Coffee Talk

I’ve been thinking a lot about the neurodiversity movement lately.  And it makes a lot of sense to me ….. people with autism want to be heard, respected, and accepted.  Actually, all people want to be heard, respected, and accepted.  So in that respect, as in so many others, people diagnosed with autism are no ... Read more

We all have good and bad days, but some seem worse than others.  So much of our time is spent talking about our experiences, sharing what went wrong with another in hopes of finding support and comfort.  Just the other day, I was talking with another mom, and she claimed that she had the absolute ... Read more

I was first introduced to RDI at a conference where I heard Jennifer McCaskill, an RDI consultant, speak. I chose to attend this particular session because I had always wanted to focus on autism, even as I worked towards my undergraduate degree in special education. During this time, I nannied for two brothers who had ... Read more

At 2 years of age, my daughter had no words. This is what led us to ultimately receive a referral from our pediatrician to find out why.  And this was the beginning of our journey into autism. We began seeing a speech pathologist and I remember crying almost every session because it was so challenging. ... Read more

Remember Gatorade’s “Be Like Mike“? Fans of a certain age are probably already hearing the jingle in their heads as they read.  If this is your introduction to the commercial song that the world came to love, it is almost certain to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day once you ... Read more

My name is Emma, I’m 10 years, in 5th grade, and my mom is an Autism Specialist and her business is Developing Minds. In 4th grade I was in an inclusion class with 3 children with special needs. Seeing my mother’s work gave me the idea to observe how different the atmosphere was in my ... Read more