Free Tool kits - Autism speaks

[bochead]

www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits

A nice list of tool kits here packed with handy hints from "first 100 days after diagnosis" to "trip to the dentist".

As so many SEN books cost a fortune I thought peeps might appreciate some free resources It's US based but many of the challenges are the same this side of the atlantic.

This is the group that feel Autism is a disease that needs to be eradicated?
Merged with Cure Autism now?
I'm uncomfortable with the ethics, beliefs and philosophy underpinning their organisation TBH, so thank you but no.

What Fallen said, but that doesn't mean that some of the resources won't be handy.

I just feel a little uncomfortable directing newbies to the site.

'that doesn't mean that some of the resources won't be handy.'

That's what a lot of teachers say when they justify using the sparklebox website. Despite its seedy origins and dubious aims.

I had no idea that they were for that Fallen

It's just my opinion, and if someone else disagrees with me, that's also fine. As always in this section, I'm not trying to start a scrap, and although my DS has AS, he's living in the world and in MS education, His being on the spectrum is a fundamental part of who he is, and I wouldn't want to change that.
Doesn't mean in any way that I can speak for anyone else parenting in a different way who thinks that autism is a disease that should be wiped out.
Even I'm not that arrogant!

I just stumbed across it while looking for a decent description of pdd-nos

Have no desire to be associated with quacks, "cures" & other dodgy practices. Sparkebox's continued existence repulses me - shoud I ask MNHQ to delete this thread?

No boch.

I don't think it is quite the same as sparklebox. It's all about autism being an enemy to fight. I'm not entirely sure it isn't the americanisms that make it so shocking, rather than actual sentiment iyswim. In some ways I see ds' aspects of ASD that are a barrier to his learning and independence as something to be addressed, tackled, if not quite destroyed iyswim.

That book that moondog often recommends is now called 'motivation and reinforcement'. It used to be called 'educate towards recovery' and she admits that she was unprepared to even look at it then.

No, I don't think you should, there may well be people here who approve of them and agree with their aims.
Didn't mean to make you either bochead. Sorry.

I did download the toolkit Boc. There isn't anything actually in the toolkit that is about fighting Autism although obvsiouly it might be what they want to achieve. I think though that Tony Attwood is your best bet.

"The conceptualization of a diagnostic jigsaw puzzle can help explain the diagnostic term Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified or PDDNOS. This term describes someone who has many of the fragments or pieces of the diagnostic jigsaw but some pieces are described as atypical or sub-threshold. However, there are sufficient pieces or fragments of Asperger?s syndrome to warrant recognition that the person is ?almost there? and needs access to services for the pieces that are there."

From his book

MY DS is a 2-legged stool, scoring well within the ASD limits for 2 parts of the triad but is clinically borderline for social relationships. According to the excerpt above that would make him a candidate for a pdd-nos label wouldn't it? He deffo needs "access to the services for the pieces that are there".

Worth asking the assessment team do you think or would they laugh in my face?

As I read it I thought that it sounded perfect for your DS. I think that you should ask. They may not even have thought of it as an option.

alright.. I'll ask as I don't know...what is sparklebox??

It's a website full of useful resources for teachers and parents, lots of lovely printables and such. Unfortunately, it was set up by a twice-convicted paedophile who made money from advertising on his site. So every click generated income for him and his hobby.
Note, I am in no way comparing Autism Speaks with a paedophile. Just that I've always wanted to know the source material, who was funding things and whether I was comfortable with it.

Wow. I had no idea. Interesting, but shame that kind of thing can't be monitored.

Sparklebox is now banned by most LEAs, you can't access it from school networks. But some teachers and CMs download stuff at home and use it. Because the resources are useful.

I thought I read that Sparklebox was now disassociated from the founder, but have googled it and haven't been able to confirm that.

or what about atypical autism as a diagnosis, Boc?

Atypical autism would be easier for the legion of non-medical professionals that hold power over my son's access to support services to understand methinks.

I'm gonna ask about both cos at the end of the day I couldn't give a flying toss what they call it, so long as he gets the support he needs without my having to embrace an annual Tribunal regime iykwim.

I don't like the US "cure autism" brigade, smacks of too much conditonality & reminds me too much of the struggles for racial equality for my tastes. I love my son to bits, quirks and all.

"it's not that the child can't learn, it's that we don't know how to teach" - That's the school of thought I lean towards , with regards to SEN politics iykwim.

Boch. I'm with you on the couldn't give a flying toss.

Can atypical then be called simply ASD? (although I do have a secret yearning for 'atypical' coz I can then refute the one size fits all crap)