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Strategies to Support Communication and Address Challenging Behaviors
Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities who face the greatest challenges most often have failed to acquire strategies to support communication. Most adults and children alike without verbal behavior are likely to develop a strong repertoire of challenging behavior. The young...
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Language Intervention for School-Aged Children
Spoken language remains the most efficient means of communication. The ability to speak functionally with others consistently and robustly predicts positive life outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Howlin et al., 2004). Not surprisingly, most interventions have focused on...
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Introducing the Use of Behavior Skills Training to Achieve Staff Proficiency in the Use of PECS
Learning to communicate using speech and language is one of the primary tasks for young children. When delays are observed in language acquisition, they are considered one of the earliest indicators of developmental deficits that could potentially lead to social, behavioral, and academic...
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Neurology Matters in Couples Therapy – and Training is Now Available
“Working with neurodiverse couples is more complicated than neurotypical couples. In order to help the couple work as a unified team, the therapist first has to help the partners understand each other’s neurological differences. The therapist has to understand each partner’s unique language...
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Communication is Key to Building Functional Independence Skills in Adults with Autism
Over the past year, cities across the country have made great strides in creating an atmosphere where people with autism feel welcome and comfortable. Multiple cities have become certified autism-friendly cities, sports teams have designated certain nights as sensory-friendly events and autism...
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Literacy Supports for Learners with Autism
In her article How People with Autism Think, Temple Grandin (1995), a high-functioning person with autism, describes her visual method of thinking. Grandin retrieves words through visualizations and movies within her mind. This type of thinking takes time to process, often making abstract thoughts...
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Should All Nonverbal Young Children with Autism Immediately Have AAC Taught to Them?
Lack of speech is often the most obvious symptom of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and greatest cause of concern for parents of young children. For many families of children with ASD, having their child learn to talk is their primary goal. Children with ASD who learn to use spoken language as a...
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Employing Theater Arts to Enhance the Lives of Individuals with ASD
The EPIC Players Inclusion Company is a theater based group in New York City, founded by Aubrie Therrien. EPIC’s goals include redefining the face of theater arts, creating employment opportunities for actors with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and providing the local community with an active theater...
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Technology Makes Things Possible
For people without disabilities, technology can make things easier, but for people with cognitive disabilities, technology makes things possible. “At some point, Max’s communication by text seemed so different from the past that I called my wife and asked her, ‘Are you coaching Max when he...
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Better Language Comprehension Through Brain Connectivity
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) impairs communication skills, impacting the ability to engage and interact with others. The deficits in communication skills impact classroom performance for students with ASD, since comprehension of the English language is foundational to success within the United...
