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 ...

Although this series has predominantly been about picture books that SLPs can utilize in language therapy, I suppose I am allowed to make some detours. I recently re-read one of my all-time favorite books, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, and it occurred to me how much I wanted to recommend this book to ...

I am taking a brief departure from the soon-to-be-wrapped-up ''Book It'' series on using picture books in language interventions in order to report back from ASHA Convention in San Diego. I was super excited to attend this year's ''Divas + One Players'' Session: Language Intervention in Science and Social Studies: A Panel Discussion. ...

I am happy to share some good news for those of you who have been following the Speech in the Schools Blog over the past year. Last October in a blog post I recommended a book called ''The Spooky House of Horror'' by Charles Fuge, Ian Craig and Ron Van der Meer. I felt horrible to discover that it was a collectors' item and now costs a ...

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 ...

Many of us feel a little torn about this holiday at this point, with all that Native populations suffered as a result of European exploration and colonization. A 5th grade teacher, Lynn Penczar, who I had a great collaboration with (and still miss, as I have moved to a different school), introduced me to a great picture book that can be ...

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 ...

This week instead of a recipe, I would like to share a fun lesson that expands on the apple theme from last week's recipe post. This is a lesson I created and implemented with my occupational therapist colleague and is an imaginative mix of communication and sensory-enriched activities! The Story of Johnny Appleseed The lesson began with a ...