Tag Archives: Resources

21st Annual Eden Princeton Lecture Series: March 19–20, 2015

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Mark your calendars! This terrific lecture series by Eden Autism Services is happening again on March 19–20, 2015 at Princeton University. Guest lecturers include Connie Kasari, PhD, Helen Tager-Flusberg, PhD, Matthew Goodwin, PhD, Ron Suskind, and more.

Attend the 21st Annual Princeton Lecture Series to learn more about current technologies in autism research, strategies for effective early intervention programs, and more. For more information about the event, please email Joni Truch or call (609) 987-0099 ext. 4010.

You can also download a copy of the event brochure here (Registration Form included inside)!

Valentine’s Day Craft Ideas for Kids

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Valentine’s Day is coming up, so we thought we’d share with you a few craft ideas we came across online to help you add a little lovable learning into your weekend with your child. These crafts and activities are great for practicing skills in fine motor development, matching and sorting, sequencing, identifying emotions, and more!

Valentine’s Day Bingo

These Valentine’s Day-themed Bingo cards, created by Kristy over at Libbie Grove Design, are a great way to get kids excited about learning about numbers. Download and print them out for free on regular A4 paper to get started.

 

Valentine’s Day Same or Different

This packet, designed by speech & language pathologist Jen, contains eight different worksheets that target identifying items that are the same and items that are different.  There are two color worksheets and two black and white worksheets that target identifying items that are the same in a row.

Hearts-Themed Missing Letters and Matching Numbers Activity

Sherine at Trial & Error Mama came up with these adorable hearts-themed activities to practice spelling, counting, and matching with her daughters. For some inspiration, check out the different ways she got crafty on Valentine’s Day with her girls.

Valentine’s Day Feelings Book

Valentine’s Day is the day to show your love to those you care about. This Feelings Book idea by Ruth is a great way to help kids identify and talk about feelings. Download the Feelings Book template for free here!

 

Let us know how you’re getting crafty this Valentine’s Day with your student or child!

 

TDF Presents an Autism-Friendly Performance of “Aladdin”

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Mark your calendars! On March 8, 2015, the Autism Theatre Initiative of the Theatre Development Fund will present an autism-friendly performance of the acclaimed musical comedy “Aladdin” at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.  Tickets will go on sale on Monday, February 9th, 2015 at 12:00pm EST.

All tickets for this special performance are being specially priced to ensure that as many individuals, as possible, affected by autism, sensory and communication disorders, or learning disabilities, are able to experience this extraordinary production. This show will be performed in a welcoming, supportive environment for individuals on the spectrum, with sensory and communication disorders, or learning disabilities. Slight adjustments to lighting and sound will be made for the performance. In the downstairs lobby, there will also be a break area staffed by specialists in the field, if audience members need to leave their seats during the show.

For more information about this performance, visit the Theater Development Fund’s website.

Our 2015 Catalog (Vol. 33) is Here!

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We’re thrilled to announce the arrival of our 2015 Catalog, Volume 33! Go and request your free copy here. Along with exclusive articles written by our community of experts, you’ll also find brand new products which we’re incredibly excited to share with you. This May marks 20 years in business, and we still find great excitement connecting you with the right products for our children’s progress and potential. And to all of the parents, teachers, therapists, and autism specialists, we’ve loved connecting with you and getting your input on new products and solutions to add to our line.

We hope you enjoy the new catalog, and please feel free to get in touch with us with any questions, comments, or feedback!

2015 Catalog Banner

Tip of the Week: Read Books from the Autistic Perspective

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If I were to describe my job in one sentence, it would be this: My primary goal is to increase the independence of my students in ways that are meaningful to them and to their families. With that goal in mind, it makes sense that I would seek out input from my students and their families, but also seek out writings by people with autism, Asperger’s, and other developmental delays in order to gain a comprehensive picture of needs, desires, and issues of which I may be unaware.

