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Rick Colosimo / February 25, 2022
Sometimes, a company develops a new line of business that isn’t obviously part of the existing business. The question soon arises whether to separate the new business, and how to do it. Here are some basic ways of separating a...
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Rick Colosimo / January 16, 2019
We all know about the placebo effect, but we don’t really know how it works. It does seem, however, that there’s some mental element to the placebo effect, even to the point that recent studies show that if patients know...
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Rick Colosimo / July 17, 2017
What does creating employment for ASD adults look like? This short film, Employing the Full Spectrum tells the story of a family in Florida that built a car wash business around their adult son with autism. Most of the employees,...
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Rick Colosimo / October 7, 2015
This summer, I finally managed to stop in at the guest services building (which is not the main guest services, so ask first before you wait in the line) at Six Flags in Jackson, NJ. I picked up the Equal...
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Rick Colosimo / October 30, 2013
As many of you know, my son with autism is still a young child. But already I see that I am more and more thinking about the next 80 years of his life. I am aware (not ready to resign...
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Rick Colosimo / July 31, 2013
Autism Speaks is seeking responses to this housing surgery from people with autism aged 14 and up – and their caregivers. Take the Autism Speaks Housing and Residential Supports Survey to share your needs and hopes for the future! Complete...
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Rick Colosimo / July 19, 2013
I just came across this article about a boy whose family has integrated him into family chores in the classic ABA model: harnessing natural motivations, creating discrete tasks, and implementing positive reinforcement, both tangible and social. My older son is...
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Rick Colosimo / June 10, 2013
While the I in “IEP” mean “individual,” many parents question how individualized educational and treatment programs are. When every child in a class has the same amount of classroom time, PT, OT, and speech therapy, they wonder where the I...
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Rick Colosimo / April 2, 2013
Today is World Autism Awareness day. My Facebook profile picture is my 8yo son Dylan, showing you, and me, what he thinks of autism. I imagine it’s something along the lines of “I just want to do what I want...
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Rick Colosimo / January 1, 2013
Summer is well past over, and one hurricane, one Fall season, and a few major holidays later, there’s finally some time to think about it. I’d like to say thanks to the Ridgewood Soccer Association, which runs a special needs...
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Rick Colosimo / May 26, 2012
I really love this site; she’s got a way of focusing on clarity of communication. Damn, science! Yes, I know that many parents don’t agree, many more worry, and even more are questioning. Some of those are people...
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Rick Colosimo / May 16, 2012
Here are two more reviews/discussions of the CDC prevalence report from sources I believe to be intelligible, authoritative, and well-meaning, as opposed to fear-mongering, uninformed, and unskilled). The Autism Science Foundation describes the basics of the report in cogent language...
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Rick Colosimo / May 4, 2012
Here’s a short CNN piece reflecting on the costs of autism. It’s not news to those of us who’ve been living with it, but I’m sure it will surprise the heck out of those friends of yours and mine who...
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Rick Colosimo / May 1, 2012
My friend Christina Peck is helping out with a fundraising event at Francesca’s in Glen Rock on Wednesday, May 2. Every order leads to a donation to Autism Speaks. Christina is a very involved parent who has helped many families...
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Rick Colosimo / April 30, 2012
It’s time once again for the GoTheDistance for Autism bike event in north Jersey. My son can now ride without training wheels, so please support him here: https://tinyurl.com/DylanTrain (opens in new tab) We’ve all been busy digesting new incidence/prevalence numbers,...
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Rick Colosimo / July 14, 2011
Our friends at rethink autism are presenting a webinar that will be valuable for a broad number of parents with children on the spectrum. From their announcement: School districts nationwide are challenged to keep pace with the complex needs of...
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Rick Colosimo / May 31, 2011
Augcomm New Jersey is being produced by Eric Jager, who I’ve met. He’s a parent and skilled in meeting and event planning (at the big-boy level). I’m sure this will be a well-planned event with useful information for participants. Registration...
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Rick Colosimo / April 8, 2011
Here’s a short link to one of my other blogs, Watch Rick Train. I’m raising money all year for Reed Academy, starting with the Tough Mudder in Pennsylvania tomorrow and finishing with Ironman Florida in November. My goal is $140,000....
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Rick Colosimo / March 15, 2011
Apparently No Child Left Behind is failing because it’s revealing that schools are leaving children behind. And so schools, rather than contemplate that they’re not doing well, are suggesting that goals be changed so that they can succeed. Seriously? They’re...
