Social and Job Skills are the Focus of Center4SpecialNeeds Programs
The Center4SpecialNeeds, a nonprofit dedicated to providing resources, education and supports for children with developmental disabilities and their families, has sessions of two popular programs beginning in January. Kids/Teens Clubs offer activities designed to help improve children’s social skills and build self-esteem and confidence. The groups are co-ed and organized by age and abilities. Led by clinicians and support staff, the primary focus is cultivating the skills to communicate and...
Course Offers Special-Needs Moms a Mindful Return to Work
Having a baby is a transformative experience, bringing intense physical changes and engulfing emotional ones due to the pending needs of this new human. The mind races from nesting to nursing to concern over who will care for this bundle of joy once parents return to work. These concerns are heightened when a child is born with a disability or medical condition. According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services...
Air Travel Practice For Kids With Autism
Faced with a challenging task, most of us would like a practice run before we tackle the real thing. Just in time for summer vacation, Open Sky for Autism offers a bit of practice for people with autism who might find air travel difficult. The event takes place Dec. 8 at Air Hollywood, a unique aviation-themed entertainment studio equipped with everything you would find in a commercial airport and on...
Defying Gravity and Disabilities with iFLY
Who hasn’t imagined what it would be like to fly? To break free of the bonds of Earth and float upward? The folks at iFLY at Universal Studios CityWalk have been making that happen for folks for more than a decade. For the past year, they’ve been flying those who not only want to overcome the pull of gravity, but the pull of their disabilities as well. iFly is a...
Adapted Living: Style & Accessibility
When I met my sister-in-law 10 years ago, I saw the very real necessity to remove barriers for people with disabilities in order to improve their quality of life. My sister-in-law uses a wheelchair, and spending one day out and about with her on L.A. sidewalks and in shopping centers was all it took for me to understand the profound difficulty she has in navigating a world built around the...
L.A. Found Program Helps Locate Missing Persons with Disabilities or Dementia
Almost half of children with autism will at some point engage in wandering behavior – putting their lives at risk and their families and caregivers through a terrible ordeal even if they are safely found. One-third of all people in California with autism live in L.A. County, according to the Autism Society of Los Angeles. In September, the county launched a program to make sure those with autism, alzheimer’s disease...
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...
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...
Parental Love Wins in ‘Far From the Tree’
As parents, we hold grand dreams for our children – even while they are still in utero – but these dreams can become hindrances when they do not fit the people our children actually become. The new documentary film “Far From the Tree” explores families who have children with wildly different realities – autism, Down syndrome, dwarfism, a murder conviction – than their parents’ hopes for them, but the universal...
Adaptive Clothing Hits the Mainstream
For some parents, the morning ritual of getting their child dressed is a dreaded battle, a frustration exasperated by buttons in wrong places, seams that dig into skin, tags that itch, shoes impossible to put on correctly and fabric that feels inhumane to sensitive skin. Putting clothes on a child with a disability – whether that child uses a wheelchair or leg or arm braces, wears a feeding tube or...
Splash! Accessible Water Play Around Los Angeles and Beyond
As a tot, Jonny Pierce, now 24, loved to float with his ears underwater to drown out the everyday noise. Competitive swimming has turned out to be a helpful coping mechanism for his autism and hypersensitive hearing. On the other end of the spectrum, Kylie Cervantes, who has autism, used to hate having water on her face. With the care of her instructors in an adaptive aquatics program at Best...
Jessica Patay: Helping Moms Be ‘Brave Together’
Rancho Palos Verdes mom Jessica Patay has always found joy and rejuvenation in what she calls “Ya-Ya-Sisterhood” gatherings – warm and hilarious get-togethers with girlfriends over dinner or at the spa or on weekend girlfriend trips. She didn’t let becoming a mom put an end to these outings, but when her middle son, Ryan, was born with a rare, genetic disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) 14 years ago, Patay and...
Your Child Has What? Navigating the Challenges of a Rare Medical Diagnosis
The general public is familiar with diagnoses such as autism, Down syndrome and ADHD. But what happens when your child is diagnosed with a rare condition that family, friends and teachers have never heard of? L.A. mom of four Hillary Smiley knows this territory well. Her third child, Luke, has a congenital disorder called agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC), caused by a full or partial absence of the band...
