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This is a Youtube channel that follows a family who has a child with Autism. They use their platform to battle the stigma of Autism and they have many videos. Some videos include the daily life of the family, resources, suggestions, and ABA strategies.

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"autism spectrum disorder" "diy sensory toys" "autism vlog" "fathering autism" "special needs" autism "autism family" "autism awareness" "autism spectrum"

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This is our autism family vlog. Battling the stigma of ASD (autism spectrum disorder) with a first hand look into the struggles, joy, and comedy of fathering autism. For even more content be sure to check out the Fathering Autism social media accounts and our Patreon page.

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This blog was created by a parent for other parents and gives advice on how to navigate life with a child with down syndrome. He talks about his story, provides resources, and different therapies.

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Last week I was eating lunch at a local Chick-Fil-A when I noticed a young women with Down syndrome working at this particular location. (As a parent ... [Read More...]

It's hard to believe it's been almost three years since Noah first started to school (and we wrote our first letter to his teachers)...time really ... [Read More...]

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Noah's Dad: A Blog About Down Syndrome With Videos And Pictures

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Last week I was eating lunch at a local Chick-Fil-A when I noticed a young women with Down syndrome working at this particular location. (As a parent ... [Read More...] It's hard to believe it's been almost three years since Noah first started to school (and we wrote our first letter to his teachers)...time really ...

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This website provides parent-centered information that provides news, and special needs information.

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Special Needs Jungle provides parent-centred information, news, resources and informed opinion about SEN, disability, children’s health and SEN politics

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Bloom Blog is a a website that provides multiple services to individuals with disabilities. It provides resources, education, personal stories, and has opportunities for families to get involved.

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BLOOM combines real family stories with the best expert advice, plus the latest news and opinion on disability.

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This website has blogs and podcasts with lots of good information for parents. They have multiple podcast to help parents including how parents should plan for the transition to adulthood.

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Thriving in the Midst of Chaos: Surviving Parenthood With Special Needs Kids

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In this episode, we discuss preparing for the transition to adulthood in teenagers with autism. Dr. Matt Segall discussed that it is important to realize that autism is not a disorder of childhood. He noted that although some teenagers may appear that they have outgrown autism, this is a not a disorder that people can grow out of. Usually, these individuals have learned ways to compensate for the difficulties they have, but work so hard to compensate, that they are exhausted by the end of the day. Even if they appear to function well, developmentally, they may actually be younger than their neurotypical peers.

It is important to plan for transition as there is a lot to plan for. It is important to determine what how to manage inclusion after high school. It gives us a framework for identifying where we see the student after graduation and entering the community, and to identify what skills are missing and take advantage of the years they have to maximize the years. A transition assessment can aide this process. A transition assessment should be focused on identifying where this individual going to live, what are they going to do vocationally, and what do they need to be part of a community. The answers to these should lead to goals to populate into the IEP.

Parents should ideally begin thinking about thinking about transition in 8th or 9th grade. This helps to determine they type of degree they will graduate with, the type of testing they will have. However, the school system doesn't often begin planning for the transition until the last year of high school.

There are numerous factors for parents to consider during this transition process, including your child's social skills, their adaptive behaviors, how they are as a part of the community, psychological status, safety, work, finances, health, independent living, self-awareness, self-advocacy, self-determination, continued or higher education, executive functioning, continuity of service, finding their passion and engaging in that passion, maintaining health insurance, the teen understanding their healthcare needs, and understanding community and social rules.
It is important when creating an IEP that functional aspects are just as important to include as academic skills. However, those aspects can be difficult to put into practice in the schools. The children need to be taught the social skills, practice them, and learn from mistakes. Dr. Segall noted that it is important to plan for the transition to make the most of high school, to teach skills, obtain feedback, to determine where we expect the child to end up after high school. This doesn't mean college vs no college. Some teens who are college capable do not have the desire to go to college. We need to be ok with this and assist them in finding the right path for them and create opportunities for them. We want to make sure we are taking into account what the teens want. There are multiple avenues for additional education if the child desires, such as technical schools, dual enrollment in high school, or an Associate's Degree. There are also nondegreed programs on college campuses where the teen could learn academics, social skills, life skills, and vocational skills. Inclusive education is incredibly important to both teens with autism and other teens.

