Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The ABA Speech Podcast- Easy Strategies for Speech Therapists, BCBAs, and RBTs
Plongez dans la liste complète des épisodes de The ABA Speech Podcast- Easy Strategies for Speech Therapists, BCBAs, and RBTs. Chaque épisode est catalogué accompagné de descriptions détaillées, ce qui facilite la recherche et l'exploration de sujets spécifiques. Suivez tous les épisodes de votre podcast préféré et ne manquez aucun contenu pertinent.
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#197: AAC- Factors To Guide Decision Making with Jean Jarrett
08 Oct 2024
00:26:35
Approximately 25–30% of autistic children are minimally verbal, often requiring alternative communication methods like Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Jean Jarrett, SLP-BCBA, joins us to continue highlighting AAC during the month of October. Selecting the right AAC system can be overwhelming due to the many factors involved: communication partners, environments, and caregiver involvement. The process requires input from various disciplines, careful planning, and individualized support.
A common misconception is that children need to reach certain milestones before starting AAC, but there are no prerequisites. There is no need to wait or delay getting started with AAC to meet certain skills, but a learner’s skillset does play a critical part in the device chosen. When choosing an AAC system, factors to guide decision-making include device programming, environments in which it will be used, and potential insurance reimbursement.
Providers must be equipped to handle pseudoscientific approaches, such as Rapid Prompting or Spelling to Communicate, and focus on evidence-based practices like AAC, which can make a profound difference when used effectively. The journey with AAC doesn't end when the device is received; that's just the beginning.
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
How to handle an overwhelming AAC assessment?
Are there prerequisites for AAC?
Questions and factors to consider when choosing an AAC device.
#196: Using AAC To Support Autistic Learners with Chris Bugaj
01 Oct 2024
00:46:48
October is AAC Awareness Month! Today’s guest, Chris Bugaj, is the co-host of the *Talking with Tech* podcast, which explores the world of AAC, inclusive design, and the creators, providers, and users behind these systems. As an SLP, Chris realized early in his career that he had a knack for technology, which led to his role on his district's Assistive Technology Team for Inclusive Learning.
During our chat, we discussed the history of early AAC devices, their flaws, and how these limitations impacted our ability to set effective goals. We’re so fortunate that technology and access to it have improved dramatically for our learners over the past two decades. We also touched on the concept of a growth mindset—a philosophy focused on breaking free from fixed ideas about abilities and embracing the "power of yet," ensuring we don't limit any learners in any way.
Chris has his formula for professional development in AAC down to a science. It begins with a facilitation meeting to assess training needs, followed by teaching sessions where communication partners join in-person or online courses focused on modeling through a unique training and coaching format. Finally, there are follow-up practice sessions and feedback to reinforce learning.
When AAC training and coaching are effective, they impact not just one learner but every learner that provider or teacher will work with in the future. We offer many AAC courses at ABA Speech Connection, so don’t forget to check them out and join us!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
October is AAC Awareness Month.
The history of AAC.
A clear plan for professional development and training for AAC.
Find more info through AAC course on ABA Speech Connection.
I always love the opportunity to talk with a parent and hear their story. I feel it really provides an opportunity for learning and growth as a provider. Susanna Peace Lovell, a professional life coach and advocate, joins me to discuss her journey as a parent of a child with autism and her book on the topic, Your True Self is Enough: Lessons Learned on My Journey Parenting a Child with Autism.
In her book Your True Self is Enough, Susanna shares her story of being of support and service to parents and families with similar stories. This journey begins at the birth of her first child, Arizona. The difficulties began right away with food allergies and skin issues, and the diagnosis and challenges just kept coming. Susana says that her daughter cried for what felt like nonstop for the entirety of her first 18 months of life. At age 2.5, Arizona was diagnosed with ASD. This was nearly 16 years ago, and for Susanna, this was a challenging and unfamiliar experience.
You can find out more about Susanna's journey in her book, which she describes as part memoir, part guidebook, where she finds a balance between honoring her child’s experience while also honoring her own journey and voice. Her daughter, Arizona, wrote the foreword and inspired the title.
If you have this feeling that something is different, Susanna says to stay in tune with that feeling, which she calls the “Caregiver Gut." Write everything down; no detail is too little. She reminds us that being an advocate for your child requires tenacity and a help seeking mentality. The doors can be opened just a little bit more when you’re vulnerable to those who can help.
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
A Parent’s Autism Story
Navigating honoring your child’s experience and your experience as the caregiver
What to do when you're facing challenges with your child and suspect developmental delays?
Rachel Torrance is a BCBA, License intervention specialist, on the board at Milestones Autism Resources, and a Consultant working with parents, school districts, and private agencies to advocate appropriate services and achieve desirable outcomes. Rachel also happens to be my business partner at Supervision Academy, a virtual resource for attaining supervision hours to become a certified BCBA.
Becoming a BCBA requires coursework (as a master’s program or post-master’s), Hours, Supervision, Observations, Feedback, Formal Exam, and more. Supervision for a traditional path requires 2000 hours directly supervised by an experienced BCBA or group of BCBAs.
At Supervision Academy we know becoming a BCBA is hard work and stressful, and finding a supervisor can be nearly impossible at times. We offer a virtual group of supervisors providing clinical expertise, behavior skills training, guidance, feedback, and more. Additionally, we strive to provide robust supervision, tailoring your experience to your career goals.
When finding a supervisor for this very important piece of your certification we encourage you to cover all of your bases. Rachel suggests asking and considering these questions when interviewing supervisors.
Do you have a curriculum and are you set in this curriculum?
Are you open to thinking outside the box?
How do you determine what you're going to teach and individualize?
What does a typical meeting look like?
What does supervising feedback look like?
What experience does the supervisor have?
Do they have a contract?
What systems do they have in place for the supervising process?
How do they meet HIPAA and FERPA laws for virtual interactions?
Does the supervisor meet the rules and laws of the state for practicing ABA?
Please note that all information provided in this episode is current as of November 2022. If you’re interested in learning more about Rachel Torrance and her work you can check out her consulting website, as well as visit the Supervision Academy page to find out how we can help you with supervision to become a BCBA!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
How do you become a BCBA?
How has becoming a BCBA changed as the field has grown?
What are the supervision requirements for becoming a BCBA?
What is Supervision Academy?
Questions you should be asking prospective supervisors.
#097: Special Education Law with Catherine Michael
08 Nov 2022
00:35:58
Parents, have you ever been in a situation where you're fighting with your child's school to get your child the services they deserve and are entitled to? Catherine Michael has spent more than 20 years working with families on designing success for special needs children. She is a managing partner at the law firm Connell Michael Kerr as well as the founder of Coffee with Catherine, which offers classes and resources for families of children with special needs.
A Free Appropriate Education Every child in America is entitled to a free appropriate education. This means the support, services, accommodations, and environment that they have been evaluated for and determined to need for their educational success. The Individual Disabilities Education Act, outlines federally what special needs students are required to receive within schools. Many states have even codified and extended these laws into their own state statutes to give more rights to these families.
Educational Due Process Due Process does not create damage, the goal of this action is to resolve and settle on the necessary support and services for a child as quickly as possible. As soon as the Educational Due Process is filed, a school has 15 days to come to a resolution with the family. If a resolution is not met then an Administrative Hearing will take place. This hearing is an informal relaxed hearing often taking place in a school, where the burden of proof lies on the parents. Catherine discusses the obstacles to the qualifications of the Hearing Officers for these settings and how they can negatively affect the outcome.
If you're a professional or parent seeking to learn more about Special Education Law check out the resources at Coffee with Catherine. Additionally, if you're located in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Alaska and need legal assistance pertaining to special education, reach out via the Connell Michael Kerr, LLP website.
What’s Inside:
Who does Special Education Law serve?
What is Educational Due Process?
What does it mean to receive a free appropriate education?
#096: Supporting SLPs Working in an ABA Setting with Julianne Trudeau
01 Nov 2022
00:29:27
As an SLP-BCBA, collaboration is a really important part of my work. Julianne Trudeau is an SLP and Director of Speech Services at Bierman Autism Center. This center grew from a small in-home provider to a clinic-based therapy center with 17 locations across the country. Bierman operates a Collaborative Service Model in which BCBAs, SLPs, and OTs work together to best serve the child.
I've shared many stories in the past about the difficulty I've both seen and experienced with the collaboration between SLPs and BCBAs. Julianne uses an analogy, I love. BCBAs and SLPs are like a married couple, they may not always see eye to eye but they have the same goal at heart. This goal is in the best interest of the child. In collaborating together, BCBAs and SLPs can take a bit from each other to become better, more informed professionals and make the child the most successful as possible at the same time.
Bierman Autism Center increases the success of their collaborative service model by embedding opportunities into the schedule. Providers have embedded meetings for communication and collaboration for their cases. They also schedule weekly clinical staff meetings, monthly center staff meetings, and quarterly meetings for centers across the region. Bierman also embeds collaborative training opportunities for staff and parents.
Intake a Bierman begins with a family tour led by the center director. During this time services, goals, and collaborative ideas are discussed with the family. This visit will be followed up with an initial assessment and the parents will be provided the opportunity to have their child's ABA supplemented with service from other center providers such as SLPs and OTs. When a family chooses to participate in a collaborative service, each department will assess the child and collaborate and touch base on overlapping areas and goals. You can find out more about Bierman Autism Centers at their website or on social media.
What’s Inside:
What is a Collaborative Service Model?
What is Collaborative Assessment?
How SLPs, BCBAs, and OTs can effectively collaborate.
Using Collaborative Assessment to get a true snapshot of the child.
#095: A Family's Autism Journey- A Chat with Autumn Ziemba
25 Oct 2022
00:31:44
Autumn Ziemba was working as a news anchor for Fox 8 News when her son received his autism diagnosis. Through her family journey and support in the autism community, Autumn has shifted careers to become the Communications and Content Manager for Milestones Autism Resources.
As a mother of two, Autumn knew what to expect for typical development in her young children. When her youngest started showing signs of regression, loss of speech, disinterest in typical play, and others around her began to notice too, it was time for an evaluation. With the support of her family’s pediatrician, her son was able to receive a diagnosis at age 2 and a half. This was in 2017 and the times were different when it came to support, resources, and services. Her son started with play-based ABA and speech therapy for one hour a week, not nearly enough. To add to their hardship, just three months post-diagnosis her son was diagnosed with Leukemia. Their focus had to shift from early intervention to cancer treatment. After the early days and weeks of treatment, their family was able to bring back ABA therapy and other services. Now at 7 years old, Autumn's son is a Leukemia-Survivor and attending school in a special needs classroom with great support from their school district.
As a parent who has been through so much with her son and her family, Autumn’s biggest advice to professionals, providers, teachers, and anyone working with autism families is to have empathy. For her empathy, compassion, and understanding goes a long way. I’ve seen firsthand professionals and other parties be less than supportive of families with questions, and agendas. But Autumn reminds us that parents are coming in with only their children’s best interest at heart, and it's important to understand that.
For families just beginning their autism journey whether pre or post-diagnosis: Do not fear the diagnosis. Autumn shares that while a concrete diagnosis can feel scary, it can actually open up doors to resources, services, and support that you wouldn't otherwise have. Take each day as it comes, and remember not every approach will work for every child. Meet your child in the middle and allow them to be a part of their own team!
If you’d like to find out more about Autumn Ziemba you can find her family's autism story online, as well as her contact information on the Milestones website.
What’s Inside:
Autumn Ziemba and her family’s autism journey.
Seeing the early signs of autism.
Navigating resources and services post-diagnosis.
Tips for professionals communicating with parents.
I haven’t done a solo show in a while and I am excited today to share my 10 strategies to increase student engagement. I had a client, let’s call him Adam for today, and when I started working with him, he did not communicate or even engage at all. I would bring different toys and objects to try to get his attention through play-based learning but we would just take a toy and leave. About after 4 sessions with him, his parents started asking me when am I going to use a more structure approach and really work on his communication skills. Truthfully, I felt defeated and anxious.
