Hi there and welcome to Advocate, Support & Empower: Autism's blog!
My name is Lauren Thome and I am NOT a professional blogger, however am an advocate and therapist for individuals and families affected by autism. I have a masters in educational psychology with an emphasis in early childhood development and have been working specifically with children, adolescents, and adults with autism for many years.
My first experience with autism was in college during student fieldwork at the Douglas Developmental Disability Center in New Brunswick, NJ. I was assigned to work in an ABA classroom for school-aged kids with autism. Back then, I had never even heard of autism and had no clue that this experience was about to change my life forever. Patrick was my first client. I spent hours with Patrick everyday. He wasn't verbal which made him very frustrated at times. There were many times I contemplated giving up, especially when Patrick would bang his head on the ground or would pull my hair until it came out, but then there were moments where Patrick would stop what he was doing, look up at me, and smile. We developed a relationship and he connected with me! It were those moments, seldom but never the less, that forever changed my heart and lead me to this beautiful and challenging path that I have become overwhelmingly passionate about still to this day.
As I am sure you are, I too get overwhelmed with the amount of research there is to keep up on in regards to autism, therapies, diets, etc. My goal is to post supportive and RELIABLE research as well as current news. If there is a specific topic you would like to know more about, please let me know as I am here for YOU! Email me at Lauren@GardenColorado.org.
Together we can advocate. Together we can support. And, together we can empower! Lets open our hearts and expand our minds to better the lives of the ones we love most. The first step is to get involved: Preview current topics and see photos on Facebook at Advocate, Support & Empower: Autism page, follow us on Twitter @ LaurenforAutism, bookmark www.GardenColorado.org and of course continue to read our blogs.
Until next time, BLOSSOM!
Lauren Thome, M.A.