Even if students are capable of managing the academic component of higher education, it is important that the teen is also capable of regulating and managing their day, planing their day, achieve their goals, be goal directed, and manage their own emotions. If the child doesn't have that ability, then these should be IEP goals so that they have a successful start to college.
Self-advocacy is a major factor. There are 4 critical skills everyone needs, the first being social skills. Self-awareness skills are very important and are the precursor to self-determination and self-advocacy skills. These skills must be taught in order to develop self-determination and self-advocacy skills. These teens need to be able to know and communicate strengths and interests, know their challenges, know how they see the world differently as a result of being on the spectrum, how the world sees them differently, and what works for them. Self-determination encompasses setting a goal, making a plan to achieve the goal, and having the intention to implement the plan to achieve that goal. Self-advocacy encompasses the ability to communicate about what you need, what you want, and what you would prefer to do.

To assist in preparing the teen for the transition, the IEP goals need to be their own and goals that they want to work on. In order to do this, the teen has to know their diagnosis, even this is uncomfortable for the parent or teachers. This can also help to determine eligibility for the program the teen wants to get into and working on that. It is then important to start working on these goals one by one. We have to realize that it can be overwhelming for them. However, transition will happen no matter what, so making sure everyone is prepared will set the teen up success. Having a support system for both you and your child can help significantly. Independent living skills tend to decline in those who are higher functioning, whereas those who have moderate functioning tend to improve in those skills, because people continue to work with them. Teens can experience anxiety or depressive symptoms around this time, and they may not have the coping skills or communication skills to use a strategy or reach out for help. Poor outcomes in school and work are devastating to them, but are avoidable with good planning. Therefore, the goals should always be about creating or maintaining opportunities for the student.

Parents can cope with this transition by engaging more heavily in the planning process. Toolkits on Autism Speaks about everything related to coping, transitions, and even diagnosis. Connecting with other families helps to not feel isolated during this process. It is important to set up small successes and reinforcing how well the child did with that task. It is important to focus on the positives in the situations, as best we can.

Links:
Think College
Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction
Transition Tool Kit
Waisman Center
OCALI
VCU Autism Center For Excellence
Vocational Rehabilitation
Emory Autism Center Education and Transition Services
Organization For Autism Research
OAR Finding Your Way: A College Guide For Students On The Spectrum
Email us if you have any questions or ideas!
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Please subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store, or wherever you find your podcasts, Leave us a 5 star review, to help us know what you like and what you don't like, and to make sure other like-minded people find support through this podcast.

Show Music:
Intro Outro: Intro Outro 2 by Mattias Lahoud under CC-BY 3.0 License (www.freesound.org)
Theme Song: 90s rock style by monkeyman535 under CC-BY 3.0 License (www.freesound.org)
Self Care Song: Green and Orange No Water by Duncan Alex under CC-BY 3.0 License (www.freesound.org)

Hosted by: Jessica Temple and Lewis Temple

Disclaimer: Our show is not designed to provide listeners with specific or personal legal, medical, or professional services or advice. Parents of children with health issues should always consult their health care provider for medical advice, medication, or treatment.

Copyright 2020 Jessica and Lewis Temple

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33. Planning for Transition To Adulthood With Autism With Guest Dr. Matt Segall

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In this episode, we discuss preparing for the transition to adulthood in teenagers with autism. Dr. Matt Segall discussed that it is important to realize that autism is not a disorder of childhood. He noted that although some teenagers may appear that they have outgrown autism, this is a not a disorder that people can grow out of.

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This is another Youtuber who blogs about her journey with her kid who has Autism. She has multiple videos to help guide parents and offers advice.

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"coming home to autism" autism "tara leniston" asd "family vlogs" vlogs "autistic family" "autistic teenager" "autism sibblings" "autism mum" "autism mom" "f...

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Award-winning Vlogger. Mama of three and author of Coming Home to Autism. With the vision to bring autism into the main stream, lifting the stigma of what it's like to live with a child with autism. We want to lift up and inspire other families who are walking the same path.

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This YouTuber posts about her daughter who has Autism and this video shows sensory toys from dollar tree that can be affordable. The YouTuber posts many videos about her journey and offers helpful advice.

