I was exchanging emails with an old friend of mine the other day. I’ll change her name to protect her identity. We’ll call her Elaine. Elaine is bipolar. ( http://bit.ly/cVUsq) Elaine, like most people with autism, has problems “dealing” with people in the workplace. She has had problems holding a job. I admire her greatly in the fact that she talks about this so frankly with me. She goes on to tell me that she can deal with animals, however. Especially dogs. While she explained her dilemma, it made me think about our kids. Animals are such a great source of autism therapy! For so many of us. 
Elaine is just one example of a person who is helped by the companionship of animals. Pet therapy in its simplest form. A dog or a cat. Even a horse can help someone with neurological problems like autism, bipolar disorder, Downs Syndrome, even epilepsy. Yes, a therapy dog can sense when someone is about to go into a seizure. Properly trained pets are amazing!
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Technorati Tags: Add new tag, Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy, Pet Therapy
Tags: Add new tag, Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy, Pet Therapy
I am blessed. I have two boys. One of which I blog about most of the time. Chase. He is our son who has High Functioning Autism. He is 13 years old (he will be 14 on February 16th, as he reminds us constantly…lol!). He is the reason we search and dig for information on autism therapy. And one of the reasons we started our non-profit (http://dockeryfoundation.org). However, as I said before, we have two boys. And as I was reminded last night, sometimes our neuro-typical children are as affected by autism as much as our kids with autism.
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Technorati Tags: Add new tag, Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy
Tags: Add new tag, Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy
Posted by Deb on Feb 3, 2009 in
Autism Therapy Yesterday my husband and I went on a field trip. Yes, grown ups still go on field trips. This one was very special to us. We are the founders of a non-profit for children and families affected by autism and we received an email from the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (http://www.brooksmuseum.org). Sidebar: what a wonderful place! Anyway, they were thinking of putting of putting on an exhibit in the fall that focused on autism therapy. And, they thought of The Dockery Foundation! We were thrilled, to say the very least!
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Technorati Tags: Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy
Tags: Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy
Posted by Deb on Jan 30, 2009 in
Autism Therapy What a fun week it has been for most of the United States! Ice storm, snow storm, record cold, power outages even as far south as our neighboring states: Tennessee and Arkansas (where some are STILL in the dark!). It made me think of a kind of autism therapy that we parents sometimes take for granted. It is US!
When our family lived in Broward County, Florida, we were without power quite a bit. You can imagine that we were hit quite frequently by thunderstorms, right? So, mom had to get creative with helping two scared little guys not only calm down, but entertain them for a few minutes or a few hours. Thankfully, we were spared the hurricanes that came through post 2004. I always had my mommy stash, because I never knew when it would come in handy.
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Technorati Tags: Add new tag, Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy
Tags: Add new tag, Autism Education, Autism Information, Autism Therapy
Posted by admin on Jan 26, 2009 in
Autism Therapy When a mom (or a dad) takes their child to be diagnosed for the first time, it can be one of the most devastating days of his or her life. I remember all too well. I was sitting in Dr. Tatiana Dubrovski’s office in Miami, Florida when she dropped the bombshell on me. She told me that with the right autism therapy, our son Chase might have a productive life. However, he was 7 years old when he was diagnosed so we would need to do some catch-up work. I don’t remember much after that. She could have told me that my hair was on fire and it would have mattered little. My child had autism. What in the heck was I going to do?!? I knew something was going on. She’d give us a pill and he’d be fine. But AUTISM???
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