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Hussman Institute for Autism
Advancing Discovery. Embracing Differences. Enabling Communication. Presuming Ability.
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Resources


Below are some helpful resources for anyone who interacts with individuals on the autism spectrum (that means everyone!).  General guidance about how to engage individuals on the spectrum and specific resources for parents and teachers appear here.  Resources may include recommended reading, curriculum ideas, inclusive teaching tips, parenting guides for common challenges, and more.

Check back regularly to watch this section grow!  If there is a topic you would like to see addressed, please contact us!

Autism Kit for First Responders

In stressful situations, such as emergencies, people with autism may experience heightened challenges with communication and sensory perception. The sensory kit below includes items that may be helpful to officers, such as tips on assisting and interacting with a person with autism, as well as communication boards and visuals to make communication more accessible, and sensory items that may be comforting or regulating to the person with autism.

Autism Kit for First Responders

Autism visual supports for COVID-19 vaccination

Visual supports can often benefit people with autism by offering predictability. They can contribute to understanding and positive behavior support in situations where verbal explanations or directions may be insufficient. The graphics below can be freely shared, printed, laminated, and used to support people with autism and related conditions in vaccination against COVID-19 (the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus).

To print:

  • Click on the desired image to obtain the full-size image
  • Right click on the full-size image to download it
  • Print the image, using landscape orientation
  • Alternatively, you can print directly from your browser, but this may require omitting headers/footers and adjusting the scale

Presume Competence: A guide to successful, evidence-based principles for supporting and engaging individuals with autism

This comprehensive, research-based guide provides fundamental information to help parents, teachers, and others who support individuals with autism. It provides useful strategies for communication, instruction, positive behavior supports, inclusion, relationship-building, and more, emphasizing the competence, dignity, strengths, and equality of those with autism. Presume Competence also includes practical tips for toilet training, developing a stable bedtime routine, and engaging children and adults with autism in play and learning opportunities. The guide is authored by Dr. John P. Hussman, and Institute staff refer to it as “1.0”; it captures the central practices and the moral foundation from which the Institute operates.

View / Download

Template: Letter to your child’s teacher         

In research studies, teachers have reported that they wish they had more specific and concise information about each child with special needs in their classrooms, as IEPs can be lengthy and confusing.  To help your child’s teacher support him, consider adapting this template letter to meet your needs at the start of the school year—or anytime.  It provides language and ideas for what to say as an “introduction to your child” to help your child have the best experience possible in an inclusive classroom.  You might consider sending the same letter to the school’s guidance counselor, nurse, librarian, or anyone else who might interact with her.

View / Download

“Wheel of Apps”: Communication Supports

This chart sorts dozens of available apps into categories based on their functions.  Each app name is clickable and takes you to the iTunes app store for more information.  A Scottish organization created this resource, so be aware that prices are in pounds, not dollars!

Coming Soon: A “shortlist” resource focused on the Hussman Institute’s favorite communication apps.

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Keynote Address at Howard County Autism Society (Transcript)

Our Executive Director, Dr. John P. Hussman, presented this keynote address at the Howard County Autism Society “Pieces of the Puzzle” Gala, on April 29, 2017. This keynote address encapsulates the fundamental principles and values of the Institute, and encourages the reader to reconsider the way they think about, and interact with individuals with autism.

View/ Download

The Language Ladder

The language ladder is a useful resource for parents and educators that provides models for structuring and supporting communication and interaction.

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Self Directed Services: A Developmental Disabilities Administration Seminar

Staff from the Developmental Disabilities Administration delivered this presentation at the Hussman Institute for Autism, on Tuesday, July 24, 2018. These presentation slides offer a review of the information that was covered in this session.

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Maryland Autism Waiver Information Session

A panel of parents and service coordinators presented an informative session for enrollees of the Maryland Autism Waiver. Speakers covered the ins-and-outs of selecting waiver providers, working with instructors, scheduling and selecting goals for the program, and addressed reasonable expectations of the service. Click to view the presentation slides from this session.

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  • “The soul must be loved as it is.”

    Jamie Burke
  • “Autism awareness can’t stop with a list of what makes people with autism different from us. Because what is essential is the constant awareness of what makes us the same.”

    John P. Hussman, Ph.D., Director
  • “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

    The Little Prince

    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • “We agree with the view that presuming competence is the least dangerous assumption.”

    John P. Hussman, Ph.D., Director
  • “Autism is not disability.”

    Jamie Burke
  • “We are just like you, with the same desires, and just need help to be typical members of society.”

    Sue Rubin
  • “In the end, the best argument for inclusion is the simplest. It’s the one we know by heart – that all of us are created equal.”

    John P. Hussman, Ph.D., Director
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Recent Activity:
  • Autism Kit for First Responders
    April 21, 2022
  • Supporting Students with Special Needs: Online Training Modules for School-Based Professionals who Support Students with Disabilities
    April 16, 2019
  • Parental optimism, school inclusion may affect long-term progress of individuals with autism
    April 12, 2016
  • Young adults with autism increase empathic communication with training
    March 24, 2016
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Administration & Program on Autism Supports
Hussman Institute for Autism
6021 University Blvd, Ste 490
Ellicott City, MD 21043
Phone 443-860-2580 | Email info@hussmanautism.org

Research Laboratories
Hussman Institute for Autism
1011 Sunnybrook Road, Ninth Floor
Miami, FL 33136
(3 blocks from the Hussman Institute for Human Genomics)
Phone 443-860-2580 | Email info@hussmanautism.org

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