Avoiding Helicopter Parenting: To Hover or Not to Hover
We can all visualize the modern phenomenon known as “helicopter parenting.” A dad crouches on a sidewalk to tie his 10-year-old’s shoes. A mom takes the helm of her daughter’s science fair project, hoping her little prodigy will snag first prize. Parents join forces to pen their kids’ unbelievably poignant college admissions essays. Secretly, you may wonder how much helicoptering damage you’re doing to your child, but if your child...
The Power of Optimism
Weak muscle tone, developmental delays, poor growth, insatiable appetite, life-threatening obesity, intellectual impairment, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, aggressive and violent behavior …. The neonatologist, clutching photocopied pages of a medical textbook, rattled these symptoms off to Lisa and TJ Graziano, describing their 13-day-old son’s future. “He would read symptom after symptom after symptom after symptom after symptom, turn the page and continue,” says Lisa. “I think it was three pages of symptoms,...
Local Kids Help Write and Illustrate Anti-Bullying Book
“I looked down inside my heart for friendship and love …” “Try not to let mean words get to you; they’re meaningless and a waste of energy. Don’t let bad people touch your heart.” “… if you really want to be happy, be kind, have a lot of friends, and follow your heart.” “When I share my candy and squishes, I see happy faces light up like exclamation points!” These...
#CampReady: For Summer and Beyond
Summer camp has obvious benefits for all children. For children with disabilities, though, those benefits seem particularly deep and profound, and can have a ripple effect through the entire family. Lisa Tivens’ teenage son has attended Reid’s Gift, a camp for those ages 14-22 with a variety of challenges, for two years. Witnessing his participation has been powerful for her. “They tailor the program so that everyone feels wanted, important,”...
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...
Parents Caring for Special Kids Should Take Special Care of Themselves
You need to make the gluten-free, casein-free lunches for your kids’ nut-free campus and get your pet to the vet. You really should reply to those emails from last week and finish the paperwork to approve your son’s speech therapy before you take his sister to gymnastics class. Did you even remember to tell your husband to get dinner? The demands of family life make it hard to juggle everything...
For Parents of Teens With Autism, Optimism Buffers Stress
The fact that mothers of teens experience stress is no surprise to anyone who has parented – or even met – a teen. The fact that moms of teens who are on the autism spectrum or have intellectual disabilities face more stress than their peers with typically developing teens is also no great surprise. Studies have shown that parents of teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders (AD) or Intellectual Disabilities (ID)...
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...
Friendship Programs Link Kids of All Abilities
Friendship is the magic that holds the power to lift us out of our isolation and sadness, to give us joy and a sense of meaningful human connection. And so, we raise the red flag when a child is constantly playing alone at recess. Coby Bird, who has autism, was one of those children. He didn’t know how to relate to his peers. Some of them shunned and bullied him,...
Winter [Break] is Coming! Five Tips for Parents with Kids on the Autism Spectrum
Yes, winter [break] is coming, which means no school for two to three weeks for a lot of students. Are you concerned about how you’ll keep your child busy? Children are accustomed to the structured routine of school. As a parent of elementary school-aged triplets who have faced neurodevelopmental challenges, I value the importance of routine and predictability. When the calendar flips to November, my wife and I start to...
Why We All Need a Parenting Village
My need for a parenting village became clear when I found myself sitting in my son’s school valet line belting out the lyrics to Barbara Streisand’s “People.” The chorus of horns behind me was drowned out by my off-key karaoke: “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world!” I was sleep deprived, coming off a slew of stressful doctor appointments for my middle son, and I had...
Keeping the Holidays Inclusive and Fun for All
Keep things simple. Plan ahead. Stay flexible. Keep the lines of communication open. They may seem like common-sense tips for just about any life situation, but for parents of children with disabilities, these bits of wisdom are especially applicable during the holiday season – a time of year that is often as stressful as it is joyous. You want to celebrate just like – and often in the company of...
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...
Building a Social Network For the Non-sporty Kid
There is no question that team sports are amazing for the mind and body. So many important social skills are taught through working as a team and exercising the body. Additionally, friendships typically grow stronger by participating in sports outside of school. Because of this, young kids (especially boys) are traditionally signed up for the usual round of team sports – soccer, basketball and baseball. These are great, but let’s...
Dina Kimmel Chats About Inclusive Play
Dina Kimmel has always been an entrepreneur. She launched two successful boutiques in North Hollywood in her 20s and 30s. But her business adventures turned personal when her son, Gabriel, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 2. With diagnosis came an overwhelming array of therapy appointments for Gabriel and the quest to preserve some sense of normalcy for her daughter, Sophia, who was 5 at the time. Kimmel...
Out, About and Inclusive In L.A.
There was a time when “accessible” meant someone with a disability could get in the front door, and maybe up to the second floor – and after that they were on their own. These days, accessibility goes way beyond that, and many L.A. attractions are making it part of their mission. “Accessibility is more than just adding a ramp,” says Peter Martineau, marketing events manager at Aquarium of the Pacific...
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...
Dating for Young Adults With Disabilities
Finding one surefire approach to dating for people with disabilities is as difficult as nailing down one definition for disability. “People with disabilities are the biggest minority group in the United States,” says Trevor Finneman, a 32-year-old attorney with hearing loss. “There are so many different kinds of disabilities, and each one impacts each person differently.” Dating can be awkward and challenging, if sometimes exciting, for anyone at any age....
Disability In L.A.’s Multicultural Melting Pot
Visit the website of any of the county’s seven regional centers and a drop-down tab offers a list of more than 100 languages – from Afrikaans to Zulu – to help families connect with opportunities, information and services for those with disabilities. In a county as large and diverse as ours, this is hardly surprising. But if you don’t speak English and are new to this country, who informs you...
Facing Your Finances: Paying for Your Child’s Disability
About a year ago, financial planner Robert J. Smith received a call from the father of a 27-year-old woman with Down syndrome. “Mom had died two years previously and Dad was finally able to address planning for his daughter,” Smith says. “We asked if his daughter was currently covered by Social Security and Medicaid. He replied that she wasn’t and he was too intimidated and overwhelmed to apply.” The father’s...
Mom Judging Makes Parenting Kids With ADHD Even Tougher
My vision of parenting before I had children went something like this (think Midwestern United States, circa 1979): Moms sitting in beach chairs at the end of a driveway, kids scurrying up and down the street on skateboards and bikes, teens fighting and moms shooing them away while pouring glasses of wine. Dark skies and everyone goes home. The next day: repeat. By the time I became a mom, the...
Cooking Tips for Special Kids
Chef Darrell “DAS” Smith has been a dad for less than a year, but he already knows a thing or two about picky eaters. That’s because in October, he became director of food services at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services. The organization serves nearly 400 children with special needs related to learning differences, autism spectrum disorders and other cognitive, behavior and social challenges. Smith and his team in...
ABLE Plans Let Those With Disabilities Set Financial Goals
For most of us who would like to save up for something – a new computer, a college class, a trip or even retirement – all we need to do to get started is to open a bank account or take advantage of a retirement or college savings plan. Most people with disabilities don’t have that luxury. Those who take advantage of state and federal government benefits such as Supplemental...
Registration is Open for Free Accessible Rose Parade Viewing
The Tournament of Roses and the city of Pasadena work together to coordinate three areas of accessible street-level viewing for the annual Rose Parade, and this year people with disabilities can make reservations online for the first time. There are three accessible viewing areas offering reserved space to people with disabilities free of charge. This allows those with disabilities – and up to four guests – to avoid having to...
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...
The Art of Autism: Growing Up
From Tom Iland: Growing up with autism is not easy. Social challenges, family dynamics, academics, employment opportunities and many other issues need to be addressed over the course of one’s life. In my experience, in having the right mindset and an effective, loving support system made these obstacles more manageable. Shortly after my diagnosis at 13 years old, I was taught that using autism as an excuse or as a crutch...
Must-Do Self-care Tips For Special-Needs Moms
Areva Martin is a busy woman. She is an attorney, legal analyst and commentator who often appears on “The Doctors,” “Dr. Phil,” “Dr. Drew” and “Good Morning America.” She founded and runs the resource and advocacy organization Special Needs Network and is a wife and mother of three, with one son on the autism spectrum. And – believe it or not – she has learned to take good care of...
Freewheeling At the Beach
A day at the beach is a quintessential SoCal summer family outing. And even if your child uses a wheelchair, you can hit the sand. Ashley Lyn Olson was paralyzed in a car accident at age 14, and has become a lifelong access advocate. In 2006, she launched wheelchairtraveling.com to encourage people in wheelchairs to “come access your world.” The northern California resident travels the globe and often hits the...