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Rick Colosimo / March 13, 2011
Here’s a great new app, intended for the visually impaired, that recognizes US currency in realtime. Yes, my old iPad doesn’t have a camera, but the accessibility of these tools to my Dylan is just amazing. I’ve started to take...
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Rick Colosimo / February 21, 2011
I enjoy reading Eric Barker’s blog because he cites to published research on interesting topics. I think his tagline should be: “not what you thought.” This post questions the wisdom of using rewards to encourage desired behavior, namely eating vegetables....
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Rick Colosimo / February 15, 2011
Too funny. We have to laugh sometimes, or everything else just consumes us. That’s not good for anyone. (Thankfully, the district in which I live has some wonderful people working there, who make us feel like valued members of the...
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Rick Colosimo / November 16, 2010
It’s come to my attention from a friend, classmate, and father of a child on the spectrum that the “Your Baby Can Read” program was recently exposed (challenged, to be sure) as a likely fraud. It was the subject of...
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Rick Colosimo / November 11, 2010
Today is a day I treat much like Memorial Day, with the difference that I’m not uncomfortable about receiving greetings today. (Memorial Day is for fallen servicemembers; I’m not in that category nor have I been in harm’s way. Many...
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Rick Colosimo / October 25, 2010
So many, many flashcards and pictures around our classroom (what the unitiated refer to as our “playroom”) fill bins and bins, sorted into ziplock bags. This Lifehacker article suggests that using a slightly more unusual font, such as Comic Sans...
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Rick Colosimo / September 27, 2010
Since the passage and effectiveness of New Jersey’s autism insurance bill, I have been struck by the odd circumstance of it being so difficult to figure out if you have coverage under the law. It took a while, but I...
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Rick Colosimo / March 21, 2010
This post on paying for our own professionals from rickcolosimo.com was sparked by a health-care editorial, related to prohibitions on sharing legal fees with non-lawyers, and now belongs here. The phrase “doctors and patients as enemies” is what knocked me...
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Rick Colosimo / February 19, 2010
Jen Laviano (@JenLaviano) has a post up this week that mentions my un-favorite urban legend about autism: that there are parents who get their kids a diagnosis so that they can get “extra help” from their school district. Jen talks...
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Rick Colosimo / January 15, 2010
“Ignite” talks are presentations composed of 15 slides that automatically rotate every 20 seconds, meaning they’re only 5 minutes long. Since I’ve been working on a similarly sized presentation to introduce my ideas on a comprehensive ASD curriculum planning &...
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Rick Colosimo / January 11, 2010
This article on the siphoning of stimulus funds for special education to general education is one of the few I’ve seen in the WSJ on special education. By itself, I think that’s a major achievement — it means that special...
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Rick Colosimo / November 27, 2009
Some time ago, a link to this quasi-review article crossed my desk. Briefly, it explains why, in the author’s opinion, the subject articles on genetic research in autism are somehow untrustworthy or flawed. In some ways, it’s well-written. I like...
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Rick Colosimo / November 2, 2009
This article on the VA’s electronic records experience should be energizing autism service providers around the country, but I fear that it isn’t. The doctors involved have their own electronic records issues, and they’re almost certainly uncomfortable with anything that...
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Rick Colosimo / October 30, 2009
What advice do you need to help you think about your child’s first IEP? This guide gives you some principles and tips to help you think about how to plan for your first IEP.
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Rick Colosimo / October 27, 2009
Every parent of a child on the spectrum knows the name Catherine Maurice. Her book, “Let Me Hear Your Voice,” is a literary landmark in the field that has touched almost every parent I know. In a rare public appearance...
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Rick Colosimo / October 13, 2009
I refer to this as 30seats.com, wth a focusing on creating one classroom at a time to serve our entire community of new children with ASDs. Mission: A program that would collect, create, and curate tools, information, and content to...
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Rick Colosimo / October 11, 2009
This article from Indiana describes one of the more crazy things that I have read about special education teachers. For those who are interested, I would probably define this as attempted murder. It’s absolutely reckless behavior that is so depraved...
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Rick Colosimo / October 10, 2009
Here are some quotes from relevant laws and regulations regarding the usage of the severe discrepancy model for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability: IDEA sections: a. 20 USC 1414(b)(2) says: (2) Conduct of evaluation In conducting...
