Nikki Schwartz is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Oaktree and focuses on using neurofeedback, play, and talk therapies to provide practical, effective counseling to families and clients. 

When you watch the video, pay attention to the back and forth interaction that you see between the two.  This is the main goal of Floortime Play Therapy, to help relationships become enjoyable for the person with autism. Not to make them comply, behave or simply to follow directions, but to help them connect to others in a meaningful way.

I decided to move the tips for helping children with autism enjoy relationships to a post of their own.

"... Do your kids have an autistic sibling? Parents of my autistic clients often ask how they can encourage their child to interact with themselves and their siblings.  It takes time, I tell them, but it's worth it to see them enjoy each other's company, to see them laugh together." 
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Nikki Schwartz is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Oaktree Counseling and focuses on using neurofeedback, play, and talk therapies to provide practical, effective counseling to families and clients. You can find her on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.

Over Christmas, my husband built me a light table!  If you have not seen these, they are so great for sensory play and play-based learning techniques.  

So, last week I went in search of cheap light table activities at Dollar Tree®.  There were so many great inexpensive finds, I knew I had to share.  My toddler has had so much fun with these that I went back to buy a few more of his favorites!  What inexpensive light table activities have you found and loved?  Let me know in the comment section!
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(P.S. I have no affiliation to DOLLAR TREE®  and was in no way compensated for this post.)

Play Based Learning is great for any child, but especially helpful for children with Autism and Sensory Issues.  Spectrum Psychological is hosting a blog hop for posts that involve play based learning, Montessori, sensory play, open play, creative play, etc.  Anyone blogging about play is welcome to link up, including parents, teachers, social workers, therapists, etc.

Make sure to check out our awesome co-host, Lora at Kids Creative Chaos.

I love The Imagination Tree!  So many ideas to make at home for kids to play with for hours.  This is a simple tutorial to make a light box for sensory play at home.  Most light tables are fairly expensive ($400 to $500).  This is a much less pricey route with good instructions.

Nikki Schwartz is a Counselor Resident at Spectrum Psychological and focuses on using neurofeedback, play, and talk therapies to provide practical, effective counseling to families and clients.

Last year journalist Katie Drummond, of The Daily, interviewed Staff Sgt. Justin Roberts, who suffers from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) about his experience with neurofeedback.  
Katie also did her own neurofeedback session with Sue Othmer, of EEGInfo.

Neurofeedback can help reduce the anxiety clients with PTSD experience, because it helps the brain learn to regulate itself by showing the brain a mirror of itself.  Check out this post for more on how neurofeedback works.

It is so exciting to see neurofeedback showing up more and more in mainstream media.  Check this video out for another perspective on neurofeedback for PTSD.  Let me know in the comment section what you think of the video in the comment section.

Nikki Schwartz is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Oaktree and focuses on using neurofeedback, play, and talk therapies to provide practical, effective counseling to families and clients.

Leah Kelley, who blogs about her son at 30 Days of Autism shared this video on our community Pinterest board Awesome Autism!.  The video is titled No Myths and features an autistic child and two adults.

This is such an encouraging, positive message on Autism Awareness, that I highly recommend taking a few minutes to watch it and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

Nikki Schwartz is a Counselor Resident at Spectrum Psychological and focuses on using neurofeedback, play, and talk therapies to provide practical, effective counseling to families and clients.