by cgross April 19, 2022
We know how exhausting it is to be a parent, so Circle Care has gathered some ways to give give noncontingent attention to your child after a long day! Read the blog to learn what noncontingent attention is, and how you can incorporate it in your life.
Categories: Child Development, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross April 9, 2022
Chaining is a method used in ABA therapy that helps children with autism and other developmental disorders to learn how to perform certain behaviors. Learn more about how this method is used, and how you can use it at home!
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Behaviors, Understanding Autism
by cgross March 29, 2022
If you're the parent of a child with autism, then you know that it can sometimes be difficult to find activities that engage your child. Play is such an important part of development, so we've compiled a list of 10 engaging activates for autistic kids!
Categories: Autism Treatment, Child Development
by cgross March 23, 2022
Learn why ABA Therapy is the gold-standard treatment for children with autism. Hear from experts at Circle Care Services explain what ABA therapy is, and how the entire therapy process works.
Categories: ABA Therapy
by cgross March 18, 2022
Learn why one of the most significant factors that determine a child’s success with ABA therapy is how invested the parents of the child are in the process. Find out some tips to help be more involved with your child's therapy.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross March 10, 2022
Autism Spectrum Disorder and Autism are often used interchangeably to mean the same thing. In reality, these terms mean something different, and it's important to understand the distinction.
Categories: Understanding Autism
by cgross February 26, 2022
For so many families in New Jersey living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Autism Spectrum Disorders, the Arc of New Jersey is the go-to source of tools, information, guidance, and support. Circle Care Services had the pleasure of kickstarting their brand new podcast series: Road to Resources. The new podcast highlights supports and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, beginning with ABA therapy from Circle Care Services.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross February 18, 2022
Most of us enter a marriage with every intention of staying married “til death do us part”. It would be next to insanity to get married with only short term intentions. Marriage is a lot of work as most married couples discover during the first few years of marriage.
Categories: Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross February 16, 2022
Children with autism often have sensory issues that make sounds, smells, sights, and textures difficult to tolerate. When a child with autism is able to communicate and describe what they don’t like then it is fairly easy to resolve the issue. However, if a child with autism is non verbal, they may have a bit more difficulty expressing what exactly is triggering their senses.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross February 10, 2022
There are so many unknowns when parents receive a diagnosis of autism for their child for the first time. Your family may notice that autism services are consuming large chunks of your time each week. There are so many responsibilities and lists of professionals that will be in contact with your family on a regular basis.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross February 3, 2022
March of 2022 will be two years since the initial lockdown and quarantine due to COVID-19. During these last two years, daily life has been drastically altered in ways that no one could have imagined before this global pandemic.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment, Child Development, Social Skills & Communication
by cgross January 31, 2022
Your child has just been diagnosed with autism. Perhaps you suspected that autism was a possibility or maybe the news is a complete shock. Whatever your feelings might be, there really are no rules for how to respond to this type of news about your child. Feelings are not right or wrong- they are your feelings. The feelings you have are an emotional response to a life altering event.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross January 24, 2022
For many parents, when their toddler first gets diagnosed with autism, they’re scared and overwhelmed. The idea of treating their child and sending them to therapy sounds foreign and daunting. At Circle Care, we’ve found that many parents coming into the clinic don’t actually know what it is they’re signing their toddler up for! ABA therapy may be new to some parents, but it’s hardly something to fear.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross January 24, 2022
If your child has been recently diagnosed with autism, it is very likely that you are experiencing overwhelm and confusion about all of the “what next” items on your to-do list. One of the first things that you should do as a parent or a caregiver of a toddler with autism is to take some time to process the news.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross January 24, 2022
You finally arrange for your child to start ABA services, and the therapist arrives at the door for the first day of therapy. Naturally, you are excited to have your child in treatment, and you probably envisioned what therapy sessions would look like. You may have imagined something formal and clinical. Maybe you envisioned a therapist arriving and instantly grabbing your child’s attention with some professional “magic” and checking a behavior goal off of the list in the first week.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross January 13, 2022
