Blog

Coming Fall 2023, Are You My New Friend? is a new Autism Demystification puppet play, story book and more.

Transitions “The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.” Let’s face it, transitions are hard. We do many things to avoid transitions. When we cannot avoid them, we prepare for them. While in the midst of a transition, we all exhibit many behaviours that express our internal state such […]

Changing the Game Virtual Reality Autism Demystification  I hadn’t really noticed the young man in the line-up waiting for his turn to demo our Virtual Reality Autism Demystification program until he spoke. “Do you need people who have sensory challenges to try it too?” he asked. Katie Robbins, Program Coordinator at Friend 2 Friend Social Learning […]

Virtual Reality Autism? The game of life can be challenging for many individuals with autism. School is one of the most challenging environments for many individuals with autism. What if there was a tool that teaches peers, and professionals to understand what it feels like to have autism? A VR educational game that is engaging, […]

Changing the Game for Individuals with Autism and Their Peers “You need to go and try that out.” said James Jacobs, CEO of Ziva Dynamics and a father of a child on the autism spectrum. James was referring to a virtual reality (VR) experience he had just demoed at a conference. Unbeknownst to James, this statement […]

Families will often say to us, “My child is too old to play”. However, after speaking with the family about what their child’s affinities are, we soon learn that their child does in fact play. Play is therapeutic by its nature. It provides opportunities to do what we love, to relax and work through issues. Play […]

Some children and adults are highly sensitive to transitions. However, unlike adults who have the power to control transitions, children often do not have that same control. On top of that, children are not always able to tell us how they are feeling or what they need when they are feeling dysregulated during transitions. Think […]

This past week I was asked to observe a novice player at a local preschool. The purpose of this visit was to provide recommendations for creating an inclusive preschool experience for this child and the peers. What I observed, is what I often see when doing observations; a dedicated group of early childhood educators. The educators […]

At school this week during lunch break Jason approached an older boy. Attempting to initiate play with the boy, Jason asks, “Would you like to hear a song?” The older boy answers, “Yes”.  Jason proceeded to sing his song. The older boy tells him to stop. However, Jason has the kind of mind that autism. […]

World Autism Awareness Day is not a special day in my life. In fact, it is just like every other day. This is because every day I work to encourage the world to go beyond awareness to demystification. When my child started school, I watched him suffer from social isolation in the school environment. Therefore, I […]

After delivering the Autism Demystification® Puppet Program one day in a school in Vancouver, a little girl in Grade 2 quietly walked up to the lead guide. She said, “I really liked the puppets. I hope you can come back next year too.” The facilitator smiled at the girl and said she was glad that […]