The NeuroAffirm Podcast

Sensory strategies are a lifelong sidekick for autistic kids (and their families). Sensory approaches must also shift with your kids’ ages and development. In this episode, you’ll see: ✔ How your sensory focus changes with age and effective use of sensory strategies to help us lead kids of all ages into long-term happiness and independence… ✔ What developmental signs you can use to assess if you’r...

We’ve all had autistic clients/students that are highly interested in a single subject (or even an object or type of object). From a neurotypical perspective, these special interests might be hard to understand, and they may even seem to get in the way of therapy. But once you understand them, they actually present a unique opportunity for you as a therapist. Autistic SLP, Sam Rowntree, is joining...

Autistic brains process information differently. Find out why we need to recognize Autistic brains as a different neurotype rather than classifying them as “deficient” or as something that we are trying to fix. ✔ Discover the research that recognizes Autistics as their own neurotype... ✔ Why classifying Autistics as deficient in many cases is actually harmful and has ZERO positive impact on their...

Historically, we’ve observed autistic kids by gathering data about things like eye-contact, stimming, or if they exhibit certain social skills. But new research has shown us this needs to change…. Come find out exactly why it’s time to ditch data that promotes masking. And discover how you can replace those observations with better data that guides neurodiversity affirming therapy, builds on stren...

How Parents & SLPs Can Align To Exponentially Increase The Results Of Speech Therapy... When parents start bringing their child to speech therapy, they often wonder if 30-minutes per week is really going to help their child. The truth? Therapy is most effective when parents are fully involved in therapy at home! So how can parents & therapists align to make sure children receive optimal th...

How To Identify The 4 Sensory Patterns That Massively Improve Regulation And Engagement Fulfill your clients’ sensory needs by understanding which one of the 4 sensory patterns they exhibit. This eye-opening episode can change EVERYTHING in your sessions. Based on the world-renowned research of Dr. Winnie Dunn and the ASHA article we co-authored... This week’s free live show is all about: ✔ Unders...

Targeting behaviors isn't effective! We need to target the root cause instead... In this week’s episode, you'll find out: ✔ Some of the most common errors in thinking that prevent us from successfully aiding our kids in behavior modifications. ✔ Why behavior goals don't work for children (and what you can do about it)... ✔ How to differentiate between "surface level" behavior goals and deeper, mor...

Want to help your autistic kids climb out of "rote language land" and up to the top of "novel and creative communication peak"? Then come join us for the next episode of Making the Shift where we'll explore the exact steps you can take to elevate your kids' ability to use higher level language — starting in your very next session! You can finally help your autistic kids reach higher level language...

Rewards-based systems are ineffective and can actually harm your relationships with clients. Get the research that unlocks the doors to building intrinsic motivation — the right way. In this week’s live, you're going to hear about: ✔ The most fascinating (yet completely ignored) research on how rewards actually decrease a child's motivation ✔ Why using reward systems damages your relationships wit...

Today Autistic Coach Chloe Estelle is here in the room with us, and she’s getting ready to give you some brand NEW perspective from an Autistic adult’s point of view.   She’ll be sharing one of the MOST important things you can do to help with the emotional wellbeing of your autistic kids!   This is so rarely spoken of, but it’s crucial for us to recognize…  s o pile inside, refresh...

Join us for this SPECIAL GUEST episode of Making the Shift featuring Autistic SLP Jamie Boyle. Jamie has flown all the way from the East coast where she lives and is joining us live, in-person for this special guest episode. And we’re so excited to have her! She’ll be filling us in on what it’s like to experience the world through her eyes, how she advocates for herself in different circumstances,...

Ever start a session thinking, “Alright, we’re going to make progress today!” only to end up asking yourself, “Why does this [negative result] keep happening?” Then jump in with me and Chris as we talk about some ways you can guide your approach with intentional questions that result in better outcomes and boosted morale for you and families. In this week’s live, we’re going to dive into: ✔ The fl...

How To Increase Regulation & Learning By Being Proactive Instead Of Reactive To Sensory Needs. You know what it’s like to feel out of control, unable to help a child return to a regulated state once they’re already dysregulated. But what if you could “read the signs” that exist BEFORE a child ever gets to that point by understanding their sensory needs and proactively making adjustments for th...

Discover The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do To Educate Teams With An ND Affirming Approach... It’s easy to feel defeated when you’re trying to change the world for your autistic kids & clients without ever feeling like you’re doing enough. You might feel like there’s too much resistance to change, like you don’t have enough time, or like your voice doesn’t matter. But there’s something...

If you’ve ever wondered how to help your autistic kids and clients to make friends — or even wondered if they want friends at all — then you won’t want to miss this episode! We are going to be revealing data from a survey of autistic adults that may shake things up a little bit in the SLP world… >> Plan on having some of the most common myths about autism and friendships DEBUNKED with well-r...

Have you ever wondered how to help parents accept their autistic child for who they are? We get no training in having this conversation - so it can be really tough. Situations like these can leave you feeling lost, and wishing you could just give them all the answers. But when you try, it turns out to be a lot harder than you’d think. Even though you know the parent wants what’s best for their chi...

If you’re an SLP who’s ever struggled to help your autistic kids—you won’t want to miss this… Speech Dude & Jessie Ginsburg are getting vulnerable together for their first LIVE show premier! Get an inside look at the deepest struggles they’ve faced when serving autistic kids and communicating with their parents—and discover some of the most important lessons they’ve learned so you can avoid ma...