Blog

Whether you’re a parent or a therapist it can be challenging at times to know which interventions or strategies are best to use to increase joint attention, engagement, imitation, and communication skills in autistic children. One intervention that I have found extremely beneficial for my clients in my practice is Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT). RIT is an evidence-based naturalistic developmental behavior intervention (NDBI) that teaches generalized, spontaneous imitatio

We all want to see our children thrive and meet their developmental milestones. But what happens when your child is a late talker or delayed in their language development? It is likely that we find ourselves in the trap of asking our children countless questions. And while this can be a good way to test our child’s knowledge to better understand what they know, too many questions can act as a conversation stopper versus fuel language learning. Change Questions into Comments I

Isn’t it frustrating when your little one can repeat the words you model to them but never seem to say them on their own, or when you hear your little one use a new word, only to never hear it again? Or embarrassing when they see a stranger and call him “daddy?” While all of these things are a natural part of the language acquisition process, they nonetheless can leave you wondering if your child will ever talk. When you break it down, language learning is not such an easy pr

When a toddler points at something in their environment, our first reaction is to look at what they are pointing at. This is a form of initiating joint attention. Joint attention is an early-developing social-communicative skill in which two people use gestures and gaze to share attention with respect to objects, events, or a topic of interest. It involves the ability to gain, to maintain, and to shift attention. Joint attention acts as a referencing tool that uses shared ey

We all have sensory preferences. Some people like to listen to music loudly, whereas others may prefer the quiet. Some people gravitate towards loose clothing while some prefer fitted clothing. Some thrive in groups of people and yet others prefer more intimate interactions. Essentially when we think about our senses – touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste we are talking about how we take in information from the environment process it and use it. Children also have sensory pr

Want to teach your child something new, or increase the frequency of a target behavior? To do this, you will need to use reinforcement. Reinforcement is something that is provided after a target behavior which increases the likelihood of the future frequency of that behavior. Reinforcement can take on many dimensions. It can be something as simple as a high-5, verbal praise such as “ great work ”, a tangible item like a sticker or cookie or even a privilege such as 10 extra m

Does your child have difficulty with anxiety, routines or knowing how to interact with others in certain situations? Consider making a social story. Social Stories as, developed by Dr. Carol Gray help children understand the events and expectations in their lives. They provide a simple description of a situation, concept or social skill. And can be a great way to teach a variety of skills and behaviors as well as outline special events and social situation . Each story is ind

If you want to know how to treat a child with special needs, look at their sibling, they will show you. Siblings of special needs children are quite special. They are accepting and loving to someone who is different. Yet having a special needs sibling can come with challenges that may lead to confusion and family conflict. As hard as caregivers try, sometimes their typically developing children are neglected or are expected to do too much. Siblings may develop their own uniqu

Many children with language delay will communicate what they want and don’t want using challenging behaviors. As such, it can prove difficult at times to determine what it is exactly that your child is trying to communicate. Are they having a tantrum because they want something? Are they having a tantrum because they don’t want something, or perhaps don’t like something? If we view a child’s challenging behavior as a form of communication, it becomes easier to determine what

Research shows that prompts are an effective teaching tool and as such are an integral part of most interventions, regardless of therapy type. Prompts however are useful for individuals without special needs as well. For example, have you ever written yourself a note to remind yourself not to forget something? Or, has someone pointed to show you where something is? If so, consider yourself prompted! What is a Prompt? Prompts can take the form of instructions, gestures, demons

In these difficult times, we are aware that many are struggling with grief and loss. Grief can be a long and complicated process for adults and there are no right or wrong ways to grieve. But what about how loss affects children? Grief in children can look very different and it is important for adults to be aware of those differences. Children tend to go in-and-out of grief. It is not uncommon for children to ask questions about a loved one’s passing and then go play right af

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

Theory of mind involves understanding that people don’t share the same thoughts and feelings as you do. It allows us to predict and interpret the behaviors of others. Another way to think about it is the ability to “tune-in” to other peoples’ perspectives. This is something that starts to develop in early childhood. Theory of mind develops gradually, with intuitive social skills appearing in infancy and then reflective social cognition developing during the toddler and presch

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

As an occupational therapist who works in feeding, one question that frequently comes up is “how do I help my child learn to chew food?” Difficulty transitioning to solid foods is a common reason children come for feeding therapy. If this struggle sounds familiar to you, you are not alone! Here are a few things I like to consider when I hear a child is struggling with learning to chew: Create interest through hunger Often as parents we become SO concerned with calories that w

As a therapist I am often asked what toys that I would recommend parent’s purchase for their children as their children seemingly are more interested in the toys that I have in my office than the toys that I have at home. The reality is that children are likely more interested in my toys because of the novelty of them. So, instead of recommending that parents go out and spend their hard-earned money on even more toys, I recommend that they consider rotating their toys out. To

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

Let’s face it, is really easy when you have a child that is a late-talker or is language delayed to instinctively know what they want even when they can’t tell you. Because we become so good at anticipating our littles one’s needs unfortunately, they don’t always have a reason to talk. Even if they eventually do acquire a few words, or can imitate words they hear modeled to them, children often will not use those words unless they have a reason to do so. Therefore, sometimes

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

Books can be a great tool for expanding your child's language. But, what if your child isn't interested in books, or can't sit long enough?