The NeuroAffirm Podcast

Today I'm sharing one of the most powerful and hardest things you will ever hear - an excerpt from the famous article written by Autistic advocate Jim Sinclair in 1993. This changed my life and I hope it will bring you a new perspective too.

Using AAC in a sensory-based sessions can feel tough if you're not an octopus...but I will tell you there are ways to make it easy and successful! Today I'm sharing 3 ways you can use AAC in your sessions, even if you have kids who you need to be super hands-on with! To learn more about implementing AAC in your sensory-based sessions, make sure to join us for our LAST free training of the year...a...

Hot topic here...does an autism diagnosis automatically mean a child needs therapy? Here's my (maybe unique) opinion on the matter P.S. If you are a parent struggling to find neurodiversity affirming care, make sure to check out our brand new NeuroAffirm Directory - we've got incredible providers of all types from all over the world...it's growing every day! P.P.S. If you're a provider and you're...

A few weeks ago I posted about how I started my private practice right after my CF, and so many of you said HOW? TELL ME YOUR WAYS! And that's exactly what we're doing on this episode. I've invited my good friend Jena Castro Casbon, known for her Start Your Private Practice Program (for beginners) and Grow Your Private Practice Program (for establish practices looking to grow), and of course her w...

I had an interesting experience at a recent preschool screening, where had I just followed "the standard screening procedure", I would have missed referring this child for a developmental evaluation. Today I'm walking you through 2 simple ways you can change your screening procedures so that we don't let Autistic kids fall through the cracks. If you want access to the Strengths-Based Autism Charac...

How do you help Autistic toddlers when they're having a tough time...for example when you tell them "no"...which results in hitting and scratching?! I saw this question pop up in a large online group & wanted to provide some guidance about how we can help in the moment, as well as what proactive strategies we can use to help our kids maintain a more balanced state of regulation throughout the...

I have been doing preschool screenings for over 10 years, and in this episode I am sharing with you my exact step-by-step process. Screenings can be overwhelming and intimidating because it is a lot more work than just showing up at a school...in fact most of the work comes before and after. But I have refined my screening process over the year and made it so easy and smooth, so I'm excited to sha...

Busting one of my favorite myths today! Great news - AAC does not hinder speech and language development...it actually promotes it! This is a great short mini episode to share with anyone who wants to learn more.

If a child has sensory differences, EVERY person working with that child should be supporting the child's sensory regulation! But how? Each professional has different goals, which means that we might support sensory regulation in our kids for different reasons. And today, we're going to talk about those reasons. We're covering how sensory can be supported by: OTs, PTs, SLPs, feeding therapists, te...

Today we're talking about why we should move away from functioning labels and what to say instead. I'm also sharing a powerful concept I learned that changed everything for me.

Recently I posted about how we talked to a family about autism in our clinic and they decided to leave. I got 90% support and 10% ripped to shreds. Today I'm giving you the arguments from each side and telling you about why these conversations NEED to happen online & why they matter.

Quick tips coming at you for this first ever mini episode! On this episode we are talking about why kids plateau in their language development & how we can help. If you haven't yet checked out my best selling book, Ready Set Connect, you can grab it at: www.readysetconnectbook.com

I’ve got something BIG to share with you—something that’s about to revolutionize the neurodiversity affirming world! And it’s finally time to share it with you. This is going to be an absolute game changer for any neuroaffirming provider who wants to connect with other providers and find your ideal clients. Introducing...NeuroAffirm. The world’s first searchable directory of vetted ND affirming pr...

I get asked a lot if I use social stories in my sessions and if social stories are neurodiversity affirming. And the answer to that is... It depends. Social stories were created by Carol Gray in the 90s and they are a social learning tool developed to help autistic individuals better understand social situations, expectations, and behaviors. But while they were created to be used positively and to...

One of the biggest questions therapists and teachers have is how to accommodate sensory needs in group settings. Obviously we need to do that. But trying to consider the preferences of every child in the classroom can feel daunting and sometimes near impossible. And I get it. But what if I told you there is actually an easy solution. If we actually take a proactive approach to planning our daily r...

My clinic, Pediatric Therapy Playhouse, is turning 11 years old!! I seriously can't believe it. One of the biggest lessons I've learned in my 11 years as a clinic owner has been how to make a clinic space that works best for me and my business. I recently moved into a new clinic after being in our previous space for over 5 years. And you may be shocked to hear this, but I actually moved in a small...

What does "functional play" really mean? Should we be teaching a child how to play? Is there a right and wrong way to play? These are all questions that come up when talking about Autistic play. I've always said "play = what is fun for the child." But should we be helping kids expand their play skills? What if a child only wants to play alone? We're going to answer these questions and more on this...

Recently, a parent of a 9-year old Autistic boy shared with me that her son threatened to take his life multiple times. He was so sad that at 9 years old, he did not want to live anymore. And that got me thinking… How is it that we’ve missed the mark that badly when it comes to supporting Autistic children? How is it, that even though there are loads of options for therapy for neurodivergent kids,...

We need to talk about behavioral therapy... You may not know this but when I was in grad school, I was hired as a 1:1 behavioral support therapist for a little girl in a private school. ABA is a very common intervention that's recommended for Autistic kids. Some from the field say they're shifting to neurodiversity affirming practices. With extreme views on this controversial subject...and when we...

Are you actually neurodiversity affirming? The term "neurodiversity affirming" has become such a buzzword. Therapists are advertising themselves as "ND Affirming Therapists". And maybe that is you. But are you actually ND Affirming? It’s easy to say that you follow a certain belief system, but to actually walk the walk and utilize that approach is completely different. So on this episode of Making...

Chris's ND Affirming Activity Book is out NOW! Click below to grab it: https://www.speechdude.com/book The problem with traditional social skills training is that it focuses on teaching autistic individuals to mimic neurotypical behaviors and suppress their autistic traits. And this comes at a significant cost to the autistic individual's self-esteem. By encouraging masking, or hiding one's true s...

If you work with kids, you know how hard transitions can be. For some kids, hearing a statement like “In five more minutes, we’re going to line up and go back to class” might not be a big deal. But those of us who work with Autistic children understand that some kids can experience more difficulties transitioning than others. I get asked at least once a week how to handle transitions. So this week...

When you’ve introduced AAC…but you feel like there’s no progress…what should you do? Sometimes just getting a device in a child’s hand feels like a major win. But what do you do when you’ve been trying and trying with little success? AAC can be so overwhelming as it is, and when we aren’t seeing progress, it can feel defeating. Is it worth continuing? Or time for something else? This week on Makin...

Let’s face it. A lot of goals that are still being written for Autistic kids….well, they suck. This may come across as harsh but some of these goals truly do more harm than good. I genuinely believe that. So why are we talking about goals that suck? Because it’s a big problem. If we don’t talk about goals that suck, the people who are still writing these goals aren’t going to understand WHY it’s s...

This week on Making the Shift, we are sitting down with Dr. Karen Wilson, a renowned clinical neuropsychologist and the founder of ChildNEXUS to discuss the importance of differential diagnosis in neurodivergent children. With extensive expertise in neuropsychological assessments and evidence-based interventions, Dr. Wilson has devoted her career to understanding and supporting children with ADHD,...