During the first two years of life it can be difficult to identify typical and not so typical behavior- especially if you are a first time parent. Toddlers do some surprising things, and it is easy to question some of their behaviors, especially when there are concerns about the possibility of your child having developmental delays.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross January 13, 2022
Early intervention for toddlers with autism refers to the time at which therapeutic services begin to treat the symptoms of autism. There are a variety of services that a child with autism may require.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross January 5, 2022
Educational instruction that is delivered in such a way that it meets the unique needs of each individual is known as Specialized Education. Specialized Education is specifically targeted towards individuals who have developmental deficits that may cause learning or/and attention deficits.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross December 22, 2021
Autism and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are both neurodevelopmental conditions that affect a person’s ability to focus. Both conditions can appear the same when you consider a child who is struggling to sit still, pay attention, and concentrate for long periods of time. Because of these deficits, autism and ADHD ultimately cause struggles with social skills and communication with others.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Autism Treatment, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross December 5, 2021
The best gift ideas for the holidays for children with autism are the gifts that teach, soothe, entertain and keep a child’s interest for an extended period of time. This might sound like a tall order, but considering your child’s likes and personality makes it much easier to sift through the ideas swimming around your brain - or think of ideas if you are having a hard time coming up with that perfect gift.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Understanding Autism
by cgross December 3, 2021
When you have a child with autism and you inevitably begin to form a network of people in your life that you will be working alongside in the best interest of your child. It usually starts with your pediatrician, then perhaps a child psychologist or neurologist as you begin to explore what might be going on with your child.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross December 2, 2021
“We human beings are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross November 26, 2021
The holidays are upon us and we are buzzing around trying to prepare in advance to make all of our gatherings a joyous time to remember. For families who have a child or children with autism, there is a lot more to prepare in addition to the usual food preparation, gift giving, and calendar setting.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross November 26, 2021
When your child us first diagnosed with autism, deciding what to do next can be overwhelming. As a parent, you want the best for your child, but it can be hard to know what that looks like. Parents often hear the term “ABA” or “ABA Therapy” being thrown around, but are left confused and lost to what that means. We’re here to help answer all of your questions about ABA therapy, and to make your transition into this new world as easy as possible!
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment
by cgross November 25, 2021
If you are a parent or caregiver who has recently had a child in the family diagnosed with autism, chances are that you are starting to explore options to help your child, and you are probably hearing the acronym “ABA” being tossed around a bit.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment
by cgross October 27, 2021
Hair salons are busy places that are filled with noises whether it comes from idle chatter between stylists and customers or stylists blowing a customer’s hair dry with a hairdryer. The smell of shampoo may not affect most of us, yet it could be very significant to a child with autism.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross October 27, 2021
‘Tis the season for holiday busy-ness and family gatherings! Just the thought of everything that is waiting on that holiday “to-do” list can be overwhelming for anyone. Adding travel to the holiday itinerary creates a whole new “to-do” list to tackle before, during, and after travel.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross October 11, 2021
The sights, the smells, and the sounds of the holidays are something that many of us look forward to each year. Traditions and gatherings bring families together for those once-a-year celebrations, and we hurry about preparing for gift giving and sharing holiday meals together.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross September 30, 2021
If you have lived on this earth long enough, you have probably figured one thing out about other human beings - apparently, everyone is an expert at parenting except for you and that includes people who have never had children of their own!
Categories: Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross September 30, 2021
High functioning autism has been used since 2013 to replace the previous diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome. Asperger Syndrome was once a separate diagnosis from autism because, although there are many characteristics that fit the criteria for autism, Asperger Syndrome seemed to stand alone because of the individual abilities and the level of independence that children and adults with this form of autism are able to maintain throughout their school years and into adulthood.
