Transforming lives by maximizing safety & fostering independence via #assistivetechnology for #neurodiverse #autistism families & those w/ #alzheimers #dementia
New Jersey, USA
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Share this PSA: When a child with autism goes missing, check water first.
Nearby pools, ponds, and other bodies of water can pose an immediate danger. Knowing where to look first could help save a life.
Behind Thirty Seconds is a collaboration with a personal connection: filmmaker Zach Hoaglund and the child on screen are both on the autism spectrum.
Zach volunteered his filmmaking skills, and the child’s family volunteered to appear together in the film.
Thank you, Zach and the family, for giving your time and creativity to help share this safety message.
More about the people and purpose behind Thirty Seconds, in our blog: angelsense.com/blog/check-wa…
#Autism #AutismParenting #CheckWaterFirst #WaterSafety
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Ever left an IEP meeting thinking, “That’s what I should have said”? 📷
Our free My Child in a Minute printable helps you organize what your child needs, what already helps, and what you’re asking for. 📷
Comment IEP and we’ll send it to you.
#Autism #IEP #AutismMom #AutismParenting
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School raising privacy concerns about AngelSense? 🏫 Melissa explains the features and support that can help families navigate that conversation.
This video, along with our video on advocating for AngelSense in your child’s IEP meeting, offers a preview of what we’ll explore more deeply in today’s webinar, “AngelSense at School: How to Include Assistive Tech in Your Child’s IEP.”
Join Melissa and Lauren for practical guidance on requesting an assistive technology evaluation, explaining your child’s safety and communication needs, and documenting requests. You’ll also get an IEP self-evaluation checklist to help you prepare. ✅
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For families who live with wandering, safety is personal. So this recognition means a lot to us. 💙
Gadget Review named AngelSense “Best for Elopement Risk” in its Best GPS Trackers for Kids in 2026.
It recognizes a need that has shaped AngelSense from the beginning: helping families stay connected to a child who may wander, while supporting more opportunities for independence.
To the parents and caregivers who trust us with a part of their child’s safety: thank you. Your experiences continue to shape what we do.
And thank you @LABlogger from Gadget Review, for recognizing those needs. To the article: gadgetreview.com/best-gps-tr…
Made with AI
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💙 We’re grateful to the caregiver, Aurora Police, and the medical teams who worked together to find this teen and get him the care he needed.
In Aurora, Colorado, a caregiver used AngelSense to share real-time location updates with officers, helping them locate a missing teen.
Stories like this remind us why knowing sooner matters. AngelSense’s departure alerts can help families recognize when a loved one leaves an expected location, while live tracking helps them know where to look and guide first responders.
We’re thankful to share a story with a hopeful outcome. 🙏
Made with AI
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When an autistic child doesn’t react the way we expect to a parent “fainting,” there may be a very different process happening underneath.
A different reaction doesn’t mean less love, less empathy, or less connection.
Save this one, and tell us: Have you ever noticed your child respond very differently than expected in a situation like this? 👇
Thanks to the creators who inspired this trend and discussion around it on TT - @paralegal_ @keishaajtv @cashdreams1027 🙏
#Autism #AutismParenting #Neurodiversity #AutismMom #AngelSense
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Harvey showed up for Mason, and so did an entire community. 💙 Congratulations to everyone behind Miles for Mason. We’ve since learned that this walk is just the beginning of your mission to help other families access safety supports, and we’re honestly blown away by what you’re building.
Harvey joined in for the first annual Miles for Mason Community Walk, a fundraiser held at Beaver Lake last weekend that raised all the money needed so Mason can have an Angel sense monitor and annual subscription for autistic children.
A great cause and Harvey had a blast!
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What if your familiar voice could reach your child with less to process?
In Part 1, we talked about why some autistic kids may respond differently to a voice coming through a device.
Now, here’s what that can look like in practice with AngelSense 2-Way Voice and recorded Voice Messages.
