Birdhouse Blog

What Happens When They Don’t Catch Up?
She was just six months old. That's when I got the first inkling that my experience as a mom wasn't going to go exactly as planned. The milestones were being missed that early. Back then it was just the gross motor stuff: rolling over, lifting her head, tolerating...

Just Flailing Around Behind Her
Are the summer bugs insane this year by you? In the beginning of the summer they were all over me. I hate mosquitos and the itchies they bring. There are these weird, angry bugs that kind of attack us as we walk from our front door to the car. I have been trying to...

The Constant Anxiety of Autism Moms
There have been studies reporting that parents raising children with Autism experience stress akin to combat soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This makes total sense to me. That's a pretty accurate way to describe how I feel all the time. The...

Why you have to stop comparing your problems to mine
For the second time in a week, someone has said to me: "I know it's not the same, but..." and then they go on to describe how their child has something going on that's causing some kind of stress in the life of the family. When I can get past the thought that "not the...

Why the Special Education Classes Were Excluded From the Yearbook
It all started the day before the last day of school. The parents in my daughter's ASD class received an email from the teacher that the three special education classes in the school (2 ASD, 1 multiple impairment) were printed incorrectly. Basically, the pages were...

Traveling with Children with Special Needs
Traveling with children with special needs is rarely easy. When you have a child with special needs, traveling may even seem like an impossible endeavor. News stories about planes making emergency landings to remove families with special needs don’t help the anxiety...

A Note to the Parents of the Typical Kids on Inclusion
Dear parents of the typically developing kids, It's been a busy month! I see your posts of the dance recitals and the costumes, little league championships and the trophies, the graduation parties with swimming pools and ice cream covered smiles, and the big duffel...

Autism Word Cloud
We asked you to describe your child with Autism in three words. Here’s what you said in the form of an Autism word cloud: In this word cloud, the words that were repeated most often are the larger than the rest.

Making a Better Autism App for Parents – 5/4/15
We worked hard these past couple weeks to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we’ve accomplished. Miscellaneous feature tweaks and improvements for the web Fixed some of the commonly used buttons that you couldn’t select, for some reason, when...

Making a Better Autism App for Parents – 4/12/15
We worked hard these past couple weeks to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we did over the past 10 days or so. Polished up and released the new Interactive Email Reminders feature Configured some error handling Updated the email wording from...

Why I Kept My Son’s Autism Diagnosis a Secret
In hindsight, I knew my son had autism while I was holding him in the hospital just after birth. I became vocal about my concerns to our Doctor by his first birthday and by his 15 month checkup I was asking our wonderfully optimistic pediatrician if he was going to...

Introducing 3 New Features on Birdhouse!
Clarification: 1 BRAND new feature, and 2 formerly Premium features being made available to all Birdhouse users. Smart Email Reminders Smart email reminders launch today for Birdhouse Premium members. It’s the very first step in a very long list of improvements we’re...

Making a Better Autism App for Parents – 3/27/15
We worked hard these past couple weeks to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we did over the past 10 days or so.Begun laying framework for expanding the range of activity types available for logging and trackingWe know each child is different, and with...

Why I’ve Changed My Mind About School Inclusion
My motive in fighting so hard for inclusion is different today than it was just a year ago. I have a 10 year old daughter with Autism. She spends most of her time in an ASD classroom and some time each day in the regular 3rd grade classroom. When she was just 4, I...
10 Great Books About People with Special Needs
A good story is a like a gift. It has the rare ability to make us feel as though we aren’t alone, and that there is someone who shares in our struggles, challenges, and our joys. For a child with special needs, the right book can connect with them, giving them the...
This is What Our Autism is Like
Our Autism is fluid. It’s changed a bit over the years. I imagine it’ll keep changing. This is what our Autism is like at nine and a half years old. -It’s still watching Sesame Street. -It’s buying or making everything associated with a new interest in hopes of...
6 Autism Technology Gadgets You May Not Have Known About
Parenting a child with special needs has its own unique set of tribulations and triumphs. However, thanks to the fact that we now live in a tech-centric world, we have a variety of handy tech tools and gadgets that can make life a whole lot easier (and offer our kids...
Making a Better Autism App for Parents – 3/4/15
We worked hard over the last week to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we did over the past 10 days or so.Improving Web 2.0 and planning for Web 3.0Talked to Joel about how best to work through our big list of small improvements and fixes, and start...
How I Prepared My Daughter for a Change In the Classroom
Article summary: — Transitions are hard, but inevitable — Talk about the old — Talk about the new — Photography can be powerful — Do an activity around the theme of the transition Transitioning to something new has never been easy for my daughter, who is ten. While...