But at 20 plus years into my career already, I have done so much research about joint attention and how valuable this is to ABA and Speech Therapy. On our 5th session, I brought Mini Objects in a bag and although Adam’s engagement was still fleeting then, he picked up a toy form the bag and it was a shoe. Adam exclaims, “Shoe!” and we were all so excited because that was his first word during his sessions! It was in this moment that I realized that Adam has started his journey with communication and when we realize that these small steps every session matter, it opens up a path for spontaneous communication. So today, I share and break down my top 10 tips I applied to help increase Adam’s engagement in therapy.
Start with something fun that your student enjoys.
Work on shared activities.
Use books for your students.
Use a song.
Analyze when your student needs a break.
Target the IEP goals.
Take the data and be specific.
Get up and moving.
What does your student love and enjoy and how can you embed that into your sessions?
Where do you see the student? What environment do you work in?
Every student is different so with these strategies, you really need to be creative and discern what works for your student at the moment. What works for one student may or may not work for another. If you have a student in mind that you want to help start communicating, these strategies will really be beneficial to improving your relationships with your students and increasing their learner engagement. For more tips and information on helping students with communicating, check out our ASHA approved 5-hour course, Start Communicating Today.
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
A case study about a student who had zero engagement.
Why play-based learning and joint attention is important.
My 10 strategies to increase learner engagement.
How to apply these 10 strategies to your therapy sessions.
I love this power statement: “If you don’t believe in ABA, it’s like you don’t believe in breathing.” It’s a really impactful tidbit from my chat with Dr. Joanne Gerenser, SLP and Executive Director of the Eden II Programs. Dr. Gereneser and I discuss the importance of ABA in the field, as well as what that means for collaborating with other professionals; having SLPs and BCBAs work together with ABA to serve students with autism, especially those with challenging behavior.
There are some professionals and parents in the field that just really don’t understand what ABA is. There can be a lot of mean-spirited, negative, information online about ABA depending on where you’re looking. When you really look at it and understand the professionals working in the ABA field and the help it can provide to the autism community with serious learning and behavior challenges, you will see just how important it is.
When it comes to collaboration, you can’t paint every BCBA with the same brush just the same as SLPs. The worst therapists are not representative of the entire field and you cannot walk into an interaction with telling the other professional what to do; It erodes the professional relationship.
Dr. Gerenser’s techniques for communicating with hesitant professionals:
Build a professional relationship.
See the person beyond the technique.
Be humble, you don’t know all the answers.
You can find out more about Eden II and Dr. Joanne Gerenser, visit Eden II Programs online.
#092: Culturally Responsive Intervention For Autistic Learners with Maria Davis-Pierre
04 Oct 2022
00:31:23
As therapists we know that every client is different when it comes to goals, abilities, and needs but how often are we checking up on our cultural awareness for each individual? Maria Davis-Pierre is a mental health counselor and the founder of Autism in Black. As a mother with two autistic children and autism herself, Maria understands the stigma associated with the diagnosis and is on a mission to educate on inclusive, culturally responsive therapy for black families and other underrepresented cultures.
“Is there anything culturally we should know about you?” A question Maria highlights as one of the best questionnaire form inclusions she has seen when it comes to starting therapy. As a professional and therapist working with unique individuals from all cultures and backgrounds, there are no details too small to incorporate into therapy that fit your client's culture. For example, bring culturally relevant props for a therapy lesson or check your understanding of cultural concepts that could be a typical household routine for one culture but seen as a learning deficit in another.
Whether props, books, flashcards, etc. be cognisant of your materials and the reflection of your client within them. It is important for black children to see themselves reflected in their learning materials to not only understand but also stay engaged. It is okay if you’re not an expert on every culture and every family. Ask questions, be open, and create a dialog so that you can continue to learn and support your clients in a culturally responsive way.
What to keep in mind when getting started with culture-responsive therapy:
It's okay to be uncomfortable, check your bias. Growth comes from uncomfortability.
Use representative tools and materials.
Be curious and ask questions. Life-long learning process.
Be open, honest, and admit when you make mistakes.
As therapists and professionals are number one, the goal is to always help the children and culturally responsive therapy is a really important but often forgotten piece of that. Maria shares some great tips and insights for professionals to consider. You can find out more about her work on the Autism in Black website.
What’s Inside:
How can we as professionals be more culturally responsive?
Tips and strategies for being culturally responsive and inclusive in your therapy sessions?
How to incorporate your clients' unique cultural needs?
Check your understanding: Learning Deficit vs. Cultural Preference
#091: Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions with Dr. Ariana Boutain
27 Sep 2022
00:31:29
Dr. Ariana Boutain is the Vice President of Clinical Services at KGH Autism Services. At their facility, they are passionate about child-initiated and play-based therapy with NDBI.
Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention is an empirically supported approach to treating young children with autism that involves learning through play. NDBI represents a merge of ABA and developmental science.
The general framework for NDBI that Dr. Ariana and her colleagues use is the principles of ABA as well as developmentally based assessments and intervention strategies for guiding goal development and individualization. Teaching strategies with NDBI involve child-initiated, child-led play. This involves environmental setup, communication temptation, and shared control with turn-taking.
Interdisciplinary collaboration is a hot topic in the field of autism but it is a high priority at KGH. As they add SLPs, OTs, and other providers to their team they match therapy approaches, encourage play-based therapy for all disciplines and provide thorough training on NDBI.
You can find out more about the work and treatment model at KGH on their website!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
What is NDBI?
Applied Behavior Analysis and Developmental Based Intervention.
Why are child-centered therapy and play-based learning important?
#090: The Autism Puzzle Piece- A Talk With Thomas McKean
20 Sep 2022
00:26:44
Whether you’re a parent, professional, or an autistic individual, you have most likely seen the Autism Puzzle Piece. Like myself, you might even have a sticker or magnet on display as a symbol of your support for the community. But what is the real symbolism behind it? In this episode, I have the honor to talk with Thomas McKean, an autistic adult who had an integral part in the development of this icon.
Prior to Thomas’s collaboration in the creation of today’s autism puzzle piece, the original icon developed in 1963 was a puzzle piece with a child crying. This symbol represented the hopelessness, sadness, and confusion for children with autism at the time. In the 1960s, there was little to no research, ethical treatment, or support for autism families.
When Thomas and his colleagues developed the new symbol in 1999 they knew the view and information about autism had changed a lot. There was much more hope and a positive shift had taken place in the community. They wanted to embody that. The autism symbol as we know it today is represented by a puzzle piece reflecting the information we are still missing and learning as we add new “pieces”, it features a multi-colored design to represent diversity in the community.
"If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." - Dr. Stephen Shore
This representation of diversity is so crucial to Thoma’s advice when it comes to division in the field. He says, the difference is not bad, in fact, it's necessary. Because each individual with autism is so different it's important for professionals to see things differently and really work toward an individual approach. No professional is going to have all the answers for every autistic person, and when we understand that, we can peacefully collaborate.
Thomas says one of his most asked questions is how to help parents who are just venturing into their autism journey with their child. For that, he has 4 steps.
Read and Learn
Find Support
Attend conferences, presentations, and network in the community.
Start OT and receive an evaluation for sensory processing.
From there you will learn the pieces of how to support, treat, and help your child.
This was such an enlightening talk on the true vision and meaning of such an important icon in our community. I hope you found it just as interesting as I did!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
The Symbolism behind the Autism Puzzle Piece.
Advice for professionals on resolving division in the autism community.
4 steps for parents entering the autism journey with their child.
#089: How To Help Your Autistic Learners Go Beyond Basic Communication
13 Sep 2022
00:20:22
“Rose speaks through the lens of the SLP and BCBA which is incredibly helpful in bridging the communication between the two fields. Rose keeps students' individual needs at the forefront of decisions on therapy targets and she incorporates autistic voices and has worked hard to keep therapy and training relevant to autistic learners. I appreciated her practical therapy ideas and sharing of materials to get started.” Jenny Blackman, SLP
Introducing ABA Speech’s newest course, Advanced Language Learner. A brand new 5-hour ASHA and ACE-approved course. Are your autistic learners struggling to break beyond their basic communication skills? Plateauing? This course is packed full of helpful, transformative content to bring your learners and your therapy to the next level.
What can you expect to learn? -Effective assessments -Collaboration tips and techniques -Developing expressive and receptive communication skills -Strengthening social skills AND respecting individuality -IEP Meeting Tips -Effective group intervention -Guest Lecturer: Oliver Wendt, Matrix Training -Monthly group mentoring and support with access to the online community -Materials: Adapted books, no prep group activities, language book, leisure activity visuals, and so much more.
Do not miss out on this one-time-only FOUNDERS pricing: $197 available for 1 week only!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
How to go from basic communication skills to skyrocketing speech and language growth
What you can expect from ABA Speech’s newest course: Advanced Language Learner
Information and materials for assessments, collaboration, IEP goals, group intervention, and more.
Founders Price for a brand new ASHA and ACE-approved course.
“Well, I guess you better figure it out”. Those are words you do NOT want to hear from your CFY supervisor. Supervision in your Clinical Fellowship Year is so important for setting the tone for the rest of your career. Lynn Dudek shares her experience on both sides of the spectrum, from not meeting any of her expectations to exceeding them all.
What makes a positive mentor and supervisor? It all comes down to communication and these qualities Lynn lists for us are: being a good communicator, setting professional goals, building relationships and connections, assessing performance, and providing specific feedback. Ultimately, it's great practice for a supervisor to begin this relationship with this question; “What do you expect from this experience?”. Lynn explains how she interviews her mentees and has gotten her supervision down to a science with standard forms to provide the best possible outcome.
Lynn shared her own personal experience of a not so great mentor. What should someone in their CFY do if their supervision just doesn't feel right? The truth is, it might be hard, but you need to discuss it directly with your supervisor with direct, open communication. Lay out your expectations, find compromise, and lean on ASHA and state requirements.
If YOU are looking to become a supervisor, Lynn recommends knowing yourself and what you're capable of so that you’re able to give the best mentorship possible. It affects someone's entire career and all the clients they work with subsequently. Check out ASHA for CEUs and assessments for becoming a supervisor, or reach out to your state with questions!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
Mentorship and supervision in your CFY (Clinical Fellowship Year)
What makes a wonderful mentor and supervisor?
What breaks a supervision experience?
What to do when your supervision isn't what you expected?
#088: Planning Group Therapy For Autistic Students
06 Sep 2022
00:28:48
“Rose, I’m not sure how to plan a session. I have 5 autistic students that I need to see for group therapy to work on social language instruction and I am not sure what activities to plan to help them remain engaged and work on their individual and social language goals.”
I received this question in an email from one of my listeners! So today’s episode I am sharing my customizable framework for planning group therapy, along with some great resources, activity ideas, and freebies!
Group Therapy Framework Tools: SmartBoard or iPad for sharing visuals with group
Question of the Day
Try a “Would You Rather” or other choice-based question.
Have students come up to tally their choice, and encourage interaction with the next peer
Check out my Let’s Talk and Would You Rather resources for the SmartBoard
Literacy-Based Activity
Read an adapted book with real-life pictures, real-life scenarios (book should have one sentence, one picture - I have linked some I created but feel free to DIY your own!)
Pull up book on large screen, smart board, or iPad
Read TOGETHER, differentiate reading by having students read known sight words
Extension Based Activity
Expand and dig deeper into the functional vocabulary related to the adapted book
Try a simple writing activity
Another great idea is categorizing and labeling based on the book
Leisure Based Activity
A fun activity that our kids love and can be generalized at home
Relevant to use over the lifespan
Ideas: Modified Uno, Modified Connect Four, The Grocery Store Game, Yoga
I have linked all of the resources and freebies I shared today that can be used in this customizable framework for planning group therapy sessions for autistic learners, be sure to check them out!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
A framework for planning group therapy instruction for autistic learners.
