Going to college is an exciting opportunity for students to defy expectations, discover new interests, live independently, and grow both academically and socially. All students that attend college deserve to have a safe and rewarding experience, including those with autism. OAR’s Finding Your Way: A College Guide for Students on the Spectrum was created to…
Deciding when and how to disclose autism is complex and personal for each individual with autism and for their parents, particularly when making decisions about school and in the workplace. For this Perspective column, OAR asked three people with autism, Peyton Berardi, Laura Guerro, and Ben VanHook, and three parents, Susan Berardi, Lee Guerro, and…
In this one-year study, “Examining Personal and Environmental Factors Associated with Community Participation for Adults with ASD,” investigators Dara Chan, Sc.D., an assistant professor in the Division of Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Mark R. Klinger, Ph.D., director of research at the TEACCH Autism…
As a parent, securing the financial future of your child with autism is an important concern. Public benefit programs can help your child pay for the things they need by providing financial assistance, nutritional support, and healthcare after high school. However, securing these benefits can be extremely difficult. Eligibility requirements are complex and confusing, vary…
In this piece, Serena Shim, sister of someone on the spectrum, discusses the novel that caused so much controversy in the autism community. Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a detective story about fifteen-year-old Christopher Boone. It received many awards as well as criticism by the autism…
This blog post has been adapted from “Chapter 6: Life Skills” of OAR’s resource “A Guide for Transition to Adulthood”. Often, the discussion of life skills includes relatively vague, bigger-picture traits, like “focus” or “critical thinking”. While these are certainly important to leading a “successful life” — whatever that may look like for you –…
OAR is hosting a free webinar that addresses problem behavior using a successful team approach on Monday, August 12, 2019 at 1 p.m. ET, featuring Jane Barbin, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA. Register now to attend the live, hour-long event, which will include the presentation followed by a brief Q&A session. Parents, other caregivers, clinicians, therapists, and…
Family vacations that involve a road trip can often excite more anxiety than anticipation. And that may be particularly true for families with a child who has autism. An inability to adapt to change and new things can make road trips harder for children with autism, but it doesn’t have to be that way. These…
The idea of ignoring dysfunctional behaviour was one of the hardest concepts I had to wrap my head around when I first entered the field of Applied Behaviour Analysis. I remember playing peek-a-boo with a client on my first day working in a clinic. When I paused the game to ask his instructor therapist a…
The transition from adolescence to young adulthood can create both anxiety and excitement for young people. For students with autism, anxiety may outweigh excitement as they may face greater challenges than their typical peers in attending college, navigating social situations, or figuring out a potential career path. To help reduce the stress and anxiety that…
