The ABA Speech Podcast - Easy Strategies For Parents and Professionals

Announcing The 2nd Annual Autism Connection Conference held in collaboration with The Autism Helper. Join us on December 3rd for an exciting, fun, and knowledge-packed conference. The event will run from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM EST with a break for lunch. Autism Connection features 5 amazing sessions created with SLPs, Special Education teachers, General Education teachers, and BCBAs in mind.Join our LIVE session or replay the recorded event available three days later until December 31st. When you participate you are eligible to receive a general certificate, ASHA CEUs, and ACE Provider credit. This conference features 5 sessions to help support YOU in the classroom and therapy room:Can’t Do or Won’t Do? with Sasha Long, BCBA The Power of Joint Attention with Rose Griffin, SLP-BCBAUsing AAC to Teach AAC with Janna Bedoyan, AAC Specialist, and Morgan Alexandra Van Diepen, BCBAStrategies You Can Try Before Requesting Behavioral Consultation with Matt Cicoria, BCBAThree Ways Teachers Can Support Neurodivergent Learners in Their Classroom with Teva Johnstone, Clinical Social Worker, and TherapistBe sure to get registered for this awesome virtual conference! We can’t wait to see you at Autism Connection on December 3rd! #autism #speectherapyWhat’s Inside:Register for the 2nd Annual Autism Connection Conference5 Amazing Sessions for SLPs, BCBAs, and Special and General Education Teachers.How to earn a general certificate, ASHA CEUs, or ACE conference credit.Learn about Positive Behavioral Strategies, AAC, Joint Attention, and more!Mentioned In This Episode: ABA SpeechRegister for The Autism Connection Conference

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 #speectherapyWhat’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.Mentioned In This Episode: Behavioral and Educational Expert ServicesSupervision Academy

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 EducationEvery 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 ProcessDue 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?How do parents and schools come to a resolution?What is an Administrative Hearing?What are the qualifications of a Hearing Officer?Mentioned In This Episode: Coffee with CatherineConnell Michael Kerr, LLP 

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.Planning appropriately for intervention.Mentioned In This Episode:Bierman Autism Centers

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.Advice for autism families.Mentioned In This Episode: Milestones.org

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 #speectherapyWhat’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. Mentioned in this Episode: ABA SpeechStart Communicating Today Course

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.#autism #speectherapyWhat’s Inside:Using ABA in Speech TherapyHow to collaborate with hesitant professionalsServing students with problem behaviors as an SLPMentioned In This Episode: Home - Eden II Programs (eden2.org)ABA Speech: HomeRegister for the free SLP in an ABA Setting Mentorship webinar

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 PreferenceMentioned In This Episode: Autism in Black ABA Speech: HomeRegister for the free SLP in an ABA Setting Mentorship webinar

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 #speectherapyWhat’s Inside:What is NDBI?Applied Behavior Analysis and Developmental Based Intervention.Why are child-centered therapy and play-based learning important?A framework for interdisciplinary collaboration.Mentioned In This Episode: Our Services | KGH Autism Services: ASD Treatment Clinic, Chicago & MadisonAdvanced Language Learner - Sign Up Today - ABA SpeechRegister for the Pyramid Educational Consultant’s Third Annual FUNctional Communication Conference on October 17th & 18thABA Speech: Home

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 ShoreThis 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 LearnFind SupportAttend 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 #speectherapyWhat’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.Mentioned In This Episode: Thomas A. McKeanThomas A. McKean | FacebookAdvanced Language Learner - Sign Up Today - ABA SpeechRegister for the Pyramid Educational Consultant’s Third Annual FUNctional Communication Conference on October 17th & 18thABA Speech: Home