Free activities for group therapy.
What shared goals can you work on within group therapy?
How can group therapy benefit all learners?
How to facilitate peer-to-peer interaction in group therapy.
Encouraging participation and social engagement in a group.
#087: Speech Sound Production and Autistic Learners - A Talk With Tamara Kasper
30 Aug 2022
00:38:31
What is it that develops speech production in our learners? Today, Tamara Kasper, BCBA and SLP, is sharing some really great and specific information on how speech production and reinforcement differs between typical developing children versus children with autism.
Speech Sound Production In typically developing children, speech sounds are reinforced differentially and automatically when making sounds that sound like words. For example, they get a cookie when they make a sound that sounds like cookie or they get happy, hugging excitement when they say something that sounds like mama or dada. Naturally, typical children are encouraged by the sounds and interactions in their environment and want to match the sounds made by the people they value in their world. This is where self-correction and refinement comes in because they will notice and hear how their sounds may sound different from the adults around them.
In non-typically developing children, specifically those with autism, they are more sensitive to social stimuli and are less likely to be affected by the attention of their parents or guardians in regards to their sounds. So the traditional, automatic reinforcement to make and refine sounds is not occurring. Additionally, these learners will not likely notice how their sounds sound different from those around them, leading to no self-correction as sound production continues.
Therapy for Speech Sound Production Tamra shares her assessment and criteria for determining readiness for working on speech production. She collects metrics from the VB-MAPP, indicating responses, manding rate and variety, instruction cooperation development, and echoic repertoire. The scores and data from these metrics will relay whether a Natural Environment or Structure Teaching therapy is appropriate for these students. Within these systems, Tamra discusses the programs she uses. She shares today a little bit of her rubric on how she assigns these programs based on the needs of the child and assessment criteria.
If you’d like to learn more about Tamra, you can find out more about her work and some video tips at Northern Speech Services. Additionally, if you’d like access to her therapy rubric discussed today and other resources, you can reach her via email.
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
Acquisition of speech production in typical vs non-typical children.
Do typically developing children shape sounds to match those in their environment?
How do we know when an autistic learner is ready for speech sound production in therapy?
Assessment and Criteria for determining therapy training for sound production.
Training programs for natural environment and structured teaching therapy.
Nothing can cause more stress than an IEP meeting looming in the future. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Stephanie DeLussey, IEP coach and veteran special education teacher, joined me on the podcast today to share some tips and suggestions for making IEPs not only painless but more productive.
Goal Setting SMART goals are a big buzzword in the education community, but what does it mean? Stephanie breaks down the acronym; Specific -Is the goal individualized and a direct skill, no generalizations? Measurable - Can the goal be tracked with data? Attainable - Is this goal realistic for the student? Relevant - Is this goal relevant to the student's needs, capabilities, and grade level? Timebound - Is the goal given a realistic timetable to be met by the student?
Objectives and benchmarks are often used interchangeably when discussing goals, but they are not the same. Objectives are larger skills broken down into smaller skills and goals. A Benchmark looks more like the Annual IEP Goal but is broken into steps to achieve it. As Stephanie called it, ‘same staircase, different way to climb it’.
Every state's guidance when it comes to skills can be very different, some have State Standards, some have Common Core, some have Essential Elements. Depending on even your district or your individual school, whether you include these in your IEP goals or not. Stephanie explains how this relates to the IDEA Federal Law, state laws, and local recommendations.
Stephanie’s Top Two Tips for IEP Preparation: 1. Send Draft IEP - Stephanie recommends always sending home a draft IEP including the present levels of baseline data and the proposed goals. This levels the playing field for the caregiver, and provides much more collaboration between guardian and education team. 2. Consult the General Ed Teacher - Recognizing that there can be animosity between special education and general education teachers, Stephanie encourages collaboration and to work together on IEP accommodations to create individualized and classroom specific modifications.
You can find out more about Stephanie via Mrs. D’s Corner for educational resources and The Intentional IEP for IEP support.
What’s Inside:
Tips for IEP Development.
What is a SMART goal?
The difference between objectives and benchmarks.
How are state “standards” used in IEP goals?
Does state testing affect IEP goals?
Stephanie’s top two suggestions for IEP meeting preparation.
#085: What is an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)?
16 Aug 2022
00:37:37
When it comes to parents advocating for their child’s education there can be so much to navigate, many times parents don’t even know their legal rights. Amanda Selogie and Vicki Brett are attorneys and founders of The Inclusive Education Project, a non-profit organization that educates families on special education rights.
If you have a child receiving in school therapy or you're a school based provider, you may have heard the term IEE. But what is it? An IEE is an Individual Education Evaluation performed by a qualified person not employed by the school district. This evaluation is a legal right detailed in 34 CFR § 300. 502.
The purpose of IEE is to service the child. Not the parent. Not any providers. Not the school district. This is why these can be such a great tool. Parents might seek these out if a child’s education plan is missing critical assessments or if there is a disagreement in the analysis of any assessments. The idea is to get a full scope and understanding of a child’s abilities and needs to best inform their education and any interventions or services. When requesting an IEE it's important to look at what’s the concern with the current assessments, and what is the goal an IEE can help achieve?
If you’re a school based provider, do not be offended about the request for an IEE. The need for an IEE does not mean a therapist, or provider is not doing their job. There are certain limits that can prevent authentic results, such as access to limited assessments, testing environments, and sometimes a damaged rapport. The benefit of an IEE being conducted by a non-school district employed provider means that often the evaluator has different, more complex qualifications and expertise. Meaning, the evaluator can assess and analyze across disciplines. An IEE evaluator can offer fresh perspective, new environment, and more variety in assessment options.
When we’re determining an education plan for a child, more information is ALWAYS better. The more everyone knows about a child's needs and abilities, the more detailed and purposeful goals can be made. Amanda and Vicki are doing great work spreading awareness of parents rights for their children’s education. You can reach them at their website, social media, or via email.
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
What is an IEE?
How can therapists use and embed information from an IEE?
How to utilize an IEE within an IEP?
What legal rights do families have in their child's education?
#084: Naturalistic Communication Training with Dr. Cindy Gevarter
09 Aug 2022
00:31:38
There is so much opportunity for communication in our students' natural environments. But how can we use this intentionally and build our therapy plan around it? Dr. Cindy Gevarter, BCBA-D and assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of New Mexico, joins me to discuss real world applications for naturalistic communication training in your therapy sessions.
Assessments: When beginning therapy sessions for students, assessments are important for understanding students skills, goals, and needs. Dr. Gevarter listed several of her preferred assessments for naturalistic communication training that we have talked about on the show many times!
Communication Matrix
VB-MAPP
Early Start Denver Model
Planning: Naturalistic communication is not random play, when preparing for a session keep in mind opportunities, routines, and priorities that are typical for your student. But you can’t just wing it. Dr. Gevarter recommends planning with an Activity Matrix: skills and goals associated with activities and embedded strategies. Follow through with developmental extension, parent coaching, and an environment set up for natural communication. A lot of the strategies and planning we discuss apply directly to 1 to 1 sessions, but Dr. Gevarter elaborates on how to plan for dyads and group settings by intentional peer to peer interaction or typical routines such as circle time or an art activity.
Data: In a natural environment, we can’t pause a student while we record data. Dr. Gevarter suggests simplifying your data for quick observations. You may try using a rating scale or other shorthands that you can understand when noting responses, and goal planning. Remember that this is informal data collection used to inform your sessions, don’t overcomplicate it!
Why Natural Environment? I often find parents in in-home sessions surprised that our therapy isn't taking place at a table with structured activities. While there is a time and a place for the table, there is a major benefit to utilizing a student's natural environment. When participating in natural play or natural environment activities, students are seeing and receiving natural reinforcement from their communication. They can actually see and experience the benefit of communication.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
How can we adapt the natural environment of our sessions for communication?
How to use an embedded approach for natural communication.
Using naturalistic training in 1:1, dyads, and group sessions.
Real world opportunities for your next therapy session.
How to simplify data collection for observation in a natural setting.
What are preferred assessments for naturalistic communication training?
#083: SLP/BCBA Collaboration with Dr. Teresa Cardon and Dr. Lina Slim
02 Aug 2022
00:34:56
I always joke that it is my mission to meet all the unicorns out there, the dually certified SLP and BCBAs, as there are less than 500 in the world. Today I am talking with Dr. Teresa Cardon and Dr. Lina Slim both SLPs and BCBA-Ds. We are focusing on a subject that it a hot topic but near and dear to my heart, collaboration.
Too often I see and hear problems between SLPs and BCBAs in therapy, IEP meetings, etc. But we need to be communicating and collaborating for our clients! Dr. Cardon and Dr. Slim share their perspectives on what barriers exist that are making these relationships so difficult.
First and foremost is communication, frequently there is not respectful, humble, and open communication between these two providers. Additionally, specialty specific jargon is thrown around that can confuse and frustrate other professionals who arent “in the know”. Interpersonal skills, self-reflection, and bias awareness are really key to keeping communication productive. Try going into every conversation with your professional team of other specialties with the understanding that no one is wrong, we just see things differently.
We also discuss logistical differences such as philosophy and theory. Your philosophy as a therapist can really impact your practice and how you view other providers. Whether you approach with a behavioral, developmental, or social theory will really guide your thinking and reception of collaboration with differing points of view.
Dr. Lina Slim shares with us the ideas of the Four Domains of Authentic Interprofessional Culturally Aware and Responsive Collaborative Practice.
Cultural Sensitivity and Responsiveness
Cultural Competence
Cultural Humility
Cultural Reciprocity
We are in agreement that collaboration has to be more common practice in our fields. Working together will benefit the health and educational outcome of the clients we serve. It is necessary, because it is simply not possible for one person to have all the answers.
We have got to start teaching this practice before our new therapists enter schools and facilities! Dr. Slim and Dr. Cardon both share how they are advocating and encouraging this in the field through there work in this great episode!
What’s Inside:
Why is collaboration important for SLP and BCBAs?
Common barriers in SLP/BCBA collaboration?
The Four Domains of Authentic Interprofessional Culturally Aware and Responsive Collaborative Practice.
Can your theory of practice affect your ability to collaborate?
Why medical jargon is negatively affecting collaboration?
The importance of respect and humbleness in collaboration.
#082: Inclusive Preschool Programming with Dr. Katie Walton of Ohio State University
26 Jul 2022
00:30:37
Starting preschool for both typically and non typically developing students is a big step, and there are a lot of important factors to consider. Dr. Katie Walton of Ohio State University oversees the Nisonger Center, an Inclusive Preschool Program. This center works with students with and without disabilities from birth to age 5.
What is Inclusive Preschool Programming? Inclusive in short means that it includes all students, regardless of learning needs. What this looks like can vary from practice to practice. Some schools might just incorporate all learning types and work to meet all needs and others might focus on special needs services while incorporating typically developing children. Early intervention practices, while important for specific needs, are actually best practice teaching that can benefit any and all students, especially in a preschool setting.
Assessments, Planning and Goal Setting Planning and goal setting are essential for any classroom and any student. At the Nisonger Center they use a curriculum based assessment, APES, for daily planning for all students. Therapists and providers within the school will do individual assessments for needs and goals setting within IEP teams for students who require additional support. Additionally, important for any preschool program is a robust social and emotional skill plan. The team at Nisonger works hard to set functional goals, on what social and emotional skills look like in action, versus checking a box on a goal list. Dr. Walton also shares about the really great collaborative loop from their preschool team to public schools, for IEP goals and transition. This is such a huge benefit for school based providers and families for a full understanding of a child’s needs and abilities.
Are you a parent considering preschool programs for your child? It can be confusing, overwhelming, and hard to know what's right when looking for a program for your preschool aged child. Dr. Walton provides some questions for parents to consider and ask their prospective programs.
