Archive for May, 2011

We know this sounds crazy but sometimes we get to meet rock stars. Not traditional rock stars, but people who rock our world. One of our rock stars is Mary Cushing. Mary is from the Speech Pathology Associates the inventor of the original Chewy Tubes, our most highly recommended oral motor product.

Chewy Tubes were originally created by Mary for a Jaw Rehabilitation program to help build biting and chewing muscles for people who had strokes or low muscle tone. Since that time they have been used by all kinds of people, including children on the autism spectrum.

We always recommend Chewy Tubes when a parent or therapist has a child that’s chewing or sucking on their clothes. The design is terrific. The handle has ridges making it easy to hold and the tube itself is not too long. The length of the chewy tube insures that the person will not gag themselves. If you have ever seen a kid gag on a mouthing product then you know why this is important- especially right after lunch! This is a major reason why we prefer Chewy Tubes over several other oral motor products.

Another great feature of the Chewy Tube is that it is a tube. The tube design really gives the muscles in the jaw good proprioceptive feedback. Proprio what? The muscles and tendons in the jaw get a good chewy work out! This is the only product that does this. We also often recommend the Grabber XT especially for VERY aggressive chewers, but the XT is harder and doesn’t offer the same chewy satisfaction that the Chewy Tubes do.

Anyhow back to Mary’s rock star status. Mary rocks because she saw a need and invented an awesome product to meet that need and we love that about her. It’s not easy to come up with something really good. Mary put a lot of time, effort and thought into what she created – and it shows.  Chewy tubes continue to help a wide variety of populations including children on the autism spectrum. So yay for Mary – you rock!

For more on Chewy Tubes watch the Chewy Tubes instructional Video.

By: Bonnie Arnwine

Did you know the fear of loss is big business? We see it every day with phrases like: limited time offer, while supplies last, this weekend only. Books have been written to help sales people develop and manipulate the fear of loss.  Unfortunately, this particular sales tactic can lead parents of autistic children to spend thousands of dollars impulsively on therapies, supplements and items that are neither therapeutic nor helpful for their child.

The fear of loss for parents of autistic children works on many levels. First of all, we know that the brain plasticity of young children with autism allows them to make large gains in a short amount of time. Many parents fear their child not get the proper therapies to take full advantage of this window. This can cause them to spend large amounts of money on any and every kind of therapy just in case it’s helpful.

The fear of loss also plays into the dreams that parents had for their children. All of us imagine what our lives will be like, all of us have unspoken or even subconscious ideas of how things should be. Often when a family receives a diagnosis of autism there is a tremendous sense of loss for the dream they had for their child. Many go through a very real and deep sense of grieving. These parents are very vulnerable and can spend incredible amounts of money impulsively trying to pursue their lost dream.

I myself have had to struggle with the fear of loss and wasted money on things I was promised would help my child. Many of these things only emptied my bank account and then when our therapists recommended additional items and treatments we were unable to afford them. I wish our story was unique, but I frequently talk to parents who find themselves in the same situation.  Taking care of a special needs child is expensive, and most families are constantly working with limited funds.

If you are considering a new therapy do your research.  Is it supported by any credible research, or University? Talk to your doctor or therapists.  Ask them what they know about the therapy.  If they are unfamiliar with the therapy ask them to do some research for you.  Most professionals have a vested interest in protecting their patients and some therapies are not only useless but could be harmful.

Researchers are learning more about autism every day.  However, there is no quick fix or cure as of yet. Believe me when a cure is found everyone will know about it.  In the meantime remember this: slow and steady wins the race.

Bonnie Arnwine is an author, speaker and the founder of National Autism Resources

Since many children with autism spectrum have a difficult time understanding emotions we offer several varieties of emotion flashcards sets. We often get questions about these items, so here is a little information about each of our emotion flash cards sets.

Stages Language Builder Emotion Cards: In terms of emotion flashcards sets, this set is the cream of the crop. This card set features 80 3.5” x 5” photo cards that depict various facial expressions and emotions. The nice thing about this set is each emotion is featured eight times by different people. These emotions are: happy, sad, angry, surprised and disgusted. This is very helpful for generalizing recognition of emotions. The set also features 40 more images depicting real-life situations and activities that elicit a wide range of emotions. On the back of these cards are suggested conversation starters that are specific to each scenario. This card set is very popular for intensive behavioral programs, home use with parents and early intervention classrooms.

People and Emotion Photographic Learning Cards: This emotion card set offers a variety of ways to explore people and emotions. This set features 22 photographs of emotions that moves beyond basic emotions and looks at more subtle emotions such as shy, grouchy, or worried. This set also includes 23 photographs of families from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. 23 photographs of children engaged in common school and social activities. 22 photographs of people engaged in common careers that children see in their community. This set also includes a resource guide with additional teaching suggestions, activity ideas and word lists.  This set is very popular in preschool and early intervention classrooms.

Emotions Flash Cards: This set features 22 high quality photographic cards that represent a wide range of emotions. Each 8” x 5” card features a close-up of a young child’s face. The common emotions happy, sad, worried and angry are each featured three times, which helps with generalization. Several other emotions are also pictured including surprised, scared, serious, bored and disgusted. The size of these cards also make them a nice choice for circle time, bulletin boards or other small group settings.

More Emotions Flash Cards: The More Emotions Flash Card set is a continuation of the Emotions flash cards. This set continues to show pictures of happy, sad, and angry as well as lots more emotions such as lonely, surprised, sick and nervous. Use this with the Emotions Flash Cards to create an extensive high quality set of flashcards that examine emotions.

Facial Expressions Flash Cards: This flash card set features 45 4″ x  5″ photographs of children displaying a wide variety of emotions and facial expressions. Close shots of children’s faces ensure that learners will focus on the facial expressions. Emotions include happy, sad, angry, surprised, as well as more subtle emotions such as worried, upset or bored. The discussion and story starters include guided questions that develop expressive language skills while teaching children how to recognize emotions in others, describe their own feelings and demonstrate empathy.

By: Kimberly L. Gallo

“He’s acting weird,” words of concern from me to my husband. “Maybe he has autism,” I blurted out of nowhere. Autism… What is autism? Why did I just say that word out loud to my husband? Especially since I have no idea what autism is?

This was the start of our journey; the word came flying out of my mouth and I knew it must have come out for a reason. It was then that I looked up the word “autism” online. The year was 2003. After finding a list of signs of autism on my computer screen, and seeing that our son had all five signs, I was convinced.

The same week of his diagnosis, our younger son was born. It didn’t take long to see that our new baby was more interested in the letters on my shirt than looking into my eyes. Here we go again.

I craved eye contact and smiles from my sons. It didn’t seem fair that I had to work so hard for what other parents got naturally from their children. So I set out to make joint attention my goal. I had my face in my children’s faces as much as I possibly could. I remember one time singing “Row, row, row your boat” to my 4 month old son. I was smiling and singing while he cried and tried to get away from me. I had the advantage though, he was not mobile yet.

Being a constant cheerleader was the hardest thing I have ever done and the most rewarding thing at the same time. When I got a shared moment of happiness, I felt like I was on top of the world.

Knowing how hard it is to create that bond between parent and child with autism, and knowing how vitally important the bond is, I was spurred into action to create a product that would make interacting with ASD kids something to look forward to. I wanted to make products for parents and educators that could bring out the laughter and the eye contact in a way that was fun for everyone. My husband and I created “Playtime with Zeebu” for this purpose.

First and foremost, Zeebu games, DVD, books, and puppets are tools that help parents and educators connect with their ASD children. The DVD and all of the activity books come with user guides and games that help parents facilitate joint attention. The Zebu puppet acts as a bridge from the video to the real world enticing children with ASD to want to play along with their parents and care givers. In the back of each of our activity books there is a section called “Playing Together Games”. This section has my favorite face to face games; games that my children still ask to play today.

My journey is not over; my boys are now 8 and 9 years old. Like most parents of children with autism, I am constantly looking for a new key that will unlock the part of their brain that autism has closed off. I take it as a challenge; I enjoy the hunt for the key because when I find the key that fits, when that door is opened, it will give me more energy and a purpose to tackle the next locked door.

A new book has just come out: How to Talk to an Autistic Kid.  Written by Daniel Stefanski, a young man with autism we think this will be a wonderful resource for classmates and neighbors who would like to befriend people with autism.  Recently we were able to ask Daniel a few questions about his book.

Daniel, everyone at National Autism Resources really enjoyed reading How to Talk to an Autistic Kid.  Why did you decide to write it?

I wrote the books so kids and adults can learn more about autism.  So people can understand why autistic kids act the way they do.  So autistic kids can have more friends.

There is lots of good advice in your book.  What’s the most important advice you could give someone if they want to talk to an autistic kid?

Be patient. Understand autistic kids are kids, too—kids who want to play, have fun, and have friends.

Do you have any special talents or interests outside of writing?

I’m a good golfer. I won a gold medal in Special Olympics golf last summer. I like to draw and create things. I want to go to an art or engineering college.

It’s so impressive that you wrote a book at the age of 14!  What are some of your goals for the future?

I want to travel all over the world with my family so I can teach people about autism. I want to play golf at lots of different courses. I want to learn about film production and computer animation so I can make movies and video games for kids with disabilities.

We’re excited to offer How to Talk to an Autistic Kid at our autism store!  Do you have tips to help people talk to autistic kids?  If so please share them on our Facebook page and you could win a signed copy of this book!