Educational programs for the special needs community in and around Los Angeles.
Social Cipher: A Video Game Galaxy of Social Skills
As a neuroscience major at Claremont McKenna College, Vanessa Gill began developing a video game for children ages 6-12 with autism. Her goal: find a dynamic way to teach social skills. Gill, who graduated in 2018, credits her diagnosis at age 14 with Asperger’s syndrome (now considered part of the autism spectrum) with giving her the ingenuity she used to reach this goal. “Having Asperger’s has been a gift in...
The Second Birth: Navigating the Transition to Adulthood when Your Child has a Disability
When my daughter, who has autism and is deaf, turned 18, it felt like I was giving birth all over again. The emotional pain of transitioning her to adulthood mirrored the physical pain associated with childbirth. I positioned myself for a new realty. The process of transitioning a child with a disability into adulthood is challenging, but there are specific things that you can put in place to make the...
Understanding Your Child’s IEP Transition Plan
Caps and tassels. Flashy helium balloons. Bags of confetti. Sappy greeting cards. Scroll-toting teddy bears. We all know when graduation season hits, and even if you don’t have a graduate in your life, the sight of these celebratory symbols might spark a sense of excitement and nostalgia within you. But while reaching such milestones is heralded as marking the beginning of a young adult’s life, this transitional period can also...
Teaching Interactions: Social Skills Tips that Parents can Use at Home
In our Play and Social Skills Groups at Our Village, the South Bay nonprofit I direct, we strive to include mentors or “advanced players” that are a good match for the “novice players.” Another research-based technique we use is called a Teaching Interaction, a tool for teaching social skills to children in play groups, ABA treatment and counseling settings. Parents can also use this simple, powerful, easy-to-implement technique. Once you have...
Making a Smooth Transition Back to School
Back to school time is coming and it’s time to get your child – and yourself – ready. This is especially true if your child has a learning difference or developmental disability. L.A. educational consultant Victoria Waller, Ed.D., says summer is an easier time for all families. Bedtimes and other rules are relaxed, the schedule is lighter and maybe there has even been a family vacation. But about two weeks...
USC Seeks Help with Studies of Assistive Robots
USC researchers are looking for families to help with two studies they are conducting to find ways that robotics technology might benefit children on the autism spectrum – or those with other disabilities. The first study looks at ways that robots might help promote development in infants with or at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders. All babies explore the space around them and learn about the effects of the movements...
A New ‘Army’ of Chess Players
Children of all ages often yearn to have control over something in their lives, whether that’s what to eat for breakfast or what to wear to school. Kids on the autism spectrum, and those who have ADHD, also yearn for social connections. Kids To Kings, a chess tutoring program, uses the game to transform children into kings, giving them ultimate control over their “army” on the board and helping them...
A Unique Academy Helps Kids on the Spectrum Transition to Adulthood
When you imagine the future for your child on the autism spectrum, do you imagine her or him using computer guided tools to create precision metal parts for aerospace companies? Maybe you should. In 2013, an organization called the Uniquely Abled Project sought to find out what people with developmental disabilities were good at. How are these folks “uniquely abled”? The answer they found was that many were good at...
Support Your Child’s Development With Sensory Play
From birth all the way through childhood, children use their senses to build nerve connections and make sense of the world around them. Sensory input provides children with the necessary brain feedback to develop their gross motor, fine motor, language, social emotional and even cognitive skills. Because of its important role in development, sensory play is vital for every child. Unfortunately, with the increase in technology usage and our busy...
Connect and Communicate With these Three Strategies
Melissa Reiner knows about talking to kids. Asked what she does, the oldest of her three sons, who’s 10, says, “She uses this special way of speaking. I didn’t like it at first, but it really works.” The founder of Bridging Pathways, Reiner uses these talents to help kids and families throughout Southern California who are dealing with the challenges posed by autism. She offers these three strategies for improving...
For Jewish Kids With Disabilities, a New Learning Option
Chaya Chazanow and Sarah R’bibo have a lot in common. They are moms, they have kindergarten-age children with disabilities, they are Jewish – and they found what L.A. public schools were offering their kids just wasn’t enough. “It was always a fight to get what he needed,” Chazanow says of her 5-year-old son, who was born with a rare genetic disorder. What’s more, there were no Jewish schools in the...
Tackling Four Common Misconceptions About Dyslexia
While research over the years has continued to yield much information about dyslexia, the learning disorder is still easily misunderstood. These misconceptions can lead to ineffective approaches to learning, doing a disservice to those with the disorder. Debunking some of the myths surrounding dyslexia can lead to better outcomes for everyone involved. Here are the facts about four of the most common misconceptions about dyslexia: Misconception: Dyslexia is a visual...
