Dear Kathie: ''Chad is 5 years old and ‘very' autistic and non-verbal. He covers his ears with his hands when there is a loud noise, such as a fire alarm, or even when he anticipates a loud noise, like a balloon that he thinks may pop. How can I help him, his classroom teacher, and his parents? - Payton, speech-language pathologist My ...

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 ...

To date, my graduate student extern (referred to as ''student teacher'' from here on out for the sake of convenience) has been with me for two weeks now. I'm hoping she has learned a lot so far, as I know I have learned things from her already. Having a student teacher really has caused me to do some self-reflecting on my own therapy and ...

Last week, Sam asked a great question: if I could give one single word that best describes what autism is or how it feels to have autism, what would it be? That single word is anxiety. This week, I want to give you some techniques to use with people with autism to ease that high anxiety level they suffer. And I do mean suffer. Anxiety ...

  In my last entry, I wrote about a free, recycled object that makes a wonderful therapy tool. Today I'm going to share and (hopefully) get, some advice about something else I got for free! Check this out...   Yup, it's a free and completely blank bulletin board. There is a spot in our staff room where people put items they no ...

Anxiety Dear Kathie: I know that autism (ASD) is a complex syndrome. I had a parent ask me just the other day if I could give them one single word that best describes what autism is or how it feels to have autism. I guess because you know about autism and you've lived with it for so many years raising your son, I felt that perhaps you ...

With the winter holiday break coming to an end, I'm mentally preparing myself for my newest venture as a school-based SLP -- the role of a cooperating teacher! As I had mentioned in a previous blog, from 1/3/12 through 3/9/12, I'll have a graduate student extern.  As I had also mentioned, this is a first time experience for me! ...

Back at the start of the school year, I had mentioned four new therapy approaches I was trying this year.  About a month ago I talked about one of them -- my use of adapted story books to build early literacy skills in students with moderate to severe disabilities.  In today's blog, I will talk about a second one. I spend ...

  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. ...

Thanksgiving break is so close I can almost smell the turkey! If any of you are anything like me, you really NEED (and deserve) this break! There's a lot about working as a school-based SLP that is stressful, agitating, time-consuming, irritating...you name it! Anything from budget cuts, to paperwork, to time constraints, to crazy ...