Education

How Self Care, Interoception & Co-Regulation has Increased Peace in Our Family Life by Christina Keeble

January 6, 2021 Spectrum Women

Why is interoception & co-regulation important to being able to self-regulate? I get asked this quite often when I introduce families and professionals to these concepts. For more than a decade I’d worked with children and families and used programs such as the Zones of Regulation, sensory profiles, and sensory diets while working on increasing the child’s ability to self-regulate. It wasn’t until I had my own children that I learned and understood the importance of interoception and co-regulation. It was just never introduced in the trainings or literature I read. Interoception is our 8th sense and is our awareness […]

Education

Just How Hard Can Easy Be? By Lisa Morgan

June 2, 2018 Spectrum Women

I’d like to take a look at how hard ‘easy’ can be for an autistic person. For this purpose, I’m going to use actors in a play. The setting is a classroom.  The lead role is an autistic student (played by me). The supporting roles are comprised of the teacher, other students, and any aides in the room. The antagonist is the environment. Let’s take a moment and look at a school environment through the eyes of an autistic student. First, let’s consider the setting of a typical classroom in an elementary school. The room is bright and colorful with […]

Education

Classroom Tools for Students on the Autism Spectrum – Jenny Wise

March 8, 2017 Spectrum Women

When you think about the average classroom, you may assume each student in the class is following the same lesson plan. Teachers prepare the lesson plans ahead of time, and they generally guide the class as a group through whatever topic or skill they are working on. This is not always the case in a special education classroom where each student is working from their own IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Because every student is working on their own plan and towards goals based on their own unique needs, many teachers of special education students use alternative lesson plans. These alternative […]

Education

From the inside, looking out.

July 1, 2016 Spectrum Women

ASD is for life: just like having grey eyes, or short fingers. We can choose to change these things of course, if we want to; mask them with coloured contacts or long fingernails. But underneath they remain the same, our secret. Our global community accepts that eyes and fingers come in a variety of colours and lengths. We accept that some people are great at Maths and logic; others excel in creative pursuits of art and music. So, why can’t we accept difference in the way people process the world around them? Why must only one way be “acceptable” and […]