Do not Judge me. I am smart. Do not laugh at me. I have feelings. Do not lower your expectations of me. I am capable. Do not feel sorry for me. I don’t want your pity.

Many times, individuals with autism have difficulty talking about different topics, making engaging others in social interactions a real challenge for some of our kids. If this sounds like your child or student, this may be just the strategy for you!

“Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone.”
-Martina Navratilova

Product Name: Wiggly Jiggly Ball
Recommended Age: Ages 12 Months & Up
Company Name: Achievement Products
Company Website: www.achievement-products.com
Company Phone Number: 1-800-373-4699

The following is a true story, when I was working as a TSS (Therapeutic Staff Support) worker in a public school outside Philadelphia in the late 1990's. It was my first work experience, having graduated with my undergraduate degree just a few months earlier.
“He’s the devil – just a bad seed,” said Daniel’s 2nd grade teacher, a seasoned “professional” with over thirty years of classroom experience. “I’d love to see where he’ll wind up ten or twenty years from now. He’ll be locked up by the time he’s 20. The kid will be a lifer.”

I absolutely love using positive intervention strategies to help reinforce positive behavior! Too many times (and over too many years), I have seen teachers verbally discipline students for inappropriate behavior (sometimes screaming at the top of their lungs), and while such a tactic may have its time and place (when and where, I'm not sure), it often, in the end, does little to change the behavior for the better. As a matter of fact, it often has the opposite effect.

Product Name: Moon Sand
Recommended Age: Ages 3 years and up
Company Name: Achievement Products
Company Website: www.achievement-products.com
Company Phone Number: 1-800-373-4699

In some of my earlier posts, I have recommended some ideas for visual strategies. The strategies I have suggested can be implemented at school, at home, at church, etc. This week, I would like to talk about a couple more visual strategies that have proven to be successful with some of the kids with whom I have worked in the past (and with one of the kids I am working with presently).

Leigh Attaway Wilcox, children’s book author and Editor in charge of AutismSpot, has blessed us with informative, inspiring, and heartwarming posts over the last couple of years. I believe I can speak for most of us when I say that Leigh has truly touched our lives in one way or another through her writing, and continues to do so with each passing week. Her ability to speak freely and openly about her personal experiences of raising a child on the autism spectrum is unprecedented, and her knowledge of all topics related to autism spectrum disorders is most impressive.