Inclusive Schools in LA: Where All Learners Are Welcome
Sometimes, parents know from the time their child is young that she or he will need more support than a typical school setting can provide. Others may not discover learning challenges until a student gets older and assignments become more demanding. Whether they are just entering the school system or looking to find a better fit for upper grades, L.A.-area families can access a variety of programs to help their...
Robotics Startup Creates Companion Helpers for Kids
In a bright co-working space in a building in Old Pasadena are the offices of a startup robotics and AI company. The scientists, engineers, artists and designers there have added a unique feature to their product-development lab: a playroom. But they aren’t just playing. They are working to change the lives of children – including those with developmental disabilities –and they’re looking for families to help them. The team developing...
Inclusive L.A.: The Preschool Launching Pad
Choosing a preschool is a process so fraught with confusion and pressure that some have quipped it is as difficult as choosing a college. While that might be an overstatement, for parents of children with disabilities, choosing a preschool can be an especially challenging and frustrating experience. Preschool is usually the first time parents send their kids out into the world. With a dizzying array of options, financial and other...
Inclusivity in Hollywood: Young Actors With Disabilities Find Benefits on Stage and Screen
At first, MacGregor Arney used acting as a way to become someone other than the kid with cerebral palsy. “I just wanted to be normal,” says Arney, who is now 26. When he started taking theater classes at Western Michigan University, Arney’s perspective started to evolve. He began to realize that his CP, which affects the functioning of his left hand and leg, wasn’t something he needed to escape, but...
Five Tips for Addressing Your Child’s Learning Difference
With California public schools ranking the lowest in the nation for student-teacher ratio –an average of 24-to-1 compared with the national average of 16-to-1 – it can be difficult for teachers to hone in on the needs of each student. This is especially true for students with learning differences, but one critical element can help yield greater success: family involvement. Intervention should not be left solely to educators. Collaboration involving...
Four Reasons Educating Students With Learning Differences Matters
Have you heard the buzz about the on-the-job construction worker from Toronto secretly recorded while dancing to a hit song by Ariana Grande? The video went viral, boasting tens of millions of viewers, after his wife posted it on social media. Although this was a humorous and entertaining break from the onslaught of political banter we have been overwhelmed with, I long for a world where life-impacting concerns, significant to...
A Personal Account of an IEP Journey
Lia Martin’s 9-year-old son, Taylor, is a gifted artist – but he also has ADHD. That means, as the former sitcom writer and TV executive puts it, he didn’t enter the classroom seamlessly. Her son’s learning difference eventually led Martin to seek out an IEP (individual education plan), and that journey also was not seamless. It started with her feeling of failure the first time she heard Taylor, then a...
Students Record a Song To Urge a Closer Look
Children from the L.A. Speech and Language Therapy Center are inspiring the community with their original song, “Beyond the Label.” The students, who all have developmental disabilities, participated in writing a song to encourage people to see beyond their diagnoses. The group has performed the song at the White House, and recorded the original piece with singer-songwriter Johnny Gill of the R&B/pop group New Edition and a team of professional...
Inclusive Programs That Teach All Learners
With the right support, students with disabilities can reach their potential There was a time when not all children were considered capable of learning, when many students with disabilities were kept out of school completely. “They used to use the term ‘educatable.’ I hated that,” says Lila Schob, who has been an educator for 20 years. “Everyone can be educated. Everyone deserves an education.” Today, from large public districts to...
Wiley Academy Opens Preschool for Kids on the Spectrum
L.A. Speech and Language Therapy Center has expanded. In September, the Wiley Academy for Specialized Learning opened with a learning environment tailored to children with autism spectrum disorders. The preschool program is for ages 3 to 5 and follows a language-based multidisciplinary curriculum. The emphasis is on whole-child development with daily exposure to activities that promote speech, fine motor, sensory and cognitive development. Alyssa Porter’s son, Jagger, 3, attends the preschool. “I toured other...
Young Adults With Autism Need Workplace Social Skills
"As I wandered the resource fair with both my kids in tow, it became strikingly clear how limited the options would be for Nicholas post-high school." "There is a lot of money invested in these kids when they are young, but there is significantly less as they get older. You feel as if you're on your own." These are real thoughts plaguing parents of high school-age children with autism spectrum...