Sometimes a book or article written by an individual with autism hits the news in a big way. I encourage you to read more than one book, because you’ll quickly find that each individual’s experiences and personalities are quite different. It is not helpful to read the perspective of one person with a developmental disability and apply it to all people with developmental disabilities, but this frequently happens with autism. Here are a few resources you may want to check out:

 

The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida – This book was all over the news last year. Set up as a series of questions and responses, Higashida answers all sorts of questions related to autism. His writing is very direct and he shares a lot about the emotions he feels but is unable to convey.

 

 

Any books by Temple Grandin – Temple Grandin is a force in the autism community and has provided a wealth of resources. You can read some of her early work, such as Thinking in Pictures to get a view inside the mind of an individual with autism, but I also have great appreciation for her later work as an advocate for people with autism, such as Different…Not Less.

 

 

Episodes by Blaze Ginsberg – This is one of my all-time favorite books. Ginsberg sets up his life experiences and relationships as if they were different seasons of television shows. He presents his teen years as if you were flipping through the channels, seeing different episodes of his life. He even has songs for each episode!

 

 

Finding Kansas by Aaron Likens – This one is unique because it is written by a man who was diagnosed with Asperger’s in his 20s. Likens is eloquent in his use of metaphor to help clearly define aspects of his behavior.

 

 

www.wrongplanet.com – Wrong Planet is a community forum for individuals with autism and their families. You will see a wide range of questions and opinions here. It also serves as a forum for individuals with autism to express their feelings about topics such as whether or not they prefer people-first language, how people with autism should be depicted on TV, legislation related to autism, and more.

WRITTEN BY SAM BLANCO, MSED, BCBA

Sam is an ABA provider for students ages 3-12 in NYC. Working in education for ten years with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental delays, Sam has developed strategies for achieving a multitude of academic, behavior, and social goals. Sam is currently pursuing her PhD in Applied Behavior Analysis at Endicott College.

Pick of the Week: “Getting Started” by James Partington, PhD, BCBA-D

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The latest book from James Partington, PhD, BCBA-D, author of the ABLLS®-R and AFLS, Getting Started: Developing Critical Learning Skills is an accessible guide that teaches parents and educators how to develop critical skills for learning in children who have no, or very limited, language skills. Save 15%* this week only on your copy of Getting Started. Just use our promo code GETSTART at check-out to redeem these savings!

Written in non-technical language, Dr. Partington explains how to teach these children how to ask for items they want, imitate actions and vocalizations, attend to actions with objects, and to initiate social interactions.

Getting Started provides evidence-based Applied Behavior Analysis and Verbal Behavior methodology along with critical information on where to start and the procedure involved in teaching these critical learning skills that form an important basic foundation for a child’s overall development.

Step-by-step instructions allow a parent or teacher to implement training and track the child’s acquisition of these important skills. All of the strategies in this book are linked to the skills in the ABLLS®-R. In addition, it provides the reader with strategies to motivate the child to participate in those learning activities as well as identify appropriate goals. This book is printed in soft cover with 260 pages.

Don’t forget to apply our promo code GETSTART at check-out to take 15% off* your order of Getting Started: Developing Critical Learning Skills for Children on the Autism Spectrum.

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EST on December 9th, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

Join us at the Long Island Behavior Analysis Conference with Keynotes Dr. Mark Sundberg and Dr. Patrick Friman: December 5, 2015

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December 5th, 2014

We are so excited to be a part of this upcoming Long Island Behavior Analysis Conference! The conference will be held at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale, New York. Registration information can be found here.

With keynote speakers Mark Sundberg, PhD, BCBA-D and Patrick Friman, PhD, ABPP, this 2-day conference will be a great opportunity to hear about what is going on in the field of ABA. Sessions include “Teaching Language and Social Skills in a Child’s Natural Environment”, “The Role of Play in ABA Programs: Analysis, Assessment, and Intervention” and “That’s Not What I Recommended! Merging Treatment Integrity with Reality to Support Caregivers with Behavioral Recommendations in the Home.”

Come say hi! We will have a table at the conference, where we will be selling the VB-MAPP, Teaching Language to Children With Autism, ABA Curriculum for the Common Core: Kindergarten, and a number of our other favorite titles and products – all at discounted prices!

