A novel type of speech therapy may improve the verbal abilities of children with autism who speak few or no words, according to a new study1. Children with the mildest autism traits and those who speak the most consonant and vowel sounds would benefit most. The therapy, called auditory-motor mapping…

By Allison Hill A few weeks ago Taylor Swift invited us to her concert and backstage to meet her.  We were so excited to get to thank her for Reid, Jacob’s service dog, in person.  Reid has changed Jacob’s life and our family life so so much.  I don’t think that she …

What a sweet story!Source: The Autism Site

More than 40 people wrote in asking Ellen to put Ben on her show.Source: The Autism Site

Prompts are ways we help our learners demonstrate new skills. We use prompts to get our students to greet a peer, flush the toilet, name the color blue, and clap their hands. Prompts are something we add to the situation because the natural or teaching cue was not enough to cause the student to resp…

Virtual reality can help typical people experience sensory hypersensitivity and other perceptual differences that autistic individuals describe. Host Ben Kuebrich reports. Read the related article here. The post Spectrum Stories: Seeing through an autistic person’s eyes appeared first on Spectrum …

The post How virtual reality is transforming autism studies appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

By Kimberly Gerry Tucker The children who visit me always ask to look for treasures with me. I am more than happy to oblige. I have shoe boxes filled with treasures: sparkly rocks, cracked hollow geodes, rocks shaped by nature like hearts, and the odd sterling silver half dollar; among other things.…

This is incredible news!Source: The Autism Site

Autism has a large genetic component, and the number of genetic variants implicated in the condition is increasing. People with autism may have their genomes sequenced as part of a study or for diagnostic purposes. And this process may reveal variants known to increase their risk for entirely differ…

Save 30% on select fidgets, weighted toys, and other sensory supports! Now through October 29th!  The post Super Sensory Sale! appeared first on Different Roads to Learning Blog. Source: Different Roads to Learning

Clusters of brain cells — so-called ‘mini-brains’ grown in the lab — may help researchers understand how large stretches of duplicated or deleted DNA affect the brain. One team is using the approach to look at the effect of two genetic variants linked to autism: duplication of 15q11.13 and deletion …

4th in the Happy Sawyer series By Nikki Mann  I suppose I don’t think of Sawyer as autistic any more frequently than I consciously acknowledge that he has blue eyes, or that his 3 year old sister whinges for most of the livelong day. So when I put his school bags on the same cushion of th…

He was nonverbal until he started watching the show a couple years ago.Source: The Autism Site