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Teaching functional skills in a functional manner is key to a child’s success. After all, if we teach something to a child and they cannot demonstrate the skill outside of our controlled environment or way of teaching have we really taught them anything? This becomes even more critical when working with some autistic children as many have a gestalt learning style which leads to rigidity of thinking and lack of generalization. When this happens, a child is able to perform a sk

We all want to see our children succeed, especially in new situations or when expectations are different. But how can we set up our children to succeed? We can do this through the use of priming. Priming is a prevention strategy, also known as an antecedent strategy in which we provide relevant information prior to a situation or task. Priming can be especially helpful for children that have a difficult time with transitions or changes in routines. Let’s face it, we all feel

When I first started my pediatric private practice, I went into the homes of families to provide therapy. While not necessarily aware of the research around family-centered practice, it just made sense to me to include the entire family in my sessions as much as possible. After all, I was a guest in their house, and it did not feel right to ask them to keep their other children away while I was “playing” with the child with the speech-language delay. What I learned later is

I have heard many therapists share frustration over their client’s behaviors exhibited in therapy to the point that they question if their client is benefiting from services and as such contemplating discontinuing services until the learner’s behaviors improve. I get it, it can be frustrating when we don’t feel equipped to handle challenging behaviors in our sessions. However, if you think about it, our clients with challenging behaviors often need us most. For example, if y

While being a therapist is extremely rewarding it can also be draining at times. Learn this signs of workplace burnout and what to do about

Collecting data can seem like a daunting task, especially when trying to maintain the flow of therapy. Learn a few tips to ease the process.

Why I use pivot phrases instead of rote language to expand a child's utterance length.

A range of studies show that the quality of a supervisory relationship in the formative stages of a supervisee’s professional development has a long-lasting effect on them. Depending on the quality of that relationship it can either stunt or enhance the supervisee’s growth. By establishing expectations at the on-set of supervision it can eliminate or reduce confusion and increase the chances of supervisee being successful in achieving their goals and as such will set the foun

Learn how to make the most out of your systematic observations.

I remember my first clinical fellow that I supervised when I was in my late 20’s. Particularly based on a fear of making mistakes, my own insecurities and sensitivities I made many of the mistakes listed below. Now 20+ years later I wish I could go back in time with the knowledge and experience I have gained as things would be very different! Mistake #1: Worrying about what other people think As a first-time supervisor I was overly concerned with being liked and did not wan