The ABA Speech Podcast - Easy Strategies For Parents and Professionals

Crystal Sanford is an SLP,  Autism Mom, and owner of Sanford Autism consulting. She is sharing her professional and parental journey. Crystal’s focus is on IEP advocacy and parent support.It's really integral to include parents as part of the team. The whole process can feel daunting for parents. To begin with, parents can feel isolated in dealing, and navigating the special ed process can make it especially hard. Therapists can feel defensive and nervous, but parents can be really overwhelmed and advocates play such an important role. IEPs are really a different language for parents. Advocates go in as a liaison and support person to bridge the gap between school and parent. They will ask some of the parents’ concerns, discuss goals, and make sure the parents’ voice is heard.One thing about the pandemic was the creation of Zoom IEP conferences. I don’t think we’ll ever go back to 20 sweaty people sitting around a room. The addition of Zoom conferences has allowed the setting to be more flexible and collaborative. In the past, it's been very “us against them” in some cases, now we’re all together and we're focusing on the success of the child. Parents should always trust their gut and ask questions. For parents that are new to the process, think about your child and what works well for them. Use that information. If things are coming up that you’re not sure about, ask those questions. Be persistent in what you want for your kids, but also be a listener. The law requires special education staff and therapists to provide what is appropriate for your child, not what's best. Crystal works with parents on understanding the difference, and how to find balance. It is so important for parents, therapists, and other professionals that are involved in the IEP or service process to remember that the key focus is the child. Parents really are the expert on their child. Crystal’s tip to convey this is to develop a “Parent Input Statement”. Every year they should draft a statement to include who their child is, their diagnosis, what works well at home, focus points for the school year, and the best way to contact them. As the child gets older, include them in that process as a segue to self-advocacy.It is okay to think out-of-the-box for kids. It’s important for therapists to advocate why they are teaching things and how they are working for them. Oftentimes, skills and therapy gets generalized; it's necessary to get therapy into real situations, especially in older grades in middle and high school when you're working on big life skills. Crystal has such a great perspective on therapy and parent involvement as a professional and parent. I hope that by listening to this episode, you’ve found some tips to put into action in your next IEP meeting or therapy session, whether you’re the parent or the provider! If you have any questions, please reach out to me and be sure to  sign up for my free webinar, Autism Strategies for Toddlers and Preschool Aged Students. #autism #speechtherapy What’s Inside:What is the purpose of parent advocacy?The IEP process, and how it’s changed through the pandemic.Parents as the experts on their children.Teaching self-advocacy in children.Out-of-the-box therapy. Mentioned In This Episode:Register for my new FREE live webinar- Autism Therapy Strategies for Toddlers and Preschool Aged Students 

Knowledge is power. When you know more, you’re going to understand more. If you are listening in real-time, my brand new toddler course launches this week! I have created the course, Start Communicating Today, for parents and professionals to help their toddlers and preschool-aged students with Autism communicate. This ASHA-certified course, from the set-up to the material, is parent-friendly. With Covid, there are a lot of families on waitlists or who aren't able to get the service level they need because of safety concerns. This is a great course for anyone with a child with Autism, a struggling communicator, and even those waiting for a diagnosis. By signing up, you gain access to the course AND access to a private Facebook group full of members of both this toddler course and my school-aged course. This page is a place of community, dialogue, and feedback. Start Communicating Today is a 5-hour course broken up into 7 Modules. This course is full of great information you can actually use in your everyday therapy practices. I was very systematic in the creation of this course. You will see these modules build upon each other in a flow of importance.  Every single module comes with a printable, to reference as a resource in everyday therapy. I created this course to answer the question; what do we work on with students who are early learners and not communicating on their own? These modules provide detailed information, resources, examples, and even video tutorials on implementing these best practice tools. The Seven Modules:Assessments: The “Gold Standard” Assessments, what assessments do I find helpful,  and all of the points that make up a good assessment.Goal development: How to set goals that drive the success of intervention for toddler-age students.Foundational Skills of Communication: Expressive Language, Communication, Play, and Joint Attention.Materials: The language developing materials I use with preschool and toddler-aged students.Group skills: How to frame group therapy and resources and ideas for planning.Training: Creating a cohesive team for parents, paraprofessionals, and therapists.Data Collection: How to capture and use data while maintaining engagement. I have been able to connect with amazing parents and therapists who have taken my courses through the Facebook group. I am so excited to be able to share this information with you. Please reach out to me if you have any questions, and be sure to  sign up for my free webinar, Autism Strategies for Toddlers and Preschool Aged Students. What’s Inside:My new course for toddlers with Autism; Start Communicating Today.The seven modules of my new course.How to work with toddler and preschool aged students.How to help early learners with struggling communication. Mentioned In This Episode: Free Webinar - Autism Strategies for Toddlers and Preschool Aged Students 

Allison Fors is an SLP, blogger, and product creator. She has worked in both a school and private setting and is now a stay-at-home mom focusing on her resource creation. Today we’re discussing the big word in the development world; milestones. What does that even mean? A milestone is a skill that 90% of children are doing at that age. The problem is, we often treat milestones as averages when an average is about what 50% of children are doing and that is where you see a bigger gap.When looking at milestones, it's important to understand the difference between expressive and receptive. Expressive is how the child communicates, whether verbally with words or through signs and gestures. Receptive is what the child understands. Children will typically have a higher receptive communication. If you have a pre-verbal child, determine how they are expressing physically and the amount they can show they understand. It’s not just about the milestones, you have to look at the whole child. Figure out what their speech looks like, physical development; you really need the big picture. Allison, as a product creator, has developed easy-to-read graphics for the milestones and all of the areas that Speech-Language Pathologists cover. It has such a broad scope of practice and this can be helpful for determining what SLPs can help with and how. Allison has also created a grammar resource for older children where there isn't a lot of guidance in the SLP world.The more charts there are for guidance to help parents and professionals, the better. Looking at milestones, If you have concerns, do not wait. Get your child assessed by a pediatrician or in a clinic. If you’re on a waitlist like so many families, there are always options out there if you're able to pay for private care. There are also online options. Allison's advice for professionals to look at the whole child. Do not get sucked into these developmental marks. There are so many pieces of the puzzle that could really change the direction of therapy or the level of concern. Her advice for parents is don’t wait, time is precious and it is better to be safe than sorry when talking about the development of your child. I am coming out with a toddler course that you can find on my website. It’s going to be great information for parents and professionals. In this episode, I share some important information that will be included. Be sure to get on the waitlist!What's Inside:What are milestones for speech and language?How to analyze the milestones, whether you’re a parent or professional. How to look at the whole child to understand the whole scope.Mentioned In This Episode:ABA Speech - Join the Waitlist!

Jaclynn Bosley is a great friend and colleague who I have worked with across many different settings over the years. She is the owner and operator of Thrive Early Learning Center. We discuss the importance of family involvement, some ideas for parents as they’re seeking the support of ABA therapy, and what early intervention looks like in Jaclynn’s center. Getting a new diagnosis can be overwhelming for parents. Jaclyn reminds parents to take a deep breath and go to the expert and have them provide you with the road map of where to go next.  Also, steer clear of Facebook groups and internet forums, it can often be a scary place if you don’t have the right questions or all the information. Trust your gut with your providers and do your research on the program that's right for your family.We discuss some things to look for and think about when looking for and starting therapy.Indicators of a good program:Transparency.Parental involvement.Children’s positive nonverbal cues.Human connection and relationship with the provider.Funding sources for therapy:State-specific scholarship programs for children with Autism or other disabilities.Health Insurance. This is typically only for early intervention and can come with stipulations of reduced hours or a cap on hours as your child gets older.Beginning at 3, what services are your public schools required to offer?For the Thrive Early Learning Center, Jacylnn starts with the initial intake. This will be in a scheduled block of time when no other students are in the building so that the child can have a full roam of the space. Parents and the clinical director will be present to observe and take down lots of anecdotal information. Assessments will take place once a child starts. At Thrive, they use  ABLES or VB-MAPP. ABLES is great for students with more communication needs. VB-MAPP works for students with more language skills.For group therapy at Thrive, it is typically a small group of 3-5 kids. One person is giving instruction as the students are participating, other therapists will come over and quietly prompt and redirect individuals if they get off task. One-on-one support can be a barrier layer because the therapist becomes the interpreter. Teaching students to cue into their environment by looking around to see what their peers are doing. Fading out prompts. They practice watching and listening to a leader during circle or story time. Then allow for shared activity during literacy centers, craft time, and gross motor play.Jaclynn’s advice is that navigating therapy is a marathon, not a sprint, you don't have to be perfect coming out of the gate. Give yourself the grace to change and adapt. There is always time to make progress. When you first get a diagnosis, put yourself on narration mode, to keep your child immersed in the language, talk to your kids like you would even if they don't have a disability, and watch the journey unfold! You’ll get there together with your providers, and it will keep that journey happy!What’s Inside:Parent involvement in therapy.Indicators of a good provider.What therapy looks like at Thrive Early Learning Center.Jaclynn’s advice for parents with a new diagnosis.

