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Facilitating Health Care Visits: How Can We Prepare for a Therapeutic Visit?
Health care visits can be challenging for individuals with autism and the delivering providers. It is critical that we prepare both the individual and the provider to increase the integrity of the visit and ensure a successful outcome. When I took on my role as Senior Director of Healthcare...
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Post-Pandemic Telehealth Tips for Providers Working with Autistic Children
Since the pandemic, many of us have become more comfortable with telehealth. The virtual visit evolution has helped many, including children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families, who can take advantage of the benefits that telehealth affords. For children with ASD, telehealth...
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Understanding Insurance Coverage for Autism and Co-Occurring Visual Impairment
According to Petretto et al. (2023), “…autism could currently be considered one of the most commonly reported co-existing developmental disorders in children with blindness or other severe visual impairment.” The etiology, or the biological cause of the blindness, was directly correlated with...
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Telehealth Service Delivery to Persons with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
In December 2019, the Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State (CPNYS) partnered with StationMD, a for-profit physician service providing telemedicine to vulnerable populations, to participate in a five-year grant funded by the New York State Department of Health. The Statewide Care Facility...
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The Dental Disparity Dilemma
While the movement toward autism acceptance is certainly something to smile about, there remain many injustices for this population that must be addressed. Among them, disparities in dental care. Data gathered from a survey by the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities...
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75 Years: AHRC New York City to Celebrate Milestone Anniversary on May 13th, 2024
It is with pride in an unsurpassed history and great hope for the future that AHRC New York City kicks off its 75th year with a Gala on May 13th. The organization began in 1948 with a $3 ad in the New York Post placed by Ann Greenberg, a Bronx housewife whose young son with developmental...
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Inclusivity and Equality in Treatment: Transforming Health Care, One Step at a Time
Access to health care is a fundamental human right. Creating an equitable health care system requires that all aspects of an individual’s health – physical, mental, and emotional well-being – be addressed holistically. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual and...
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The Critical Role of a Caregiver in Navigating Systems of Care
No one knows your child better than you. When it comes to understanding their unique needs – you are the expert. This is critical for parents and caregivers of children with emotional, behavioral, and cognitive differences. Whether you are navigating systems of care, identifying areas of concern,...
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Cultivating Sensory-Friendly Health Care Environments for Autistic Patients
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition characterized by challenges in social interaction, communication, and limited or repetitive behaviors. Individuals with ASD might also experience sensory sensitivities, such as heightened responses to lights, sounds,...
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The Role of Mental Health Treatment for Autistic Individuals
Mental health treatment is an integral, yet often overlooked, component in the constellation of supports that surround individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Common mental health supports include case management, therapeutic groups to increase social-emotional learning, and...
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The Economic Undervaluing of the Direct Support Professional Workforce: Unveiling Societal Values and Discrimination Against People with Disabilities
In the intricate tapestry of our society, Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) stand as unsung heroes, offering unwavering support to individuals with disabilities. However, despite their invaluable contributions, the DSP workforce remains severely undervalued economically, reflecting broader...
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Supporting Autistic Adults: Am I College Ready?
Am I college ready? Such a question drew the attention of high school senior students in college readiness sessions at AHRC New York City’s Middle/High School. College readiness encompasses academic, social, and emotional learning support for students with autism and intellectual disabilities to...
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Self-Advocacy in Healthcare: Empowering Autistic Adults to Take Control of Their Well-Being
Navigating the American healthcare system is a challenging task for neurotypical (NT) and neurodiverse (ND) communities alike; however, there are substantially greater barriers to effective care and risk factors identified within the ND community. Research has shown that there are higher mortality...
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From Stigma to Acceptance: Insights from a Concerned Autistic Self-Advocate
My imagination often transports me into the thick of relatively grandiose situations. These episodes provide needed opportunities for release. In my mind, I sometimes have it out with my opponent during a presidential debate and winning, giving my acceptance speech after having won some...
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We Are All on the Same Side: Unite the Spectrum
We are writing to explain why we do not need more labels to describe autism. We, the authors, became acquainted with each other in 1996 through a common mentor, Stanley Klein, the editor of Exceptional Parent Magazine, when we each published our first books: Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences...
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Autism Gets an Update: A National Autism Strategy for Canadians
Note: While there are many areas of inequity, this article will focus on diagnosis and support services as seen by the Autistic writer living in Ontario, Canada. Autism in Canada One in 66 Canadians is autistic. Collectively, we face numerous challenges to accessing services and supports,...
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What Is Health Equity and Why It Matters to Those with Disabilities
According to the 2022 summary of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau's National Survey of Children's Health, more than 14 million children had special healthcare needs. These children, in particular, are more likely to experience chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or...
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Autistic Health: Embracing a Holistic Approach
Human beings may seem similar because we all go through common developmental stages. However, in reality, human beings are remarkably diverse. Shaped by genetics and life experiences, we develop a wide range of personalities, temperaments, skills, capabilities, preferences, perspectives, and ways...
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What I’d Like to See Change in the Disability World Over the Next 50 Years – Part 1: Let’s Change How We Define “Disability”
Note: Autism Spectrum News has allowed me to herein adapt an old piece of mine into a three-part series. I jumped at the chance as the piece needed an update. Frequent readers of mine know the following statement: “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature….Life is...
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Empowering Eye Exams: Strategies for Supporting Autistic Patients
Eye exam. Two words that can cause a lot of anxiety in families of autistic patients. Questions may arise about how your child will tolerate the exam and what to do if they need glasses. If your child has communication limitations or sensory sensitivities, you might wonder if they’ll be able to...
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Navigating Medical Decision-Making and Insurance for Autistic Children in Divorced Families
Managing the care and needs of a child on the autism spectrum can be a full-time job. In addition to addressing the day-to-day care, educational, and behavioral needs of an autistic child, managing the therapeutic and medical visits can be quite involved, including such challenges as scheduling and...
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Challenges for Autistic Adults in Navigating the Labyrinth of Healthcare
As I was fortunate enough to have had employment with good healthcare benefits, I did not have to face many of the challenges in navigating the healthcare system that autistics regularly encounter. Nevertheless, because of my involvement with the autism community over the past quarter century, not...
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The Role of Mental Health Support in Autism Care: Breaking Free of the Patterns of This World
As a mental health professional, I have had the incredible privilege of counseling individuals with Autism for over a decade. I have had the opportunity to witness and be a part of the beautiful journey that occurs when someone who received a diagnostic label of Autism Spectrum Disorder learns to...
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Considerations to Accessing ABA Therapy Through Insurance
There are many services that can be beneficial for you to explore for your autistic child, including speech therapy, occupational therapy, and applied behavior analysis (ABA), and consulting with your child’s primary care physician or school team for recommendations on services is an important...
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Filling the Gaps in Healthcare: The Vital Role of Information Sharing for Individuals with Autism and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Wading through the complex landscape of healthcare for individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their caregivers can be frustrating, often hindered by a variety of barriers unique to this population. While systematic and overwhelming, these challenges are...
