Episode #37 - MP The 50% Rule The 50% Rule By Barbara Avila, M.S. Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #37: MP 50% Rule People learn through partnerships with others. We first learn through our parents and caregivers and then through friends, relatives, neighbors, and teachers. We observe, integrate our experiences, and determine our strengths and interests in relation to others. Many individuals with autism struggle with the basic foundations of relationships for learning through partnerships. As a result, they may take full control of a situation, or allow others to take full control, becoming passive as the other does the work in the interaction. For individuals on the spectrum, sharing control within interactions for learning can be limited. If they control the situation, they are not open to new ideas or ways of doing things. If they allow the other person to take complete control, they are passive receivers and do not learn to think for themselves. In school programs and social ski

 Episode #36: MP (Mini-Podcast) - Resist the urge to solve Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #36: MP- Resist The Urge To Solve So this is one my favorite topics when coaching parents, professionals, and individuals on spectrum themselves. Today I’m giving you the golden ticket for helping someone you know think for themselves. That golden ticket is for you to resist the urge to solve problems for someone with autism. And if you, yourself, have autism, you can ask those around you to stop solving problems for you - as you would like like to learn  to do it for yourself. Let me take a step back for a moment. We are learning through research studies that the act of shifting ones’ attention early in development is an indicator of autism. I mention this so that you can consider the fact that people with autism frequently need more time to shift their attention from one thing they are thinking about or doing before being able to attend to your question, comment, or even something occurring

 Episode #35: Riding High Synergy Autism Podcast · Episode #35: (Mini-Podcast) Riding High Today, I am talking about what I call “riding high.” No, I am not talking about bicycling or getting high, even though I live in Oregon.  I am talking today about our neurobiological systems working on overdrive and I call this “riding high.” I see most of my clients “riding high” so frequently and so often that it is their norm - so that others around them do not even know it is happening for them. I had an older client once tell me, autistics may not know what “safe” really means so I should reframe the conversation to simply “avoiding danger.” As I am producing this in the middle of the Covid19 pandemic and the 2021 Inauguration of our new administration, I am going to guess that a few of you, my listeners, may be able to relate with this “riding high” while still having to semi-function at work, in your families, and communities. You might equate this with driving a car too fast in a lower g