E29: Balancing Life with Gratitude: New Behaviors, Therapy Updates, and Helpful Resources

Parenting Autism

Bryce is a funny, mechanical, HAPPY little guy who was diagnosed with autism at age two and is now six years old. His pure joy makes this world a much better place!
In this episode, we give "Thanksgiving" for many things about our autism journey. We share recent emerging behaviors that we are trying to understand in order to help Bryce. We also talk about how his ABA, language, and occupational therapies seem to be really helping him flourish now that we have settled into our new team of support.
A couple of products are also mentioned in this episode that we recommend to our listeners. (1) ALPHASTROKES.COM (2) "Kindness Detective" by Ashley Abeles, MSED
Alpha Strokes offers two fonts, flash cards, and a video series. We downloaded the font that includes numbers, arrows, and dots to help Bryce improve his writing skills. Being very visual AND hyperlexic, it has been helpful for him to see numbered instructions for each stroke. We are thrilled that our listeners are able to purchase and download these products for half-price (50% discount) for a limited time. Simply use the code PARENTINGAUTISM.
Please note: We do not make any money from these purchases. We just want to share resources that are working for Bryce that may also help others.
"Kindness Detective" is a lovely well-written book that is beautifully illustrated. It is about inclusion and kindness to those who appear to be different. Throughout the book, children are encouraged to step into other children's shoes to view things differently. The companion activity guide has certificates that identify the child's kind act, who detected it, and the date. The goal of the "Kindness Detector" activity is to identify and encourage acts of kindness, similar to the ones described in the book. It's perfect for classroom settings to teach children how to recognize and understand that differences are okay.
One of my biggest concerns is how other children (and adults) will treat Bryce. Will they be mean to him? Make fun of him? Avoid him? Think he's weird? In my perfect world, they would be kind to him! Recognize how he likes to have fun! Play with him! Appreciate his unique ways of playing and enjoying life! I plan to give this book to the parents of Bryce's neuro-typical friends, so they can read the book with their kiddos and teach them about inclusion and acceptance.
Our goal is to follow our calling and be Autism Ambassadors while helping others understand our world a little more than they did before listening to the podcast. We also feel called to bring light to a community that has experienced dark days after the "diagnosis". (Luke 1:79)
You can follow us on our Facebook and Instagram pages, Parenting Autism, to see stories, pictures, and videos of our autism journey. www.ParentingAutismShow.com
You can also contact us through Facebook, Instagram, or our email: [email protected].
We are also linking our podcast to our photography website to help create more awareness. www.artigraphsphotography.com

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