All our posts in one place!
Autism sailing challenge: The adventure begins! Having worked out a date and time to pick up Lea Ho, the boys newly acquired sailing boat, one important detail had to be worked out. Our car, the one that we rebuilt together as a family (see: our post on this) had no tow bar. We needed [...]
A great many parents worry about Disney animation overstimulating their autistic child. Without question an unsupervised autistic child can become over stimulated watching Disney animation. I remember Conor as a young child glued to his favorite Disney animation and becoming totally over stimulated. It was clear to me that Conor enjoyed the experience of watching Disney animation. But I [...]
Autism and Disney animation Up to now Val and I have concentrated on general topics relating to language development. In this post we are now turning to our language research with Disney animation. We started generally because it takes a village to raise a child and understanding this is really important when it comes to autism [...]
For those who are regular readers of my blogs, speaking about the abilities of autistic children is a common theme. And in many of these blogs you will see sport pop up frequently particularly as we head into the summer months, as we are now. These blogs cover a host of outdoor (and some [...]
Autism: understanding and setting expectations One of the most important yet least understood areas of special needs parenting is the area of setting expectations. Here Enda and Val talk about some of their experiences getting the balance right. For me the whole area of assessments, schools, special services, sports and expectations is an [...]
Managing behaviors: start with understanding communication In a very great number of conversations with families the issue of behaviors (or lack of) comes up when we speak about their autistic child. What I'm speaking about here is the behaviors that crop up in social situations like going shopping or eating out. The kind of thing [...]
Autism and communication: Defying the odds By Róisín Delaney, Woman's Way. When Enda and Valerie Dodd had their twin boys almost 20 years ago, like many parents they felt everything was falling into place. As twins Conor and Eoin grew something wasn't right. With two innovative parents and a sparkle of Disney magic, the family's [...]
Enda and Val speak on the Keith Finnegan Show Val and I had the wonderful opportunity to share our story on the Keith Finnegan show. Conor and Eoin came with us and sat in on the interview. As with many occasions in the last number of years, the interview was a proud moment for all the [...]
The parents of two autistic twins have pioneered a computer learning program aimed at improving language skills for people living with autism. Story by Gerry Foley & UTV Ireland Staff, Dublin Working with researchers in California, the Dodd family have developed technology that remixes Disney and Pixar movies to help children associate visualisations with language. [...]
LANGUAGE is the key to communication. Story by Jacqueline Hogge And with that a vital tool for learning for each and every child. But for many children with special needs, delayed speech and language can confine them to years of locked in frustration and a litany of missed opportunities. This is how the future [...]