Introducing: Reports!
We've always been so excited about this feature! It's been requested time and time again, since we first started Birdhouse, in fact, and we just have not had the resources to build it until now. And that feature is…. drumroll please…. Yes, Reports. Until now, the only...
Making a Better Autism App for Parents – Week of 2/2/15
We worked hard this past couple weeks to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we did over the past 10 days or so.Developing Android 2.3a - how nutrition info is all going to work on your phoneArranged a meeting with Dan to review build 1 notes and...

8 Date Night Ideas for Parents of Kids with Special Needs
Raising a child with any special need comes with its own unique set of challenges. While every milestone and small victory along the way calls for a celebration, there are other moments when a timeout from parenthood is in order. Every parent should have some time to...
Making a Better Autism App for Parents – Week of 1/26/15
It was less than 2 weeks ago that we released Birdhouse 2.0 for the web. We worked full time, around the clock, and many, many months of planning and strategizing, to get that out to you as the best way to address many of your requests now and soon to come. And now...
10 Blogs for Parents by Parents Raising Special Kids
One of the most challenging things about raising a child with special needs is feeling as though you’re completely alone. Even if friends and family are supportive and well-meaning, they don’t know what it’s like to walk that proverbial mile in your shoes. Chances...
Birdhouse for Autism 2.0 is here! See what we’ve done and why.
Over the course of the past 6 months, we rebuilt the entire Birdhouse for Autism website. We’d grown to the point that the old site was really beginning to hold us back and prevent us from building the features that families have been asking us to build for them, and...
Making a Better Autism App for Parents – Week of 12/22/14
Oh hello again! We worked hard this past week to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we did over the past 10 days or so. Bringing our unique schedule organization and management to your pocket This week we wrote full documentation for the Nutrition...
Making a Better Autism App for Parents – Week of 12/1/14
Hi again! We’re back with our second installment of our “What We’ve Been Up To” series. We worked hard this past week to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we did over the past 10 days or so. Final stage before iPhone app 2.2.3...
Expecting More from Autism Apps: 4 Tips on What to Look for
This is a guest post by Katie Hench, CEO of Infiniteach LLC, a Chicago-based startup building autism education apps rooted in evidence-based interventions. Katie’s brother was diagnosed with autism at the age of 6. It wasn’t until the age of 26 that she finally began...
Making a Better Autism App for Parents – Week of 11/17/14
We worked hard this past week to make the Birdhouse app better for you. Here’s what we did over the past 10 days or so. We wrapped up and released Android 2.2.3, which focused on bug fixes and future-proofing the application Have you noticed a difference? Less...
Teaching Personal Information to our Kids with Autism
Parents often drill into their children’s heads all the pertinent information a child would need if he or she got lost or separated from them: name, parents’ names, phone number, etc. Since many children with Autism aren’t able to articulate that information well, we...
A Halloween “Heads Up” for Your Neighbors
Last year around Halloween, we talked about what a weird concept trick-or-treating is. I still think it’s a tough one for our kids to really understand. Someone recently asked me what I’d want to tell my neighbors about my child as we gear up for Halloween and...
5 Fun, Easy, and Creative Frozen-themed Sensory Activities
— It wasn’t too long ago that Frozen captivated just about every single child’s imagination– while simultaneously drilling into their parents heads the incessant, unrelenting croons of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel (or Adele Dazeem if you’re John Travolta at the...
3 Ways to Use Birdhouse During the School Year
You’ve got the school supplies, the new backpack and lunchbox, and maybe even a new pair of shoes for your kiddo this year. But lost in the midst of checklists, orientations, open houses is something that we at Birdhouse routinely ask ourselves, “what tools can we use...
How Birdhouse Will Help Us Make This School Year More Successful
Written by: Dani, Chief Mama Bird Little Bird on her first day of school! — Many parents count down the days until school is back in session. For so many of us raising kids with disabilities, those school day hours are the only times of respite we get. If you’re like...
Unexpected & Fun Uses for 2 Liter Bottles to Keep Kids Busy
Summer’s still in full swing, and it can be tricky to think of activities to keep the kids busy. It’s no fun to drag ourselves to the store to find activities, but fortunately, that’s totally unnecessary! Stuff we have around the house is perfect for...
Life Has Perfect Moments
It’s those little moments in life that mean the most to me. In relation to my brother, who happens to have Autism, it’s the moments where he surprises me with a hug. Those hugs are like treasure to me because I know it’s not always comfortable for him, so it means a...
An Easy to Follow Activity Recipe for a Sensory Friendly July 4th
An Easy To Follow Activity Recipe For A Sensory Friendly July 4th If the sum of crashing sounds + flashing lights + mosquito bites + a large crowd doesn’t really equal a happy 4th of July for your child, keep on reading. Even if a fireworks show isn’t on the agenda...
9 Fun and Classic Go-To Sensory Toys
Kids love to have fun. Understatement of the year, right? But it’s so easy to fall into the “technology trap” of addicting iPad games that often times force us to lose sight of the simple things, and the simple things can be just as engaging, if not productive and...
6 DIY Popsicles for a Healthier Summer
Who doesn’t love a good popsicle? The problem is, a lot of popsicles out there really aren’t good. Well, they might taste good, but they’re not good for our families’ health. Most regular popsicles are filled with artificial flavors,...

