Forest Hills Autism and Behavior Consulting

A new blog post - asking a very important question.

Why? Picture this: Young parents are walking down the sidewalk with their preschool aged child. Suddenly, apparently “out of nowhere,” the child drops to the ground in tears. The parents stop and mak...

Last week, I had the chance to meet, listen to, and chat with Autism Daddy. His blog is an honest and personal account of his experience raising a child who is very significantly affected by autism (and epilepsy). He has sometimes been criticized for being "too negative" about autism, but he has been praised many more times for saying the things that other parents of "low functioning" kids are thinking. We hosted him at Kids Learning Loft, LLC and had a great turnout! The parents in the audience were captivated by AD's funny but serious approach to life. As with many things related to autism, the parents stayed late asking questions, sharing resources, and drawing on each other's experiences. Even when we locked up and got into our cars, there were parents still talking to AD on the sidewalk outside! This is the power of sharing and support - and Autism Daddy does it wonderfully!

I've got a new blog post - what does it take to be able to bring your child into new situations? It might be as "easy" as earphones, a timer, and some chocolate.

Forest Hills Autism and Behavior Consulting A Community Resource

A very nice summary of current research on early identification of Autism. Behaviorally-based diagnoses as young as 18months have better than 90% stability, so there is no reason to "wait" for children to be older before diagnosing (and entering into treatment). Also, scientists are beginning to understand some of the brain changes that may be happening in the early months and years, which could lead to a biology-based diagnosis. Exciting stuff!

ASD diagnosis is stable by 18 months: what clinicians need to know The high risk siblings research consortium tackles the issue of whether or not 18 months is too early for a diagnosis, and whether or not 18 and 24 months is...

This is a great annual event - focusing this year on Adults with Autism. It's affordable ($25), easy to get to on train (hey - all you CT folks) and subway, and guaranteed to be a day full of information!

Eighth Annual UJA-Federation of New York Hilibrand Autism Symposium Join us for a one-day symposium highlighting new innovations presented by major change-makers in the field. Building the future for individuals on the spectrum has never been more vital than now.

Today is Autism Daddy's birthday. He has a great blog that is sometimes funny, sometimes serious, and always honest. Check out the blog and his FB page! (https://www.facebook.com/AutismDaddy)

AUTISM DADDY I created this anonymous Page with which to rant about autism & celebrate my son "Kyle" :-).

A parent recommended this website to me last night. I have just started poking around in it, but it has some interesting features. The "Through Your Child's Eyes" function gives a brief 'taste' of life as a child with learning differences. The focus of the site is Learning Disabilities (not Autism, exactly), but there are some nice resources for parents. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Understood | For Learning and Attention Issues Help your child thrive. Chat with experts, connect with parents and get tips on parenting kids with reading, writing, math, organization, attention issues and more.

This is part of what I've been saying for a while - most, if not all, of the increase in autism diagnosis can be accounted for by changes in definition.

Majority Of Autism Increase Due To Diagnostic Changes, Finds New Study Almost two thirds of the increase in autistic Danish children results from how autism is diagnosed and tracked, found a new study in JAMA Pediatrics, lending more support to the idea that the apparent rise in autism rates, or at least most of it, is unlikely to be "real." That [...]

This is a very sad, no...horrifying...story. JRC is a horrible place, and it's a shame on all of us that it is still open. But a true DISGRACE for the NYCDOE that so many of our kids are here.

New York City Sends $30 Million a Year to School With History of Giving Kids Electric Shocks New York City kids make up the vast majority of the students at Massachusetts’ infamous Judge Rotenberg Center, and keep getting sent there despite repeated evidence of abuse.

What happened next? I'll give you the spoiler - things got measurably better for people with disabilities! Read to find the details of how Vermont accomplished this. Then....push local and state officials to make it happen where YOU live!

Vermont closed workshops for people with disabilities; what happened next? Bill Villemaire, 58, has been employed at the Sweet Clover grocery store for four years. Before that, Villemaire, who has an intellectual disability, worked for less than minimum wage in the last sheltered workshop to close in Vermont. (Photo courtesy Champlain Community Services)

I'm doing another workshop with Kids Learning Loft, LLC this week - targeted for parents, this workshop is called "Stop the Yelling: Find Success" Are you a parent who would like some tips on how to shift your discipine strategies? The workshop open to all parents, caregivers, and teachers! Click on the link below, and go to the bottom of the page for workshop information.

Workshops – Kids Learning Loft Sept 19th Workshop ABA- The Basics and Beyond 4.5 CEUs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's another interesting study on early markers/delays in babies at risk for an autism diagnosis. At risk infants are less likely to reach for and grasp items by six months old. This means that they are also less likely to get the social interaction that follows the grasping ("ooooh, what do you have? it's a spoon! ", smiles, etc). The researchers taught the babies the grasping behavior, but had very mixed results on the social development. This indicates the very early skills that may be delayed in children with ASD, and also the very complicated process of building the skills in.

Dr. Klaus Libertus, ASF Grantee, Discusses "Sticky Mittens" Study: Studying the Effects of Motor... by Klaus Libertus, PhD Research Associate at the Learning Research and Development Center University of Pittsburgh In a study published this week in the journal Frontiers in Psychology we were able...