What does the day look like? Curriculum, schedule, structure.
How are daily schedules and activities adapted for different learning needs?
What are the discipline policies? How are behavioral problems handled? Is there an emphasis on positive reinforcement and strategies?
Bring your child: How do they interact with your child? How do they respond to your child's normal behaviors? How does your child respond to the environment?
An Inclusive Preschool Program has so much to offer both children with and without disabilities. Whether you’re a professional working in a preschool or a parent ready to place your child in the right school, consider the ideas we’ve discussed in today’s episode to ensure the best practices are being used for your child and their unique needs!
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
What does Inclusive Preschool Programming actually mean?
What should parents look for in a preschool program?
How inclusive programming can accommodate a wide variety of learning needs.
How preschools work with public schools on planning and goal setting for students.
What assessments might be used in an inclusive preschool setting?
Setting functional goals: What do interactions and skills actually look like in practice?
How early intervention practices can benefit students both with and without disabilities.
The social setting of our world is ever-changing and developing, for autistic individuals it can be hard to understand and keep up with the skills to navigate it! Dr. Ali Arena is an SLP, BCBA who specializes in social skills. While Dr. Arena works primarily with autistic adults, she shares some great tips that can be applied across the lifespan.
As a provider, working on Social Skills requires a strong and trusting relationship with your client. Dr. Arena shares about how she has learned about her clients interests and hobbies and allowed them to be the expert in the conversation. She also reminds therapists to create connections and rapport before diving into their interests because these connections become genuine. Another tool Dr. Arena uses in her therapy are dyads, she finds peer group practice between neurodivergent individuals can be really impactful in understanding social cues and norms.
Masking is something autistic individuals in the community are really speaking out against. Dr. Arena agrees that being true to yourself and not changing are important. I reference what a previous guest had called camouflaging, as a tool to follow societal rules. Sometimes as an adult, you just need to know how to talk to your boss or your professor in college. Following social rules can be necessary for autistic adults and that's where Dr. Arena comes in. Her clients come to her to repair social communication, either for work, relationships, or other problems they might be having. It’s not masking but rather building, learning, and refining new skills.
From focusing on REALISTIC social situations for all ages to helping autistic adults with romantic relationships, Dr. Arena has some great tips for therapists, parents, and any professional working with autistic individuals on social skills. You can find out more about her at her website or on Instagram.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
Navigating constantly changing social skills.
How to adjust mindset after social rejection for autistic individuals.
Coaching relationships for autistic adults.
Masking vs Camouflage in a nuanced society.
How to encourage realistic communication and connections.
#080: Dynamic Assessment - A Talk With Shellie Bader
12 Jul 2022
00:29:26
Have you ever felt like an assessment didn’t truly tell the story of your child? Shellie Bader is an SLP with a really incredible and valuable career. Today she is sharing all about Dynamic Assessment and how we as Speech Therapists can use this to enrich and drive speech therapy.
Oftentimes, formal and informal assessments are not comprehensive enough to determine the “story of the child”. Dynamic Assessment is a qualitative assessment we are able to use, to get the bigger picture. It is an alternative or supplemental assessment, with a method that provides the ability to understand what a student can learn. This tool can help determine whether a child has a learning difference or a learning disorder, and how a child learns and is specifically helpful with students who use English as a second language or have other special circumstances.
Where do you start with intervention when it seems like everything should be a goal? Along with Dynamic Assessment comes a Mediated Learning Experience. In which the therapist picks a skill that is relevant or important to the child. This learning potential observation occurs over one session, so the therapist can determine the abilities of the child within the learning process.
When completing a Mediated Learning Experience, the information collected can drive you directly to the creation of IEP goals. Through working on a skill, the therapist will actually be able to see the prompts that are successful, the supports needed, the targets a student struggles with, and how the skill should be scaffolded.
A Dynamic Assessment and a Mediated Learning Experience is another tool for your SLP tool belt to help determine how a student learns specific skills while always working on meaningful, functional skills for the student and their independence. If you’re interested in finding out more or talking with Shellie Bader, you can reach her via LinkedIn or email!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
How can we have tools that will drive the road map for intervention?
How can we help students increase their functional communication skills, independence, and joy?
What is Dynamic Assessment?
How can SLPs use Dynamic Assessment in the therapeutic and evaluation process?
What is the distinction between a learning difference versus a learning disorder?
To receive 75$ OFF BOTH of these courses in the month of JULY, use code SUNNYSALE75.
#079: ABA SPEECH Courses and Sale
05 Jul 2022
00:11:37
Happy Summer!! I am excited to announce that we are hosting a SALE for the month of July on our courses, Start Communicating Today and Help Me Find My Voice.
These are CEU courses with ASHA and ACE approval for SLPs and BCBAs. Summer is the perfect time to take advantage of your free time and get the tools to help your autistic learners from toddlers, preschool, and school age.
Start Communicating Today is a 5 hour course for toddler and preschool aged learners. Get confident in your abilities to help your learner use their voice. In this course you will find support and research backed tools for assessments, IEP goal setting, structuring therapy and so much more.
Help Me Find My Voice is a 5 hour course for school age learners. Working with this age can be overwhelming and intimidating. In this course you will find the tools for success all in one place, with support for assessments, IEP goal setting and meeting structure, engaging therapy plans, and even AAC support.
The purchase of both of these courses include 3 month access to the 5 hour course, research backed tools, and printables. As well as ASHA reporting and CEUs.
To receive 75$ OFF BOTH of these courses in the month of JULY, use code SUNNYSALE75. I cannot wait to see you in the courses!
What’s Inside:
What is Start Communicating Today?
What is Help Me Find My Voice?
ASHA, ACE approved CEU courses AVAILABLE NOW.
JULY 2022 Sale on ASHA approved courses on ABA Speech.
Find Research backed tools and resources for therapy with toddler through school age learners.
Joint attention is closely linked to receptive and expressive language skills, highlighting the power of communication. To build connection before communication, use shared activities like playing with toys, singing songs, and reading books. Even if students aren't fully engaged initially, tracking their baseline data and progressing with goals can lead to impressive transformations and excitement.
Toys: Playing with toys in therapy is all about creating interaction in a semi-structured environment. Remember to use simple language, allow for natural curiosity and play, and not bombard with questions. Toys I personally love to use include: cars and car tracks, mini objects, and farm sets.
Literacy: Build excitement around the book, use books with repetition, and if your kids like it try an animated voice, which can be really fun. A few books I love to keep in my therapy bag that are a great success for joint attention are: Pete the Cat and his White Shoes, Brown Bear, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
Music: Students love songs because they are familiar and create engagement. I also love to use visuals, which can be just laminated pictures or little toys that match the activity of the song. It can also be engaging to sing songs that have motions for the words. My favorite songs to use are Old Macdonald, Wheels on the Bus, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.
It can be difficult to keep data and set goals around these abstract ideas, be sure to check out my goal bank on ABA speech. I hope you love these ideas, and I can’t wait for you to try them out in your next therapy session!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
How to increase learner engagement?
What is joint attention?
How to embed joint attention across a student's day.
Where to start with joint attention.
Integrating shared activities into therapy.
Why should you focus on the connection before communication?
#078: 5 Strategies for Toddlers and Preschool Aged Students
28 Jun 2022
00:43:47
Is your learner difficult to engage? Are you not sure where to start? Is your learner not communicating? Knowing where to start can be stressful!!!
I am here to help with my top 5 strategies to get your autistic learner communicating today!
Strategy 1: Create a Fun Atmosphere Present a toy the child will enjoy. Play with the toy and use simple language. (play dough, cars, musical toys, mini objects, etc.)
Strategy 2: Observe What does your learner like to do? How is your learner currently communicating? (Make notes about their likes, and dislikes. Is your learner vocalizing, using pictures, pointing, pulling to an item, etc.?)
Strategy 3: Engage in Shared Activities Connection before communication (Reading a book, singing a song, playing with toys)
Strategy 4: Create a Positive Atmosphere Positive Vibes Only: Use simple language, do not bombard your learner with questions. (“Wow, I see a truck!” Vs. “What is that? What color is that”)
Strategy 5: Remain Flexible What you planned may look different than how it actually happens. Adapt the skill to following the learner's lead.
Now you can rest easy because that starting point is not out of reach! If you want to learn more including all about assessments, goal setting, therapy structure, tools and resources, join my toddler and preschool course: Start Communicating Today!
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
A listen at Rose Griffin, of ABA Speech, most listened to the webinar.
Early Intervention strategies for toddler and preschool-aged students.
Find a starting point for formal or at-home therapy sessions.
Help YOUR learners to Start Communicating Today!
Tools and tips for SLPS, Parents, and Special Education Professionals.
#077: Supporting Speech Therapy Carryover In The Summer
21 Jun 2022
00:28:17
I first found Calonda Henry on TikTok, where she shares tons of great tips and information for parents and professionals. Calonda is a Florida based SLP where she owns a certified Woman and Minority owned practice, Broad Horizons Speech Therapy. With summer here, many learners are not receiving their school based speech and language services and parents may want to know how to help.
As parents, we want to do the very best for our child and it can feel overwhelming and intimidating to need to "carryover therapy" on your own in the summer. Calonda reminds families that speech and language practice can be generalized in your everyday environment, and can be free, easy and very natural. You don't have to plan the perfect table activity to get really enriching practice for your child.
In everyday activities and simple interactions, there are so many opportunities to practice general or specific speech goals.
Scavenger Hunt: Are you taking a walk outside? Are you going to the grocery store? Look for items that start with certain letter sounds, practice and emphasize this sound as you find items.
Categories: Find items in your house that only fit into certain categories or belong in a certain room, label them, ask questions, and practice them.
Movement: practice sounds and vocabulary in isolation by making up movements and dances while saying the sounds or words.
Car rides: Play car games like I Spy or ask WH questions
Headbands: This is a great family game you can purchase or DIY that works on a variety of skills like vocabulary, attributes, asking questions, and yes/no responses.
Screen time: For many families, screen time and technology use is bound to happen, create conversation and ask questions around the game your child is playing or download a fun educational app that can build in practice
Games: Family game time uses and practices many fundamental skills such as executive functioning, planning, social, NS back and forth communication
The most important tip: Interact together, at the end of the day interaction with your child is so powerful for practicing all of their speech and language goals. Play games, ask questions, read books, talk about your activities or meals. This creates a low demand setting where your child can generalize their speech and language goals while having fun.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
How to support speech, language, and social goals in the summer.
Games and simple ideas for speech practice this summer.
How parents can generalize speech practice into their everyday environment.
Why practicing speech and language goals can be simple and low demand activities.
Dr. Trina Spencer has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst for the last 21 years and is currently a Fulbright Scholar at the Center for Augmentative and Alternative Communication in South Africa. Today, she shares about her career journey, and all of the incredible and inspiring work she is doing in the field. Dr. Spencer's goal is to encourage research-practitioner partnerships, interprofessional collaboration, and anti-ableist practices. On the day of our recording, Dr. Spencer was celebrating the launch of ECHO Autism - South Africa. ECHO Autism is a virtual learning network of providers offering real-time access to autism and behavioral experts. This advisory board of Echo Autism is the first on the continent of Africa.
Among her research and fascinating work, she has designed instructional tools. Story Champs is a multi-tiered system of language instruction used in a variety of educational settings across several countries. This structured program provides robust teaching procedures that allow for use in one on one settings as well as small or large groups. Story Champs includes 65 lessons that scale from preschool to 3rd grade. Goals in this system include story retelling, personal stories, fictional stories, writing personal stories, and answering WH questions but the scope and skills included with this instruction are vast! Social academic language is promoted throughout the instruction as well as in use in the reading opportunities taken straight from the learner's social studies and science curriculum.
