In last week's Autism across Ages and Environments blog, Power Words, I told you that I would be spotlighting a dozen words and phrases that I have used over the years to empower children and adults on the autism spectrum. In doing so, these words and phrases are verbalized, posted, shared, and drilled into children with ASD to make ...

When do you elicit a language sample? Certainly when you first see a child you would want to take a language sample. However, if the child is not comfortable on the initial assessment, there is nothing written in stone that says that it has to be completed the first time around. That in itself should tell you something. I feel that ...

Dear Kathie: ''Larry speaks so loudly. I can hear him coming from way down the hall in school. No one wants to sit by him in the lunchroom and his teacher is pulling her hair out. I've talked to Larry's mother and it's the same at home, in the library and at McDonald's. Any suggestions? And is this really in the realm of speech therapy for a ...

Dear Kathie: ''Do you always take a language sample as part of an assessment with a verbal child or adult with ASD? If so, what do you look for and how do you elicit the conversation?'' - Adrian, speech-language pathologist My Response: Thank you for asking about the assessment aspect for a child/adult with ASD. I feel there are three ...

In last week's blog post, ''The iPad Becomes a wePad for Autism,'' I encouraged you to develop a relationship between the iPad, the child and another person, rather than letting the child with autism treat it as a ''thing.'' Let's call that with the iPad. That's when we can turn it into a wePad and make those applications come alive ...

I was hoping to share some photos of bulletin boards in response to my last blog, ''Ideas Needed: Bulletin Board!'' in today's post, but I didn't get any pictures. I did, however, get some great ideas in the comments section! If you are interested, check it out! There are some wonderful ideas from some creative people. However, I DO want to ...

Dear Kathie: What are your thoughts on using an iPad with the autistic population?'' - Mary, speech-language pathologist and parent of a child with autism Kathie's Response: I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. But, instead of calling it an iPad for the autistic population, I think we should rename it a wePad. That is because WE ...

   This blog is based on the following blog from the ASHA Convention 2011:  Teaching Speech to Nonverbal Children at Risk for Autism by LorRainne Jones, PhD, CCC-SLP Kid Pro Therapy Services, Inc.Tampa, FL, verbalbehaviortherapy.com How to teach speech to nonverbal children with autism is a blog I am sure ...

  I strongly believe in the Theory of Mind. It is the capacity we have to understand mental states such as: beliefs, feelings, desires, hope and intentions. It's the way we imagine other people's feelings or thoughts. We can create and predict based on these feelings we have about others. For people on the autism spectrum, this ...

  This blog is based on the following presentation from the 2011 ASHA Convention: Opening the GATE to Conversation for Adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome Elizabeth Serpentine, fifth year PhD, Penn State University eac166@psu.edu Kathryn Drager, PhD, CCC-SLP Associate Professor, Penn State ...