Shana Nichols, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and researcher at the North Shore/Long Island Jewish Fay J. Lindner Center for Autism. She has worked in the field of autism spectrum disorders and child development for over 10 years and currently specializes in adolescence and growing up, dual diagnosis and mental health issues, and the…
Shayna Guenther is the co-founder and co-director of Learning 2 Play, Inc., a social skills center, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has nine years of experience implementing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with children and youth with ASD. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with Masters in ABA and is a Board Certified…
Our son, Alex, is a happy 12-year-old boy who is beginning his fifth year of transitioning into our school district. Helping their children with autism make the transition to a neurotypical world is exactly what most parents have been trying to do since they got the diagnosis of autism. For us, it began with trying…
Summary: Taylor and colleagues choose to address the issue of personal safety and learners with autism by investigating the efficacy of an instructional protocol designed to teach adolescent learners to seek help when lost. The students who participated in the study were three adolescents (two females; one male) with a previously established diagnosis of autism…
The ‘Perspective’ column provides readers of The OARacle a firsthand account on a range of topics related to autism from someone affected by a developmental disorder. This month’s features an article about Summer Living with Autism by Liane Holliday Willey, Ed.D., originally published in the May 2005 issue of The OARacle. Just as summertime is…
With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, all thoughts turn to summer. It’s the time of year when we kick back, take time to relax (or at least slow down), and enjoy outdoor activities. As I reflect back on my summers as a child, one activity in particular stands out above all others…
For many of us, autism spectrum risk and safety management is a daily concern. We now know that with the increase in autism diagnoses, there is also a corresponding increase of autism-related contacts with law enforcement, community safety and juvenile and criminal justice organizations and professionals. Across the nation, autism advocacy organizations are increasingly addressing…
This article describes a pilot program focused on transitions that adolescents with autism spectrum disorders experience conducted by the Families for Effective Treatment of Autism of Washington. OAR’s President, Dr. Peter Gerhardt, served as a consultant to the project. While set in the Seattle area, it illustrates a programmatic and collaborative approach toward successfully teaching…
Over the past 10 years, much has been written about facilitating social skill development in persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Intensive efforts to teach social skills from very young ages have made the newest generation of young people with ASD more socially aware and skilled than the previous generation. However, the onset of adolescence…
Note to readers: In each issue of The OARacle, we provide a helpful resource on a topic of interest within the autism community. This month’s article focuses on Educational Services for Children with Autism. Special thanks to Dr. Anita Breslin, Psy.D., BCBA for her contribution. It is currently estimated that approximately one in 166 children…