The CUBED Assessment is a free downloadable comprehensive assessment that works great with story champs but can also be used and accessed independently of that program as well. "The CUBED is a family of screening and progress monitoring tools that accurately, reliably, and efficiently measure decoding, language comprehension, and their product, reading. There are two main subtests of the CUBED – The Dynamic Decoding Measures and the Narrative Language Measures, which together measure 18 targets." - Language Dynamics Group I am so excited to follow along with all the AMAZING work Dr. Spencer is doing and will continue to do in the field. Be sure to check out all the amazing linked resources she shared today to purchase Story Champs, download CUBED, and so many more freebies!
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
How Dr. Trina Spencer is bringing interprofessional collaboration and anti-ableist practices to South Africa.
What is Echo Autism?
What is Story Champs?
All about a multi-tiered system of language instruction.
Cubed: A free comprehensive assessment.
How to find Dr. Trina Spencer’s plethora of resources.
With the traditional school year coming to an end, SLPs and parents may be wondering how you can support your learners' communication throughout the summer months. I was so excited when I happened upon Bridget’s, from Speech Therapy Talk, blog post all about summer speech activities! She is on today’s episode to share 11 fun, easy, and affordable ways to get outside, enjoy the summer, AND practice communication skills. Whether you’re continuing speech therapy through the summer in a private setting, a school SLP looking for ideas to share with families, or a parent ready to continue the work from speech therapy at home this summer, these are GREAT tips that both you and your learner will be sure to enjoy!
Water - Fill up a rain barrel or other water-holding receptacle and PLAY. There are opportunities for concepts like wet and dry, vocabularies like fill or dump, requesting tools as well as articulation.
Bubbles - Store-bought or try to make your own giant bubbles. Practice early words like open and pop, concepts like big and small, and articulation.
Sand - Kids get excited with sand. This is a great sensory activity and super engaging. Try hiding objects in the sand and labeling them when finding them, as well as trying sensory and action words.
Hula Hoop - Sound of shaking them, rolling the hoop, jumping into the middle, or using as a target, hula hoops can be used as a very active tool in a diverse way to sprinkle in whatever goals you’re working on. Skill ideas: imitation, colors, action words, joint activity.
Chalk - Drawing pictures, roads for toy cars or bikes, and writing words, this is an easily diversified and engaging activity that can cue any skill.
Flower Walk - Walk around town or your neighborhood and look for flowers! You can count, identify colors, label, and work on articulation. Use it as a scavenger hunt with a very specific purpose!
Follow the Leader - *With a Twist* - Take turns hiding items outside and give directions to find it. Skills: Prepositions and giving and understanding directions.
Explorers - Go exploring, try going to a new place and use “explorer” vocabulary: Find, Discover, Look, See, etc. A great space for spontaneous communication!
Nature - Collect nature items and create scenes and stories. Skills: Who/Where/Why questions, setting, imaginative play, etc.
Balls - Use all different types and sizes. Roll, throw, toss, etc. This is an active and engaging activity that can be used for whatever goal you’re working on.
Find an Item - Go outside and look for something specific. Skill: Thinking and reasoning.
These are activities that just SCREAM summer to me. Many of these tools are free, lying around your therapy room or house, or very affordable! The great thing about these activities is the scope for practicing varying skills is huge, you can apply almost any skill or goal to these activities and have fun doing it! If you want to learn more about Bridget, her ideas, and resources, you can visit the Speech Therapy Talk website!
#speechtherapy #autism
What’s Inside:
Ideas for working on communication during the summer.
11 ways to support your client’s or child’s communication during the summer months.
How to make working on communication FUN!
Creating natural, functional practice opportunities for home.
Easy, accessible, affordable activities for summer communication practice.
How to get outside and practice communication.
How to turn common family activities into communication practice.
#074: AAC and Caregiver Coaching with Dr. David Rehfeld
31 May 2022
00:32:10
It can often be intimidating to get started and understand working with students with complex communication needs. Dr. David Rehfeld is a dual certified, SLP and BCBA and an assistant professor who joins me today to discuss the importance of support to students using AAC and their caregivers.
The individuals who spend the most time with a client need to have the most buy-in when it comes to effectively using AAC. Dr. Rehfeld encourages this support with Caregiver Coaching. Caregivers are any of the people your client spends more time with than you, parents, guardians, teachers, and one on one support staff. The goal of Caregiver Coaching is to minimize perceived effort to make the most impact. Providers working with caregivers often have ideas of “easy” ways to integrate the AAC device into routines but should consider unique needs and preferences that assimilate into their existing life.
Caregiver Coaching is provided using the Behavior Skills Training Model. BST is evidence based practice to provide instruction to facilitate success of skill mastery. Dr. Rehfeld explains it in four phases. Phase One - Understand: What are we working on? Why is it important? Phase Two - Model: Show and demonstrate the skill. Phase Three - Observe: Encourage and provide opportunities to practice. Phase Four - Feedback: What are you doing well? What can you improve on?
When you’re helping someone with AAC, you’re not just helping one student but you’re helping all of the future AAC users this person works with in the future. Keep in mind the importance of rapport, and positive reinforcement by providing praise when you see caregivers doing the right things!
Dr. Rehfeld is active in working with students aspiring to work in the speech pathology field. You can find him at the many conferences he attends or speaks at. Dr. Rehfeld encourages others in the field to attend conferences, seek out resources, and keep adding as many tools to their belt to help their clients as they can.
#speechtheraphy #autism
What’s Inside:
Helping students with complex communication needs.
Supporting students with AAC.
How to support teachers and providers who are working with students using AAC.
#073: Foundational Skills For Young Autistic Learners - Where to start in therapy
24 May 2022
00:35:08
Many times, assessments and standardized tests don’t tell the whole story of the learner. So, what do you do when you’re overwhelmed with where to start with a younger nonspeaking or autistic learner. When I first started my career I remember being discouraged at times and with a lack of the resources available unlike what we have today, I had to find the information myself and blaze that trail. Today I want to share how I get started with these learners, to help them find their voice and start communicating today.
Top 8 Foundational skills for young autistic learners:
1. Joint Attention - There is power in shared activities, a time that generates spontaneous communication. Both the therapist and the learner in an activity surrounding Literacy, Music, or Play. Check out the episode for my list of favorites! 2. Imitation - Keep it fun and functional by practicing during play. The key is playing with similar items in a way that the child will want to repeat. For example, role-play with a baby doll. 3. Requesting - Work on meaningful words that can make communication powerful for a student's real life. Specific requesting skills teach students that communicating can get them something! 4. Matching - There are so many great skills that come along with matching like scanning and engagement. I share a bit about how I use my favorite resource and modify matching games to work with the students' level. 5. Play - Play routines and leisure skills are SO important. Work on playing with fun games, shape sorting, and building around their language level. 6. Following One-Step Directions - This is critical not only in school but at home. Be sure to think about your kids and how their communication impacts their day outside of the therapy room. Examples: “Put your coat on” “Stand by the door” etc. 7. Labeling - Students should be comfortable talking about things in their environment. Be aware of your students' level and chronological age, is it appropriate to use flashcards? Or is it important to work on it during play? 8. Fill in the Blank - “Ready…Set….___” This skill starts with, “I say something, you say something”, which opens the door for so much communication, like asking and answering questions!
All of my advice today comes from my experience in private practice, where I am afforded the opportunity to work one on one. Be sure to take into account all of your circumstances, therapy opportunities, and resources when planning to individualize these skills to your students. If you have questions or want to know more about my favorite resources discussed in today’s episode, you can always contact me at ABA Speech.
#ABASpeechTherapy #Autism
What’s Inside:
How to know where to start in intervention?
What to do when assessments don’t deliver clear results.
Helping students find their voice and start communicating today.
Real Foundational Skills that can be individualized to your students.
I think it’s so important to think outside of the box when engaging our students in therapy. Today I am talking with Kim and Amy from Talk Yoga, two SLP friends who met at work and combined their passion for speech and yoga to help their clients grow.
Not only is Yoga a fun, engaging activity in itself but as a trained yoga instructor, Amy has adapted poses for her clients into what she calls Articulation Poses. Talk Yoga really believes in the whole body of the child and how all of their physical movements inform the movements inside the mouth. Articulation poses are modified versions that connect to oral motor skills for articulation and connect the body to the mouth.
Another use for yoga that Amy and Kim embed into their practice is teaching vocabulary using alliteration associated with movements. For younger students, skills like labeling, imitation, and even imagination work can be really engaging through yoga. Yoga is a shared activity and leisure skill that can be benefited from across the lifespan, Amy and Kim emphasize that their work can be applied to any age range.
As a therapist, it can be difficult to find shared activities that generalize into the community or home, but yoga is perfect for this. Yoga is accessible to anyone and families can enjoy yoga together as a connecting activity. One tool Amy and Kim use is allowing the student to become the teacher, having students dictate and verbalize the poses creates so many language opportunities!
Yoga is a practice grounded in breathwork, calm, and mindfulness. Amy and Kim embed this into each and every one of their sessions, starting with breathwork. The best part of this is it not only calms and prepares your client, but you as the therapist can enter the best headspace to be there with your client.
I know firsthand that I see spontaneous communication explode in shared activities like Yoga. Amy and Kim provide so many tips and ideas for embedding yoga into your therapy sessions, I can’t wait for you to try them!
#autism #speechtheraphy
What’s Inside:
How to incorporate yoga in speech therapy.
What skills can you work on with yoga in speech therapy?
How to engage students and have fun in speech therapy?
Embedding yoga into daily work with communication.
How starting sessions with breathing exercises can benefit the therapist and the client.
The importance of shared activity and leisure skills across the lifespan.
#071: School Based IEP Development For Autistic Learners
10 May 2022
00:32:16
In my 20 years of experience, I have divided my time between school-based and private setting therapy. I have dedicated my career to autistic learners and today I want to share my TOP TEN tips on developing an IEP and conducting a successful smooth IEP meeting. These tips will ensure you are prepared, remain calm, and work to the benefit of the student, especially when working on more difficult cases for students who are non-typical or non-speaking.
Record Review - The last comprehensive evaluation is very important. Has your student had an evaluation from an outside provider? What has the student previously worked on? Do they have prior IEPs and what do they look like?
New Evaluations - What is the right evaluation for the student? My personal favorite is the VB-MAPP, I love the way it looks at language and communication. I also recommend the Functional Communication Profile - Revised, and the Assessment of Functional Living Skills is great for older students. Additionally, there are Speech Therapy Tests such as the Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, The Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals.
Communicate with ALL Members of the Team - This includes teachers, parents, school-based providers, and any outside providers.
Questions for Developing Goals - Do the targets take the learner's chronological age into account? Are the goals informed by typical development? Are these goals ambitious enough? How will achieving these goals improve the learner's quality of life? Are major barriers to progress considered? Are safety risks addressed?
Shared Goals - The speech therapist collaborates with the teacher on speech goals. The goal is developed together and practice is embedded throughout the learner's day. For example, A Cooperative Leisure goal worked on across both spaces, in therapy, and in the general classroom.
Specific, Measurable, and Consistent Goals - Ask yourself if the goals are specific? Are they measurable? And if another teacher, parent, or professional read them, would they make sense? Foundational Skills are important for younger, nonspeaking learners. These can include joint attention, imitation, requesting, and matching. For older students, ask can goals be tied to leisure and vocation.
Data Collection - Consider how you're going to take data while you're writing the goals.
Baseline Data - For autistic learners especially, be sure to include baseline data in the present section of the IEP. Baseline data is crucial to inform goals and to show progress.
Send a Draft Home - Get Feedback! Some parents may have lawyers, advocates, outside providers, etc. It is important to make sure all members of the team are aware of the IEP goals and incorporate and embed the feedback that you can.
Hold the Meeting, Work with the Team, and Create an Amazing Plan for your Students!
#austism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
Top 10 Tips for a successful IEP Process.
