Now that we're half way through the school year, many families are approaching me asking about what's the best way to talk to their child's classmates about their diverse needs.

As an aide and aunt to a spectacular middle schooler with autism, I've had the "classroom conversation" a few different...

We all need to decompress in front of our screen of choice. Whether it's texting on our phones or cheering on our favourite football team, we all need to detach for a moment (or longer) in order to decompress.

For many kids with special needs, screen time can be associated...

Nope. School starts well into January this year, leaving parents depleted by the holidays and struggling to come up with a week's worth of activities to occupy their kids.

Many kids on the autism spectrum find it difficult to navigate the unstructured nature of the holidays, while at the...

I have an 11-year-old nephew on the autism spectrum. I've been lucky enough to be his therapist at home and at school these past nine years. Watching him navigate his daily life has been the most impactful experience in my life to date. He is the strongest and most open-hearted...

School is well under way and I see many kids walking through the halls literally under a mountain of unruly stuff. How do we help kids on the autism spectrum not only keep track of it all, but take ownership? Here are a few tips I've learned along the way...

For years, recess was a sensory nightmare for my nephew on the autism spectrum. Vast open space and unstructured time; the glare of the sun bouncing off the snow; groups of rowdy kids yelling and screaming and playing sports in undefined space, arguing over subjective rules at lightening speed.

The long summer break can be daunting for a lot of kids; unstructured time, extreme heat and other sensory considerations can leave some kids on the autism spectrum (and their parents) overwhelmed and frustrated. Here are a few ideas to shake things up and build some structure into the 60...

I have always been the photographer of our little family. I am forever posing my family members, constructing the scene and poking my lens into people's faces.

For six years, my nephew was the only grandchild; you can only imagine how often I had my camera in his face.

But...

My sister has always been a knockout of a cook. She loves to create things in the kitchen. In those early years of my nephew's autism diagnosis, it was one of her only creative outlets.

"Leo" has had a history of serious sensory issues surrounding food. It's been very...