Category Archives: visual strategies and supports

Gathering at TASH and The Magic People Map

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Leah Kelley, Ed.D.

Before the TASH Conference, I was working this an idea to create a sort of People Map for H, so that he could be a bit more ready for the peopleing and could begin ahead of time to see faces … Continue reading →

Posted in ableism, acceptance, Activist, Anxiety, Autism, scaffolding, support, TASH, visual strategies, visual strategies and supports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

An Unexpected Journey: Reading The Hobbit

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Leah Kelley, Ed.D.

Last night, H and I began reading The Hobbit together. I am so grateful to have a young sci-fi fantasy sidekick: a fellow lover of dragons and magic and wizards and faerie. It is exciting to me that we share … Continue reading →

Posted in Autism, Reading The Hobbit, visual strategies and supports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Yours, Mine and Ours: autism, self-advocacy, and setting limits

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Leah Kelley, Ed.D.

I have been thinking about limits: the edges of ourselves… that place where we interface with the world. Our limits and where we set them are the control valves for our emotional, social, physical, cognitive, and sensory experience. These boundaries … Continue reading →

Posted in Aspergers, Autism, Behaviour, Parent, Resiliency, Teacher, visual strategies, visual strategies and supports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Neurodivergence and Relationships: An adult perspective on conflict resolution & listening

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Leah Kelley, Ed.D.

I am not Autistic… though, H’s dad, the Amazing Craig, is. We are learning so much about ourselves from our experiences with H. We are affected deep to our core – and we have learned amazing skills to use with … Continue reading →

Posted in Autism, Autistic, Communicate, listening, Neurodiversity, Neurotypical, visual strategies and supports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Aa is for Applecus and Autism: A look back at supporting language development

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Leah Kelley, Ed.D.

The other day I was reading about a mother’s excitement over her daughter’s language acquisition. It had me thinking back and remembering how that felt for us. My son is now 12 and has amazing expressive language – it took … Continue reading →

Posted in Aspergers, Autism, Behaviour, Communicate, Intervention, language, Speech and Language Therapist, visual strategies and supports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Who says I want to fit in… thinking about perspectives

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Leah Kelley, Ed.D.

As I shared in a previous post, I have a magnet on my fridge that reads, “Who says I want to fit in?” For me this message serves a function on a number of levels. It reminds me of strategies … Continue reading →

Posted in acceptance, aproximating typical, Autism, fitting in, Parent, Positive self-talk, promote social understanding, Social cognition, Social Thinking, Special Education, Teacher, the box, ToM (Theory of Mind), visual strategies and supports, Who says I want to fit in? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments