Help Me Grow | United Way of Utah County

Tag: Autism Spectrum

From Survivng to Thriving the Holidays with Littles

Does an interruption to your child’s routines feel like the end of the world? Are you dreading the holiday season with all the running around? Kassidy Reinert is the clinical director for the ASSERT Autism Program in Weber School District. She outlined in her ECHO presentation at Utah State University how to not only survive

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How Help Me Grow Supports Your Autism Journey

At Help Me Grow Utah, we often have parents who call us and ask about autism. Some parents have seen behaviors that are associated with autism. According to a 2014 study done by Gerteis, Izrael and Deitz, Autism is the 4th most common chronic childhood condition, right after Asthma, Allergies, and Attention deficit disorder. When

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Learning to “Pair” with Children with Autism

In 2018, I started working with children on the Autism Spectrum as a Registered Behavioral Technician. Communication is critically important for children during the fastest growth phase of their lives. Children with autism are often not able to communicate as effectively as children not “on the spectrum”. At first, it was extremely difficult. I caught

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Top 10 Tips for Improving Sleep in Children with Autism

If you are the parent of a child with Autism, you likely have many days when you just feel tired. Parenting is exhausting as is, but parenting a child with special needs can be next-level difficult, and that difficulty is only increased if our child is also struggling to sleep at night. At least half

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The Ins and Outs of an Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis

As a parent support specialist with Help Me Grow Utah, I sometimes get asked questions regarding receiving an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Frequent questions often sound like Does Help Me Grow screen for autism? My pediatrician administered the M-CHAT to my child and it said he is at high risk– doesn’t that count as

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How to Overcome Feeding Challenges

Feeding a child can cause the most anxiety-inducing moments of the day… OR it can be an enjoyable experience that brings parent and child closer together. The following guidelines can empower your family to start out on the right foot when feeding your baby, or if you have a picky eater, to take steps toward positive feeding moments.

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Parent’s Guide to ABA Therapy

Your child has an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, and your doctor has recommended ABA therapy, but what is that and how can it help your child? ABA Therapy stands for Applied Behavior Analysis and is one of the most common interventions for children with autism. The goal of ABA therapy is to teach skills and

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Sensory Sensitive or Sensory Seeking? Understanding Sensory Processing

The Eight Sensory Systems “It’s too loud! Can you turn down the volume?” “No hugs! Stop touching me!” “If he keeps eating, he’s going to gag himself again!” “Why is he rocking back and forth?” Have you ever heard these phrases? If you have, you are probably familiar with sensory processing. Without us knowing it,

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Easy Sensory Activities to do at Home

As adults, we use each of our senses everyday to help understand and process the world around us. As children develop, they are learning how to use each of their senses too. Some children may struggle with sensory processing, either feeling overstimulated easily or having a hard time processing any sensory input at all. Whether

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