Music therapy is a well-established, evidence-based professional health discipline that uses music to achieve non-musical, therapeutic treatment goals. Formal music therapy was first used in 1945 to help military service members in Army hospitals with occupational therapy, education, recreation, and physical reconditioning.1 Recognized as a related service for children ...
As authors and publishers are starting to recognize the importance of representation, more children’s books now feature characters with disabilities, providing role models who represent their struggles and triumphs. The books in this list include representation of a variety of disabilities, showing all children that a disability is only ...
Children with autism and other special needs frequently engage in challenging behaviors, such as aggression, self-injurious behavior (SIB), and property destruction. These behaviors can range from skin-picking and slapping to head-banging, self-biting, punching, and kicking. Challenging behaviors negatively affect the whole family, and parents are struggling to properly care ...
Although at the present time, COVID-19 has disrupted the level of regular community activities schools are able to implement, this article is to highlight the importance of community involvement for the special needs student population. Community activities and recreation can be particularly important for the mental and physical health ...
For special needs children, learning daily living skills such as self-care, personal hygiene, laundry, cooking, and cleaning is fundamental to developing a greater level of independence in adulthood. These skills will help prepare them for future adult situations in the home, community, and workplace. But, because they take more ...
A parent's perspective I am the stepparent of a developmentally delayed 11-year-old with autism, and while it’s not easy in the best of times, right now, it is a struggle. There are no easy answers to this emotionally and financially unsustainable situation. But you are not alone. For what ...