July Fourth Fireworks With Sensitive Kids
Diane Cullinane has a son with sensory issues, and when he was 2 or 3 years old, the family decided to attend a local fireworks display one July Fourth. Cullinane knew her son was sensitive, so they parked three blocks from the celebration and watched from there. Even so, they had to leave after a few minutes. “It was just too much for him,” Cullinane says. For many kids with...
A Family with Unreasonable Hope
The doctor said it again and again: “She will never ….” And for Chad Veach, hearing this about his 4-month-old daughter, Georgia, was too much. “My heart sank into my socks,” says Veach, pastor of Zoe Church in Los Angeles and author of the new book “Unreasonable Hope.” The doctor was explaining to Veach and his wife, Julia, that their daughter has lissencephaly, which literally means “smooth brain” and is...
5 Tips to Lessen Summer Visitation Drama
Summer is when many of us create some of the best memories with our children. For divorced parents who have limited custody during school months, summer visitation can provide an excellent opportunity to extend visits and spend quality time with their children. It also allows for children to maintain a loving relationship with both parents after a divorce. Parents typically follow a child custody order issued by the court during...
5 Don’ts For a Stronger Marriage
Given enough time and togetherness, any relationship between two people will face a challenge or two. And all marriages take a bit of work, no matter how in love you are. “Love is a component, but it really is only one component,” says clinical psychologist Darren Sush, Psy.D., whose Brentwood-based practice specializes in helping parents of children with autism. Many other things come into play in making a marriage work....
L.A. Sports Programs for Kids With Special Needs
Kickball was one of my favorite childhood sports. Our weekly neighborhood games were even sweeter because we had a designated pitcher. Jonathan would be the first one on the empty lot at the end of our street. He’d always bring the ball, and as long as we could get at least four kids together, we had a game. Jonathan used a wheelchair, but he loved kickball, and for us, that’s...
Support For Special Needs Siblings
For 13-year-old Brianna Baker, joining a support group for siblings of children with special needs was natural. She had essentially grown up visiting Encino-based McRory Pediatric Services as her younger sister, Olivia, underwent a series of occupational, physical and speech therapies. After Olivia, now 10, was officially diagnosed with Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that impacts speech and motor skills, Brianna began seeing a counselor on her own and,...
Working On a Dream
Their cell phones are never quiet and seem to vibrate simultaneously. During a recent afternoon, their oldest daughter, Avivah, is trying to coordinate a ride on Lyft from her high school in west Los Angeles to their home in the San Fernando Valley. Matt Asner takes care of the logistics while his wife, Navah Paskowitz, answers a text from their son. They’re frazzled, but definitely in sync. Asner and Paskowitz...
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,...
Estate Planning For Families With Special Needs
Estate planning is a task that is neglected by many parents. But in families that include children with special needs who will need long-term care and resources beyond their parents’ lifetime, it is a task that can seem especially daunting. Even something as wonderful as an unexpected financial windfall can have unforeseen – and devastating – consequences for these children. “We received a frantic call from a family for whom...
Pam Lyn King: Coaching From the Heart
Pam Lyn King knows first hand what life is like for a special-needs family. Her younger sister, Kristol, was born with Down syndrome and autism. When Kristol died three years ago at age 20, King felt a profound void that she wasn’t sure how to fill. Landing a new job as an administrative specialist in the communications department of Kaiser Permanente in 2014 opened her heart in ways she didn’t...
Summer Camp for Special Kids
You did your homework, made your visits and found a great school for your child with special needs. But soon school will be out. What will your child do this summer? If you are considering summer camp, know that there are a lot of great programs in the L.A. area that will allow your child to have a real summer-camp experience in a safe and nurturing environment. Now is the...
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...
Keeping Bloodhounds On the Scent of Missing Kids
Around half of all children on the autism spectrum will wander toward something that interests them, or bolt away from something that is bothersome. And because they have little sense of danger, this wandering can take them away from their caregivers and into unsafe situations. These children often go missing, and according to the National Autism Association, children ages 9 and younger with autism who wander off are killed 42...
Down Syndrome Stories That Will Make You Smile
When Andrea Knauss gave birth to her third daughter, Anna, 25 years ago, a nurse came into her hospital room and told her, “God has a big job for you!” The hospital photographer told her, “I guess you don’t want pictures of your baby, do you.” Anna was born with Down syndrome, and the hospital social worker Knauss consulted couldn’t even point her toward a book or video that would...
