Labels – For Kids or Cans?

It's an ongoing debate, the one about labels and Autism. If you have a loved one who is on the Autism Spectrum you know exactly what I am talking about. Everyday there is something new written about it. Don't believe me? Go ahead and do a search each morning for the next week and check. You will be astounded at what you find and read. That's not what I am going to write about here today though. I want to share my experience with the Autism label.

Seventeen years ago when my daughter was diagnosed we were told she was “Autistic”. Not very person centered, but that was the times back then. Thank goodness the world has moved forward and now I would be told that she has “Autism”. What's the difference? Well, being told that she has Autism is telling me that she is still my dear, sweet, smart, beautiful, loving daughter who just so happens to have Autism. Being told that she is Autistic is telling me that my daughter is not at all who I thought she was and that she is now defined by this new label. My daughter happens to have Autism and she is fabulous.

Autism is a spectrum disorder and if you have seen one person with Autism you have seen just that! One person with Autism. Everyone is as different as the snowflakes that fall from a winter sky. No square pegs in rounds holes here, that is for certain. What does amaze me is the number of parents who like to add “very high functioning” to the explanation that their child has Autism. Oh you know them! They are the ones that stand up at conferences and introduce themselves by saying they have a child who has very, very, very, very, very, very, HIGH Functioning Autism (so HIGH you wonder why they even have to come to the conference to begin with) and then ask a question that leads you to think otherwise.

Well, I would like to leave off the “highs” and the “lows” when we get together to talk about advocating and supporting our loved ones with Autism. You may be asking yourself why, when they have such different needs. Not really! Our loved ones need the same type of services and supports. The level and delivery of those services and supports will be different depending on the individual of course. Autism is defined as a social and communication disorder. Those two difficulties are displayed in varying degrees throughout the Autism spectrum and therefore the support would be just as different, as would the delivery of services needed to offer support.

So keep it person centered when you are describing anyone who happens to have any type of special need. We need to stick together and leave those “sticky” labels for the cans!

A History Lesson About Do2Learn

It dawned on me today that many of you who are new to the Do2Learn website might not know a lot about how we came to be and all that we offer. So I decided that I would give you brief overview here.

In 1996, Do2Learn began through a National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovative Research grant. Since it's very beginning Do2Learn has searched and secured some of the most talented artists, teachers, and professionals around the world. We are based in North Carolina, but half of our users are from outside of the United States. Our website is a world-wide resource with over 11 million hits a month!

Do2Learn offers thousands, yes thousands, of pages of activities, games, guidance, learning songs, picture cards, academic material, and transition guides for employment and life skills. Best part? NO ADS! Yep, none. This makes it a much better experience for you!

We know that just telling you what you should be doing as a teacher, parent, or professional is not enough. We want to make your life easier. You are busy! So, with each topic we provide the hands-on resources you need to implement our suggestions. For example: When we present the Teacher Toolbox on how to adapt a classroom for children with special needs, we provide resources for behavior management plans, literacy tools, and the materials to create everything in your classroom.

Here are links to some of Do2Learn's Research:

• An Evolution of Virtual Reality Training Designs for Children with Autism and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
• Brief Report: Two Case Studies Using Virtual Reality as a Learning Tool for Autistic Children
• Developing Virtual Reality Instruction for Autism Report
• Computer Language Games for Autism
• Overcoming Phobias by Virtual Exposure

If you would like to know more about us please feel free to send us your questions at CONTACT US.

TEACHERS-We want to hear from YOU!

Are you currently using our Make-A-Schedule tool in your classroom? If so, than you know it's an easy-to-use program that gives you access to thousands of picture cards. In minutes, you can create schedules, social stories, story strips, forms, and more.

What we really want to know is what other schedule/picture type programs or tools are you using in your classroom? What do those programs offer that Make-A-Schedule does not? Come on, be honest with us. We can take it. We need the truth and we need your suggestions. We want Do2Learn's MAS to be the main program that you use in the classroom. Feedback, feedback, feedback!  Lots of it!  That's what we want.

I am going to be expanding on this question in the upcoming weeks, but I want to get a dialog going with you, the teacher, the parents, the users of our products. You can leave your comments anonymously on the blog or with your information so we can contact you for more details. We love hearing from you. So let's start talking!