Insomnia and Autism Spectrum Disorder – Facts and Strategies

Autism Spectrum Disorder And Insomnia - The Facts And The Strategies For parents of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), bedtime can be a nightmare. Insomnia in those with ASD is considered to be endemic, with up to 80% of those on the spectrum regularly suffering from some form of sleep disorder. This compared to 20-40% among children who do not have ASD. Sleep issues include the following in children with ASD. • Difficulty falling asleep • Difficulty staying asleep • Early morning awakening • Short sleep duration • Erratic sleep patterns • Hyperarousal or anxiety around bedtime • Excessive [...]

By |2019-07-03T21:28:52-04:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Insomnia and Autism Spectrum Disorder – Facts and Strategies

Autism Social Stories: Preparing for a Grocery Shopping Trip

A mother of a child with autism wanted help preparing her child for a grocery shopping trip. The sensory stimuli from the bright lights, loud sounds, visually distracting shelves and / or crowded aisles have triggered autism related behavioral issues in the past. Like all moms with children on the autism spectrum, there are times when she does not have a choice and must bring her child to the store with her. She also does not want to isolate her child and recognizes that grocery shopping is an essential life skill. We applaud her efforts to prepare her child for the world. [...]

By |2018-12-23T10:53:40-05:00 |Blog|15 Comments

Autism Acceptance is Important

New program #lovewithoutwords, by Kulture City is helping improve autism acceptance. On the news, I heard about a new program that promotes the need for autism acceptance by an organization called Kulture City, a non-profit. Kulture City is trying to create a world where all children with autism can be accepted, included and fulfilled. If you follow Kidmunicate at all, you know that we dedicate a lot of time and effort to help children with autism venture out and try new things with our social stories. Our social stories teach children with autism, what to expect, what to do and how to [...]

By |2016-12-08T14:24:53-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Autism Acceptance is Important

Preparing for a Fire Drill Social Story

Fire Drill Social Story for Children with Autism and or Anxiety Disorders Did you know that fire safety and fire drills in schools have been around since the late 1800's? A false fire alarm caused a disorganized mass exodus from a New York City school in 1851. There was no fire, but 40 children were tragically killed in the chaos because they were not trained how to evacuate in an emergency. After this tragedy, many teachers took it upon themselves to show their students how to evacuate a building quickly and calmly, but it was not mandated. Finally, in 1901, the Governor [...]

By |2018-12-23T10:49:24-05:00 |Blog|4 Comments

Autism and Bowling Social Story

Bowling Social Story: Preparing your child with autism for a sport. We developed this bowling social story to prepare an active girl with autism to participate in a sport. We'll call her Lanie. Lanie's parents are both athletic. In fact, both played soccer in college. From the day that Lanie was born, they could not wait to watch their little girl play soccer. For the first few years of Lanie's life, all signs pointed toward an athletic future. At age three, however, Lanie started to show some of the signs associated with autism. By age four, when some kids start pee wee [...]

By |2018-12-23T10:31:34-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Autism and Bowling Social Story

Preparing for a Beach Vacation – Autism Social Story.

Prepare your child for a trip to the shore with this autism social story. We are currently using this autism social story to prepare a beautiful child, who happens to have autism, for her first beach experience. For the purposes of this post, we are going to call her Sandy. Both of Sandy's parents have really fond memories of their childhood summer vacations to the shore. They enjoyed the sun, sand and surf during the day and the sights, sounds and sensations on the boardwalk at night. It was something they looked forward to during the long days of [...]

By |2018-12-23T10:22:46-05:00 |Blog|1 Comment

Insurance Mandates for ASD Help Many, But Not All.

Insurance Mandates for ASD are good, but not perfect. Good news, all but six states have insurance mandates for ASD. More good news! These mandates have increased the number of children with autism spectrum disorder coverage by 12% - 17%. The bad news, too many children with autism are still not getting all the help they need. Why is that? Some mandates may not include all group or employee plans. For example, self-funded plans may not be included in a state mandate. Some companies self-fund health costs for their employees to save money by cutting out the insurance company. Note: Some companies with self-funded [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:52-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Insurance Mandates for ASD Help Many, But Not All.

Autism Social Stories: Preparing to go to a MLB Baseball Game

Autism social stories can help you hit a homerun with your child. We use autism social stories with great visuals to prepare children for new experiences. We also use these social picture stories for children with anxiety and/or sequencing issues. You might find them helpful too. A dad and his child on the spectrum come to Kidmunicate twice a week. The dad loves baseball and often wears a Phillies hat. He fondly remembers going to games with his dad as a child. He is hoping to take his son to a Phillies game for his 8th birthday. The dad [...]

By |2018-12-23T10:24:53-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Autism Social Stories: Preparing to go to a MLB Baseball Game

More Insurance Plans Will Cover Applied Behavior Analysis For Autism

Insurance plans for fed workers can't exclude Applied Behavior Analysis therapy anymore. All health care plans that cover federal government workers, will be mandated to cover Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has been encouraging, but not mandating, insurance companies to provide coverage to federal employees to cover ABA therapy since 2013. Currently, only 23 states offer federal worker health insurance plans that cover Applier Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for autism. That's going to change because the overwhelming evidence shows ABA is both clinically appropriate, medically necessary and quite effective. The results of ABA could not be [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:53-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on More Insurance Plans Will Cover Applied Behavior Analysis For Autism

Autism Social Stories: Preparing for an Airplane Trip

The power of social stories taking flight We use social stories with great visuals to teach children with autism, anxiety and/or sequencing issues. You might find them helpful too. One of my kiddos with autism is going on his first airplane trip for spring break. His mother is very excited about the trip and somewhat terrified too. Regardless, she's not going to deny her child a great experience. She's going to prepare for the worst and expect the best. The child does well on a set schedule and routine. He's prone to melt downs when he gets off schedule or [...]

By |2019-07-19T12:50:21-04:00 |Blog|22 Comments
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