Entering The World Of Oz With Justin
Autism is something I never imagined that my world would revolve around. It all began with a phone call from the school about my son, Justin, who was 5 at the time, not participating in class – odd behavior, not being sociable with staff or peers. Next, I received a letter from the school, asking us to have him tested. Following that assessment, a meeting was scheduled. The psychologist finished...
Why Kids With Disabilities Need Time For Play
As summer winds down and the new school year gets rolling, you’re likely looking closely at your child’s schedule. If your child has a developmental or other disability, one especially important thing to schedule in is play. Joclynn Benjamin, owner of Leaps n Boundz – which offers swimming, gymnastics and social programs for individuals of all abilities at several L.A.-area sites – says families often have few slots open for...
Introducing Your Child With Disabilities To a New Teacher
A new school year is starting, which means a new teacher for your child. Take a few minutes to write a letter that will help equip your child’s teacher for the excitement and challenges ahead. “As much as our kids need support at times, teachers need just as much,” says Kathleen Secchi, Santa Clarita coordinator for Family Focus Resource Center, a nonprofit that provides support services to families raising children...
Is Your Child With Autism Really Intellectually Disabled?
I am sitting in my office across from a special needs young man who is about to graduate from high school. He has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and is very verbal. But though he shows average intellectual ability on some tests of intelligence, he has virtually no academic skills. I can’t help but feel that this individual has been poorly served by society, and wonder why he is...
Why the World Needs Kids of All Abilities
Vincent Van Dyk was born with a rare condition called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes developmental delays, delayed growth and other issues. “When we first got his diagnosis, it was really scary,” says his mom, Felicia. “I thought back to my own childhood, how kids used to make fun.” Still, Van Dyk decided to make sure Vincent, who is now 12, was fully included when he started attending...
Eight Ways to Calm Autism-related Anxiety
Professionals say a little anxiety now and then is natural, and even good for us. But anxiety that interferes with daily life – as it does for some children who have special needs or are on the autism spectrum – is not. Here are a few tried-and-true techniques for calming feelings of anxiety in children with autism. Be prepared. A big part of stress reduction is planning for stressful situations,...
Putting People With Autism To Work, Now
Each Thursday evening six young adults gather around a large table in an office off Ventura and Reseda boulevards and work to hone their employment skills. Because these individuals have autism, their chances of finding meaningful employment aren’t great. While 50,000 18-22-year-olds with autism graduate from public schools in the U.S. each year, the employment rate among people with disabilities is only 10 percent. This is why Joanne Lara and...
Get Into the Act at Abilities Expo
Abilities Expo, coming to the L.A. Convention Center Feb. 5-7, showcases technology, products, services and information for people of all abilities. But this is not an event designed just for looking. The “Events Arena” at the back of the hall, for instance, will feature wheelchair dance, service dogs, adaptive shot put, all-abilities yoga, adaptive skateboarding, power soccer, wheelchair tennis and adaptive basketball. “This is where we do hourly demonstrations of...
A Conference To Talk About Typing
Larry Bissonnette and Tracy Thresher both have limited speech due to autism, and when they were growing up, this meant they were labeled “retarded” and excluded from regular education. But their lives were turned around when, as adults, each learned to communicate by typing. Bissonnette, 52, and Thresher, 42, eventually embarked on a world tour to shine a light on autism that became the 2010 documentary film Wretches & Jabberers....
National TACA Autism Conference Offers Hope and Help to Affected Families
Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the United States, with 1 in 68 children currently affected with the disorder. For these families, identifying and paying for the help they need to get their child on the road to recovery is extremely daunting. That’s where Talk About Curing Autism (TACA), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting families affected by autism, comes in. TACA not...
School Involvement for Special Needs Parents
If you are the parent of a student with special needs, you likely spend a lot of time at your child’s school discussing IEPs, accommodations and other issues affecting his or her education. Some encounters go smoothly. Others don’t, and this might have you avoiding the school except at drop-off and pick-up time. But there’s a school of thought (no pun intended) that contends that getting involved in your child’s...
Help Group Summit Focuses on Autism, Learning Disabilities and ADHD
A two-day conference featuring leading experts in research and best practices in the assessment and treatment of autism, learning disabilities and ADHD is set for Oct. 23 and 24 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The Help Group’s Summit 2015 is designed for educators, clinicians/therapists and parents. Speakers include experts from UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, University of Washington, UC Davis, UC Riverside and USC. The conference...
Helping Special-Needs Teens Transition Socially
A group of teens is talking. Your child wants to join the conversation, but isn’t sure how to go about it. What would you advise? If you’d tell your child to just walk up and introduce himself, you aren’t doing him any favors. “It would look odd to just walk up to a random group and say hi,” says Elizabeth Laugeson, Psy.D., founder and director of the UCLA PEERS Clinic,...
