by Ellen Doman As the days get longer and warmer, we are all finding ourselves looking forward to summer. As evaluators, we look forward to summer as well. This is a most wonderful opportunity to make truly exceptional gains with your child. So as you are trying to figure out how to arrange your summer,…
by Lyn Waldeck While there are many children on my caseload that I am very proud of, with this particular issue I want to do something a little out of the box. Rather than brag about a child, I want to share with you how incredibly proud I am of one of the mothers that…
by Vidya Guhan Most of us parents try to boost our children’s self esteem because we want our children to be confident and see themselves as highly capable. We want them to put their best effort into any task and face challenges head-on that come their way. We want them to succeed. So it should…
by Tamara Grosz, Ph.D., Mama Time – Southeast As a mother of a child with special needs I have sat on the sidelines for years excitedly cheering for children of close friends who danced in recitals, played baseball, basketball, football and of course–soccer! It is a bittersweet feeling, participating in these events, you are so…
Bob Doman The following story about Ross exemplifies the potential strengths of children who have been labeled as being within the spectrum and also the potential danger of labeling and classifying individuals. I proudly identify many of my good friends as “nerds,” a classification that I have often wished to be able to share, regardless of the fact…
by Cori Longfellow NACD mom and coach At 2 ½ our son Evan rarely gave us any eye-contact, and did not communicate outside of dragging one of us to the kitchen when he was hungry, repeating phrases he heard on TV, or echoing what we said to him. He could play by himself beautifully for…
In yet another study in the area of working memory and reading comprehension, evidence has been found to support the key role working memory plays in an individual’s ability to understand what they read. This study, completed by Hannah Pimperton and Kate Nation and published in 2010 in the “Journal of Memory and Language,” found…
by Ellen Doman It’s January, a rough time of year for parents as teachers, as well as for the kids. The holidays are over, and everyone is frequently stuck indoors for longer periods of time. It is, in fact, the most common time to hear about “burn out.” It’s a funny thing about parenting, there…
by Fatima Shaikh I am the mother of a lovely 12-year old boy, Usaid. He was diagnosed with Autism when he was 3 1/2 years old. We went through all the regular denials, nightmares, helplessness, and frustrations that all parents of newly diagnosed ASD children go through. As his language started developing with speech therapy,…
by Sara Erling “T was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder when he was 4. Before we started with NACD 2 years ago, he had a high-pitched tone in his speech and he was afraid of loud noises. He could not take the regular school bus because it was too loud. He was in a mainstream…