This conference is geared towards ABA professionals, with Type 2 CEU’s available. There is also an alternative track for parents interested in attending.

For more information, visit the ELIJA website here.

Different Roads to Learning Celebrates the Release of the “ABA Curriculum for the Common Core: Kindergarten”

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We’ve just wrapped up a successful event in celebration of BCBA Sam Blanco’s newly released ABA Curriculum for the Common Core for Kindergarten. We couldn’t be more grateful and proud of the work that Sam has accomplished in creating this robust and one-of-a-kind curriculum kit with us. We’d like to thank all of the educators, professionals, parents, and friends again who joined us this past Wednesday.

The ABA Curriculum for the Common Core Kit: Kindergarten and other raffle prizes. (Masao Katagami)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guests had the opportunity to connect with each other over an autumnal arrangement of hors d’oeuvres, delicious sushi, baked sweets, and wine, while looking through all the materials and components of the ABA Curriculum for the Common Core Kit. A special raffle was also held, during which guests had the chance to try their luck at winning any of the 4 raffle prizes: one Language Builder set and the Curriculum Book for the ABA Curriculum for the Common Core, one Time Timer PLUS and the curriculum book, the What the Heck Does That Mean?! Idioms Game, and last but not least, the entire kit for the ABA Curriculum for the Common Core: Kindergarten. Congratulations to the raffle winners – Alicia, Meaghan, Linda – and of course, the big winner of the kit, Debbie!

Party attendees mingle over food and the ABA Curriculum for the Common Core Kit: Kindergarten. (Masao Katagami)

 

Sam Blanco, MSED, BCBA tells guests about the curriculum and kit. (Masao Katagami)

View all of the event photos on our Facebook page here.

For more information about the ABA Curriculum for the Common Core Kit: Kindergarten, please email info@difflearn.com. Requests to arrange a demonstration or training with the curriculum kit can be directed to Abigail at (212) 604-9637 or abigail@difflearn.com.

Pick of the Week: Speaker’s Box – Expand expressive vocabulary & language

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Ideal for auditory and visual learners, Speaker’s Box helps strengthen oral language skills in whole-class or small-group settings, as well as in one-on-one instruction. This week only, take 15% off* your order of Speaker’s Box by using promo code SPEAKER at checkout.

With Speaker’s Box, students reach into the box, choose a color-coded prompt card, and then start chatting. There are four color-coded categories included:

  • What’s Happening Here?/What Comes Next? has the students talk about what is going on in the picture or what might happen next.
  • Step by Step has students look at the picture and correlating question on the back to give detailed directions on how to do something.
  • Would You Rather? presents questions that students answer with a personal statement based on the first thing that comes to mind.
  • Things You Like Best also asks students questions about their preferences and to explain why.

This is a great teaching tool that fosters receptive and expressive language, peer interaction, perspective-taking, and more. The set includes eighty-six 2.5-inch square write & wipe-cards (14 are blank for customization) in a nifty storage box. This game is recommended for children ages 6 and up.

Don’t forget to use our promo code SPEAKER this week to save 15%* on your set of Speaker’s Box.

*Offer is valid until 11:59pm EST on November 11th, 2014. Not compatible with any other offers. Be sure there are no spaces or dashes in your code at check out!

A Call for Conferences on Autism Spectrum Disorder, Applied Behavior Analysis, Verbal Behavior and Social Skills

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Banner_LargeDo you know of any upcoming conference or workshops on Autism?! Please let us know of any ABA, Verbal Behavior or Speech-Language Therapy events and we will share it with our community. We strive to help our readers be informed about resources and events for parents and educators of children with autism or other developmental delays. No matter how big or how small – email info about your event to hannah@difflearn.com. Please include the date, location, scheduled sessions/speakers, registration details, contact information, and anything else you feel would be informative. If you have a flyer or website, send it over!

We’re always happy to send catalogs or a door prize for your attendees so don’t hesitate to contact us. Help us help our parents and teachers educate and inspire!

We’ll let our readers know about your event on our site where we keep a running list of upcoming conferences at https://www.difflearn.com/events.