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Rick Colosimo / October 9, 2009
School districts in New Jersey are permitted to use a severe discrepancy method for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability.
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Rick Colosimo / October 9, 2009
This article on a European CSA alternative struck me as a great idea to use as a framework for an adult living/training option for some autistic adults or teens. A farm environment would allow for a variety of sensory environments...
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Rick Colosimo / September 29, 2009
via COPAA I include this today because the thought of these activities, let alone the actual descriptions of what has happened to our children, those least able to defend themselves, to seek protection, to tell others, chokes me up every...
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Rick Colosimo / August 17, 2009
I have been struggling with the question of whether to keep writing on science issues, particularly since it’s not my area of expertise (even though I’m very fond of thinking about these issues). I’ve decided to compromise and try to...
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Rick Colosimo / August 17, 2009
New Jersey Governor Corzine signed A2238, the NJ autism insurance coverage bill, into law on Thursday, providing for minimum of $36,000 annual coverage for behavioral therapy for autism. Some immediate answers about the NJ insurance bill, A2238: 1. What companies...
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Rick Colosimo / August 9, 2009
I’ve been contacted by folks from out of town who have questions about their children, and so I’ve developed a straightforward consultation service that allows you to get specific advice for your situation. As an added bonus, you will end...
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Rick Colosimo / August 7, 2009
I finally had time to read the recent statement/interview with Dr. Geri Dawson, the Chief Science Officer of Autism Speaks. As you know, we’ve discussed this complicated and angst-inducing issue in the past, primarily with respect to the complexities of...
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Rick Colosimo / August 6, 2009
This article editorial (original behind paywall) (via this post) from Pennsylvania describes one of every special education parent’s many fears about the due process procedure: having to pay the school district’s legal fees if they lose. Reading the story, and...
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Rick Colosimo / August 5, 2009
A tweet I saw today asked about what the expectations are for implementation of her son’s IEP following an impending move. My response: Did you get answer to your IEP transfer question? See 20 USC 1414(d)(2)(C). Short answer: FAPE until...
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Rick Colosimo / August 5, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Clifton NJ on Route 3 West for Roving Office Hours on Wednesday, August 19. Clifton Route 3 360 Route 3 West Clifton, NJ 07014 973 473-2560
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Rick Colosimo / August 5, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Nutley, NJ on Franklin Ave. for Roving Office Hours on Wednesday, August 19. Nutley 483 Franklin Avenue Nutley, New Jersey 07110 973-562-0045
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Rick Colosimo / August 5, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Montclair, NJ on Bloomfield Ave. for Roving Office Hours on Wednesday, August 19. Bloomfield 701 Bloomfield Avenue Montclair, New Jersey 07042 (973) 746-7300
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Livingston, NJ for Roving Office Hours on Monday, August 17. Livingston 1 West Mt. Pleasant Avenue Livingston, New Jersey 07039 973-533-1669
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Madison, NJ for Roving Office Hours on Monday, August 17. Madison 307-311 Main Street Madison, New Jersey 07940 973-410-0244
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Summit , NJ for Roving Office Hours on Monday, August 17. Summit 2 Beechwood Road Summit, New Jersey 07901 (908) 273-3121
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
I’m considering scheduling some Roving Office Hours sessions at the Starbucks in Rehoboth Beach, DE during the week of August 22-29. 301 Rehoboth Ave. Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 302 227-3682 If you are going to be in the area during...
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
Sorry, this session is cancelled. I’ll be at the Starbucks in Wayne, NJ for Roving Office Hours on Friday, August 14. Preakness Shopping Center 810 Hamburg Turnpike Wayne, New Jersey 07470 (973) 872-6406
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
UPDATE: This event is CANCELLED — I will be attending the signing of the NJ autism insurance legislation. I’ll be at the Starbucks in Hackensack, NJ for Roving Office Hours on Thursday, August 13. Hackensack 360 Essex Street Hackensack, New...