And this is where I’d love to hear from you: there are SO many ways families can use these features.
How would you use them? Or, if you already do, what has worked well for your family?
Let’s inspire each other with ideas to try. 💚
#Autism #AutismParenting #AngelSense
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Recently, Emily’s community celebrated with her when her nonverbal son said something he had never said before. One beautiful breakthrough, and a moment so many families understood deeply. 💙.
But alongside those joyful milestones are the worries parents carry every day.
As a mom of three children under five, Emily’s attention is often pulled in several directions. One of her greatest fears is that her autistic son could wander away during one of those moments.
AngelSense provides real-time location updates and alerts if he leaves a designated safe place, giving Emily another layer of support as he explores, grows, and gains independence.
We’re grateful to Emily for sharing the breakthroughs, the worries, and everything in between so honestly.
What breakthrough, big or small, are you celebrating with your child right now?🤗
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Today, Luca started 8th grade! 🎉
After always learning in a small, self-contained classroom, this year he’ll be joining four general education classes. What an incredible milestone.
This video captures one of the smaller steps that helped bring him here: April giving Luca the freedom to explore the grocery store and build confidence, while his AngelSense watch helps her stay connected and gives her greater peace of mind.
For special needs parents, independence isn’t simply about letting go. It’s about finding the balance between freedom, safety and support.
Today, we celebrate Luca and his inspiring mom, April, who has raised two children with special needs on her own for 16 years.
And to every child beginning school today, we’re celebrating you too! ❤️
What is your independence wish for your child this school year?
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Thank you, Dolly, for helping generations of children learn, dream and feel seen. 💛
Today, we remember Dolly Parton, not only for the music she gave the world, but also for the millions of children whose lives she touched through books.
Through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, children received a free book every month from birth to age five, helping families build home libraries and nurturing a love of reading from the very beginning.
Among the books selected for its collections were stories with special meaning for neurodivergent children and their families.
This Beach Is Loud! by Samantha Cotterill offers a thoughtful portrayal of sensory overload and the comfort that patience, understanding and the right support can provide.
Pablo’s Feelings, officially credited to Pablo and published by Ladybird, follows an autistic child whose facial expression does not always reflect what he is feeling inside. Created from the groundbreaking Pablo series, it helps autistic children feel represented while encouraging greater understanding from others.
These are just two examples of how Dolly’s belief in the power of books helped more children recognize themselves in the stories they received.
@dollyparton @dollyslibrary
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Want AngelSense considered as part of your child’s IEP?
In this video, Melissa shares 3 practical ways to help frame that conversation, from documenting safety needs and “near-misses” to discussing assistive technology, independence, and school privacy concerns.
And there’s much more to the IEP conversation.
Our full IEP Planning with Confidence webinar brings Melissa together with other experts to cover IEP planning, advocacy, school collaboration, what to ask when support is denied or delayed, assistive technology, and more.
🎥 Watch the full webinar:
vimeo.com/videos/1219809502
📋 Want our printable IEP Checklist to help you prepare for your next meeting? Check it out here: bit.ly/assistive-technology-…
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Our favorite content starts with our families. 💙
For the new school year, we asked parents in our AngelSense community to share one wish they have for their child.
Safe. Happy. Independent. Included. Understood. Accepted. ❤️
These are the stories we’re proudest to share because real parent voices have a way of making other families feel seen and less alone.
🎒 What’s your biggest wish for your child this school year? Tell us below.
And if you’re an AngelSense parent who’d like to create content with us, whether that’s videos, stories, photos, quotes, or something else, comment CREATE and we’ll DM you the details. 💙
Thank you to every family who helped us make this one. 🙏
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When we understand what’s happening in the nervous system, we stop asking, “How do I stop this behavior?” and start asking, “What is my child trying to tell me?”
I’m Melissa Schiefelbein, autism mom, BCBA, and AngelSense Clinical Lead. Here are 3 things that changed how I understand meltdowns. Save this for the next hard day. 💚
How often are you able to catch a meltdown before it reaches its peak?
