Archive for July 2012

Monthly Archive

What Happens After High School Graduation?

If you are a parent or caregiver of a school-age child with autism, you already are an expert at special education. Much of your focus has likely been on reviewing annual goals and tracking your child’s progress over the course of a school year. But at some point, it will be important and necessary to start looking at your child’s special education programming through a slightly different lens. One that looks further into the future and begins to think about and formulate the plan for your child’s transition from high school to whatever comes next. Read full post »

Spanish-speaking Families of Children with Autism: Resources and Cultural Considerations

Historically, Latino children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been under-identified, mis-identified, or identified at a later age. This has been problematic because it means that Latino children with ASD have had more difficulty accessing the services and interventions they need. Although Latino children with ASD continue to be under-identified compared to Caucasian children, the gap in diagnosis rates is narrowing. As the number of Latino children diagnosed with autism continues to rise with better and more accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to have information and supports available in Spanish. Read full post »

Seattle Children’s Autism Center Diagnostic Evaluation Process

Having your child evaluated for autism can bring much emotion and many questions. In an effort to help families who are waiting to be seen in our center, we asked our schedulers to tell us the most frequently asked questions they receive from parents when scheduling a child’s diagnostic evaluation. Here’s what they told us: Read full post »

A Day in the Life of a Social Work Practicum Student at Seattle Children’s Autism Center

Practicum: A school or college course, especially one in a specialized field of study that is designed to give students supervised practical application of previously studied theory

My time as a practicum student is coming to an end. And I really don’t want it to. It is hard to believe that six months ago, I was walking into this clinic, head full of academic jargon and readings, completely new to this experience.

This was my first year in graduate school, and the concept of “practicum” was lost on me. What is a practicum? Is it a job? Is it an internship? Is it a class? As I would find out, it’s a little bit of each of those things. My job was to witness first-hand the particular role that my practicum instructor plays at Seattle Children’s Autism Center. My job was to listen, observe, be present, and be changed. My job was to learn. Read full post »