Pairing Special Needs Families With Quality Providers
Need a restaurant recommendation? Try Yelp. A plumber? Angie’s List. And if you’re looking for a reliable service provider for someone with special needs, you can turn to Love My Provider (www.lovemyprovider.com), a fee-free website specializing in therapeutic services such as Applied Behavior Analysis; occupational, physical and speech therapy; summer camps and day programs. The nonprofit company was founded by special educator and behavior analyst Sara Gershfeld, who provided special-needs...
USC Telehealth Offers Free Help For Special-Needs Caregivers
Mary Ann Frattarole thinks it was early 2012 when she started getting desperate calls from parents and caregivers of children and adults with special needs. “I got some heart-wrenching calls from parents that had a special-needs child,” she says, including one mom who also had a husband with a disability for whom she was the only caregiver. “She said, ‘I don’t know how I can make it another day. Can...
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....
For Autism Initiative, Sesame Street Looks to Our Neighborhood
TV’s “Sesame Street” has long been populated with flightless birds, singing frogs, cuddly monsters and children of all sorts. And as the number of children diagnosed on the autism spectrum continues to grow in the world at large, they are coming to Sesame Street as well. To help out with the “Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children” initiative, Sesame Workshop turned to a neighborhood in Sherman Oaks,...
This Holiday Shopping Keeps Vacation Dreams Afloat
Since 2006, Autism on the Seas has organized and staffed vacations (on cruises and at resorts on land) for families with children and adults with a variety of special needs – from autism to Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other types of challenges. Now the organization has launched a nonprofit arm that will help fund these vacations as well. The Autism on the Seas Foundation will award varying amounts of...
13-year-old Chef Cooks With Food Greats at Autism Speaks Gala
By the time Chase Bailey was 10, he was hooked on cooking shows. He discussed best methods for caramelizing onions with his mom and filled the family DVR with recipes for pizzas baked in brick ovens and tortillas filled with mahi mahi and mango-radish salsa. At 11, he started his own cooking blog, followed by his YouTube channel, “Chase 'N Yur Face.” And in October, the Irvine 13-year-old, who is...
New Online Autism Training For Babysitters Available
All parents want their child’s babysitters to be well prepared – able to keep their child entertained, handle the after-school or bedtime routine and deal with whatever challenges or emergencies might come up. For parents of children on the autism spectrum, there’s a new online tool available to help prepare sitters for the unique challenge of caring for these special kids. Available from the Institute for Behavioral Training (IBT), the...
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,...
A Boy and His Dog Share Love and Therapy
Eight-year-old Daron, of Van Nuys, has a tight knit family. They have been through a lot together. Daron has cerebral palsy and needs a lot of support, but his parents, Hagop and Armine, and his older sister, Ani, are devoted to him. They will do just about anything to make Daron smile. That is why the family applied for an assistance dog for Daron from Canine Companions for Independence. The...
Special Needs Conference Focuses On Balance For Families
For Navah Paskowitz, “Bringing Balance,” the theme of the conference she is organizing for parents and siblings of children with special needs, is personal. “It really came out of my own family,” Paskowitz says. “We have a heavy load, my husband and I.” Paskowitz, executive director of corporate development and program director of The Friendship Circle By the Sea, is married to Matt Asner, executive director of the Southern California...
3 Keys for Success with Highly Sensitive Kids
Highly sensitive children feel things more deeply than other children do, and oftentimes respond more quickly. Their heightened perception includes being sensitive to sensory input such as loud noises, harsh images, strong smells or scratchy tags on clothing. Coupled with their incredible sensitivity is an intensity that can go quickly in the “right direction” as they immerse themselves in a creative project, or in the “wrong direction” as they cry...
Taking Care of Your Child’s Smile
If your child has special needs, you are likely immersed in an array of tasks and therapies – occupational, educational and physical. As you work to help your child make the most of her or his abilities, don’t forget your child’s smile! “You need to care for their mouths. It is a journey. It is a process,” says Jill Lasky, DDS, a pediatric dentist who practices in Tarzana and Studio...
Bringing Reilly To Life
“The life of Reilly” is an old-fashioned way of describing a life that is easy and pleasant. That’s not what Sinead Clancy thought she had in store when her son Roan, now 10, was 18 months old and his pediatrician told her that he had autism. “I started Googling autism and trying to find out about it,” says Clancy, “and it was just this terrifying landscape of everything that was...
