by Janine Little, as told to Iliana Clift It breaks my heart to say it, but before we started the NACD program Luke was like a wild animal. He dashed here and there, climbed on tables and cabinets, jumped off and started all over again. He rocked precariously on the seat and back of a recliner while watching television, lined … Read More
by Joanna May, as told to Iliana Clift Existing in survival mode—day… after… day… after… day—is downright exhausting. This was my reality. My son screamed incessantly, hid under the kitchen table, refusing to come out for an inordinate amount of time; played for hours with spinning wheels, or stared dreamily as “Dora the Explorer” and “Thomas the Tank Engine” flickered … Read More
by Carol Estrada Bruce Haslam, PhD, Director of Research for The NACD Foundation, along with Tamara Knapp-Grosz, PhD, Director of Counseling and Support Services at Savannah College of Art & Design, presented “Brain Change: Simple Interventions to Dramatically Improve Student Functioning” at the 45th Southeast Conference of College Counseling Center Personnel held on November 5-7th in Chattanooga, TN. The presentation … Read More
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 I work with. Since this … Read More
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 proud of your friend’s child … Read More
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 that if they were children today … Read More
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 hours, but would throw huge … Read More
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, we discovered he was advanced … Read More
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 classroom but got pulled out … Read More
John was talking at 9 months old, saying “stop” at each stop sign we passed on the road, and saying “clock” as we passed his favorite large clock on a building near our home. He waved goodbye to his favorite babysitter at 8 months old. He walked at 12 months old. Then he began his fall into the world of … Read More