Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app

Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASD

Kate Swenson’s popular blog “Finding Cooper’s Voice” has provided hundreds of thousands of parents of children with Autism hope and comfort. Kate has now written a powerful memoir “Forever Boy”, to continue sharing her inspiring story about motherhood and unconditional love. 

My Top takeaways from reading the book:

✅ Take help (I think this is for everyone – teachers too)

✅ Find what works for you

✅ Always try one more thing

✅ Celebrate everything

✅ The goal should always be independence

✅ Focus on what can do not what can’t do

✅ Push ever so gently

✅ Choose your battles

✅ No one knows what the future holds for our kids

✅ Choose Joy

Discover the powerful memoir “Forever Boy” today!

Subscribe to this podcast via your favourite app

Join my newsletter for more awesome information about ASD

Many children with ASD do not feel the need or motivated to communicate as everyone in their environment thinks for them, gives them what they want or even anticipates their needs. When you create a communication programme it is VITAL you create as many opportunities as possible for the child to communicate.

Start with activities that are particularly desirable or intriguing for your child are more likely to ‘tempt’ them or provide them with sufficient motivation to communicate with another person. Encourage verbal children to use their words or extend their word i.e. “Drink” to “I want drink” and non-verbal children to use visuals/signs/gesture to communicate.

Check out my previous podcasts on Communication:

• Episode 103: Step by Step Strategies to Grow and Support Communication using Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC)
• Episode 82: Why Kids on the Spectrum are More Likely to be Perfectionists & What You can do to Support them

Rewards are an important element of communication for children with ASD. So always remember to make activities fun, fast and rewarding.

1. Ensure consistency between environments.
2. Be eclectic; try lots of different ideas and strategies.
3. Remember not every strategy works for everyone.
4. Never assume incompetence.
5. Always model good communication practices.
6. Make communication functional. 
7. Make communication fun and enjoyable. 
8. Use rewards and motivators.
9. Ensure the child has communication enriched environments.
10. Be persistent and REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT.