JJ is a bright young boy who had some motor difficulties and social issues associated with his Asperger's syndrome. He wasn't very active, hated sports and really just didn't want to do much in school or around home. Nowadays, JJ is leading hikes for his Boy Scout group, playing ball at school and hosting a special pool party for his friends! What a turnaround! Find out how JJ was able to open up to the world with IM training.

Billy is an amazing young man who has autism. He is awesome at school, but was really struggling with motor planning and daily tasks, such as dressing and bathing. When he came back to occupational therapy after a few years off, his therapist knew just how to speed up his training plan--Interactive Metronome® training! In just a few weeks, Billy was laughing, playing and smiling again. Check out Billy's story here.

We love to share our success stories, and this month is no different. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, we are going to be shining the spotlight on some amazing clients who have taken great strides with IM training. With a little determination and some guidance from our wonderful Providers, many children with autism have seen improvements in behavior, attention, communication and sensory processing. Can IM be the missing link in your clinic? Find out how Chuck changed his life...

Every now and then, our Providers are hesitant to try IM training with clients on the autism spectrum because of sensory issues. However, while there are many different sounds and visuals associated with IM training, nearly every setting on the IM Pro Universe software is completely customizable. That means you can set up IM training for any client, no matter what deficit is the focus! Wendy Harron, a fabulous OT and IM Provider, is here with some tips to get you started.

Do you know how timing in the brain can affect children with autism? Many of the symptoms associated with autism are also directly related to Neurotiming®, more specifically, deficient Neurotiming®. Find out more in this article from the December/January '15 Edition of the Autism NoteBook.

This April is Autism Awareness Month and we want to help spread the word! Our IM providers work with clients who have ASD every day. We want to thank these providers for their tireless efforts and help educate the world about how special people with ASD really are.

Over the past 20 years, autism has become an increasingly common developmental disorder in children, causing abnormal social behavior and communication problems. At the same time, sunscreen usage has steadily risen and people have become more likely to avoid the sun for health reasons. Could something as simple as getting more sun actual help prevent autism spectrum disorder? New research suggests that it can.

Andrew was adopted in 2000 from Russia...he was 4 years old. (He is now 15 years old.) He had an un-repaired cleft palate, profound hearing impairment, severe malnutrition, profound insomnia of unknown origin, severe sensory dysfunction at time of adoption, along with intestinal infections (parasites and h. pylori). Andrew's had triennial neuropsychological testing, both privately and through the school district routinely since he joined our family in 2000. Through these evaluations, he's been diagnosed with PDD/NOS (pervasive developmental disorder/not otherwise specified), dysgraphia, attachment disorder, institutional autism, gross motor planning impairment, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), severe visual motor deficits, and RAD (reactive attachment disorder), emotional disorder among other things...
 

Ten fingers and ten toes

As a new mother, you have hopes and dreams for your child. You hope your child will be delivered with ten fingers and ten toes. You hope your child will cry, giggle and burp. You hope he or she will crawl, walk and eventually run. You even dream your child will grow up to be happy, healthy and successful.
But as we know for some mothers, our biggest fear is that all that our child will ever be is just a hope and a dream.

Ten fingers, ten toes, one diagnosis: autism

Within one month of Robin’s birth we knew something was not right. In 1971, my husband and I rejected institutional placement for our infant daughter who was recently diagnosed as severely disabled and later with classic (severe) autism. The doctor said to us, “…as long as she’s progressing, be thankful…any progress she might make in childhood will regress as an adult.” Scared and in disbelief, we chose not to accept his negative diagnosis - we chose not to believe the limited potential of our daughter.

At the earliest stages of Robin’s autism, my husband and I overcame our first challenge - we just wanted to stop the wild screaming, rocking and self-injurious behaviors. We did not know if she could develop beyond what we saw...