A Few Helpful Resources

While I was waiting for the boys to get out of class the other day, I had a conversation with some of the other moms. A program established for placing dogs with autistic kiddos to help them. It reminded me of an article I stumbled across a few years ago, so I wanted to share. A non-profit agency called 4 Paws For Ability. They work with families to provide dogs to children with different forms of disorders and/or disabilities. They provide dogs that are trained specifically for what the child needs, and they provide them for children worldwide.

http://4pawsforability.org/autism-assistance-dog/

I love the fact that this is available for families. They train the dogs with the child so that they can create a bond and they work with the family for 2 week to teach them how to work with the dog. They have programs for service dogs to assist with hearing impaired, mobility issues, seizures, diabetics, autism, etc. It is quite costly to train the dog and place the dog with a family at $ 22,000, but, the families work to fund raise $ 13,000 and will receive the dog (technically) for free (fundraising options are provided, and the money raised is tax deductible). This organization will work with very young children they have no age limit for children. For more information I encourage you to check out their website.

Another resource for kiddos with ASD, is the iPad or iPod, (I know the androids have apps too, but I am not familiar with them). There are many applications that have been introduced for autism. The iTunes apps are generally free during April, which is Autism Awareness month. (Not all apps are free, but a lot are). There are some great ABA apps which work on the opposites, colors, receptive commands, and many others. One of my boys' favorite apps to play with is the Autism Xpress (the last pic below). It make the sounds for the emotion or expression. They love it and have for the past few years.

For our son that is really not showing signs of being verbal - except with verbal imitation - we are in the process of putting together the Proloquo2Go to work specifically for him. It's a great program to allow him to speak through the iPad. You can create your own folders with your own pictures to allow him/her to use the program as they need. The app currently sells for $ 189.00 USD and can be put onto each apple device connected to your account.

There are so many places that now sell items for anyone with ASD. Everything from helping with sensory issues, OT, oral motor, the list goes on and on. My current favorite is:
    http://www.nationalautismresources.com/  

some others I have found include:     http://www.sensoryuniversity.com/     (which also sells some items on Amazon),     http://www.especialneeds.com/home.php     (I recently found this one, no experience with them yet).     There are many others as well, just typing "autism products" into the search bar brings up several options. I write about the things I have experienced, learned first hand, or researched. I try not to endorse any particular product or company, I will "talk up" a company that I have had good dealings with. So, when I find something I find informative or a "good deal", I will try to include it in this blog.

From a mother's heart - I hope you find this helpful. Let me know.  :)