Mary McDonald
Bio
Professor, behavior analyst, writer, artist. Her doctorate is in behavioral psychology. She works with individuals with autism and their families.
Stories (10)
Filter by community
Using Social Stories™ with Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Social Stories™ was originally developed by Carol Gray in 1990. Social Stories™ are stories that are written to help assist a student in a variety of social situations. Social Stories™ have been shown to be effective in improving social behavior in students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) across a variety of domain areas. Specifically, they have been shown to be effective in increasing appropriate social behavior while decreasing inappropriate behavior. They can be used to help the student to be better prepared for a situation or provide them with some helpful strategies.
By Mary McDonald4 years ago in Education
Fad Treatments can be Dangerous for Children with Autism
Let me tell you about Paul, he was diagnosed with autism at age 2 and by the age of 8, he had participated in over 10 fad treatments for autism. Treatments included auditory integration training, gluten-free diet, rotation diet, magnet therapy, intravenous immunoglobulin, secretin, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, prism glasses and a number of medications. Why? Because a parent will do anything to help their child. The issue is that sometimes it takes away from other treatments, sometimes it is ineffective and sometimes it is actually harmful. At the most dangerous level, a five-year-old boy, Abubakar was given chelation therapy and went into cardiac arrest and died. https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/autism/1616
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Psyche
Adulting: Preparing Individuals with Autism
The transition from adolescence to adulthood does not always receive as much attention as is needed. Often transition services are limited, leaving individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) without the level of preparation needed for “adulting”. Areas such as leisure skill development and vocational preference are often not fully addressed. We need to begin preparing individuals with ASD as early as possible for the future and place an emphasis on lifelong skills in our curriculum planning.
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Psyche
Incidental Teaching and Children with Autism
Incidental teaching was initially developed by researchers Hart & Risley in the late 1960's and into the 1970's (Risley, 1968; Hart & Risley, 1975). Incidental teaching is a child-directed teaching method in which the child’s interest leads instruction. The adult (teacher or parent) uses the child’s interest to encourage language. The child is then provided a model to promote the elaboration of language. Incidental teaching can be used with children who have a language delay and it has been used effectively with children with autism to promote the use of communicative language.
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Education
Get Organized in Just One Day
I think we can admit that we all need to be more organized at work and in our home life. It can seem like a daunting task, taking that first step towards organization. But it does not have to be overwhelming, not if you know the steps to organization. If you can dedicate just one day to working on these steps you will be well on your way to an organized life. The goal is productivity and it is organization that helps us to be most productive. I am going to share some steps to organization here and I will showcase one organization app named Trello along the way that has helped me to be more organized. Trello is an organization app that you can use across your computer, iPad and phone. Trello allows you to add columns with lists. You can customize each column to suit your needs. You can add a to do list and a column for completed items. You can add a column for future tasks or organize into a number of columns based on priority or area of focus. When you first join Trello (and it is free) you will be able to choose a background for your board and you can choose from the many offered or upload your own photo.
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Lifehack
Winter is Coming.. and the Vikings are here
We all know that it will be difficult to find a show that is as well done as Game of Thrones again in our lifetime. For those of you who are in the know about lemon cake, wildfire, the Lord of Light, the faceless man, the Wildlings and the wall then you have watched Game of Thrones and I’ll bet, loved it.
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Geeks
Hannah's Attic
Hannah finished clearing her plate from lunch and remembered that she still hadn’t found that old family photo album she was looking for. She went back to her bedroom and looked one last time in the back of her closet, behind all the shoeboxes and backpacks. She knew it wouldn’t be there but she thought she’d check once more just to be sure. Now that she had looked everywhere it could be, she became overwhelmed by the idea of taking the stairs up to the dark and dusty attic. She knew that it must be up there. She grabbed a flashlight off the hall table and headed toward the attic stairs. She climbed the long staircase with the stream of light from her flashlight guiding her. She reached the attic landing and turned on the Victorian pink shaded glass lamp. A pinkish hue was cast across to the corners of the large attic room. She saw stacked towers of boxes of all sizes all across the back wall of the attic. Next to them in the corner was an antique mahogany wooden coat hanger with some dusty old coats hanging on it. She saw the shadows the coats cast on the wall in the pink dusty light. In the shadows it looked as if someone was standing in the corner.
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Families
Caribbean Paradise
I don't know if you've ever been to St John in the USVI. There is debate over the history of St John but it is believed that area was first settled by nomadic hunter/ gatherers and there is a rare pre-historic site that dates back to 770 BC. I consider it truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. I'll admit I haven't been to a tremendous amount of places in my lifetime but of those I have visited none have come even close to the beauty of St John. There are many reasons that St John is so beautiful. The people are beautiful, the island is spectacular and the setting is just idyllic. The beaches are amongst the best in the world and the flora and fauna are awe inspiring in a quiet cozy island style.
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Wander
No Plain Jane
I entered the room and saw her just sitting in the middle of the floor on a mattress on an unmade bed. I took one more hesitant step into the room and she looked up at me. She had a faraway look on her face and her eyes rose to meet mine but she did not respond to me at first. I later found out that her name was Jane, like in plain Jane but she was anything but plain that I can tell you.
By Mary McDonald5 years ago in Psyche
