Let Them Lead: The Child-Led Autism Podcast

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A lot of SLPs are using AI to help write goals. Some of us chose it, some of us had a district choose for us, and some of us just opened our documentation software one day and there it was.

So let's say it out loud and talk about what actually matters.

Nicole recorded this one with 20 minutes before her next meeting (spoiler alert: she went two minutes over). She shares where she stands on AI and why she ended up in the middle, the three big reasons so many of us reach for it at goal writing time, and a question from a special education professor's blog post that she thinks we should all be asking about every sentence we write about a child.

• Why this episode is not about whether AI is good or bad

• Nicole's stance: not an AI purist, not fully anti-AI either

• What it's like for an all-or-nothing brain to live in the middle

• A business mastermind full of goat milk soap makers (it's relevant, promise)

• The three reasons so many of us use AI for goal writing

• The hours she used to spend staring at a blinking cursor for one goal

• Why AI goals can sound perfect and still miss the point, or miss IDEA

• The question underneath David Bateman's list: can I stand behind this sentence about this child?

• Why Aligned Practice doesn't require AI at all

Here's the blog post mentioned in this episode: https://spedlawblog.com/2026/06/23/using-artificial-intelligence-ai-to-assist-in-writing-iep-goals/

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You read the goal out loud. The parent nods. "Yep, that sounds good." And on to the next one.

But were they agreeing... or did nobody ever tell them they get a say?

In this episode Nicole looks at a question most of us spend almost no time on: who actually decides what we work on? She shares a small study of occupational therapists that held up an uncomfortable mirror, a story about a script she couldn't decode (and a mom who could), and an admission about parent coaching that a lot of us will recognize. Then she gets practical about bringing families in before the goal is written, and what to do when the questionnaire never comes back.

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It is eight o'clock at night, you have multiple IEPs due, and you are somewhere on page five of Google searching communication goals for autistic students. Everything coming up is either the exact kind of goal you are trying to get away from, or it is so vague you already know it will never fit.

Rumor has it we have all been here.

This episode is Nicole being honest about something that brought her shame for years: she used to write goals she did not believe in, and goals she sometimes did not even understand. She traces where that came from, why the format most of us use has no clear origin, and what has to happen before you can write a goal worth writing.

Fair warning, she gets a little fired up about 80% accuracy. She always does.

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR INSIDE THIS EPISODE

- The confession she says is hard to make out loud, and why she is making it anyway

- The goal with four competing numbers in it, and what it was actually measuring

- Why she overthought goals until she was right back at square one, and what that actually came from

- What her first job taught her about writing goals you are allowed to change

- The evaluation tools that were never built to show how an autistic child communicates

- What grad school actually covered, and the one thing it never covered at all

- How most of us really learned to write goals, and why that should worry us

- What the research says about goals that are not appropriate for the child

- Why communication functions grow together instead of stacking on each other

- The scissors example, and why communication is not a task

- Who decides when a child gets to communicate, and why "opportunities" answers that question badly

- The bubbles, the lid going back on, and asking again and again for the data

- Why 80% accuracy still annoys her, thirteen years in

- What she is teaching at the live bootcamp in October

There's a version of this job where you never say "I don't know." Where you excuse yourself, look it up on your phone, and come back like you had it the whole time.

A professor I admired (and still do, genuinely) told my grad school class to do exactly that before our first practicums. At the time I thought, well, if that's what I have to do, I guess I'll do it. Thirteen years later, I think it's the worst advice I've ever heard.

This came to me on a whim while I was working on something else. No script, no notes. Just me thinking out loud about why perfectionism runs through our whole field.

A lot of us have been taught that we can't be anything less than perfect. So we cling to control, because we don't want anyone to know what we don't know.

And then we don't try. We don't take the one small step toward child-led speech therapy, because we can't do the whole thing perfectly yet.

I get into the pickleball invitation I turned down, the day I read a post about research and landed back in grad school shame, and what trying to be a perfect clinician cost me.

This one is as much for me as it is for you.

TIMESTAMPS

Part one 04:07 No script, no notes, and the podcast I was listening to in the car that started all of this 06:31 Perfectionism as a coping mechanism, and where imposter syndrome fits 08:56 The all or nothing mentality, and what it costs us as a field 11:18 The advice my grad school professor gave us right before our first practicums 15:59 The pickleball invitation, and why I won't do something I might be bad at 20:49 Thirteen years later: what trying to be a perfect clinician actually cost me

Part two (the recording picks back up here, four days later, after my kids came barging in) 02:27 The post about research, the shame that followed, and the kind of content creator I want to be 11:48 What I will and won't go back and learn, and why I'm okay drawing that line

CALL TO ACTION

If this one landed for you, would you leave a review wherever you listen? It would mean the world to me!

