemSooner is better than later. Most people tend to wait until a problem arises and then attempt to deal with it through the use of a consequence. Consequences can be positive (gai...

Asperger Subtype: "The Logic Boy"This child or teen needs to know the reasons for the rules before he is okay. Blindly accepting your rules is not the way he operates. He wants to know the reasons behind your actions, why something is done a cert...

Diagnosis: AutismSurviving the Worst News You'll Ever GetQuestion: I saw my pediatrician yesterday, and she asked me if my two-year-old child was talking. I said he doesn't say a word yet. Then she asked if he played with other children. I said h...