#Autism #AutismParenting #AutismMeltdowns
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Why does the same instruction sometimes land better through a speaker than face-to-face? 🔊
I’m Melissa Schiefelbein, autism mom, BCBA, and AngelSense Clinical Lead.
In this Melissa Explains Autism video, I’m breaking down why some autistic kids may respond more easily to a voice coming from a device or speaker.
Part 1: The science behind why this happens.
Part 2: Practical ways to use this insight, with examples any family can try and how we’ve built this research into the AngelSense experience. (Stay tuned)
It doesn’t mean your child is ignoring you.
It doesn’t mean connection is being replaced.
And it’s not something to take personally.
Same words. Less demand.
Save this one if your child has ever responded better to a device prompt than a voice in the room. 💚
📚 Research behind this topic: See references below.
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📚 Research behind this video
This explanation is based on a broader body of research into autism, social attention, multisensory processing, and communication.
Key references include:
• Hernandez et al. (2020). Social Attention in Autism. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Research found that autistic youth recruited additional neural resources when processing speech alongside competing social and environmental information.
• Autism Research (2025). Research on multisensory integration found that autistic and neurotypical brains process combined social and sensory information differently, even when outward performance may appear similar.
• Raising Children Network. Evidence summary on speech-generating devices (AAC). Research shows that many autistic children genuinely prefer device-supported communication, and using these tools does not reduce spoken language development.
A note on this video: The comparison between a voice delivered through a device and a voice coming from someone in the room is a clinical interpretation of this research. To my knowledge, there isn’t a single study that tested this exact comparison directly. Instead, it builds on what research has consistently shown about social processing demands in autism and combines that with clinical experience supporting autistic individuals and families.
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A child who hates baths may still be drawn to water.
That difference matters when planning for water safety.
In this clip from our recent Water Safety Webinar, Melissa explains why baths, swim lessons and self-directed water experiences may feel completely different.
Watch the full session: angelsense.com/angelsense-li…
Does your child respond differently to baths than to pools or other water?💦
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Adam Parkinson has built a community by sharing the full reality of family life, not only the breakthroughs and joyful moments, but the days that really hurt too. ❤️🩹
Just yesterday, Adam opened up about one of the hardest public meltdowns he and his autistic son Max have experienced. Even while processing his own heartbreak, he shared it so other SEND parents facing difficult moments would feel less alone.
That honesty is part of why his voice means so much to us.
As an educator, co-host of Two Mr Ps in a Pod(Cast), and devoted autism dad, Adam brings both professional understanding and deeply personal experience to conversations about supporting autistic children.
So when he speaks about how AngelSense helps his family create more safety while supporting Max’s independence, his endorsement means a great deal.
Thank you, Adam, for trusting us, and for continuing to show families that both the beautiful days and the incredibly hard ones deserve to be seen. 🙏
@ICT_MrP
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49% of autistic kids may wander from a safe place. Has this touched your family?
These are 3 things you need to know about wandering & elopement - Save this one 📌
I’m Melissa Schiefelbein - autism mom, BCBA, and AngelSense Clinical Lead.
As I was writing this post, it honestly felt like “episode 1” of Melissa Explains Autism. We’ve shared a few videos already, but this topic feels like such an important place to start.
Because wandering and elopement are the kind of things families deserve real information about before they ever need it in a crisis.
This series is where I’m breaking down topics like safety, sensory needs, communication, regulation, independence, and the real-life questions that come up for families every day.
And we’ll keep going deeper inside 'AngelSense Guardians Helping Guardians' community, plus our live sessions and expert panels, where we explore these topics with more time, more context, and more voices.
Know it before you need it 💚
#MelissaExplainsAutism #Autism #AutismParenting #Elopement #Wandering #AngelSense
*Research citation: Anderson et al., 2012, Pediatrics; CDC drowning risk data; amygdala threat-detection research.
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