As we prepare to go back to the classroom for face-to-face education, I think it's important to talk about play and social skills for our younger students. Unstructured play time can be something students with Autism or other complex communication issues really struggle with.Often these students do not independently engage so it's important to ask, “What can I do to help these kids engage?” As a therapist, my goal is to facilitate peer-to-peer interaction and encourage shared activity. One of the ways I do this is by implementing modified games at the end of group therapy. These games look very different from their original counterparts. This is because they are more accessible for students with Autism and other complex communication issues by eliminating the need for strategy and putting the emphasis on a shared group experience.Modified GamesMusical ChairsAs opposed to traditional musical chairs, I never take a chair away. I give the directions, “when you hear the music you walk when it stops you sit down”. This is fun because the students are moving and you can use popular music or themed music. All you need is a device to play music like your cell phone, chairs, and the students.MemoryCards of all different types to play this game are usually readily available. This game can typically take an hour or more, so to cut time and make it more accessible, I remove the majority of matches. I go through and pick the matches, and put one part of the matches in a pile face down, and then line up the other part of the matches face up. This way they can see all the pictures. They take turns picking a card and finding the match. What’s great about this is that it is a game that they can definitely play at home with their parents or family too!Simon Says I modify this game by ALWAYS saying “Simon says”. Essentially I am the leader (Simon) and I am giving directions and demonstrating and they are following directions by imitating. This is not only great practice for leisure skills but also imitation. GoNoodleThis is a free website with amazing dances and brain breaks. If you have a smart board, you can let students go up and pick the video. All the dances have motions to imitate and cooperate with the group, they are so fun and interactive that you’ll want to move along too!The Grocery Store GameI've been playing this game for 20 years, it is super fun. You write different letters of the alphabet down. The sentence starter for this game is “I bought…”. Go around the room and start with the letter and have students say what they bought with the corresponding letter, i.e. “I bought apples...I bought bananas...etc.” I have even created a resource with visuals to help students who are having difficulty recalling a word. A great thing about this is that it is also accessible to students using AAC devices. There are a lot of things you can work on as a therapist in group settings: Greetings, engaging in the group, student engaging in a variety of tasks, expanding leisure repertoire, joining others in play, and sustained social time. All of these are accessible for students who are yet verbally communicating, up to students who are fully conversational. I put these resources together to provide real tips and strategies to put to use to increase communication in play and social skills across all environments. I really want you to feel comfortable and ready to get to work helping your students and children. There is so much communication involved in interaction and fun that should be explored!What's Inside:Play and Social skills for students with autism and other complex communication issues.Tips for returning to face-to-face school post-pandemic.Providing all-day communication, practicing individually and with peers.Facilitating peer