Categories: Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross September 14, 2021
There is a common misconception that children with autism have a significantly lower ability to feel certain emotions or that they lack the ability to “feel” at all. Now, anyone that has been reading some of the previous information on Circle Care’s blog knows for certain that the exact opposite is true. In many cases, children and adults with autism feel a heightened sense of emotion; they just lack the ability to express it properly.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Child Development, Social Skills & Communication
by cgross September 14, 2021
Family dynamics can change drastically when you have a child with autism in the family. Something as simple as going to the grocery store can take careful planning and accurate timing in order to accomplish the task. Something bigger like planning a trip to an amusement park can take careful planning, back up planning, and even additional family members or friends to even consider attempting the feat.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Child Development, Social Skills & Communication
by cgross September 1, 2021
It’s a sad truth, but most school aged children are inevitably going to experience some form of bullying during their formative years. Children with autism are especially easy targets for bullies because they are different in the way that they communicate and in the way they present themselves in social situations.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross September 1, 2021
School is back in session! This year, more than any other recent school year, will come with additional challenges that are beyond the normal challenges that most teachers and parents face.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross August 30, 2021
Social stories are narratives or scripts that are designed in such a way to engage a child with autism in the story and teach him/her socially appropriate behavior and responses to a variety of situations.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross August 30, 2021
The 2020/2021 school year has been difficult for parents, students, and teachers with all of the challenges that we have faced with the pandemic. The 2021/2022 school year has arrived with a brand new set of challenges for families who have school aged children. The challenges are even greater for children who have special needs.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross August 6, 2021
We’ve all seen it before. A trip to the grocery store or to the park becomes a humiliating public display for some helpless parent of a child with autism screaming, crying, throwing objects and even lying on the floor. They lie there kicking and flailing while the parent pleads with them to stop crying and get up. The child continues and before long, the parent’s humiliation graduates from helpless to enraged. They scoop the child up and carry them out while verbally chastising them or they completely lose control and end up spanking them or pulling them by the arm and making their exit.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross August 3, 2021
Ahhh, potty training. That daunting task that most new parents fear will never happen. It is a tricky life skill to teach any child, and it can be even trickier for parents who are trying to teach a child with autism.
Categories: Autism Behavior, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross July 23, 2021
There’s so much talk out there about sensory play, sensory toys, and sensory rooms in schools and daycares- but what exactly is all of this sensory talk about? Is this an autism therapy tool or method? Is it something that all children need? And the answers are: yes and yes.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Child Development
by cgross July 9, 2021
Every once in a while we may find ourselves feeling a bit sad or overwhelmed. Maybe it’s a heavy feeling or just a general sad feeling. These kinds of feelings are completely normal when we experience something sad or when we are tired, overworked, or even bored. These feelings are usually fleeting, and with a little activity to distract us, some sleep, or even just a little passing of time, most of us snap out of it and resume our normal activities and feel pretty good.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Understanding Autism
by cgross July 8, 2021
Toddlers can be picky eaters. Most of us have experienced this first hand with our own children, or we may know of a child that has a limited menu of 4 or 5 items that are the only acceptable options when their tummy rumbles. Most toddlers seem to thrive on goldfish crackers, juice, milk, and chicken nuggets. Or as many mothers would say, “they live on crackers and love.”
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Child Development, Understanding Autism
by cgross July 7, 2021
Parents of any child know the struggle of finding a trustworthy person or daycare setting that will not only be affordable but can also provide peace of mind during the day while working. This is difficult for any parent of any child- but for the parents of a child with autism, the search for an appropriate setting can seem like an impossibility.
Categories: Autism Treatment
by cgross June 25, 2021
If you were to create a list of the top five or ten characteristics associated with autism, hand flapping would likely win a spot near the top of the list as a common visible characteristic of autism. Children with autism who display this behavior are easy to spot in schools and in public because this behavior is frequent and sometimes continuous.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Understanding Autism
by cgross June 24, 2021
There is a common misconception that people with autism are angry and aggressive. While it is true that many children, adolescents, and adults with autism struggle with anger and aggression- it does not mean that every person on the spectrum is inherently aggressive.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Understanding Autism
by cgross June 18, 2021
Children with autism often have communication deficits due to their neurological or developmental impairments. Up to 25% of children with autism with communication deficits are non verbal during their early developmental years and some (a small number) never speak at all.
