I've blogged about many of the presenters, their platforms, programs, ideas, and sessions that I was privileged to meet, greet, and learn from at ASHA 2011. I scampered up and down the aisles of the exhibit hall seeking new ideas, books, electronics, and freebies. I reminisced with seasoned SLP friends and I felt renewed to ...

  This blog is based on the following presentation from ASHA 2011: Language Development for Autism Through Creative Dramatics: Building Blocks Model By Julia Byers Van Volkenburg, M. Ed, CCC-SLP, Doctoral Candidate, West Virginia University   Julia Byers Van Volkenburg, M. Ed, CCC-SLP, knows drama. She loves drama and ...

   What better time to teach social skills to children with ASD than at Christmas! Santa would so approve. I believe that all children with autism want to please their parents, teachers, friends, Santa and yes, their speech therapist. I believe they don't always know how. In fact, I know they don't know how to make the ...

I'm working with several young, bright children on the autism spectrum and I need a new, creative way to teach the alphabet. I want to take them beyond rote memory skills and into conversational speech. What kind of ideas do you have for me? Shannon, SLP Kathie's Tips:  Have I got a great, new, techie, alphabet chart to share ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

  Everybody's brains are different and certainly, the autistic brain connects in an unorthodox manner. Autism is not curable, but there are many language strategies the SLP can do to assist in organizing the brains of people with autism. It is my theory that people with autism do not cross hemispheres of the brain, from left to ...

  Last week's blog discussed, ''Should You Ask a Non-Verbal Child a Question?'' Now that's a good question. My answer is: usually not. Instead, make statements! Children will respond to statements because: They are not threatened by communication They know they are not being requested to answer They can enjoy ...