Life Style

How To Differentiate Between Defiant Behavior And Autism

If you have a child on the autism spectrum there have probably been times…

5 Ways To Help Your Child Generalize Skills At Home

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is an evidence-based intervention method used the treat children on…

Autism Acceptance: What It Really Means

April is Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month where we try to educate the wider…

5 Terms in ABA Every Parent Needs to Know

If you’re a parent of a child with autism, it’s likely that you’ve encountered…

brother wraps legs around sibling while they both laugh

3 Ways To Help Your Child Cope With A Special Needs Sibling

Raising a child with special needs can be a difficult journey for a family,…

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- Personal Blog Entries
- 19 September 2022
3 Reasons We Stopped Medicating Our Son’s ADHD

Six years after our son was diagnosed with autism, he was also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to focus, physically stay still, and control their impulses. We saw the symptoms but assumed they were due to his autism. It is important to note that there can be a concurrence of autism and ADHD. It is estimated that 30 to 50 percent of persons diagnosed with autism are also diagnosed with ADHD. Some symptoms we noticed were him having a very hard time staying still and was constantly jumping or spinning. He is unable to wait for long periods of time, so we travel with items to occupy him whenever we had to take him to places he would need to wait like a doctor’s appointment or an amusement park. He is impulsive and will run to items he sees and wants, or attempt to get to locations he thinks are more interesting without being aware of the dangers around him. These behaviors can be very disruptive and dangerous, especially at school, so we decided to seek help for him. After speaking with our family doctor, we were referred to,...
- Life Style
- 3 February 2023
Siblings Grieve Too. A Guide to Understanding The Grief Siblings of Special Needs Children Experience

Grief is a complex emotion experienced differently by different people. It is also a normal and natural response to the complexities of raising a child with special needs. Siblings of special needs children often face unique challenges that can be difficult to process and work through, especially when there is a lack of education and support for these siblings. This article will provide insight into the grief siblings of special needs children experience, and offer tips for working through it. When a child is born with special needs, their siblings often feel the emotional impact. They often feel a variety of emotions, including fear, sadness, guilt, and resentment. One of the first emotions that siblings of special needs children may experience is fear. They may fear that their sibling’s needs will increase over time, or that their parents won’t have enough time for them in comparison to their sibling. They may also feel overwhelmed by the responsibility they feel to help care for their sibling and become anxious about how their sibling’s needs will affect their own life and future. Siblings of special needs children may also experience sadness, especially when they compare their sibling’s life to their own. They,...
- Personal Blog Entries
- 9 August 2022
How To Overcome The “Shame” Of Having A Child With A Disability

This is our story of how we overcame the stigma and shame that came with parenting a child with a disability. We’ve all been there. You’re in public minding your business only to find people staring at you. You start wondering what the heck they’re staring at and start checking for possible reasons. Maybe there’s food on my face. Do I have toilet paper on my shoe or on the back of my pants? Is my zipper open? That can be a little unnerving and depending on the reason, very embarrassing. I used to feel this way when out with my son in public. While I was never ashamed of his diagnosis I was ashamed of the behaviors it came with. My youngest was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism and has stims and behaviors that cause people to stare sometimes. I used to feel like burying my head in the ground because I was sometimes ashamed and embarrassed whenever he had a meltdown. I am a massive introvert who hates attention, so whenever there was “bad” attention I got flustered and was more focused on getting outta there than giving him the response he needed at the time. This,...

3 Ways To Start Your Anxiety Recovery Journey

What Not To Say To Special Needs Parents And What To Say Instead

Three Ways To Manage Grief As A Special Needs Parent