Categories: Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross June 18, 2021
During the first year of life, children are watching, listening, and imitating what they see and hear. By the end of their first year, most typically developing children have a handful of words that they use to communicate their needs. “Mama,” “baba,” “juice,'' “doggie,'' and “dada” are a few of the words that you might hear depending on your child’s likes and wants.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Social Skills & Communication
by cgross June 16, 2021
ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy is the most recommended course of treatment by pediatricians and by psychologists who diagnose children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The last few decades of ABA have helped many children with autism and their families through emotional, behavioral, communication, and academic struggles with a high rate of success.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment
by cgross May 14, 2021
Perspective is a tricky concept. The concept of normalcy varies widely from person to person because everyone experiences life in a unique way. Some of us have families with one parent; some families have two parents. Some families are wealthy and other families live from paycheck to paycheck.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross May 4, 2021
Think back to being a new parent. You are sitting in the kitchen with your baby in a high chair, and while you are spooning food into their little mouth you instinctively say things to them like: “here comes the airplane” or “open” or “yummy apples”. One day, the baby repeats “airplane” or “apples” and you are overjoyed.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross May 3, 2021
Applied Behavior Analysis is a quickly growing field, especially in light of the growing numbers of children that are diagnosed with autism every year. In the year 2000, the CDC reported that 1 in 150 children born in the United States were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Categories: ABA Therapy
by cgross April 26, 2021
Nothing requires more endurance than being a parent or caregiver for a child (or two….or three…) with autism who requires constant guidance with behaviors. Okay, maybe a marathon requires endurance- but a typical day in the life of a mom or dad, grandparent, teacher or caregiver who is “the” primary caregiver for a child with autism, can easily become as physically and emotionally draining as running a marathon.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment
by cgross April 12, 2021
If you live in New Jersey and you have a child who has recently been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, you might be wondering where to start to find the appropriate autism services for your child.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Treatment
by cgross April 5, 2021
Sandra brought her new baby Thomas home and noticed at about two weeks of age that if she stroked his face while he nursed, he would pull away and start crying as though he were hurt. The same reaction would occur when Sandra touched Thomas' arms. He did not have the same reactions to his hands, feet, head, ears, neck or torso.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross March 27, 2021
In the first two years of life, a child experiences the most dramatic growth and development that they will ever experience in their lifetime. If you are a new parent, you may or may not be familiar with what to expect at each stage of development as your child grows.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Child Development
by cgross March 22, 2021
Autism Spectrum Disorders have kept behavioral scientists and researchers busy for decades. We have learned so much and yet there is so much that we still can’t figure out. Consider, for example, the increasing numbers of children diagnosed with autism every year.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross March 19, 2021
There are so many things to consider when you have a child that is diagnosed with autism. Most parents report that they are initially flooded with lots of emotion. It can be overwhelming to find out that your child will need additional resources for behavior, academics, speech, and motor skills.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Understanding Autism
by cgross March 11, 2021
Most new parents have experienced a time when their own child or someone else’s child was that “one” child that was causing major disruption among all of the other children at a park or at a playdate. It’s hard to forget those humbling moments when your child is grabbing toys away from other children or randomly hitting others.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Social Skills & Communication, Understanding Autism
by cgross March 5, 2021
As a child grows from birth to adolescence, there are important developmental milestones that each child is expected to reach physically, cognitively and emotionally. When there is a delay in a child's cognitive or emotional development that affects academics, social or family dynamics it might be time to become acquainted with a Developmental Pediatrician.
Categories: Autism Treatment, Child Development
by cgross March 5, 2021
People on the autism spectrum have developmental deficits in communication and display some of their most obvious struggles during social interactions with other people. One common struggle is often a lack of interest in social interactions with others.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Social Skills & Communication
by cgross March 1, 2021
Your high school student brings home a report card with all As and Bs on it. As a reward, you and your husband decide to treat him/her to their favorite ice cream shop for dessert. You spend the time congratulating your child and sharing how proud you are of all of the hard work that they have been putting into their schoolwork.
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment
by cgross February 23, 2021
Applied Behavior Analysis is currently the most common method of treatment that is prescribed by physicians for autism spectrum disorders and other behavioral disorders. It has often been referred to as the “gold standard” treatment for children with autism and other developmental conditions.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Understanding Autism
by cgross February 15, 2021
When a child with autism is learning new behaviors that are socially appropriate, they are usually unlearning socially inappropriate behaviors at the very same time. In fact, many times the new skills or behaviors that these children are learning in their ABA sessions are carefully planned replacements for socially inappropriate behaviors that
Categories: Autism Behaviors, Autism Treatment
by cgross January 28, 2021
What is a BCBA and What Do They Do? A board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) is a graduate level healthcare professional that works with patients to provide behavior analytic services.
Categories: ABA Therapy
by cgross January 22, 2021
Applied Behavior Analysts are behavior specialists that help people to manage and improve behaviors that interfere with daily lives. The term “ABA therapist” is often used loosely to refer to Registered Behavior Techs (RBTs) among teachers, parents and caregivers,
Categories: ABA Therapy
by cgross January 17, 2021
Applied Behavior Analysis is the primary therapy that is used for children who have autism. There are other types of therapies available to people with autism, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Verbal Behavior Therapy, Social Skills Groups, Floortime and Classroom-based programs.
Categories: ABA Therapy, Autism Behaviors