When Parenting is Not What You Expected
Los Angeles-based psychologist and neuropsychologist Rita Eichenstein, Ph.D., has worked with what she calls “atypical” children for more than 25 years. Eichenstein coined the term “atypical” to help describe kids who have combinations of developmental, behavioral and learning differences that make it difficult to fit them into neat categories of clinical diagnosis. “But what I have come to realize is that focusing on the child’s needs is not sufficient,” she...
Making the Skies – And Airport – Friendlier For People With Special Needs
Larry Rollon thinks a lot about helping people of various abilities through the airport. As coordinator for disability services at Los Angeles World Airports (which includes LAX and Ontario International Airport), he oversees programs to assist passengers in wheelchairs, the hearing and visually impaired, and others who need help navigating the airport and getting to their flight. But he hadn’t thought much about passengers with autism until about two years...
Support For Parents of Kids With Special Needs
If you are the parent or caregiver of a child with autism, you’re likely involved in a slew of activities, from advocating for financial and educational resources to dealing with your child’s communication and behavior issues, making choices about treatments and therapies, and attending intensive therapy sessions with your child. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy alone can take several hours a day. “It can be like a full-time job for the kids, except it doesn’t pay a salary,”...
Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte On Growing Up With CP
As a child, actor RJ Mitte had a clever trick for keeping his legs – which were in casts – cool during the hot summer months growing up in Austin, Texas and Lafayette, Louisiana. He froze pennies and quarters and then dropped them into his casts. “The problem was, I couldn’t get them out. So when I walked, you would hear the ching, ching,” says Mitte with a laugh. Diagnosed...
Spiritual Connections For Special Needs Families
When my cousin Gloria asked whether my son, who has autism, was getting a religious education, I balked. “I just can’t think about that now – not with all of his therapies, his intense behavioral challenges, battling the school system, finding doctors, rallying Regional Center funding. It’s too much to add one more thing to my plate,” I told her. I didn’t realize that a spiritual community was exactly what...
Getting Kids With Special Needs Ready for Adulthood
Avremel Mayer has Down syndrome – and an independent streak. When he was a teenager, a yellow school bus picked him up each morning for the trip to Fairfax High. He had convinced his parents to let him wait for the bus on his own. One day, he decided the school bus was coming too late. “He walked to the corner, picked up the [city] bus to Fairfax Avenue and...
Families With Special Needs: Get the FriendMaker App For Free
If you wanted to start a conversation with someone you didn’t know, you might follow steps like these: Casually look over at the person. Use a prop. Look for a common interest. Make a reference to the common interest. Trade information about the common interest. Assess interest. Introduce yourself. Most people wouldn’t use a checklist for this, but for teens and young adults on the autism spectrum a simple social...
7 Safety Strategies for Kids With Special Needs
As parents, it is our job to worry about our kids. And we worry about our children with special needs at every stage of their (and our) lives. As it turns out, worry is a waste of mental energy – energy we cannot afford to waste! The best thing to do with worry is convert it to action, doing something positive to mitigate the unsettling thoughts that keep us awake...
Enjoying a Special Day In the Kitchen
The holiday season sends most families into the kitchen, and we’ve got a fantastic way to make sure kids with special needs are included. “Special Day Cooking: A Life Skills Cookbook” by Beverly Worth Palomba includes more than 60 recipes designed especially for these special kids. The book covers breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus vegetables, soups and salads, drinks and snacks and dessert. The recipes are in large type, with...
Thanking Your Family’s Special-Needs Angels
Taking time to recognize and express our gratitude to others for the impact they have had in our lives is good for everyone, especially for families of individuals with special needs. Whether you employ direct service providers, or are a client of one, there are several ways to show your gratitude for their work. These special professionals sit knee-to-knee with children and teach them in circumstances that are sometimes challenging....
When It Is Not Autism: Examining Alternative Diagnoses
As awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder has increased, there has also been a rise in the number of cases of the disorder. In 2000, it was estimated that approximately one in 150 children met criteria for autism, but that number has increased to one in 68. Some experts now question whether this means more children actually have autism, or whether the increase might be due to expansion of the definition...
Conquering Behavior Challenges With Collaborative Problem Solving
Some children just seem to have more behavioral challenges than average, in spite of excellent parenting. They might be chronically agitated, have low tolerance for frustration and minor schedule changes or frequently argue with or actively defy the adult authority figures in their lives. These children are often in trouble at school and other extracurricular activities, resulting in frequent phone calls to their exasperated parents. To add insult to injury,...