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Wyckoff, NJ for Roving Office Hours on Wednesday, August 12. Wyckoff 325 Franklin Avenue Wyckoff, New Jersey 07481 201-847-8080
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Glen Rock NJ for Roving Office Hours on Tuesday, August 11. Glen Rock 224 Rock Road Glen Rock, New Jersey 07452 201-493-8261
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Rick Colosimo / August 4, 2009
I’ll be at the Starbucks in Clifton NJ on Route 3 West for Roving Office Hours on Monday, August 10. Clifton Route 3 360 Route 3 West Clifton, NJ 07014 973 473-2560
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Rick Colosimo / August 3, 2009
I just saw this quote in a recent article: “We don’t want to identify kids as disabled,” Charla MacKenzie, director of pupil personnel services for Southwest Licking Local Schools, said “To us, that’s a very big thing.” “It’s only when...
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Rick Colosimo / August 3, 2009
Here’s another article describing seemingly vague rules about restraints and seclusion, an issue that seems to be growing in importance in recent months. Here is a single excerpt from the COPAA letter: A 9 year old boy with autism in...
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Rick Colosimo / July 25, 2009
I’ll be at at the Starbucks in Montclair, NJ on Valley Road for Roving Office Hours on Wednesday.
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Rick Colosimo / July 25, 2009
I’ll be at at the Starbucks in Midland Park, NJ for Roving Office Hours on Monday.
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Rick Colosimo / July 25, 2009
Earlier today, in a post on MOSAIC, the NJ autism parents’ group, I referenced my last post, in which I talked about rewriting actual IEP goals as one project I’d like to undertake (along with so many others!). To make...
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Rick Colosimo / July 23, 2009
Recently on rethinkautism, a parent asked about the “Chevy vs. Cadillac” mantra widely repeated to supposedly illustrate the IDEA principle that children are entitled to an “appropriate” education, not the “best” education or, in general, one that “maximizes” their progress...
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Rick Colosimo / July 1, 2009
Let’s be clear. Autism sucks; it certainly sucks for my son. (And I don’t lump the Asperger’s group into this: I have met Aspies who are cogent, gainfully employed, capable, present in the world, and able to self-advocate; Dylan wasn’t...
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Rick Colosimo / July 1, 2009
Today, Dr. Eric London, from Autism Speaks/Autism Science Foundation and a co-founder of NAAR (which merged with Autism Speaks), announced that he is resigning from the Scientific Affairs Committee and dissociating himself from Autism Speaks. His statement generally refers to...
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Rick Colosimo / June 30, 2009
This WSJ article illustrates the type of analysis that we should all expect to have to understand as coverage for ABA moves into the mainstream of private insurance coverage and then, theoretically, becomes the responsibility of some national health insurance...
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Rick Colosimo / June 26, 2009
The release below from COPAA describes new legislation introduced to allow for the recovery of expert witness fees in due process hearings and similar proceedings under IDEA. While parents who win at due process can often get reasonable attorney’s fees,...
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Rick Colosimo / June 22, 2009
This brief description of an MRI study from Cambridge relates that two areas of the brain may affect sociability by affecting the value of social rewards to a person. They found that the greater the concentration of tissue in the...
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Rick Colosimo / June 22, 2009
The discussion about the treatment of the adults working at the turkey farm tied to ideas I’ve discussed before. As I tweeted earlier today, the population of developmentally disabled adults is growing, and the demographics show that we haven’t reached...
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Rick Colosimo / June 22, 2009
(I started writing a reply to Tom’s comment on the Institution or Community post, but I got on a roll and decided my response was long enough to merit its own post.) There are news stories that describe prior confirmation...
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Rick Colosimo / June 18, 2009
Dora Raymaker at Change.org often gets straight to the point when instances of mistreatment are revealed. This post about a turkey farm where developmentally disabled adults were paid $0.44 an hour generates her question about what separates an institution from...
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Rick Colosimo / June 18, 2009
It seems like every time I open my email or web browser I come across more “resources” for parents with children on the spectrum. I’m concerned, however, that there’s almost too many, if such a thing is possible, because much...
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Rick Colosimo / June 18, 2009
This all-too-short essay from a 14-year-old who had autism is practically overwhelming for me to read. I will freely confess that I still believe my son will be able to write something like this some day, at the same time...
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Rick Colosimo / June 16, 2009
Here’s today’s email to NJ Governor Corzine: Dear Governor Corzine, Since NJ is the state with the highest incidence of autism, what specific commitments will you make to parents of school-age children and to autistic adults? What would you pledge...
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Rick Colosimo / May 21, 2009
We’re big fans of Autism Votes, and today’s email about the ATAA (Autism Treatment Acceleration Act) S.819 co-sponsor drive led me to realize that the usual model of sending emails to ask for something is not all that I need....