Because Dads Rule.
In what can seem like a Mom-dominated community, Dads, Step Dads, Father Figures, or whatever wonderful fatherly role you play in the life of a child, often don’t get the recognition you deserve. So we’re here to recognize you for all the incredible love, attention,...
Food Tracking, Suggestions, & more: Birdhouse 2.2 on iPhone & Android!
This weekend we pushed a couple big updates to our iPhone and Android apps. We’re always doing our best to make Birdhouse easier to use, more intuitive, and especially more convenient, so you can get in and out and back to your day with as little hassle as possible....
Tips for Managing Bedwetting
Bedwetting. It’s been an issue in my home and since it’s very common for some children to wet the bed at night, I’m guessing that it could be an issue in yours, too. “Most” children are potty trained between ages 2 and 4. Of course, those...

3 Steps to Going Gluten-Free Without Breaking the Bank
Are you trying a Gluten-Free diet for your child or as a family? There’s no doubt that a Gluten-Free diet can help some people feel better, particularly if they are on the Autism spectrum or have sensitivities to gluten. So, where to begin? If you’re already...
7 Family Traditions to Start This Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day weekend is a time to stop and appreciate our troops for bravely protecting our freedom. It’s also a time to actively appreciate that freedom with our families by spending quality time together – freedom that would not be possible without...
5 Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas
As the school year winds down, we parents start thinking about ways to thank the teachers and therapists that have worked with our kiddos all year. Some parents I know try to search for things that are special to each individual therapist, others go for the trusted...
Have a Stress-Less Vacation
Have a Stress-Less Vacation For students on the Autism spectrum and their caregivers, school holidays aren’t all they are cracked up to be. Children on the Autism spectrum are sensitive to changes in routine and holidays from school can be very stressful. What is...
Use Technology to Prevent Wandering
It’s a hot, humid afternoon and the sun is starting to go down. Everything is still – everything, that is, except for my mother. She is running around the house opening closets and pacing up and down the bayfront in the backyard, scanning the water. My mother is...

How To: Introduce New Foods
Getting their Greens (and oranges and purples!) Children on the spectrum are blessed with acute senses to explore the world with. Understandably, all that sensory information that can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when something is unexpected. Unexpected...
How are you Recognizing Autism Awareness Month? Here are Some Fun Ideas.
The start of April marks the beginning of Autism Awareness Month and today is World Autism Awareness Day! Here at Birdhouse, we see it as a time to come together as a community to promote acceptance and recognize the strength of families. It is an exciting month and...
Birdhouse Now Offers Dedicated Food Tracking
We’re so excited to finally provide a way to track food on Birdhouse. We did it with ease in mind– simply choose Food from the Activity options, input your child’s meal, and you’re done! Birdhouse will even learn what kinds of food your child is eating and make...