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SENSORY TOYS For Toddlers | Dollar Tree Shop With Me

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This blog is from Terri Mauro that wrote the book 50 Ways to Support Your Child's Special Education. Her blog offers lots of advice for parents. She talks about IEPs, jobs, and more.

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Parenting isn't pretty ... but it's usually good for a laugh.

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This blog follows the journey of a mom and her son who has cerebral palsy. She had blogs with suggestions as well as what has been a great help for her and her son. She has blog about tools that she uses also.

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Max, as you may have heard, has his heart set on moving to Los Angeles. He likes warm places, and he has fond memories of few trips we've made there. Since he can't visit L.A. these days, he consoles himself by talking about it nonstop. He recently watched La La Land and has declared it to be his favorite movie. It also makes him feel good to go by L.A. time, three hours earlier for us. (If we tell him he has to go to sleep at 10:00, he'll say "No, 7:00!") Last week, Max figured out yet another way to bring L.A. to N.J.: Get into that California chill mindset.

My sister-in-law, Emily, is a yoga teacher who owns Sun Moon Yoga and Healing in Long Branch, NJ. She's been offering private classes during the pandemic, and runs small school pods, too. Max got it into his head that he needed a yoga session with her. He booked a date for Saturday, and texted the speech therapist who he usually sees on Saturday mornings that he needed to have his session with her on Friday instead. That worked out.

Saturday, Max and Dave took off for his yoga rendezvous. They met at Emily's sun-filled studio and for 45 minutes, they yoga-ed. Dave sent me photos and I literally could not believe my eyes. Max is used to yoga from doing it at school over the years. He'd never seemed that into it but there was Max clearly loving it. He even took off his Fire Department of Los Angeles baseball cap, which he typically only does to shower or sleep.

Emily did a series of slower moves. She spoke about Los Angeles, the beach and relaxing. Instead of the "tree" pose they did the "palm tree" pose (much more L.A.). There was a bit of physical therapy thrown in there, too.

LOOK AT THOSE HANDS RAISED ABOVE HIS HEAD!!!
I'd say that deciding you are going to have an L.A. state of mind when there's no other escape from the chilly realities of New Jersey and the pandemic is pretty darn smart. It's maturity. It's progress, the kind you'd never read about in a developmental book or hear about from a doctor. I know adults who don't know how to make themselves content like this.

Max was grinning when he got home. For the rest of the weekend, he talked about doing yoga with Emily. Last night, he was hanging out in his Max cave (aka the basement) when he texted Dave that he wants to do yoga every Saturday and would that be OK?

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Another developmental milestone experts never mention

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Blog about kids with disabilities, blogs for parents of kids with special needs, best disability blogs, best special needs blogs, parenting special needs, kids with cerebral palsy, teens with cerebral palsy, kids with developmental delays, cerebral palsy bloggers, developmental delays

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This blog focuses on laws pertaining individuals with disabilities. It has tabs for IEP's, transitions, training, and more. This is a great resource for parents when they need more information.

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The Wrightslaw Way | to Special Education Law and Advocacy

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The Guidance Counselor ignored our parental consent form and conducted tests on our daughter against our written instructions, even though she signed the form acknowledging our wishes and concerns. Our Continue Reading →

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americans with disabilities education act

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individuals with disabilities education act

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The Wrightslaw Way Wrightslaw Way to Special Education Advocacy

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The Guidance Counselor ignored our parental consent form and conducted tests on our daughter against our written instructions, even though she signed the form acknowledging our wishes and concerns. Our Continue Reading →

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This blog consist of many parents who share their story and their journeys. There is a lot of good information in this blog that can help support parents. There is a blogs that provides parents with resources for their children school issues, healthcare, mental health, and family support.

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grassroots support for parents of kids with special needs

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This blog is by Lisa who has a son with Autism. She has multiple blogs about her family and her experiences. She has a blog on how to prepare for an IEP, tools that she uses, and how she balances her work and being a parent of a kid who has special needs.

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Atypical Familia is a personal blog & resource site for Typical Parents raising Extraordinary Kids. We focus on autism parenting, special needs travel, work/life balance, family entertainment and more. This is parenting from a unique perspective.