Outings On the Spectrum
Taking your children out on an excursion where everyone has fun can feel like a major accomplishment for any parent. If you have a child with autism spectrum disorder, a successful outing might be even more of a challenge, but just as much of a necessity. Regardless of a child’s level of ability, participating in community outings is a skill that will ultimately enhance her or his quality of life....
Straight Teeth For Kids With Special Needs
For many kids, braces are a rite of passage – not an enjoyable one, but worth enduring for straight teeth and a lovely smile. For children with special needs, however, braces can be more than a nuisance. Children on the autism spectrum, and those with cerebral palsy and other challenges, are extra sensitive to having wires and brackets in the mouth and often damage the appliances. Traditional braces also make...
Evaluating Research 101 – Your Handy Guide To Evidence-Based Interventions
By Lisa Stoddard, M.A., BCBA From the time our children are born, we parents are faced with a seemingly endless stream of decisions. Disposable or cloth? Cow’s milk or soy? Montessori or Waldorf? But for parents of children with special needs, decisions about treatments and therapies can be daunting. When facing a sea of conflicting theories, treatment models and news reports touting the latest study, how does a parent determine...
Taking the Blues Out of Jeans
By Christina Elston Stephanie Alves started sewing at age 10, and grew up with a brother with developmental disabilities. The clothing available made it truly challenging for him to dress himself. This was in the 1970s, when there wasn’t even Velcro on tennis shoes. “When I was a teenager, my mom said, ‘Why don’t you make clothes for people like your brother?’” Alves says. During more than 25 years as...
Creating Custom Reward Systems For Children With Autism
Be creative and consider the child and the setting when working to shape behavior. By Christina Elston Not long ago, Michael Cameron was at the beach and saw a father and son playing in the surf and collecting shells. The boy was well behaved, but it didn’t take long for Cameron to identify him as a child with special needs. The father, wanting to reward his son for good behavior,...
More Fun Together
Toys can build connections between kids with special needs and their peers. By Ellen Metrick “Inclusion” is a popular word used around children with special needs. It reflects the emotional need of every human being to be included and the innate desire to share experiences, and there is perhaps no better place to put the concept of inclusion to work than through toys and play. Hot categories of toys this...
Improvising Through Parenthood
Couples who have children with special needs have to be flexible in their dreams, and care for their relationships, too. By Elena Epstein As Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson Peete chat about their day-to-day family life – homework, after-school activities, teen drama – their manner is warm and casual. They share an easygoing rapport and sense of humor. As talk turns to their son, RJ, I get the sense that...
Fostering Friendships
Local programs bring together children with – and without – special needs By Ronna Mandel “You’ve got a friend in me,” goes the theme to Disney’s Toy Story films, all of which feature the special bond between a boy named Andy and his toys. Childhood friends, real and animated, are an important part of growing up. For children with special needs, however, making friends can be a challenge. There’s no...
A Club That Welcomes An Extra Chromosome
Pasadena’s Club 21 opens its arms, and reaches out a lifeline, for families of children with Down syndrome Christina Elston Sixteen years ago, Nancy Litteken’s obstetrician told her this: “Don’t worry. We can take care of it.” He meant that they could abort the baby she was carrying because the results of her amniocentesis test showed that the baby would be born with Down syndrome. “At that time, people who...
Tips for Long Journeys With Loved Ones With Autism
The author of “Cowboy and Willis” and mother of a son with autism offers helpful advice for special-needs travel. by Monica Holloway For many families with loved ones on the autism spectrum the idea of a long journey can be daunting. Here are some suggestions from the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (www.sath.org), a nonprofit educational organization, for making travel with those with special needs as streamlined as possible....
Social Foundations Helps Special-Needs Kids Build Skills
Built on Michelle Winner’s ‘Social Thinking’ concept, the mom-run Santa Monica business touts social awareness. by Elena Epstein Moms Suzanne Tabachnick and Kelly Priest met seven years ago in an early-intervention program for children on the autism spectrum. They had an instant connection. Priest has a Master’s degree in clinical psychology and several years of experience working with families. She attended conferences on “Social Thinking,” a concept pioneered by speech...
Snip-Its Hair Salons Specialize In Special-Needs Kids
With extra training for stylists and helpful guides for parents, the chain makes haircuts easier for children on the autism spectrum. by Christina Elston For parents of a child on the autism spectrum, little things that other families take for granted – things like a simple haircut – can be a real challenge. Children with autism can find the sights and sounds of a hair salon, the feel of someone...
