Turn Autism Around

Dr. Mary Barbera shares three effective tips for improving sleep issues in children with autism, drawing from her personal experience with her son, Lucas. These tips include preventing bed entry, calmly returning the child to their bed, and using positive reinforcement. She also discusses common sleep problems in children with autism, such as irregular melatonin levels, sensory sensitivities, and behavioral patterns, and emphasizes the importance of consistent bedtime routines and provides resources like her autism and sleep Kindle ebook to guide parents. 

Dr. Mary Barbera interviews Nadia, a mother who successfully supported her 2-year-old son Muhammad's speech development and managed his autism-related behaviors using Dr. Barbera’s verbal behavior techniques. Nadia shares her journey from Pakistan to Australia, the challenges of long waitlists, and how her son’s speech and behavior have improved significantly. Dr. Mary Barbera covers strategies for early diagnosis, intervention, using effective reinforcers, and addressing picky eating, highlighting the importance of parental involvement, professional guidance, and consistent application of learned techniques to support children with speech delays and autism.

Dr. Mary Barbera interviews Rose Griffin, a Speech-Language Pathologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst, about solving speech articulation errors in children, particularly those with autism and speech delays. They discuss the importance of early identification and intervention, typical speech sound development, and practical strategies for improving speech articulation. Rose emphasizes the need for a structured, individualized approach, integrating playful techniques, and ensuring generalization of skills.

Dr. Mary Barbera goes over the importance of timing and effective methods for teaching colors. Teaching colors too early to children with autism or speech delays can hinder language development, it’s important to wait until children have a solid vocabulary of 50-100 nouns and are developmentally ready (typically around 30 months). You should also be focusing on using sorting activities with construction paper to teach colors separately from nouns, and pairing and labeling colors before combining them with objects.

Dr. Mary Barbera compares her two bestselling autism books, "The Verbal Behavior Approach" and "Turn Autism Around." Mary also touches on which book best fits your needs for supporting children with autism. You'll learn about unique strengths and insights each book offers, discussing their differences.

In this rebroadcast, Dr. Mary Barbera discusses how to use techniques from Miss Rachel's popular YouTube channel, "Miss Rachel Songs for Littles," to support children with speech delays or autism. Miss Rachel's videos, which employ video modeling and proven speech therapy methods, offer valuable resources for language development. While screen time should be limited, using educational content like Miss Rachel's can be beneficial. Creating personalized videos can also help to enhance speech skills.

Dr. Mary Barbera interviews Dr. Erin Michaud, an expert in autism research, discussing early detection and intervention for developmental delays and autism. They cover topics such as recognizing early markers like eye contact and cooing, the importance of parent training, and tailored interventions such as speech and behavioral therapy. Dr. Michaud also highlights the differences between developmental delays and autism, emphasizing early action and continuous support to improve outcomes.

Struggling with picky eating in your child? You’re not alone. In this episode, Dr. Mary Barbera discusses the common causes of picky eating, the link between autism and selective eating, and the potential for serious issues like failure to thrive. Learn seven practical tips to address picky eating, including conducting assessments, creating an easy-medium-hard food list, stopping snacking between meals, introducing nutrient-dense foods, maintaining a consistent feeding schedule, and gradually introducing new foods. 

In this classic rebroadcast, Dr. Mary Barbera goes over six strategies based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to manage toddler tantrums and enhance communication. There are three preventative measures focused on positive reinforcement, one-word repetition, and structured interactions to reduce tantrum occurrences. There are also three reactive strategies emphasizing safety, stopping attention, and planned ignoring to handle tantrums effectively. Using these tools to create a positive learning environment and minimize attention to negative behavior, parents and educators can foster better communication and reduce tantrums in kids.

Dr. Mary Barbera covers how to enhance speech therapy goals for children with delays. Learn from real-life experiences, including insight from Lucas’s speech therapy journey. Avoid common pitfalls like generic goal banks and ensure goals are tailored to each child’s unique needs, strategies for toddlers, emphasizing realistic milestones and parental involvement. Use these tips and see how therapy sessions become more effective and empowering for children's development.