Health & Wellness
Living a healthy lifestyle is so important for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. This website will provide families with information and resources pertaining to fitness, nutrition and sleep. We hope this page will help you and your family to achieve healthy and happy lives!
This health and wellness project is divided into 3 sections: Fitness, Nutrition, and Sleep. Click on each subject title for specific tips and resources on how fitness, sleep and nutrition can make big differences and significantly improve the lives of children and adults with autism!
Introduction: Eric Chessen, M.S. Founder, Autism Fitness
Physical fitness and general health are the foundation of optimal living for every person. It is easy to "know" how important exercise, nutrition, and being outside are, yet somehow manage to let life get in the way. For individuals on the autism spectrum, exercise and play are truly a gateway to physical health, self-confidence, and even socialization.
Fitness and healthy living habits may seem difficult, even overwhelming to include at first. What type of exercise is appropriate? What if Richard won't eat broccoli? Do I need to buy the Treadmill-ator 5000 for my family to get fit?
You can succeed in creating a healthier home with small additions over time. In fact, that's why we created this section on the Autism Speaks website. We're gathering some of the most outstanding health and wellness professionals serving the ASD community and they are providing basic, effective information for you to use.
It is difficult to predict what the future holds for the current generations of individuals with ASD. We do know, however, that being more proactive with fitness and healthy living will have a tremendous benefit on the development and well-being of our children, students, friends, and family with autism.
Small changes lead to big successes!
This health and wellness project is divided into 3 sections. Click on each subject title for specific tips and resources on how fitness, sleep and nutrition can make big differences and significantly improve the lives of children and adults with autism!
Health and Wellness in the News
- Creating Equal Opportunities for Children and Youth with Disabilities to Participate in Physical Education and Extracurricular Athletics
- Sleep Disturbances Associated With Behavior Problems in Children With Autism
- Autism Fitness
- For Your Family: Exercise and Autism
- Exercise linked to fewer, milder colds
- A Can-Do Approach to Autistic Children and Athletics
- Exercise strategies for people with autism
- Making physical education fun for children with autism
- Exercise may protect the brain from chemical-induced injury
We would love to hear from you!
If you have resources, stories or news articles related to health and wellness for individuals with autism, please submit them to support@autismspeakscan.ca.
We would like to thank the people who have contributed to this project. Click here to see a list of all those who made the Health and Wellness site possible!