Last year I wrote a post, a la Oprah, about my favorite (speech therapy) things! Since it is that time of year again, I am going to discuss one favorite, recycled item! In the clinic I do some work for over the summer, there is an amazing long, transparent tube. I cannot tell you how much I have coveted this tube and wanted to take it ...

  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 ...

  This blog is based on the following presentation from the 2011 ASHA Convention: Exploring Child Characteristics/Family Factors in Evidence-Based Practice for Autism By Twyla Perryman, PhD, CCC-SLP Assistant Professor East Carolina University, Greenville, NC perrymant@ecu.edu    Dr. Perryman and Kathie Dr. ...

I love my Humpty Dumpty. He's right here by me To wish you a happy Halloween With Halloween letters In support of ASD. I always think of ASD With courage and with grace. Autism has its thunder And its mask is spooky too. But underneath's a loving face. This Halloween message from Humpty and ...

A couple of blogs ago, I wrote about several new therapy techniques/strategies/programs that I was trying with my students this year. Now that it is nearly the end of the first marking period (Friday!), I think I've had enough time and experience trialing these programs to give you my opinion of each in this blog. One of the four new ...

It scares me to think that a child with ASD could have a tantrum on my watch. My knees -- they are a-shakin' at the thought. It will happen, and when it does, what will I do?   Children with ASD have tantrums. They hit and pound. They flail. They scream. They may bang their heads against a wall or throw items. They may spit or ...

Part III-A, posted last week, my blog presented some fun strategies for targeting humor/ laughter and attention/focus for the very young autistic mind. The purpose of these two blogs is to mesh the right side of the brain with the left side of the brain and to help a person with ASD ''dance'' in a more synchronized fashion. Here are two ...

I typically don't use my blog to ''advertise'' a particular therapy approach or a speaker. I am completely in favor of the ''eclectic'' approach to speech-language therapy. I take bits and pieces from a variety of therapy interventions/approaches/strategies and use what works best with my individual students. However, I'm always open to new ...

Part I  I talked about the characteristics of the right and left sides of the brain and how they do not dance together in people with autism/ASD. I gave you twenty signs that I see that indicate how Mr. Left Brain and Mrs. Right Brain dance alone. Part II I was on a kick about strategies that SLPs bring to the table to assist ...