autism

Summer Reading Challenge, Part 1: Neurodiversity and Movement Differences

June 13, 2017
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Academic life makes for a busy 40 weeks. These include the 32 weeks of actual classes, meetings, defenses, and grading, along with the extra 8ish weeks of course prep and semester wrap-up. These 40 weeks leave me busy enough there’s little to no time for non-teaching related activity. (Long-time readers may have noticed my blogging […]

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3 Must-Read Articles of the Week

November 5, 2015
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Every once in awhile I read a blog post or article worth sharing with my readers. This week, there are three. These three articles are very different in topic and style. One describes living as an autistic person, another is about music therapy and iPods, and the third outlines research on music for maladaptive emotion […]

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The Dangers of Labels and Perceptions

October 8, 2015
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This post is inspired by two completely different media pieces that I have read/watched in the past 24 hours. The first is a blog post published on Parents.com imploring professionals and non-professionals to stop using the terms “low functioning” and “high functioning” to describe children on the spectrum. The second, a segment that aired on […]

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[Book Review] “The Reason I Jump”

October 24, 2013
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It often seems that the simplest things pack the biggest punch. That’s how I feel after reading The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida. I was first introduced to this book when watching Jon Stewart interview one of the translators, author David Mitchell, on his show. After hearing a brief summary, this book immediately jumped to […]

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What to Do When Your Profession is Dissed

August 29, 2013
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I love music therapy. I am fascinated with the science of it, the art of it, and the humanity of it. It’s intellectually and emotionally challenging and rewarding. I have chosen to make music therapy my life’s work. No matter what particular “job” I may be doing—Regulatory Affairs Associate, PhD student, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Clinician, […]

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Do Behavior-Based Therapies Work?

July 6, 2011
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I recently read an interesting article on one of my favorite blogs, Reports from a Resident Alien. In this article the blogger, a college-aged woman with Asperger’s, is complaining about the prevalent use of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as a therapy approach for autism. (ABA, for those who don’t know, is a highly popular therapy […]

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Book Review: House Rules by Picoult

May 4, 2011
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I’m on a bit of a Picoult kick right now. Years ago, I read My Sister’s Keeper and loved it. Last month I read my second Picoult book, Sing You Home, and loved it. And now I have just finished reading my third Picoult novel, House Rules, and wouldn’t you know? I loved it. The […]

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How Should We View Autism?

February 2, 2011
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There’s an alien living in Ohio. Well, not really, but the blogger at Reports from a Resident Alien calls herself…well, a “resident alien.” And she admits in her tagline that “(t)his ‘Earth’ place sure is weird.” Reports from a Resident Alien is one of my favorite blogs. Chaotic Idealism (her user name) lives with autism […]

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[Video] The “Right-Left” Song: An Intervention for Children

June 10, 2010

One of my readers, Jeremy, left a comment awhile back asking me to share a song/intervention he’d heard me describe before: the “Right-Left” song. Well, Jeremy…here it is! I can’t take credit for writing the “Right-Left” song–a wonderful music therapist named Michelle Hardy wrote it. I heard her describe it in a workshop several years […]

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