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Highlight on Health Concerns: Weight Management

This blog post was submitted by the ASPIRE Research Team at the UNC School of Medicine. Approved treatments for autism Although most readers of this blog will already know, it is still important to note that autism is now considered common. Recent estimates indicate a prevalence of between 1 in every 110 to 1 in…

Teaching Social Skills Frontwards, by Dan Coulter

Why do we tend to teach social skills backwards? Instead of consistently teaching our kids manners, many of us wait until they do something wrong and then correct them. Imagine using this approach in a driver’s education class. They’d put you in a manual transmission car with no training. Then they’d turn on the engine…

CAP I/DD Waiver Changes Part 2

The Community Alternatives Program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (CAP I/DD, formerly known as CAP MR/DD) is expected to change beginning November 1st, 2011. Changes to the program still need to be approved by the Federal Government, however approval is expected and the Division of Medical Assistance which operates the CAP I/DD in…

Combating Autism Reauthorization Act and other Federal Policy Updates

Good News! The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act, S. 1094Ā  and H. 2005Ā are moving forward. Two weeks ago the Senate bill was approved by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; North Carolina Senators Burr and Hagan both attended the meeting. And today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that the House Combating Autism…

Changes to CAP I/DD (MR/DD) Waiver

The Community Alternatives Program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (CAP I/DD, formerly known as CAP MR/DD) is expected to change beginning November 1st, 2011. Changes to the program still need to be approved by the Federal Government, however approval is expected and the Division of Medicaid Assistance which operates the CAP I/DD in…

Information Sessions on CAP I/DD Waiver Changes

North Carolina’s Community Alternatives Program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (CAP I/DDĀ formerly CAP MR/DD)Ā is expected to change as of November 1, 2011. The Autism Society of North Carolina will publish a longer blog post about those changes, which includes a limit on the number of habilitation hours. The Developmental Disabilities Training Institute has…

Expanding Your Child’s School Comfort Zone, By Dan Coulter

Here’s an article about the value of taking your child who has Asperger Syndrome to visit his teacher and classroom before school starts. While this article focuses on younger children, it can also be helpful to schedule a school visit with middle school and high school students who have Asperger Syndrome. Hope this is helpful….

Federal Policy News and Action Alert

Urge your Congressperson to support the reauthorization of the Combating Autism Act Committee scheduled for a markup meeting on Wednesday, September 7th Congress is back from their summer recess this week and its time to get back to work! There are less than 30 days left to secure the passage of the Combating Autism Reauthorization…

Nurturing Organization and Independence through Visual Reminders

Editorā€™s Note: The following article was written by Kathy Dolbee, Parent Advocate for the Autism Society of North Carolina. The concept of time is abstract. After all, a timeline has an arrow at each end and the concept of infinity is hard for us mortals to wrap our brain around. That is why we wear…