We're back, friends! In this episode, Nicole Casey explores the Communication Bill of Rights, focusing on rights five through eight, and discusses how supporting autistic children requires team effort and consistent application across settings.

Keywords: Communication Rights, Autism Support, AAC, Inclusive Education, Neuroaffirming Practices

Takeaways:

• Supporting rights five through eight often requires team effort and ongoing communication.
• Consistent use of AAC devices across settings is crucial for participation.
• Honoring a child's right to refuse or ask for things builds trust and safety.
• Proactively communicating about routines and objects helps reduce dysregulation.
• Supporting social interactions and relationships enhances quality of life.

GET YOUR FREE TICKET TO THE CHILD-LED AUTISM SUMMIT HERE!! HAPPENING AUGUST 10-13 ONLINE. 40+ NEUROAFFIRMING PRESENTERS, AUTISTIC ADULTS, AND AAC USERS. DON'T MISS IT!

Episode summary

A few years ago, Nicole worked with a little boy who loved the Charmin Ultra Soft commercial and Downy Unstoppables, and instead of treating those interests as rewards to earn, she let them lead the session. What started as sitting at the computer watching videos grew into expanded language, a homemade book, and one of the purest pictures of inclusion she has ever seen. This episode is about why deep interests are not a distraction from the work. They are the work.

Key topics with approximate timestamps

• 05:30 Why this episode is about using deep interests to build communication, not dangling them as a carrot.

• 06:00 Meet the child: a deep love of the Charmin Ultra Soft commercial and Downy Unstoppables.

• 07:47 We do not get to decide if a child's interest is cool enough or normal enough.

• 08:30 Working with a gestalt language processor, modeling language and following his lead at the computer.

• 10:07 The routine that kept growing, and why only offering a few adult-chosen options misses the magic.

• 11:30 Two years later: descriptive words, longer sentences, and a mom who celebrated every interest.

• 12:33 Why we do this for neurotypical kids (hello, monster truck era) but not always for autistic kids.

• 14:55 The first time he said "go down," and why we have been conditioned to call sessions like this lazy.

• 16:00 Printing pictures and making a simple book he could call his own.

• 18:00 The book becomes his bedtime story, read aloud to his brothers.

• 19:18 He carries the book to school and cannot wait to show his teacher.

• 20:00 The Target text: a video of him reading his book to his whole class.

• 21:30 The most real picture of inclusion, centering the autistic child, not our systems.

• 23:00 Stop overcomplicating it: let the interest lead, hold your boundaries, trust the process.

• 23:54 Deep interests at the Child-Led Autism Summit and how to join.

Resources and links mentioned

• The Child-Led Autism Summit, a free virtual event for SLPs, OTs, teachers, and autism support professionals. Get on the wait list or register at childled.org.

• YouTube and Google Images as tools for finding a child's preferred videos and pictures.

• Blank story books (a dollar store find) for making a child-authored book.

• The Child-Led Collective: childled.org/collective.

About Nicole

Nicole Casey is a speech-language pathologist and the voice behind The Child-Led SLP. She helps SLPs, OTs, special educators, and autism support professionals move from compliance-based habits to child-led, neuroaffirming practice through real-world frameworks, ready-to-use resources, and a community that gets it. She teaches from what she has learned in real sessions with real kids, and she believes connection is the prerequisite for progress, not something a child earns after they comply.

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Most of us have referenced the Communication Bill of Rights, printed it out, maybe hung it on the office wall. But how many of us have actually sat with what each right means in real life? In part one of this series, Nicole reads all 12 rights and then goes deep on the first four, using real classroom stories to show where these rights get honored, and where they quietly get violated.