Dual certified SLP-BCBAs are rare in our therapist community, so many providers find it very difficult when collaborating with other professionals who overlap the scope of care. I am discussing a great professional article that tackles this hot topic with my former supervisee and fellow SLP and BCBA, Eleyonzettah E. Bonilla. The article, Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Between Behavior Analysts, and Speech-Language Pathologists, is available on ABAI.For many SLPs or BCABs, it is difficult to see when other people are doing what you are trained to do. It can often feel like you're being encroached on. This is bound to happen when many times the care requires an overlap. Eleyonzettah and I talk about how crucial it is to embrace this overlap. The article actually discusses the importance of highlighting the strengths of the different providers. When working with two providers who have knowledge about multiple different points of care, you have an advantage.Training can be a great aspect of collaboration. When working with other providers, you can facilitate role extension and role release. While you may not ask another provider to teach a skill from scratch, you can release an extension of practicing a skill by training the other provider on what you need from the learner. We do not own these skills, the skills are there as points for teaching. When facilitating a collaborative relationship, professionalism is key. Eleyonzettah and I both relate to having poor encounters with other professionals. We feel that many other SLP or BCBAs also encounter other professionals they do not care for, this does not mean every encounter has to be negative. It is important to keep language and communication clear and productive. When you're speaking with another provider during collaborative work, the patient should be first. You are a team with the goal of helping the learner.Discussing this secret problem in the ABA community, Eleyonzettah and I kept coming back to a common theme. The child, learner, or patient comes first! Our job is to facilitate learning and quality of life for our learners and collaborating with other professionals can sometimes be the only way to do that!I enjoyed this discussion with Elenyonzettah greatly and it is my hope that you found some tips or beneficial information in today’s episode that you can put into practice right away!What's Inside:SLP and BCBA Collaboration.How to work with people from different fields and expertise.Translating research into everyday practice.Putting the child or learner at the forefront of the work.

We should inspire and not require students when on our journey to beginning communication. Anne Page emphasizes this as she joins me today to discuss her role as an Assistive Technology Lead and the importance of how we use AAC with our students. Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) is a tool that can be used for students with varying needs and  accesses. We discuss the wide variety of applications on the market for use as AAC. Anne gives us some points of thought for parents and professionals as they are choosing AAC for their students.  What are the individual's needs? How is the individual able to access the app? What is the history and future of the development of the app? Will the app sustain rich language for the long-term use of the individual?In addition to applications, we discuss the physical device used by our students. There are many AAC apps specifically designed for use with an iPad. However, there are still dedicated devices in use out there. The type of device is really important when considering the access point of the child and the insurance coverage of the device. As iPads are becoming more common as AAC, Anne has noted that some apps with heavy-duty iPad cases are now being approved via insurance. It doesn’t have to all be high tech. There are many low tech options out there that can be used in addition to devices. These can be great to overcome the barriers AAC can have such as use in an outdoor or pool environment, a problem with the device’s battery, and so on. Anne tells us about the Core Board she created that is available free on her website!When beginning AAC, start with preferred activities. Use AAC with things that bring your students joy. Once students are successful using their device and applications, then teaching using non-preferred activities can start. AAC should help our students find their voice because communication is a human right. Anne highlights throughout this episode that this should be a positive experience that inspires our students. I hope you found this show informative and can put these ideas and strategies to use with the AAC users in your life!What's Inside:What is an Assistive Technology Lead?What AAC apps are available and how to choose one.How to help every single student find their voice.Inspiring not requiring students.

AAC is a special space that crosses over through many shared professional settings. Kate Granbois joins us on the episode today to talk about her job as an AAC specialist, the ins and outs of  Augmentative Alternative Communication, and getting comfortable with the process. Kate warns about her title of “AAC Specialist”, while it's a real job and title, and she holds a lot of knowledge on this topic, it's important for many other professionals in the AAC user’s life to be empowered in this skill set as well.The most important part of AAC is the user. The Communication Bill of Rights is a great resource and really highlights the fact that communication is a human right. So when collaborating, it's important to recognize that no one owns just one environment. The AAC user needs to be supported across all environments to remove barriers. Taking the AAC user's family and friends values into consideration is a critical and ethical piece that is crucial to the success of the user across their life. AAC is not just important for accessing curriculum in the school. There are social aspects and basic need aspects, and the environment needs to revolve around the whole user, not just the professional's therapy room.AAC is more than just communication, it is also knowledge on equipment, vendors, the law, and documentation. Kate gives us some broad steps for getting started with AAC assessment.Familiarize yourself with the Communication Bill of Rights and assessment frameworks.What does it take to “sit in the seat”, to do the assessment?Know the products and features and understand the feature matching process.Know and understand the documentation and the legal requirements.There is never a perfect set up when it comes to therapy and AAC, but it's important to not let an AAC device disrupt therapy implementation. Kate says it's a science and an art, and it's okay for everyone’s therapy to look different. She also shares some resources for how to get more comfortable with your therapy with an AAC user and their device. At the end of the episode, Kate reminds professionals to be compassionate because everyone is coming from a different place. Our job is to help communication skills, and communication is a lot more than learning how to ask for things.I hope that you were able to gain some new information or will utilize the resources discussed today to empower communication with your clients and better improve your therapy! What's Inside:Shared communication and collaboration.What is the “Communication Bill of Rights”.AAC assessment through intervention.Resources for getting comfortable with AAC.

