Art as a Language for Autism: Building Effective Therapeutic Relationships with Children and Adolescents (2023) Jane Ferris Richardson By Connie Gretsch MA Art Therapy, M Ed Art Integration, SLBP Special Education, Expressive Art and Special Educator Jane Ferris Richardson is an art therapist, play…

“Autism has truly become my superpower throughout life.” Britini D’Angelo By Ron Sandison Britini D’Angelo (Niagara Falls, NY), is a teacher, dance instructor, a fourth degree black belt in the Chuck Norris System, and was recently a contestant on Big Brother 23 (CBS). Britini overcame m…

By Amanda Ronan In my first years of teaching in the early 2000s, very few students had been identified as having Autism. Throughout my ten years of teaching, though, that number began to grow rapidly, as Autism diagnoses and awareness began to increase. I felt like I knew so little about how to hel…

By Leigh Marcos Loss and grief are a normal part of life. Explaining the concept of death and the grieving process to children can be difficult, and even more so when the child is on the autism spectrum. The idea of not being able to see or talk to the person who has died again can be very confusing…

Kerry Fenster talks about music and his program Songs About Us Music is the ultimate entity in any context. It’s a universal language, like math, or love – understood, beloved, treasured, played, performed, and enjoyed across every piece of this world. People in love have “their song”, armies have…

When we engage in the creation of our own art forms, we receive big benefits to our minds, both physically and mentally. When we produce art with our own hands, there is increased neural connectivity in the area of the brain that deals with introspection, memory, and self-monitoring. by Caileigh Fl…

New treatments, such as art therapy, are emerging to meet the pervasive challenges autism presents. Many parents look to art to help their child with sensory processing disorder (SPD) issues.. by Kate Lacour, ATR-BC In recent years, autism has been featured frequently in the news, and it seems that …

By Leigh Marcos, photos courtesy of Keri Bowers Art projects are recognized as effective forms of therapy to help kids who have a diagnosis of autism or other learning disabilities. The American Art Therapy Association and the British Association for Art Therapists recognize that art therapy fosters…

“Vibrant waves of sequenced patterns emerged in my head whenever I looked at musical notes and scores. Like pieces of a mysterious puzzle solved, it was natural for me to see music and its many facets as pictures in my head. It never occurred to me that others couldn’t see what I saw.” By Stephen S…

Suggestions on participation in theater productions By Parasuram Ramamoorthi, Ph.D. Drama therapy can benefit autistic children and adults. Drama helps the individual to realize his/her potential through acting out roles and engaging in creative play. Behavioral issues such as hand flapping, rockin…

My hope is that this blog serves as a cautionary tale to other young helping professionals that come in to the autism field. I hope that others may avoid some of these early career inadequacies because they affect real people. By Jenny Palmiotto Everyone has had those moments where they look back …

If all we do is try to shape the child’s behavior “from the outside”, utilizing techniques such as verbal commands, token reinforcements, intellectual validations and extinctions (“do you “understand me?”) and fail to “see” how and where in the psyche and physical body they experience stimuli and ex…