Helpful tips and strategies to use today.
All about school-based IEP development for autistic learners.
Working on an IEP with a large team.
How to handle non-typical or difficult situations in an IEP meeting.
#070: Gratitude and Mindful Habits with Marie Muratalla
03 May 2022
00:34:20
Are you feeling stressed? Are you feeling like you just can’t achieve that work-life balance? May tends to be a tough time for many providers, educators, and even parents. Today I talk with Marie Muratalla, SLP, Podcaster, Mindset Coach, and creator of the Say Thanks More Gratitude Journal.
Like many of us, in 2020 when the COVID shutdown began, Marie struggled to bear the weight of her job. In a time when her job was no longer what it was, she battled her personal identity and where that separated from her work identity. This began her business, grounded in the practice of gratitude which she was always passionate about, Marie created Thanks More Gratitude Journals and advocated for the use of mindful habits to set boundaries and create joy.
Marie’s Mindful Habits 1. Daily Gratitude Practice: Try journaling or starting small by writing down one thing you’re thankful for. It can be at any part of your day and can be as simple as a dedicated 5 minutes during your morning coffee or before bed. 2. Morning Meditation: Marie practices 3 minutes of meditation each morning, it doesn’t have to be the same amount of time. It can be whatever works for you. But locking that time in to ground yourself and let go of all other thoughts for just a moment is so important. 3. Bring Presence into your Routine: Whether it's even yoga, affirmations, journaling, meditation….Set intentions and a time to be present for yourself. Marie shared some great apps that she uses to build these routines into her day.
Something so many struggle with is work-life balance. Marie’s number one solution to this is setting boundaries. It can be hard but try to focus on where you are at the moment, and not bring thoughts about work home or into your weekend. For Marie, this means removing her work email from her phone and being firm with colleagues when they ask her questions outside of work.
Mindfulness and gratitude practices are research-based and are proven to reduce stress and increase joy and productivity. Studies have shown that by participating in a gratitude practice, like journaling, you are increasing serotonin levels and decreasing cortisol levels. This practice reduces stress because you are able to take ownership of your emotions and feelings and you are putting it into a safe place. The more you practice these, the more you bring yourself to that balance present place.
Try these tips yourself by introducing these positive habits one small step at a time. If you’d like to learn more about Marie Muratalla or the Say Thanks More Community, you can find her on her website or on social media.
#autism #speechtheraphy
What’s Inside:
How can a daily gratitude practice benefit your mindset?
How can you shift your mindset to create balance with work?
Tips for creating mindful habits in your daily life.
How burnout can create stress in work and life.
How a mind-shift set can effectively reduce burnout and benefit mental health.
Why it is important to set boundaries to create a work-life balance.
#069: A Family’s Autism Journey- A Chat with Theresa Richard
26 Apr 2022
00:30:52
I have been following Theresa Richard’s business journey for a while and when I recently learned about her son’s autism diagnosis, I had to learn more about her. Theresa is an SLP, Board Certified Specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders, Business owner, Podcaster, Author, and creator of the MedSLP Collective. She started her business in 2013, began blogging in 2014, and moved into the podcast world in 2017. I have really enjoyed following her work and Theresa does an excellent job disseminating information in a lesser-known field.
Theresa proclaims that she has such a passion for helping children with special needs. She recently sold one of her mobile FEES businesses and donated all proceeds to the foundation, set up in her son’s honor. Theresa’s son was born with an extremely rare chromosomal abnormality. There was no concrete syndrome which was extremely lonely to not be able to find a support group or community.
Her journey brought her family on a big move from New York to Florida to seek out therapy for her son at age 5. During the assessments to receive a therapy placement, her son received the shocking diagnosis of Autism. While this knowledge was surprising and unexpected, it affected their lives in a positive way. This diagnosis opened the door to a whole new world of support. In Florida, under this diagnosis, Theresa has been able to find the perfect school and specialized therapists that see him at school.
A team working toward the benefit of your child is so important, and Theresa speaks out to families to let them know that facilities and schools, and therapists who are ready to work toward that are out there. Theresa on her journey has had a variety of experiences and she shares her advice for providers from a parent's perspective: open-ended, nonjudgmental communication is vital. She makes these conversations, questions, and discussions an important part of her son’s therapy plans.
Theresa’s parting words for parents new to the journey of autism, is to not be afraid to reach out. Social media and groups can be a negative place but don’t go there, surround yourself in the positive groups and the positive voices. As an autism mother it can be scary and lonely but there are people out there who want to help and support you!
You can follow Theresa Richard and her journey by checking out her website or following her on social media!
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
Theresa Richards's business journey as an SLP.
How to find the school right for your child's needs?
Utilizing external therapists in a school setting?
Parent advice for SLPs and therapists.
A family's unique autism journey.
Parent to parent advice on a diagnosis of autism.
The importance of support in handling a diagnosis.
Mentioned In This Episode: Thank you to this episode's sponsor, Mightier. We make video games that help kids build their emotional strength. Learn how to #beMightier at www.mightier.com
#184: 5 Tips For Dealing With Contentious IEP Meetings
09 Jul 2024
00:14:21
Conflict is part of what we do as a provider in this field. When it comes to helping the most difficult learners, it's no surprise we might find ourselves contentious at IEP meetings, I’ve definitely had my fair share in my 20+ year career. But you CAN get through them with the best interest of the learner at hand.
Here are my top 5 tips for navigating contentious IEP meetings:
Know the guest list. Who's gonna be there? Lawyers, advocates, etc., you need to know so you can properly prepare.
It is not okay to be verbally abused at work. Whether it's admin or parents, come in with boundaries and confidence. Set the tone at the beginning of the meeting!
Prep with your team prior to the meeting and take time to debrief after.
There will always be conflict. *Check out the ethics course with ABA SPEECH Connection for more about the article I discuss here.*
Try to understand the motive of the conflict. When you can understand how the team member is feeling, you can work toward a solution together!
We all want to help maximize outcomes for our learners; we are all there for the benefit of the learner! You can get through these difficult, contentious, and often conflict filled meetings if you keep these 5 tips in mind.
#068: Annie DiVello - Supporting Students With Selective Mutism
19 Apr 2022
00:52:51
I am always interested in learning more about the variety of students I can help. Today I am interviewing Annie DiVello, an SLP who specializes in Selective Mutism. At the time Annie was in grad school, it was believed that selective mutism was more of a mental health disorder and that SLPs were not involved, but even now there is still a real lack of information or resources both in school and in private practice.
What is Selective Mutism? Selective Mutism (SM) is essentially a phobia of speaking, along with comorbidities. This fear of speaking can be attached to a singular person, people, or places, during certain activities. Selective Mutism often occurs along with anxiety disorders or other speech disorders.
Supporting Learners with Selective Mutism: Annie discusses the importance of a ‘Round Table’ of support for students with Selective Mutism. These learners cannot be worked with in isolation and should be supported by a variety of professionals that are experts in the complex variety of needs of students with selective mutism.
When it comes to assessment, Annie directs the question about performance vs. skills and ability. A student's performance is not always indicative of their skills, especially in the case of Selective Mutism. Annie provides some tips for SLPs to collect this information, including parent interviews and respectful videoing. Selective Mutism can be effectively diagnosed with a multidisciplinary team at the age of 30 months.
Getting started with therapy for students with Selective Mutism:
Who is the student and what are their needs
Bring in Selective Mutism experts
Implement a comprehensive plan with monthly progress monitoring
Work on communication confidence: one on one work with a key worker
Utilize an integrated team approach
Small steps programming, beware of rapid exposure
As a school-based clinician, you may not come across students with Selective Mutism, but working with experts like Annie DiVello is such a key piece in developing a framework for your therapy with students with more complex needs. This episode is packed with great tips for SLPs working with learners of all ages. Annie is an ASHA-approved CEU trainer, you can find out more about her and her work on her website, AnnieDiVello.com.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
What is Selective Mutism?
How to build a roundtable of support for learners with selective mutism.
Being a ‘Brave Voice Coach’ for learners with selective mutism.
Strategies for younger and older learners with selective mutism.
#067: A Late Diagnosis of Autism with Billy Mayfair
12 Apr 2022
00:21:17
I love any opportunity to chat with adults with autism who can share their insight on diagnosis, support, and living life with autism. Billy Mayfair is a top professional golfer in the United States, who found his diagnosis late in life in 2019. Today he shares his journey in early life and the concerns that led to his evaluation, and how those answers have helped him find the support he needed.
Growing up golf was a safe haven, he found joy in being alone. Unlike those who receive an early diagnosis, because Autism was not on the radar Bill did not have support in school. He found school to be very difficult and struggled all the way through. Billy's high school counselor even told him not to try to go to college, that he needed to just go out and get a job and struggle for the rest of his life. This was a huge motivator for him, propelling him into completing college and into his golf career.
Billy's wife was instrumental in seeking a diagnosis. There was a pivotal moment during a golf tournament in which he was wrongly disqualified. When he did not comprehend what was happening and he wasn't speaking up for himself, his wife's concerns pushed him to an evaluation. Billy shares that even though he knew something was going on, he was reluctant to seek answers and even took weeks to actually read the findings report.
One of Billy's key struggles throughout his adult life has been with thought delay presenting as unpleasant facial expressions. Oftentimes when he needed more time to think about something, he looked defiant and angry. He's learned that it's okay and even important to ask for more time to think or process. It's really key to self-advocacy.
With this late in life diagnosis, Billy has adapted to new support such as seeing a neuropsychologist and even a nutritionist who is helping him connect the dots between his diet and his brain.
Billy and his wife are currently working on starting a foundation to support athletes with autism and their family members.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
What support helped Billy in school and early in life?
The importance of self-advocacy.
What concerns can lead to a late-in-life autism diagnosis?
Thank you to this episode's sponsor Mightier - We make video games that help kids build their emotional strength. Learn how to #beMightier at https://www.mightier.com/autismoutreach
#066: A Discussion About Ableism and Neurodiversity with Haley Moss
05 Apr 2022
00:54:07
On today's podcast, I had the opportunity to learn from Haley Moss. Haley is an author, lawyer, educator, speaker, and is also autistic. In this episode, she shares her perspective on important issues in the autism and neurodivergent community, as we have a conversation surrounding inclusivity in therapy and society.
"Be yourself, but not like that". It can be extremely exhausting for adults to keep up with behaviors that are seen as typical and don't come naturally to them. Haley compares Neurodivergent social skills to being bilingual. It's not that they don't have social skills, they are just different and no matter what or how they try to make them "alike" neurotypical individuals it will always come out with an "autistic accent". She emphasizes the importance of teaching the reason behind typical social skills as cultural needs versus them being "better" or "normal". Everything someone does has a reason behind it and tying trust and understanding to that is really helpful.
What is Neurodiversity?
Neurodiversity is a difference in cognition in which everyone's brain works differently. Neurotypical brains operate in ways that may be expected in a "normal" manner. Neurodivergent is a scope of operation involving the brain out of the box, outside of what would be "expected" ways to include autism, ADHD, mental health, intellectual disabilities, and acquired disabilities such as traumatic injury or illness.
What is Ableism?
Haley shares a definition from the Center for Disability Rights, "Ableism is a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rest on the assumption that people with disabilities need to be fixed in one way or another." Ableism is much more prevalent in society than people realize, especially in the manner of accessibility and that neurodivergent individuals are not given seats at the table for key discussions.
Practicing Empathy in Your Therapy Sessions
As professionals, we truly want to help people. One of my goals with this podcast is to help therapists and providers do better by knowing better. Haley shares some of her tips from a neurodivergent perspective on how to be empathic as a provider.
Behavior happens for a reason. Behavior can mean so many things, it's important to apply that by taking the whole person into account.
Describe individuals' specific high and low support needs. These can evolve over time but when aware of these needs, individuals can advocate for themselves and other services can provide support where possible.
