Autism As They Grow

Sara Winter has a twelve year-old nephew on the autism spectrum and has been his aide both at home and at school for a decade. She has been trained in ABA, VB, RDI & HANDLE therapies. Two years ago, she set out to build squag.com– an online social platform created for kids 8+ on the autism spectrum that encourages mindfulness, self-reflection and original thinking. It's goal is to offer a new way to help parents connect with their kids and to help kids safely connect with each other based on common interests and shared experiences. The parent/child communication or “Squagpad^TM” was released into an open beta test last month. Sara is passionate creating social, recreational and creative opportunities for underestimated kids. She writes about her experiences with The Huffington Post Canada, Autism Speaks Canada, and Friendship Circle International. Her work has been published in The Autism File Global Magazine, and Autism Asperger’s Digest.  She is the mom of two boys, one with ADHD, anxiety and celiac disease. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

Description of show topic:  I will be talking with Sara about strategies to help young children set themselves up for success in the classroom and on the playground.  We will focus on early childhood, but we will solicit questions by email in the week preceding the program and be prepared to discuss a broad age range.