When it comes to supporting individuals with disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) can be an invaluable tool in understanding and changing behavior. More than a technique or method, ABA is a disciplined approach rooted in science to teach specific skills and then reinforce them so individuals can…

Many young children display some sort of picky eating. Although most children's diets will eventually consist of an adequate number of foods, some children's diets may not change without intervention. Children with limited diets typically have difficulty consuming new foods because they have some stomach discomfort, have limited oral-motor skills,…

For most children, the developmental stage of exploring the world by putting everything, food and non-food items, in or around the mouth begins at birth and ends around 18 months of age. However, for those with developmental disabilities, this tendency may last into adulthood with the ingestion of non-nutritive, non-food items, a disorder called…

How do schools address safety issues, discipline students, and provide effective instruction? These are questions parents and educators need to answer together. Parents of children whose special needs put them at risk for being bullied worry about the school's ability to protect their vulnerable children. Conversely, parents of children who…

With the increase in the numbers of diagnosed children on the autism spectrum, schools are being challenged to provide proper educational services for these children. In Educating Children with Autism, the National Research Council recommended that educational programs for students with autism include three basic components. These are direct…

In this article, the author shares his journey with autism which began when his son, David Braxton Hughes Lowe, was diagnosed in September of 2005. It was the confirmation of suspicions that he had had since he was about a year old. As a father and a physician, this was a particularly disheartening sequence of events. Over the next few months, he…

Severe behavior disorders are among the most perplexing conditions encountered by clinicians, and as a front page article in the past Christmas Day's "New York Times" illustrates ("Parents defend school's use of shock therapy"), treatment options remain a topic of contentious debate. Not all that long ago physical restraint was the only option,…

More than 400 children with a physical and/or mental challenge visit the Curacao Dolphin Therapy and Research Center (CDTC) for dolphin-assisted therapy every year. Dolphin therapy appears to be the right approach for many children. With the help of these special and very social animals, it is easier to make contact with the children. It motivates…

Bullying can happen to any child, especially one who is perceived as "different" or who isn't prepared to respond effectively. Children with disabilities can be especially vulnerable to bullying; in fact, sometimes children are bullied specifically because of their disability. Upon discovering that their child is being bullied, parents often feel…

Contrary to popular opinion, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not just about hyperactive people who have short attention spans. ADHD is a disorder that involves difficult problems on a wide range of "executive dysfunction," a wide range of co-occuring conditions, and family problems. People need to recognize that ADHD is not just…

In schools and residential programs across the country, individuals with disabilities are victims of "aversive interventions" which are used to control challenging behaviors. This means that painful or dehumanizing procedures are used in response to behaviors that are judged to be unacceptable. Aversive procedures include the use of electric…

At Camelot Schools there is a firm belief that every child with autism is a success story waiting to be told. Children with the disorder often have difficulty expressing their needs and engaging in social contact with others. It is important for parents to know that progress is possible, and they do not have to go it alone. Camelot Schools'…

The journey children make from tube feeding to oral feeding is personal for each child and family. There is a sequence of predictable plateaus that children climb as they move toward orally eating. By better understanding this sequence, parents and children can maximize the development, learning, enjoyment and confidence at each plateau. The…

In this article, the author, a graduate student in special education, relates how she got her daughter with special needs to do homework. Her daughter's temper tantrums, when asked to do her homework, ruined the whole evening for their family. The author describes her daughter's homework intervention program which she developed and implemented.…

One for Autism is a thriving and ever-growing facility for children with autism and other developmental delays. One for Autism, Inc., umbrellas One for Autism Academy, which offers a classroom setting, as well as One for Autism Center, which provides one-on-one comprehensive therapies, including behavioral therapy, occupational therapy and speech…