In this episode:

(00:03) What the Communication Bill of Rights is, and who publishes it (the NJC)

(02:06) Reading all 12 rights out loud, in full

(03:30) Right 1: Dignity and respect in all interactions, and why it comes first

(06:30) When adults call kids lazy, stubborn, or noncompliant in front of them

(09:48) The girl who kept falling asleep, and the chair that got taken away

(11:45) Right 2: Meaningful communication that is culturally and linguistically appropriate

(13:00) The AAC device that only spoke English in a family that did not

(17:00) The Halloween costume moment that taught Nicole a lasting lesson

(22:47) Right 3: Being addressed directly, not talked about as if not there

(24:00) A simple, professional way to shut down disrespect in the moment

(25:08) Right 4: Receiving a response to all communication, even when the answer is no

(26:00) "Matthew tomorrow," and why ignoring a child is never the goal

(29:59) Holding boundaries without dismissing or ignoring kids

(32:21) Why these rights should guide our decisions, not just decorate the wall

(33:00) The Child-Led Autism Summit, August 10 to 13, free and virtual

Resources mentioned:

- NJC Communication Bill of Rights, third edition (search "NJC Communication Bill of Rights")

- National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities

- The Child-Led Autism Summit, August 10 to 13, free virtual event: childled.org

- The Child-Led Collective: childled.org/collective

About Nicole:

Nicole Casey is a speech-language pathologist and the founder of The Child-Led SLP and The Child-Led Collective. She helps SLPs, OTs, special educators, and autism support professionals move from compliance-based practice to child-led, neuroaffirming care, with the frameworks, resources, and community to actually make it happen. She hosts the Let Them Lead podcast and runs the annual Child-Led Autism Summit.

JOIN THE WAITLIST FOR THE FREE CHILD-LED AUTISM SUMMIT HERE

A 19-year-old found the autism assessment report written about him at 15, and reading it made him feel like a stranger had published a list of everything wrong with him. That post sparked this honest conversation about how we write clinical documentation, who our reports actually serve, and how to be completely accurate without reducing a child to their deficits. Nicole shares a real AAC funding story, side-by-side sentence swaps, and practical ways to help families read reports as tools instead of verdicts.

In this episode:

(00:14) The Reddit post that started it all, and why listening to autistic adults matters

(02:26) How a report can make someone feel like a list of everything wrong with them

(08:00) Impact always trumps intent, and why this one brought up shame for Nicole too

(13:36) Who our reports are actually written for, the system versus the human

(15:00) The AAC funding story: a multimodal communicator who lit up on the device

(23:25) Walking the line between affirming language and building a case for insurance

(28:00) Accuracy is not the same as deficit framing, a side-by-side sentence example

(31:00) The neuroaffirming rewrite that says the same clinical thing, better

(33:30) Why so many of us default to deficit language (training, fear, efficiency)

(38:14) Concrete swaps you can use in your very next report

(43:04) The parent who said, for the first time someone understood my child

(45:00) Helping families read reports critically, as tools not verdicts

(50:00) What that 19-year-old deserved, and what our kids deserve

(52:35) The Child-Led Autism Summit, August 10 to 13, free and virtual

Resources mentioned:

- The Child-Led Collective: childled.org/collective

About Nicole:

Nicole Casey is a speech-language pathologist and the founder of The Child-Led SLP and The Child-Led Collective. She helps SLPs, OTs, special educators, and autism support professionals move from compliance-based practice to child-led, neuroaffirming care, with the frameworks, resources, and community to actually make it happen. She hosts the Let Them Lead podcast and runs the annual Child-Led Autism Summit.

JOIN THE WAITLIST FOR THE FREE CHILD-LED AUTISM SUMMIT COMING AUGUST 10-13!

A fellow SLP told Nicole a story she has not been able to shake: a room full of autistic adults sitting in front of their dinner, food in plain sight, not eating. Not because they were not hungry, but because no one had told them they could start yet. In this episode, Nicole traces that moment all the way back to the kids on our caseloads right now and unpacks prompt dependence, what it really is, how we accidentally create it, and why autonomy (not independence) is the goal worth protecting.

