Blog
Notes from practice
Essays and observations from 40+ years of working with autistic children and their families.
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- Declarative Language
Creating declarative statements:
May 11, 2026
Declarative language sounds easy to use. You just have to make comments instead of directing the child. While it seems like it should be easy, it is hard! Years of practice of telling the child what to do needs to be undone. You have to think of what to say and say it at a level that the child will understand.
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- Participation in Life
What does a child learn by being involved in activities of daily living?
December 29, 2024
When a child participates in an activity of daily living, such as making a salad, clearing the table or doing the laundry, she learns much more than a static sequence of steps.
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- Participation in Life
Earning the Right to be Independent
November 6, 2024
When I first start working with a child, I don't allow the child to do tasks independently. I want the child to be engaging with me to do the task and to be learning from me.
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- Participation in Life
Learning a Task!
September 23, 2024
Any individual does not truly learn a task if someone is telling him what to do in a rote fashion. To truly learn, one needs to be an active participant in the process.
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- Language
Where does language fit in?
August 31, 2024
When children are involved in life activities, language skills have a basis for emerging. Vocabulary is developed through exposure and usage within context.
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- Language
THE VERB: The Importance of the Action Word!
August 31, 2024
Verbs must be taught to the child. If verbs are not taught, the child cannot formulate basic sentence structures that are used for commenting, directing, reporting, picture reading.
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- Patterned Activities
Patterned activities can be used as a vehicle to teach the expression of object labels
August 31, 2024
To target expression, the roles in the patterned activity could be switched so the child takes the role of giver and talker.
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- Language
- Patterned Activities
Patterned activities and teaching understanding of object labels
August 31, 2024
Patterned activities can be used as a vehicle to teach understanding and expression of object labels.
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- Patterned Activities
Patterned activities and teaching action words/verbs
August 31, 2024
The verb is the central point of a basic sentence structure so must be taught. The verbs chosen for teaching should be verbs that take objects so that the basic actor-action-object sentence structure can emerge.
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- Social Cognition
Social Cognition: What Underlies Social Skill Development
January 21, 2024
Social cognition is the knowledge that underlies effective social skills.
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- Participation in Life
An initiator or a respondent?
January 21, 2024
If a child learns to be reliant on somebody telling him what to do either through directions given to him, e.g. "pick up the book", or through questions, e.g., "what do you have to pickup?" the chid becomes a respondent.
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- Verbal Reasoning
Then comes verbal reasoning…
December 25, 2023
Problem solving is a precursor to verbal reasoning.
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- Verbal Reasoning
First comes problem solving!
December 25, 2023
If our children are to be successful, they need to learn to think. They cannot get through life having learned skills through memorization of specific content.
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- Participation in Life
- Coordination
Program for Learning Coordination
November 3, 2023
Coordination is the ability to follow along with another person. It is a crucial skill that goes beyond mere imitation.
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- Visual Referencing
Teaching Visual Referencing
October 27, 2023
Visual referencing is the use of the eyes to gain information from people and the environment.
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- Attunement
Attunement: Looking for Fun!
October 20, 2023
As Dr. Almi Klin once said, "if a child spends his time looking at faces, he becomes an expert on faces. If a child spends his time looking at objects, he becomes an expert on objects.
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- Declarative Language
- Essential Reading
Unlocking the Power of Declarative Language: Encouraging Inference
October 13, 2023
Communication is the bridge that connects us to the world. Declarative language is a powerful tool to nurture deeper understanding.
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- Essential Reading
- Declarative Language
Unlocking Effective Communication: The Power of Declarative Language
October 6, 2023
Communication is the cornerstone of human interaction. Declarative language has the potential to transform the way we connect with others.
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- Patterned Activities
Patterned Activities: Paving the Way to Competence
September 29, 2023
So the biggest question is: how to get a child involved in an activity so that he feels competent! The magic bullet for this dilemma is the "patterned activity."
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- Essential Reading
Competence: Why Bother?!
September 22, 2023
Competence has been said to be a greater motivator than M&M's! However, autistic children often do not develop competence across a wide range of skills.
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- Essential Reading
The Gift of Time
September 15, 2023
Special needs children are the children who need the most time to process input but wind up with the least amount of time.
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- Essential Reading
- Participation in Life
Empowering Your Autistic and Special Needs Children to Thrive
September 8, 2023
Are your autistic and special needs children mere guests in your home, or do they actively participate in daily living activities?
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- Essential Reading
- Participation in Life
Expectations and Responsibilities
September 1, 2023
Our lives are often very scheduled. Our kids need to get out the door on time to catch the bus.
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