The annual Family Cafe is an event where persons with disabilities and their caregivers can find resources and services as well as an uplifting celebration.Continue reading The 21st Annual Family Cafe: Connecting Resources to the Special Needs Community
Amy talks with Bethanne Weiss, author of Move Your Assets From the Chair Not the Bank, about the importance of self care for parents of special needs children.Continue reading Pod 09: Self Care for Parents of Children with Exceptional Needs with Bethanne Weiss
Minimizing autism strips away the hard work that a person with autism must go through on a daily basis.Continue reading Please Don’t Minimize My Son’s Autism
Most people with autism have a hard time just getting their thoughts out in an understandable manner. But my son has learned to script and that skill helps him communicate better than anyone would expect.Continue reading Scripting is My Son’s Super Power
Do you feel like you’re in a maze when trying to find resources for your child’s developmental disabilities? Don’t worry, we’ve got the 8 steps that will help guide you out of it.Continue reading Pod 08: HOw to Find Resources for Your Exceptional Needs child
Until you really NEED your insurance, it’s just kind of there. For the last several years of my adult life my insurance was just kind of simmering on the back burner. I neither loathed it or appreciated it very much. Now, as a mother of a child with autism, I do both.Continue reading To My New Insurance Company From a Mother of a Son with Autism
Amy share some practical tips in how to have a successful and stress-free birthday party for a child with autism.Continue reading How to Have a Successful Birthday Party for Kids on the Autism Spectrum
In this episode, Amy interviews Bobbi Barber, co-founder of ABC for Autism and author of the book Autism, Adolescence and Adulthood about the red flags of autism, why a diagnosis is so important and what course of action to take if your child does receive an autism diagnosis.Continue reading Podcast 07: Red Flags of Autism with Bobbi Barber
Amy shares how her fears of taking a recent family trip were eased when things went better than she expected.Continue reading Why Vacations and Time Spent With Family is So Important for Families of Children with Autism
Amy shares her attempt at trying to explain what autism is like from her son’s perspective.Continue reading My Autism Story
Every parent of a special needs child dreams about the future. What happens when your son or daughter turns 18? Who will take care of them? How will they live independently? Learn more from attorney Danielle Faller.Continue reading Pod 06: Planning for Your Special Needs Child’s Future, with Elder Law Attorney, Danielle Faller
In our childhood, we were taught the five senses: sight, taste, smell and touch. But did you know there are actually 8? That’s right! The lesser-known three senses are proprioceptive sense (sense of where your body is), vestibular sense (the way that gravity affects us) and interoception (how the body is feeling on the inside).
In this episode, Amy shares strategies and approaches she has learned from parenting a child with ADHD and Autism that would greatly benefit parents of neurotypical children.Continue reading Podcast 05: I Wish I Knew Then
I jotted down on a piece of paper several odd behaviors I recently noticed in my autistic three-and-a-half-year-old son. At first glance, these behaviors didn’t seem related. He never seemed hungry, thirsty, or sleepy. He was often under-responsive to pain or physical touch and overly responsive to the temperature in food and beverages. He alsoContinue reading Interoception: The Eighth Sense and Autism
In this episode, I share what it’s like to have a child with developmental disabilities who has ADHD or Autism. You more than likely will need to redefine normal for your family in order to accommodate them and be the best parent you can be! how having a child with a developmental disability, such as ADHD or Autism, means that you more than likely will have to redefine what normal looks like for your family.Continue reading Pod 04: Defining Your New Norm
Today my son lost something. It wasn’t a favorite toy or a tooth. It was much more important than that. He lost the diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).
Amy shares how a holiday meltdown turned into a holiday miracle.Continue reading A Christmas Meltdown Turns Into Christmas Miracle
In this episode, I dive into why saying no to what you know will be challenging for your child with exceptional needs is as important as finding and creating experiences you can say yes to!Continue reading Podcast 03: Saying “No” is a Big “Yes”
GeneSight examines a patient’s DNA, collected from a cheek swab, and analyzes how it interacts with certain medications and tests for MTHFR gene mutation.Continue reading Genesight and the MTHFR Mutation
In this episode, Amy tries to help parents of special needs kids move from thinking their child is just special needs, to believing their child is just special.Continue reading Podcast 02: Your Child is Special
In this episode, Amy shares the stages she went through as her son was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech, then Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and ultimately Autism Spectrum Disorder. Continue reading Podcast 01: At Peace
Amy shares a letter she wrote to thank the center where her son attends Applied Behavior Analysis therapy in hopes that parents of children with ASD will be more open to considering ABA therapy for their child.Continue reading A Letter of Thanks to My Son’s Autism Center
Using real-world examples, I share tips on how to prepare for a family outing with a child who has ADHD or ASD.Continue reading Planning and Preparing for Excursions
Amy shares how her son’s mand training in ABA therapy is increasing his independent communication skills.Continue reading Mommy, Cookie Publix, Please!
Dear Former Students with Exceptional Needs, It has been a while since I was your teacher, but there has been something weighing heavy on me that I wanted to tell you, and it’s that I am sorry. When I was your teacher, there were many things about you I didn’t understand.
There are many things you can do to support your loved ones who have a disabled child. Here is what parents wish others knew when their child was first diagnosed with special needs.Continue reading What Parents of Children with Special Needs Wish You Knew
Amy shares 10 things all parents can do to help create a positive childhood for all their children regardless of whether they have developmental differences or not.Continue reading Creating Your Child’s Childhood
Amy shares what to do with the ABC data once you have collected it to help replace undesired behaviors.Continue reading Using ABA Strategies at Home: Part 2 – Analyzing the Data
Amy shares how to use Applied Behavior Analysis strategies at home to help replace undesired behaviors in children.Continue reading Using ABA Strategies at Home: Part 1 – ABC Data Collection
“Their Stories” is where we will celebrate the “Big Abilities” of children with developmental disabilities.Continue reading Their Stories
Big Abilities 