The Ability To Use Words Does Not Equal Communication Skills

Last week we visited a garden centre near us, and as we were looking around, Penguin stopped at the owl doorstops pictured in the photo below. He looked across at me to make sure he had my attention, and then he said “ow” (which for a guy who doesn’t talk, is a pretty good approximation … More The Ability To Use Words Does Not Equal Communication Skills

AAC Apps: Who Are They For & What Is So Great About Them?

AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, and it’s a term used for all kinds of methods that can be used for communicating other than speech. October is AAC Awareness Month, and last October I wrote a big old blog post about AAC: Basic Facts And Helpful Resources, which is still relevant and informative, but not … More AAC Apps: Who Are They For & What Is So Great About Them?

Are ‘Autism Therapies’ Always A Bad Thing?

This week, there has been a lot of discussion online about a recent study which recently published its results, and which got quite a lot of exposure in mainstream media. The published research article can currently be found here: Effect of Preemptive Intervention on Developmental Outcomes Among Infants Showing Early Signs of Autism. The newspaper … More Are ‘Autism Therapies’ Always A Bad Thing?

Scribbles In The Night

Every now and then, Penguin surprises us with new examples of how his mind works. He’s autistic and nonverbal, and in many ways he experiences the world differently to most of us. His sensory processing is different to the norm (as I’ve written about previously here & here) and his thoughts, learning and communication are … More Scribbles In The Night

My nonverbal 12 year old autistic child talked to me about his drawing!

The event that I’m going to tell you about in this post happened the other week, but at the time felt too overwhelmed to write about it, and then when I tried I found it tricky to put it into words. I’m not sure I’ll be entirely successful now either, but I’m giving it a … More My nonverbal 12 year old autistic child talked to me about his drawing!

Sink Or Float Activities : Multisensory & Multifaceted Learning

If you were already following us on social media at the end of last summer, you might perhaps remember that we spent a bit of time on ‘sink or float’ activities back then, such as described in this facebook post I wrote about a year ago: Now, jumping back to the present time: Penguin brought … More Sink Or Float Activities : Multisensory & Multifaceted Learning