Autism awareness, like many other things, should not be limited to one month per year. We must continue to support each other and find ways to be inclusive within our own communities. One of the areas not often discussed or observed is what it looks like for individuals with Autism to find meaningful employment.

How people define inclusion is broad, but ultimately many describe it in terms of exclusion, so the challenge is to not focus on what it doesn’t mean, but what does it truly means to be inclusive.

What may have begun as just an outlet became a resource, providing a feeling of connectedness for many. These parents will be the first to share that they are not experts on autism, but they willingly offer their experiences and learns.

One way to help family and friends understand SPD is to try to use connections based on their own personal experiences. Begin to think about what your reaction is when you smell freshly brewed coffee or when someone vomits. Our brain sends a response that causes us to react. When I smell freshly brewed coffee it sends a signal to my brain which makes me want coffee.

April brings us to Autism Awareness Month. Children with autism are extremely amazing individuals and as this month begins, I am flooded with all the wonderful students and families I have been connected with throughout my career. You are there to not only witness the amazing moments but to see the challenges.

Educators continue to be placed in an impossible position. As I have stated in previous posts, our education system is in massive need of an overhaul and should not solely lie on the shoulders of the educators. We are asking and requiring educators to meet an insurmountable task and have to acknowledge the stress and pressure that causes. This will and has led to burnout.

I’m here to help and offer a variety of support options. Whether you need a sounding board to share your experiences or assistance in communicating with school, I work with you to develop an individualized plan for you and your child. The initial consultation is always free, so don’t be afraid to take that leap!

Let’s imagine how different the experience for our students would have been last March if schools would have already had a robust remote learning plan in place that accounted for a device, internet, and trained staff. Believe it or not, some schools were able to make this transition a reality as they had planned well before the pandemic began.

When a student continues to struggle with things like day-to-day readiness in the form of understanding their assignment notebook or assignments and homework within google classroom, have we assessed or reviewed why this keeps occurring?

Are you concerned about the progress of your child but do not know where to begin? The day to day grind of life presents us with different scenarios. For example, some parents get to the point of acceptance, becoming desensitized to the struggles and writing it off as part of life and learning. In other cases, every struggle is personalized, to the point of dreading their child’s homework because it has become such a battle. There is no right or wrong here, it’s understanding your reality in order to find a path forward.

It’s okay to acknowledge that life is hard and different right now and we are all trying to find our way through daily. Perhaps we could focus on grace and understanding instead of judgement. Maybe, instead of rushing to push our students back to what used to be, we embrace the different, focusing less on what we are missing out on and more on being change-makers.

All this talk across the country about “reopening schools” has me wondering, what does “reopen” really mean? Depending on where you live it means different things. Maybe it’s reopening schools to pre-pandemic standards or having students back full time but with the current safeguards in place?

Let’s commit to meeting our students where they are and not where we think they should be. We have to remember that not all children come to us with the same foundation and many will have significant gaps as a result of COVID-19 or were already experiencing significant gaps before the pandemic.

Parenting our children is one of the hardest “roles” I have ever had the honor to encounter. Having worked most of my career within schools, my experience had always been from the educator’s perspective. However, once we had children, I would join the other side of the table as a parent.

My area of expertise and pride point is focused around behaviors. I gravitate toward the students who exhibit the most outward of behaviors. It’s critical to understand that many students, regardless of having a disability or not, are communicating through how they behave. Really think on that for a moment and think of examples where you’ve seen that in your life.