Don’t Neglect Essential Social-Skills Development
“Don’t miss the forest for the trees,” so the saying goes. When it comes to parenting, the “trees” are the many academic milestones and measuring sticks society tends to focus on, and the “forest” is the bigger picture of overall development and social skills in our children. Society tends to be achievement oriented and, once children reach ages 3 to 5, their ability to verbalize, add, subtract and write takes...
How Nontraditional Schools Inspire Students
If you walk into any classroom, you’re likely to find quiet students who turn in their work on time, but don’t necessarily challenge themselves beyond their comfort zone. You’ll also find bright students who become easily bored and distracted by repetitive worksheets and tests. Then there are those whose sketches in the margins of their notebooks reveal amazing artistic talent, but who might be perceived as lazy or unmotivated students....
A Film That’s Twice Exceptional
Just off Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Studio City stands an unassuming building, home to Bridges Academy, a school for students in grades 5-12 who are “twice exceptional,” meaning they have developmental disabilities, but are also intellectually gifted. The school is the subject of 2e: Twice Exceptional, first released last fall and now out on DVD. The film will introduce you to some of the most fascinating students you’re likely to...
Henry Winkler’s Dyslexia Mission
Henry Winkler knows what it’s like to feel different. He knows the good, and the not so good. The actor, director and producer, whose career has spanned more than 40 years and who is best known for his role as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli in the 1970s sitcom “Happy Days,” struggled in school because of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a developmental reading disorder that occurs when the brain does not properly...
Navigating Your Child’s IEP
An advocate and a lawyer, both moms, offer tips for getting through this gateway to special-education services. The process of agreeing on an Individual Education Plan (IEP) – a document detailing special-education services your public school district will provide for your child – can be an emotional and overwhelming time for families, especially when their idea of what’s best for their child is in conflict with their school district’s evaluations...
Visually Impaired Preschoolers Learn From All Senses at TLC Preschool
It has taken 10 years of planning and fundraising, but the Therapeutic Living Centers for the Blind (TLC) Inclusive Children’s Center and Preschool is now open with a brand-new building offering innovative programs to children ages 3-6 with visual impairment and special needs – as well as their typically developing peers. The preschool, opened in October, is designed for experiential learning and sensory integration. It incorporates the “High Scope Preschool...
Walking in Their Shoes – A Special Needs Sensory Simulation Event
I recently attended a parent workshop at the Frostig School in Pasadena, designed to give parents hands-on insight into what it’s like for students with special needs who struggle to read and write. Educational therapist Barbara Langeloh, M.A.,facilitated Experience Dyslexia – A Learning Disabilities Simulation. The goal was for participants to feel the frustrations our children experience daily, helping us deal more compassionately with them. The six simulation activities, created...
Building a Communication Foundation
Building your child’s communication skills is the single most effective way to improve behavior, play and socialization. Children who can communicate their needs, wants, likes and dislikes are much less likely to cry, scream or protest. While most parents recognize the value of good communication skills, many are unaware that there are lots of ways to shape these skills long before children begin to use verbal speech. Communication is so...
How To Access Regional Center Services For Your Child
If you have a child with special needs, you likely have been directed (or soon will be) to your local Regional Center. Don’t ignore this recommendation. The Regional Center System exists to help California families impacted by developmental disabilities find support and resources, and access lifetime services if needed. California is one of the only states to offer this type of assistance, beginning in the 1960s at the urging of...
Back-To-School Tips For Kids With Autism
For children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families, returning to school after a string of relaxed summer days can be stressful, intensifying repetitious verbal and motor behavior on the part of the child. This stress can be reduced or even prevented – for child and parents alike – with the following 10 transitional tips. Prepare the Teacher 1. Awe the teacher with innovative communication. Teachers are busy, especially during...
Back-to-School Help For Kids Who Stutter
Actress Nicole Kidman, NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal and Vice President Joe Biden all overcame stuttering and had successful – and high profile – careers. As the new school year commences, are you wondering how your child will manage? “One in every 100 people stutters,” says Jane Fraser, president of The Stuttering Foundation. “But as many as two or three younger children in each classroom may struggle with this complex disorder.”...
Strategies For Struggling Readers
Whether they have a learning disability or other special needs, your child can build a relationship with books. by Christina Elston Paul Curtis’s favorite childhood book was The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. He read it in fifth grade, and there is a particular reason that it stayed with him. “It was the first book that I think I really pictured in my mind, and I can still see those images...