I learned so much during this chat with Haley. If you'd like to learn more or connect with her, you can find her on her website and all social media platforms.
SLPs have such a broad scope. We get so much training in graduate school but creating specializations based on your passions really happens through your own research and work out in the field. So there are many areas that fall under the scope of speech therapy that not all SLPs understand completely or feel comfortable with. As my listeners know, Autism has become my area of focus, so I really did not have a lot of awareness or understanding about Dyslexia. This chat with Jeannette Roberes was so educating and informative for me.
Jeannette is an SLP, software engineer, and educator who specializes in Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a combination of characteristics involving reading, writing, and talking. An individual with Dyslexia is going to struggle in one or all of these areas. Symptoms can include late talking, slow to learn words, and a severe delay in reading.
Jeannette has made some great strides in advocating and educating on Dyslexia and how to support her students. She and her colleagues are working on a book to educate SLPs on how to appropriately assess, treat, and diagnose students presenting with Dyslexia.
Her tips for intervention for Dyslexia revolve around a multisensory structured language approach involving decoding, fluency training, vocabulary, and comprehension. She says that a successful session is tapping into the essential components of teaching reading. Jeanette talks about the big five: Phonemic Awareness, Alphabetic Principle, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. When working with Dyslexia or any literacy based skill, books are your greatest resource, there are so many activities that can be planned around one book even over the course of 4 sessions. It also instills a love of reading that is so important.
Jeannette is really passionate about using diverse inclusive books in your literacy opportunities, because in our therapy sessions we are preparing students for a world in which they will interact with individuals who don’t always look like them. She calls books sliding glass doors, a stepping stone or path into a bigger world. She encourages families and therapists to read books reflecting both disabilities and different cultures.
You can find out more about Jeannette on all social media platforms by searching in Bearly Articulating and check out her book, Technical Difficulties: Why Dyslexic Narratives Matter In Tech, available on Amazon.
Today, I am providing 15 strategies for SLPs working in an ABA setting. I have had the opportunity to work in ABA settings in addition to traditional schools. Whether you're new to the ABA world or thinking about taking a position in a specialized setting, these tips are some that I find so helpful for you, your colleagues, and your clients.
Learn about your work setting: Understand your role and how it fits into the existing set up of the facility. Do not hesitate to ask the important questions!
Build rapport with staff: Sometimes collaboration comes easy and sometimes it can be difficult. Get to know your team members and build relationships to facilitate working together.
Learn about the science of Applied Behavior Analysis: Onboarding is going to differ from setting to setting, if it's new to you, it's important your facility is offering you proper training. I offer two courses with ABA Speech, Help Me Find My Voice and Start Communicating Today, that are great options.
Learn about common assessments: If you're new to an ABA setting, understanding testing from the BCBA side can really change your approach to therapy. My favorite is the VB-MAPP but there are others.
Provide information about speech therapy: Keep it positive and disseminate your goals and scientific approach. Always frame it with your client's best interest in mind.
Feel comfortable with the jargon: There are so many words, you may or may not use them in conversation but you need to understand what you're talking about in a clinical setting.
Think about creating shared goals: Once you understand the assessment, you can create goals with other teachers. The power of communication is incredible and it is important to collaborate and share goals across the setting.
Embed communication across the learner's day: Communication takes place all day long, students can really flourish when they have more opportunity for practice and data is being tracked by all staff.
Streamline your data collection: Many providers take data in all sorts of ways, when a student is working on a goal across settings, keep data collection in one place so that it is accessible and functional.
Have access to your students' behavior plan (if applicable): Understand how to plan antecedently for students' unsafe or problem behavior. Make a copy and keep it on hand. Additionally, plan your environment accordingly, you want to feel comfortable serving all of your students.
Collaborate: If there are other staff members who are going to be having a lot of time with your students, take the time to teach them about communication. These are the staff that are the most critical to building rapport with. You are the team!
Think about parent communication: This communication is going to differ greatly in a specialized setting versus a traditional school. Stay in the loop of what is common practice for your facility and what parents need from you as far as communication goes.
How are you providing service to students: Structure of therapy and instruction will differ depending on students needs. This can be pushing in, pulling out, one on one, and group therapy.
The SLP and the BCBA ethical code both discuss collaboration: This is important, there are barriers, and I'm here to support you.
Agree to disagree: We do not have to agree on everything but one thing we can agree on is, we want to help our students. Make decisions based on data.
If you're looking for more in depth information, you can check out my courses Help Me Find My Voice and Start Communicating Today. Also, be on the lookout in the coming months for my newest ASHA-approved course on SLPs in the ABA setting! I am also available for Discovery Calls if I can be of more service to you. See you next time!
#autism #speechtherapy
#063: Working With Students With Challenging Behavior with Kelle Rich
15 Mar 2022
00:40:15
Today I had the pleasure of talking with my BCBA supervisor and trailblazer in the field. Kelle was introduced to the world of autism at a really young age, which led into special education and continued on to her large body of work. In this episode she is sharing with us, from her wealth of knowledge, about how to work with students with problem behavior and what to do to support learners when it becomes a barrier to therapy.
The first step, with any therapy case, is to understand your learner. You can do this by reading the files, interviewing the parents, teachers, and other providers, and talking to the learner. You really want to know who this child is, what they like, and how they work so that you can pair your environment and therapy up to these things. Take a deep breath, take your time, and just build that relationship.
If you've built that rapport and problem behavior is still occurring, you can analyze the appropriate next steps. When tier 1 or non-dangerous behavior is occurring it is important to move forward with therapy. Note it, track data on it, but keep doing what you're doing. Try to avoid accidentally reinforcing that negative behavior. But what if it's more?
What is an FBA? A Functional Behavior Assessment, is a formal assessment process that must be requested as a part of an IEP. This process is worked through the team of providers, parents, and anyone who works with the learner. Next, a direct observation occurs to track patterns and antecedents. Finally, an actual analysis may be necessary where the learner will be tested. We do all this to guide us to an accurate behavior intervention plan.
What is the BIP? A Behavior Intervention Plan written into an IEP to guide and shape therapy. A BIP can not be created without an FBA. Whoever develops the BIP needs to be the one to train and support staff on how to support the learner.
When it comes to these plans and conversations, they are often occurring because things are not going well which can cause some contention between professionals. Kelle and I both discuss how we find it helpful to remind the team that we are in fact on the same team and that the common goal is to help the learner!
To close out this awesome interview, Kelle shares a little bit about her upcoming conference, The Verbal Behavior Conference. This began in 2018, became virtual throughout COVID, and is occurring both live and virtual this year. There are a ton of great speakers and leaders in the field and so many trending topics on the billet.
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
What is the FBA?
What is a BIP?
What can you do when problem behavior becomes a barrier to learning?
How can speech therapists support students with problem behavior?
There is a strong bond between joint attention and both receptive and expressive language skills. When we work on joint attention, we are showing that our learners' communication is powerful! I am sharing a few tips and ideas that I use to build connections before communication while working on joint attention goals.
These activities involve shared activities through playing with toys, singing songs, and reading books. It is okay if your student isn't ready to fully engage when you introduce these activities, note their baseline data, and move forward with goals. You will be amazed to see the transformation and excitement over these simple activities.
Toys: Playing with toys in therapy is all about creating an interaction in a semi-structured environment. Remember to use simple language and allow for natural curiosity and play and not bombard with questions. Examples of toys I love to use:
Car and car track
Mini Objects
Farm Set
Literacy: Build excitement around the book, use books with repetition, and if your kids like it try an animated voice which can be really fun. A few books I love to keep in my therapy bag that is a great success for joint attention are, Pete the Cat and his White Shoes, Brown Bear, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
Music: Students love songs, they are familiar and create engagement. I also love to use visuals that can be just laminated pictures or little toys that match the activity of the song. It can also be engaging to sing songs that have motions for the words. Songs I love:
Old Macdonald
Wheels on the Bus
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
It can be difficult to keep data and set goals around these abstract ideas, be sure to check out my goal bank on ABA speech. I hope you love these ideas and get used to them in your next therapy session!
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
How to increase learner engagement?
What is joint attention?
How to embed joint attention across a student's day.
Where to start with joint attention.
Integrating shared activities into therapy.
Why should you focus on the connection before communication?
#061: 10 Strategies For Supporting Autistic Learners In Middle and High School
01 Mar 2022
00:30:51
I am excited to share my top 10 tips and strategies for supporting middle and high school-aged students. This is an area where I feel not a lot of information is available. I am very fortunate to work with kids across the lifespan from preschool ages in my private practice to middle and high school in the school setting. While I generally focus on helping autistic learners, these tips can be great for anyone working with older students.
1. Build rapport. This can be difficult and likely won’t happen overnight but it will greatly affect your relationship and effectiveness with the learner.
2. Analyze your service delivery options. Your students likely have a large array of needs, how can you change the environment, setting, and therapy approach to meet those needs?
3. Know who is on the team. Do your students see other therapists or other providers? Keep communication open and available for all the team members for your learner’s success.
4. Focus on independence. Independence looks different for every learner and encouraging this can be done in a variety of big and small ways.
5. Create shared goals. It’s great to collaborate with other teachers and share goals, these can be developed together and supported across settings.
6. Analyze the function of your goals. Always ask, how are these goals important across the lifespan? Know why you’re working on something and the scope of sequence to accomplish these goals.
7. Consider working on communication as it relates to vocation and leisure. As we get older, vocation and leisure become increasingly important, students should feel really comfortable in these areas.
8. Analyze data collection. Use a variety of data collection related to goals in different forms. Self-monitoring can also be a great tool for data collection.
9. Go over goals with your students. At the middle and high school, students become part of their goal-setting team, encourage participation in IEPs and keep them aware of the why behind their therapy goals. This is a great time to share how you're going to support them and what to expect.
10. Reach out with any questions. Utilize resources available to you! I would love to help and share the resources I’ve created as well as support through a Discovery call.
I hope you found these tips helpful. Please reach out if I can support you!
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
How can you support middle and high school, autistic learners?
Can build a rapport affect therapy?
Why should older students focus on independence?
Should older students be involved in their goal planning?
What resources are available for older autistic learners?
Apraxia is something a lot of my listeners are really interested in learning about. I had Dr. Edythe Strand on the two-part episode, number 44. Today Dr. Jennifer Moore, SLP, and co-owner of Brave Wings Therapy brings us some strategies on understanding Apraxia with autism and applying the interventions to autistic learners.
What is Apraxia and is it common in autism? Childhood Apraxia Speech is when the brain has difficulty planning and directing the muscles in a sequence to produce speech. Students with Apraxia might have difficult transitions from one syllable to another, you might see oral groping, vowel distortion, or errors in prosody. Autism rates have risen, current studies show approximately 1 in 44 children is diagnosed with autism. Although research does vary, within that subpopulation there is a coexistence of Apraxia in about ⅔ of those cases.
How can Apraxia interventions be applied to autistic learners? Many SLP’s struggles because there are great evidence-based assessments such as DTTC and REST for apraxia. However, with these approaches, there are many prerequisite skills required for an authentic, best practice result that do not align with the “box” our autistic learners need. Effective assessments for these learners will require outside-of-the-box thinking using a mix of these approaches with modifications unique to each learner.
When assessing an autistic learner, we really have to be dynamic in our approach. This means looking at sensory differences, current communication style, AAC use, receptive language, and cognitive ability and assessing each of these areas. Jennifer suggests structuring the therapy environment and before therapy, activities to be conducive to the learner and the assessments.
Picking functional targets for autistic learners? Jennifer uses the term “Power Words” as an important start for learning targets. This means words that are of high use for them in their everyday life that are going to be heard and used often with a big impact. With these functional words, SLPs can look at what the student already has in terms of the sounds and oral motor skills and how to shape it. The Principles for Motor Learning guides instruction, practice, and retention for learners with apraxia and Jennifer provides great guidance on this.