Seven Keys to Keep You Smiling Through Dental Visits
These tips will help children with special needs – and their parents – feel more comfortable in the dentist’s chair. by Elaine Hall I’m scared of dentists. Well, not the dentist himself (my brother is a dentist in San Diego), but I am scared of sitting in that chair, opening my mouth and not knowing what pain I am about to endure. Just thinking about the sound of the drill,...
Making Sense of Fine Motor Skills
More than 20 tips and activities from an occupational therapist that will improve your child’s handwriting. by Annie Baltazar Mori, ODT Handwriting or any fine motor activity seems like it is a simple and straightforward learning process. But when we pull back the curtain, there is a lot going on behind the scenes, working in seamless harmony to create a perfectly formed and spaced sentence or well-constructed craft project. Occupational...
Keeping Bullies At Bay
Children with special needs are bullied more often, but Dawn Barnes of Dawn Barnes Karate Kids has some wonderful prevention tips. by Dawn Barnes Sending children back to school is exciting. Unfortunately, it can also be a time of worry. Bullying is in the news more than ever and mothers are rightfully concerned about the safety of their children. Mothers of children with special needs may hold even deeper concerns...
Helping Your Special-Needs Child Build Meaningful Friendships
These seven keys will help you pinpoint the ways in which your child is social, and use them to create rewarding relationships. by Elaine Hall “Hey guys! I had fun! See you next week,” calls 12-year-old Jackson as he climbs into his mom’s SUV. “Mom, I had a great time and I think I made some friends,” he beams. This was Jackson’s first day in our theater class and, as...
Four Support Strategies For Special-Needs Families
Children with special needs aren’t the only ones who need support. Using these tips to help keep the whole family healthy benefits the special-needs child as well. by Brian Roper, Ph.D. For human beings, childhood lasts a very long time. Born with just the basics needed for survival, each of us has much to learn toward becoming a contributing member of society. The family plays an incredibly important role in...
Special Needs: Financial Planning Today Means Care For Tomorrow
Coping with a special-needs child’s diagnosis can take its toll, but don’t delay planning for the future. by Melanie Gaball Financial planning is important for parents, but for those who have a child with special needs the complexities of funding a lifetime of care can be overwhelming and emotional. While many parents are still dealing with the acceptance of their child’s diagnosis, developing a financial road map for their family’s...
Book Takes a Look At What Makes Us Different
‘Jacob’s Eye Patch’ is a sweet story that offers lessons for approaching special needs. by Christina Elston If you’re the parent of young children, you’ve no doubt had to remind them not to stare, point or talk too loudly about some difference they have noticed in someone else – the man who is so tall he has to duck to get through doorways, the child in the wheelchair, the lady...
A Super Kid, A Heroic Mom, A Story Worth Reading
"Life With a Superhero: Raising Michael Who Has Down Syndrome" tells a family's story with bravery and heart. by Julie Kertes Michael Hulings’ story is a remarkable one, right from the beginning. In a small Israeli town more than 20 years ago, a mother gave up her newborn baby when she discovered he had Down syndrome. She told family and friends that the baby had died, but her misfortune became...
7 Ways to Help Your Special-Needs Child Self-Advocate
Kids with autism can often speak, act and negotiate for themselves. Here’s how to help them become more independent. by Monica Holloway and Areva Martin It is natural for parents of children with autism to assume the role as advocate for their children, but it is important to help these kids learn tools for self-advocacy as they grow into teens and adults. Our sons, Wills and Marty, are teenagers, and...
7 Keys To Gift Giving For Special-Needs Families
Wondering what to get a special someone? Shopping is easier than you think with these tips. by Elaine Hall “What should I get for my nephew who has autism?” asks my girlfriend Katie. “What does he like to do?” I query. “My sister says that right now he just likes to play with Tupperware.” “Great! Get him that.” I remember one year, one of my son’s caretakers wrapped up two...
7 Keys to Easing Transition Anxiety
These tips will help children with special needs manage all sorts of transitions and new situations by Elaine Hall Transitions can cause tremendous anxiety for a child with special needs. Often, it is not the new place itself that may illicit fear in children living with AD/HD, OCD, sensory processing disorder, or autism. Instead, it is the potential for sensory or social-emotional elements that could cause them to feel out...