KEY TOPICS + TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Why this topic has been on Nicole's heart and deserves its own episode

(02:00) The story that started it all: autistic adults waiting for permission to eat

(04:30) Autistic kids become autistic adults, and adult services are scarce

(07:00) The pattern: adults who have the skills but wait for the green light

(10:00) What prompt dependence looks like in the kids we support today

(12:00) The AAC user who hovered his finger and waited for an adult's reaction

(15:00) Hand over hand prompting and why Nicole never uses it

(18:00) The hand under hand story and how a child became dependent on that too

(22:00) Autonomy is not the same as independence, and why autonomy comes first

(25:00) Preventing prompt dependence, step one: audit your own prompting

(28:00) What Nicole noticed when she watched her own session recordings

(31:00) Getting comfortable with silence and real wait time

(34:00) Less intrusive prompts: expectant looks, gestures, and body language

(37:00) Arranging the environment so communication happens on its own

(40:00) Having a plan to fade prompts (without turning it into a strict regimen)

(43:00) Redefining what a successful session actually looks like

(46:00) The second annual Child-Led Autism Summit and a warm goodbye

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED

- The Child-Led Collective membership: childled.org/collective

- The Child-Led Autism Summit (free, virtual, August 10 through 13). Join the wait list or grab your free ticket from the show notes.

ABOUT NICOLE

Nicole Casey, MS, CCC-SLP, is the founder of The Child-Led SLP and creator of The Child-Led Collective, a membership community for SLPs, OTs, and special educators who want to practice with confidence using a child-led, neuroaffirming approach. She has spent more than 12 years working exclusively with autistic children and hosts the Let Them Lead podcast. Learn more at childled.org.

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SUMMARY

A parent sits across from you and says, "I just want to be able to ask my child about his day and have him tell me about it." It is one of the most common requests we get, and it usually turns into a WH question goal that never quite goes anywhere. In this episode, Nicole shares the Personal Narrative Builder, the simple, flexible strategy she has used with nearly every student on her caseload to help kids relay real experiences to real people. She walks through where it came from, how it works step by step, and why it does a better job at the thing teams are actually asking for than drilling questions ever could.

KEY TOPICS + TIMESTAMPS

(00:30) The request almost every one of us has gotten: "I just want him to tell me about his day"

(04:49) Why this matters so much for families and for the child, including safety and connection

(05:30) The traditional move: writing a WH question goal, and why Nicole is not a fan

(06:57) The pilot question problem and what drilling WH questions actually teaches

(09:09) Everything that looks like progress is not progress

(11:21) Introducing the Personal Narrative Builder and what "personal narrative" really means here

(13:13) Not a formal story retell. The foundational skill of relaying an experience

(13:50) Why telling about your day is more complex than it sounds (recall, sequence, vocabulary, delivery)

(15:35) Why Nicole starts with what is happening right now, in the moment

(16:00) The student who started it all: a multimodal communicator who was not using verbs

(20:50) The idea from a colleague, Miss Alyssa, that changed everything: use the visual schedule

(23:00) Highlighting verbs on the schedule, then the word bank, then fading the support

(28:00) Writing a session recap together and why letting kids watch us write matters

(30:30) Handing the recap to the teacher: the moment it becomes real communication

(31:57) The sentence frames: Today I ___, I was with ___, we ___, it was ___

(34:22) Why Nicole expanded this to her whole caseload and how targets shift per child

(36:30) Communication for safety: kids being able to report if someone hurts them

(37:00) Step 1: pick your sentence frames about something happening right now

(38:12) Step 2: scaffold for the child (photos, icons, word banks, AAC modeling, past tense)

(41:13) Every version is valid, from pointing at one picture to writing full sentences

(42:30) Step 3: recap together at the end of the session (not a test, not a quiz)

(43:27) Why this makes a child-led session so easy: the agenda lives in the last five minutes

(45:51) Step 4: the child delivers the message to a real person and gets a real response

(48:00) Taking it home: typing the recap as an email to mom, dad, or a sibling

(48:57) Giving families a window and a better way in than "what did you do today?"

(50:13) Real emails from real kids and why grammatically imperfect is completely fine

(51:30) Communication going both ways: families sending photos and videos back

(53:30) A Collective member's win: the child who would not put the paper in his backpack

(57:06) Why this is a better path to the WH question skills teams ask for

(59:10) Wrap-up, the resource inside The Child-Led Collective, and an invitation

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED

- The Child-Led Collective membership: childled.org/collective

- The Personal Narrative Builder workbook and implementation video (inside The Collective)

- The Child-Led Autism Summit (coming this August)

ABOUT NICOLE

Nicole Casey, MS, CCC-SLP, is the founder of The Child-Led SLP and creator of The Child-Led Collective, a membership community for SLPs, OTs, and special educators who want to practice with confidence using a child-led, neuroaffirming approach. She has spent more than 12 years working exclusively with autistic children and hosts the Let Them Lead podcast. Learn more at childled.org.