

We are pleased to launch our LIFESMART monthly e-book series during Autism Acceptance month 2022!
The LIFESMART Parenting monthly e-books include the list of virtual meetups for the month with links to meetup videos, parenting tips, and other resources. These e-books are an important resource for the Families Learning Together project.
The LIFESMART Families virtual meetups are an important part of the process of families learning together. Each virtual presents ideas, tools, and techniques that parents can use to raise neuro-diverse children. Ongoing conversations in groups support parents in applying information from virtual meetups and other resources.
Parents try the tools and share their ideas, experiences, and insights with the LIFESMART community. This process of playing it forward is of critical importance to families learning together.
The monthly e-books will play an important role in facilitating conversations in the LIFESMART community. The e-books are a way to share resources in a consistent way across our Whatsapp, Facebook, and Telegram groups.
Click on the link to view the LIFESMART e-books to support our Families Learning Together project:
We launched our weekly meetup on February 12, 2022. Ananth and I released our first e-book as a resource for this meetup.
The LIFESMART toolkit is a collection of parent (guide) and child (learner) tools to enhance learning, thinking, problem-solving, and communication. Our vision is that every (neuro-divergent) learner will be equipped with a set of tools that they can use throughout their life. Learners will have the ability to choose and to mix and match the right tools for their situation and needs.
The user group that we will prioritize is parents. Why? Parents spend many years with their child. They are in the best position to equip their child with the right set of tools.
Start early! This is our message to parents. If parents start exploring tools early, they can slowly develop the capacity to use the tools. First, they can use the tools themselves. Then, they can use the tools with their child. Finally, encourage the child to choose and use the right tools as needed.
Review the e-book to learn about a key LIFESMART tool. The LIFESMART tetrahedron is the first tool that was created to show parents and others how to use LIFESMART. While LIFESMART components have been in place for some time, we saw the need for a way to show parents how to use these components step by step. The tetrahedron is used to show a sequence of steps to follow to start building a learning roadmap using the LIFESMART components.
The LIFESMART 100-Day project was launched in May 2021. It as quickly taken root in our parent community. The 100-Day project is taking shape as our primary vehicle for practicing LIFESMART. Since parents in our community have children of dfferent ages and at different stages of development, we needed an approach that was applicable to diverse users. An added advantage is that users are quickly immmersed in a short-term project. They are encouraged to practice LIFESMART concepts and tools as they are doing their 100-Day project.
The 100-Day projects are short-term projects that evolve daily LIFE. Focus on what is doable now with resources at hand while choosing 100-Day projects. Consider the four LIFE questions while choosing 100-Day projects.
The 100-Day projects are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-framed) projects. Project goals evolve and become SMARTer over time.
Our community as of December 31, 2021. Many members are in multiple groups. For example, many members in one of the Whatsapp parenting groups are also on our Telegram group.
LIFESMART Parenting - Whatsapp
LIFESMART 100 Day Lab - Whatsapp
LIFESMART Families - Telegram
LIFESMART Labs - Facebook
Homeschooling enabled me to work at my own pace. As an autistic person, a flexible schedule was important because I could not concentrate for long hours. I could also experiment and use visual thinking and other tools. So I would like to help learners with disabilities learn in ways that work for them. Because of COVID, I want to help all learners and their families learn together.
Coordinator, Families Learning Together
Ananth's story is a story of many teachers and mentors who believed in him and encouraged him.