Our children with ASD love their routines. They tend to get a bit obsessive or fixated on things. I don’t know about you, but this often drove me crazy! My son liked having the same routine every single day and if things didn’t go the way he thought they should, then it resulted in a tantrum/meltdown. Of course, as a behavior analyst I knew this would happen. However, as a parent, it was frustrating.
Read MoreIt is scary to think of the day when you will finally need to have that hard conversation with your child/teen regarding their diagnosis. As a clinician, parents often ask, when is it okay to disclose to their child that they have ASD? How should they do it? They often ask, how did I do it? The reality is that it depends: some kids will realize that they are a bit different and will begin to question “why?”, while others will be completely unaware of their differences. What I often tell parents is to gauge their child’s maturity level and understanding.
Read MoreI know that we all have questions about how to parent a teenager: how are we going to make it through these teenage years? Will we have our sanity at the end of the road? What can I do to set up my kids for success? What if my kid gets bullied? Will they have friends? And most importantly, will our kids end up being productive adults?
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