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Rick Colosimo / May 4, 2009
The ASDworld logo contest is over, and we’ll be refining the logo a bit and updating the site soon to use it here. Also, after a too-lengthy selection process, I’ve decided to build the alpha version of the test site...
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Rick Colosimo / April 28, 2009
One idea I’ve had for a while and thought I would implement after the alpha version of the site is done is an “honor roll” of sorts recognizing businesses that we find, as families, to be “autism friendly.” I’m writing...
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Rick Colosimo / April 27, 2009
The new site is being worked on in the background as I write this: We’ve already identified the outlines of logo through our crowdSPRING contest. As the designer creates new entries, we’ll try to run a poll to see what...
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Rick Colosimo / April 27, 2009
This Slate article talks about the Hawthorne effect, which basically says that positive interactions with people creates positive outcomes, at least for a while. It’s sort of like a placebo effect for behavior. Using facilitated communication as an example, the...
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Rick Colosimo / April 27, 2009
After weeks with no response from the Christie campaign on my question about the candidate’s position on autism (I guess he believes twitter is for press releases rather than conversations), I looked over NJ Gov’r Corzine’s scant website. No presence...
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Rick Colosimo / March 27, 2009
Readers of Exaptation will note that a recent post dealt with Long-Term Potentiation, or LTP. LTP is related to the manner in which signals travel in the brain (very simplified explanation!). This animation of LTP explains the process in much...
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Rick Colosimo / March 26, 2009
This is the inaugural post for ASD World, which will officially launch on April 2, 2009. Yes, World Autism Awareness Day. Please take part in an activity near you or donate to a favorite cause. Initially, I will blog here...
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Rick Colosimo / March 25, 2009
This article from Wired describes a very interesting development in neuroscience that could be harnessed to improve teaching of autistic children (and, of course, NT children as well). The essence of the discovery is that there are signals, prior to...
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Rick Colosimo / February 9, 2009
This short article is the most recent update on the fallout from Wakefield’s actions. A longer version is also available. Finally, a broad explanation of the investigation is available on the journalist’s website. Here are some things that we didn’t...
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Rick Colosimo / February 8, 2009
When I was pregnant, I thought I should wear a t-shirt with the following: December 5. I don’t know. No, I just cannot be within a 5-foot radius of ham or any other pork product. This was because every random...
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Rick Colosimo / January 21, 2009
There are about a zillion autism organizations, and many of them have at least some lobbying component. Here at 30seats, we’re generally more focused on thinking about direct action, either in terms of directly helping families in their own homes...
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Rick Colosimo / January 20, 2009
I recently puchased the book “Made to Stick,” and I’ve spent a little time catching up on the authors’ articles in Fast Company magazine. One caught my eye and seemed eerily familiar. This article describes, of all things, using some...
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Rick Colosimo / December 2, 2008
The NYT today has a post about the cost of caring for an elderly parent. One of the projects on our writing list is an article about measuring the soft costs of having an autistic child. We call these soft...
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Rick Colosimo / November 10, 2008
As the first public activity of the Wolfhound Fund, we will be sponsoring a screening of Jackie Spirer’s film “Finding Matty’s Voice.” Her film won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Ivy Film Festival. The screening will take place...
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Rick Colosimo / August 7, 2008
To get started, We’ve posted a project in connection with the open-source autism school at Arielle’s Project Interns site. Here is the description: Develop specifications for a web 2.0 front-end for a project to create an open-source/crowdsourced model for starting...
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Rick Colosimo / August 7, 2008
We live in the tri-state area surrounding New York City, which turns out to be a sort of national hotspot for high-quality (meaning effective at recovering a significant portion of children) programs for children on the autistic spectrum. Of course,...
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Rick Colosimo / April 15, 2008
The goal for this post is to explain what the “science” crowd thinks. As science-minded people, we generally subscribe to the scientific viewpoint, and we think that most people, when it’s explained properly, actually agree with the scientific viewpoint. The...
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Rick Colosimo / April 10, 2008
This is the inaugural post for 30 Seats, at 30seats.blogspot.com. We’ll host externally at some point and transfer these posts. We are parents of a 3 year-old boy diagnosed with PDD-NOS. We live in northern New Jersey, where there is...
