How To Support SLPs And Children With Autism To Reduce Potential Behavior Challenges: Strategies To Design Successful Therapy

Course overview

More time spent coping...is less time spent learning. Both children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Speech-Language Pathologists struggle at times with interactional breakdowns during speech therapy sessions. Core challenges and learning style differences in children with autism spectrum disorder often lead to mutual confusion, anxiety, and misunderstanding...resulting in potential "behavior challenges". SLPs then spend an inordinate amount of time and energy getting the session back to a calm, regulated state. But, then therapy time is up. This course provides SLPs with therapy design considerations to help mitigate interactional breakdowns so speech therapy can be more productive from the start. Through connecting empirical research and our understanding of ASD learning style challenges to the day-to-day therapy sessions, Dr. Rydell provides considerations and practical strategies for SLPs to design, set up and begin quality speech therapy sessions for children with autism spectrum disorder. These design considerations cannot replace individualized strategies that come from a comprehensive social, communication and behavior assessment, but rather can be added to SLP's toolboxes in order to confidently and consistently spend less time coping and more time learning in therapy sessions.