The family-centered approach is a key component of therapy at Nikki McRory’s facilities, McRory Pediatric Services. Nikki is on the podcast today, sharing how she uses a transdisciplinary approach for speech therapy. She uses the Behavior Skills Training framework in her early intervention programs with both the parents and the learners.What are the steps for Behavior Skills Training with parents?Step One: InformationExplain what the skill you're working on is and why it is important. This can be verbal and written. Step Two: ModelModel and discuss this skill. While demonstrating the specific skill, talk about what you're doing and provide further clarification.Step Three: PracticeRole play with the parents to give them the foundation for the skill, but also allow them to practice with their child.Step Four: FeedbackBe sure to let parents know what they are doing well, but also let them know what to change or improve on. Keep repeating steps 2 and 3 until they are where they need to be.When working with parents, Nikki looks at the whole picture for the family. This means taking into account their cultural, linguistic, and social-emotional differences. Her formula to train parents is directly embedded into her early intervention programs. Every Friday, parents are pulled from the therapy to work on a new skill together with clinicians and will practice with their child in therapy the following week.If you’re a professional feeling nervous about telling parents what to do, remember that parents are the expert on their child, but you are the expert on speech and language. You are in the best position to help parents help their children. Nikki leaves us with a special sentiment for parents about the long haul of therapy and the importance of self-care!Be sure to check out the resources we’ve shared, I hope this has helped professionals get an idea of how to facilitate parent coaching and given some inspiration for parents to get involved in their child’s therapy!What's Inside:The Framework for Behavioral Skills Training.Robust Parent Training Component.What is a Family-Centered Approach?Helping Parents Interact and Communicate with Their Children.

Social Skills are more than just etiquette and manners. Ashley Rose, founder and clinical director of Mission Cognition Social Skills Development Center, is here with me sharing about the importance of social skill instruction. Ashley describes social skills as the inner workings of social interaction. She takes a very individualized approach when deciding exactly what to work on by learning what exactly is making it difficult for an individual to have positive interactions with themselves or others. Ashley’s centers provide the perfect atmosphere for individualized groups. She has three leveled groups, Group A being the developmental play group, for individuals with emerging language. Groups B and C are best suited to individuals with more language skills, and is her more signature Behavior Skill Training group.The planning for Ashley’s groups focus on individualization. Ashley has developed 15 Global Focus Areas that she uses to target training in her groups. She has also developed an in-house assessment tool to identify these areas. For each group, she uses templates such as Group at a Glance, Student Snapshots, and Goal Sheets. The idea behind all of this is rationale, every group facilitator should be able to explain the ‘why’ behind the goals selected for any individual. The end goal for every play group, whether it be developmental play or behavior skill training, is to give the participants autonomy and allow ease of social interaction in their natural environment. We also touch on the topic of Masking. Autistic voices are speaking out against this practice as harmful and unethical, and Ashley tells us why. At one point, the idea of teaching Masking was to help individuals with Autism reduce the appearance of self-stimulatory behavior to help them “fit in”. However, this behavior is actually a self-regulation tool. Another way Masking has been used is to teach scripting in social situations. Instead of relying on scripting, Ashley teaches language use in a more natural template. Her goal is always to give her students the most autonomy and individuality as possible.Self-advocacy and Independence are the words of the day that Ashley leaves us with. No matter the age, it is important to give your child the tools to communicate what they want and need, but equally what they don’t want. Ashley shared some great resources today and gave some awesome tips for parents and professionals for creating ease in social situations and interactions that will affect their children or students every day. What's Inside:Social Skill InstructionSelecting and Setting Social Skills GoalsIntake, Assessment, and DevelopmentFramework for Planning GroupsPlanning for Generalization, Applying Skills in the Natural EnvironmentMasking