Autism Associates NZ

12/11/2025

10/07/2025

Let’s learn about cleaning teeth !
Apologies for the unedited beginning but thats sometimes what happens!

09/07/2025

I’m still seeing these little ones ….

17/06/2025

Here’s the thing :
Generalising tasks we teach at home or in the clinic based setting isn’t just going to happen all by itself.
If we want a child to learn we initially remove all distractions and make the delivery of the task as discrete as possible .
Nice !!! Done ⭐️
However it’s what happens next that consolidates that task achievement.
The “next”has to be away from the initial quiet space and then into your community setting - with distractions and variables overload !
Maybe it will simply be 10 minutes in your local library- or at mackers over some hot chips - or borrow an empty plunket room - just move those achievements into new spaces .
Without the village our achievements at home can easily be lost so this is a super important stage ⭐️🏆
Here we are at the local library doing all the things we did at home over this last school term

12/06/2025

Getting real

Autism isn’t always a gift. Sometimes it’s a lifelong disability that makes even basic things, like safety and communication, feel impossible.

People love to say, “Let autistic people be who they are if they’re happy.” Cool. My son Charlie is happiest running into traffic and eating drywall. Should I just cheer him on?

I get it “neurospicy” sounds nicer than “my child can’t tell me when he’s in pain.” But here’s the thing: Charlie isn’t less because he’s autistic, but autism does make his life harder. He can’t communicate beyond a few basic needs, and when he’s frustrated, it shows. Should I just let him suffer in silence because calling autism a superpower gets more likes?

Celebrating differences is great. Pretending profound autism isn’t disabling? Not so much.

Not all autistic people see autism as a gift. Some of us live it in ways you can’t wrap in a cute infographic. Charlie’s autism sure as hell isn’t a gift to him either.

“If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” Don’t speaking over those who can’t.

07/06/2025

Today I went through some photos - so many fun times with Liam . These are a celebration of all the hard mahi he has put in to his 1-1 ABA/PBS programs over many years . Being able to generalise his accomplishments at table top to the real world of outings and fun is always the goal . This kid is a super delightful one in a million star ⭐️

02/04/2025

Today we used our imagination and designed a shopping centre and hospital in a new city !
Lots of planning and flexibility for changes plus acceptance of what wouldn’t work !
A fun time 💜

28/02/2025

04/02/2025

Pancakes for lunch !
This measuring , mixing and flipping was a fun activity for sure !!!
In between the guys took turns on the Exercycle in 1km stints , getting up to 14 km between them
Awesome effort 💜💜

06/11/2024

A wonderful morning out at Taumutu dolphin spotting and enjoying the country life with the big guys 💜

07/10/2024

School holidays are the best 💜
Exploring our gorgeous forest walks and nearly reaching the sky !
Maybe the ice cream choice was the favourite part !

17/09/2024

Ludo 🎲
Rolling, stating the amount on dice , counting out the spaces, passing the dice and being a good sport !
Pretty sure you can guess who is winning 🥇