This was such an informative episode on modifying assessment and treatment for Apraxia in autistic learners. You can find out more about Jennifer and her work on Instagram, Facebook, and on the Brave Wings Therapy website.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
What are Apraxia assessments?
How sensory differences that may affect autistic learners.
How to pick targets for autistic learners.
Communication when working on interdisciplinary teams.
Mentioned in this episode:
Don’t miss Pyramid Educational Consultants’ Second Annual FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th and 5th, 2022! Pyramid’s international team of behavior analysts, and dually certified speech pathologists, led by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost, the developers of PECS, have created all new and expanded content that includes a broad range of practical information related to the field of behavior analysis. Day one will focus on content related to educational programming and program development. Day two of the virtual conference will present information related to behavior analysis and communication. Earn up to 8.0 BACB CEUs including one ethics and one supervision credit when you attend the full virtual conference. To learn more about attending the FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th & 5th, visit pecsusa.com!
#059: 5 Proactive Behavior Strategies With Sasha Long of The Autism Helper
15 Feb 2022
00:33:15
I often get requests for how therapists can help students who are engaging in problem behaviors that create a barrier to learning. In this interview, my colleague Sasha Long of The Autism Helper shared her “Five Favorite Antecedent Strategies”.
If you’re not sure what antecedent means, Sasha gives a great explanation. For the purpose of this list, antecedent means to be proactive. This is a list of best practices that when used to their fullest potential can help teachers, therapists, and even parents become proactive instead of reactive in the face of problem behavior.
1. Evaluate the Physical Environment. Remove elements of distraction or possible sensory overload. We might not always be able to remove it all together, but we can minimize or be aware to be of support to the learner.
2. Routines. Kids and adults thrive off of routine and knowing what to expect. Be sure to include several grounding activities throughout the day. We’re all human and things come up but how can you plan ahead to maintain a routine even when there is a change in the day?
3. Schedules. We often have schedules for the whole day but mini schedules are the secret sauce. Try to break down the steps into every group and activity. If you can associate each activity with a visual cue in the order it happens. Keep it simple and applicable to the receptive language skills of the learners.
4. Visuals. We all use them, but, why are you using them? Take a look at the receptive language skills of your learners and figure out what kind of visuals they need. Make visuals a purposeful strategy as opposed to pictures used for the sake of taking up wall space.
5. Reinforcement of replacement behaviors. When you build up good behavior, you’re not going to need to be reactive. Provide praise when students are engaged in positive replacement behaviors. Find the good even if it's small!
Our end goal when working with students and implementing this list to see an increase in communication and a decrease in problem behaviors. Sasha is a wealth of information. You can find out more about her and her work through her blog and podcast, The Autism Helper.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
Proactive strategies for students who engage in problem behavior.
What to do when problem behavior becomes a barrier to learning.
How to help students who engage in unsafe behavior during therapy.
What are Sasha Long’s Top 5 Antecedent Intervention Strategies?
How to set up your therapy environment for the safety of your students.
Mentioned In This Episode:
Don’t miss Pyramid Educational Consultants’ Second Annual FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th and 5th, 2022! Pyramid’s international team of behavior analysts, and dually certified speech pathologists, led by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost, the developers of PECS, have created all new and expanded content that includes a broad range of practical information related to the field of behavior analysis. Day one will focus on content related to educational programming and program development. Day two of the virtual conference will present information related to behavior analysis and communication. Earn up to 8.0 BACB CEUs including one ethics and one supervision credit when you attend the full virtual conference. To learn more about attending the FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th & 5th visit, pecsusa.com!
AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. These are communication devices, systems, strategies and tools that replace or support spoken language. We have talked about this many times on the podcast but I am sharing some top tips for AAC that I have learned along the way during my 20+ years!
It’s okay to not have all the answers!! Let this be your mantra. Students will be using different devices and software. You can’t know everything, but you can learn.
What access do you have to an AAC consultant? There are people whose job it is to help!
Collaboration is vital—collaborate and communicate with the learner’s team from assessment to receiving and learning a device to daily use!
Contact AAC companies! They have resources that you need and want.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You will always be learning, and that's exactly where you should be. Connect with experts and always be available to learn!
If you’re loving this summer series of short, easy-to-consume topics, let me know! Leave a review or send me a message on Instagram.
#autism #speectherapy
What’s Inside:
What is AAC?
What have I learned about working with AAC in my 20 year career?
Learn About the Autism Connection (Special Episode)
10 Feb 2022
00:13:00
I am announcing a huge upcoming event, the Autism Connection. If you are an SLP, BCBA, teacher, or even a parent, this is going to be a great event. I partner with Sasha Long who’s also a BCBA and she’s got really great strategies that are actionable and applicable.
This is a live PD in which participants will receive CEUs and certificates of attendance. Be sure to check out the talking points, event schedule, and get registered!
Learn about the Autism Connection. The inaugural LIVE PD event is taking place on March 12th. Brought to you by ABA SPEECH and The Autism Helper. A LIVE ASHA approved and ACE event!
Schedule: (Eastern Time)
Time: 9:45 am -10:00 am Topic: Welcome Presenters: With Rose and Sasha
Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am Topic: Make the Environment a Tool not an Obstacle Presenters: Sasha Long M.A. BCBA
Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Topic: The Performative Power of Language in Therapeutic Spaces: Steps Towards Neurodivergent Affirming Practices Presenters: Mari Cerda BCBA LBA
Time: 2:30 pm- 3:30 pm Topic: AAC Intervention: Supporting Communication Partners and AAC Users in Naturalistic Communication Environments Presenters: Kate Grandbois, MS, CCC-SLP BCBA
Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm Topic: The Best Kept Secrets of Collaborative IEP Goal Writing Presenters: Stephanie DeLussey and Rose Griffin M.A. CCC/SLP BCBA
Time: 4:30 pm - 4:45 pm Topic: Wrap Up and CEU Reminders Presenters: Rose and Sasha
Don’t miss Pyramid Educational Consultants’ Second Annual FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th and 5th, 2022! Pyramid’s international team of behavior analysts, and dually certified speech pathologists, led by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost, the developers of PECS, have created all new and expanded content that includes a broad range of practical information related to the field of behavior analysis. Day one will focus on content related to educational programming and program development. Day two of the virtual conference will present information related to behavior analysis and communication. Earn up to 8.0 BACB CEUs including one ethics and one supervision credit when you attend the full virtual conference. To learn more about attending the FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th & 5th, visit pecsusa.com!
What’s Inside:
What is the Autism Connection, Live PD event?
How can you attend this live event?
Can you receive CEUs or other certificates by attending the Autism Connection?
All about a great live event for SLPs, BCBAs, teachers, and parents.
#058: How Can I Support Older Autistic Learners- Strategies with Jared Stewart
08 Feb 2022
00:40:13
We focus a lot on therapy for young learners, but what about when they grow up? Support for older autistic learners and adults is so important. In this episode, I interviewed Jared Stewart, autistic adult, professional, and BCBA.
For many, characteristics of autism may not be apparent until life demands exceed their skill set. He shares his experience in the school system, how bullying, and the skill demands affected him. He finished his 7th-grade year with a refusal to return to school and spent the next year doing correspondence school from his bedroom. He began school again at the start of 9th grade with the realization that everything he wanted to do was on the other side of education.
Jared talks about a calendar planner one of his teachers helped him create that really changed the way he managed school, giving him a new sense of control. At that point, he learned that he could learn the systems of success. Creating systems is a really great tool for autistic individuals and with the mastery of these, anyone can learn to do bigger and better things.
From his first-hand experience as a high school student to college student, Jared has excellent insight on the needs for public school support and beyond. Focusing on strengths and building up the confidence of your autistic learners is key to their success as they move from school to the real world. Additionally, helping learners understand their unique challenges and working on them is important too. Masking is a hot topic in the autism world today, Jared shared his take on what he calls authentic masking as an important skill to connect your authentic self with your neurotypical community.
Jared pointed out that we often forget that autism is a developmental delay. As autistic individuals get older, brain development begins to catch up to neurotypicals and they can really do some powerful things. He sees it first hand with his work at the Scenic View Academy, a residential academy in which autistic adults live, work and get paid for their work. The school customizes plans for students that last on average about 2-3 years. In this program, they learn all the skills to function and keep themselves safe in daily life physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually.
This was a great chat about focusing on the transition mindset when preparing autistic learners for beyond public school. Jared is so knowledgeable and passionate about helping others. If you’re interested in the Scenic View Academy you can find out more information online or if you’d like, you can get in touch with Jared who is happy to help in any way he can.
#autism #speechtherapy
What’s Inside:
Making school more impactful for all learners.
How to help older students understand their strengths.
How we can frame how we will support older students.
How to identify the areas students might need support after school and why.
Mentioned In This Episode:
Don’t miss Pyramid Educational Consultants’ Second Annual FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th and 5th, 2022! Pyramid’s international team of behavior analysts, and dually certified speech pathologists, led by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost, the developers of PECS, have created all new and expanded content that includes a broad range of practical information related to the field of behavior analysis. Day one will focus on content related to educational programming and program development. Day two of the virtual conference will present information related to behavior analysis and communication. Earn up to 8.0 BACB CEUs including one ethics and one supervision credit when you attend the full virtual conference. To learn more about attending the FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th & 5th, visit pecsusa.com!
#057: Speech Therapy For Autistic Students - Where To Start With Intervention
01 Feb 2022
00:34:45
As Speech-Language Pathologists, it can be overwhelming to create a therapy plan for learners with no speech at all. Where do you get started? In this episode, I talk with Terri Smith. She is an SLP and the founder and owner of Bluebird Speech Therapy and Consulting Services.
Help Me Find My Voice and Start Communicating Now are two courses I offer online for professionals and parents. Terri shared with me how she found ABA Speech and has attended and utilized these resources. She describes her takeaway from these courses as a “Road Map” for therapy with autistic or nonverbal learners. These courses provide real actionable tips, step-by-step ideas for therapy, and most important assessments that focus on communication skills that are crucial for nonverbal learners.
Requesting is an important skill that Terri focuses on in her therapy. She finds that this gives her learners power by realizing their communication means something! Additionally, it's all about the fun, child-led activities built into social and gameplay that make a big difference, especially when working with nonverbal students. One rule she works by is planning therapy based on learners' developmental age, not their chronological age.
Terri works with students with autism to support functional communication and behavior strategies through play-based activities. As a consultant, she also supports other professionals in the field. Oftentimes, SLPs and BCBAs work together simultaneously with families and clients. Even myself as both can sometimes disagree on treatment plans. It’s important to remember when it comes to speech that the SLP is the expert, but also to continue to have that professional dialogue. Regardless of the points of disagreement when a professional is passionate about something it is obvious that their intention is just what's best for the learner.
Every student we see is very different with very different needs, it is important for therapy to match that and change client to client. This is such a great interview in which Terri and I talk about some great tips, tools, and guidelines for getting started with therapy, as well as the big difference my online courses can make!
What’s Inside:
How can ABA Speech online courses help SLPs and other professionals?
Where to get started in intervention.
How you can help your students communicate.
How to bring fun into therapy.
The assessments and roadmap for beginning therapy.
Mentioned In This Episode:
Thank You To Our Sponsor: Don’t miss Pyramid Educational Consultant’s Second Annual FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th and 5th, 2022! Pyramid’s international team of behavior analysts, and dually certified speech pathologists, led by Andy Bondy and Lori Frost, the developers of PECS, have created all new and expanded content that includes a broad range of practical information related to the field of behavior analysis. Day one will focus on content related to educational programming and program development. Day two of the virtual conference will present information related to behavior analysis and communication. Earn up to 8.0 BACB CEUs including one ethics and one supervision credit when you attend the full virtual conference. To learn more about attending the FUNctional Behavior Conference on April 4th & 5th, visit pecsusa.com!