As the school year approaches, and our kids get ready to head back to school, we want to bring some attention back to neuro-diverse populations – especially our young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Over the summer, we spent some time highlighting a condition that affects so many of our community – Autism Spectrum Disorder. We wanted to bring focus to Autistic individuals, discuss the signs to look for, and the importance of early detection of ASD.
When it comes to Autism in particular, as opposed to some other psychological conditions, early detection can be highly impactful. It can open individuals up to receiving free services, qualifying for unique school and home accommodations, and being able to access appropriate treatments/therapies sooner, leading to better life outcomes.
We also took a more positive approach to talking about ASD by highlighting the unique strengths and awesome qualities of autistic individuals. It’s so important to focus on the strengths of these individuals and to celebrate neuro-diversity!
In keeping with our understanding of how different brains learn differently, we expanded our ASD resources beyond the written word, creating content-based videos for those among us who are auditory learners! Therapist Charlotte Harrington, LLMSW created these excellent videos. You can access these on our Still Waters Counseling YouTube channel here. You can also get to these videos directly here:
Charlotte Harrington describes several signs and symptoms that can indicate the presence of ASD.
Charlotte Harrington highlights the important reasons to detect ASD as early as possible.
Charlotte Harrington bring focus to the strengths of individuals with ASD, or Autistic persons.
If you missed any of our written blogs, you can find the links below:
You can read about Early Detection here, ASD signs/symptoms and conditions that look similar here. You can find the strengths and qualities blog here.
Let’s get into the back-to-school spirit by focusing not only on the special needs of children with various conditions, but also working hard to see and highlight their strengths and positives!
Maria Karimova, MS, LLP
