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The Trauma-Informed SLP
The Trauma-Informed SLP episodes
- How to Respond to S2C Supporters with Empathy, Not Combat
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231Apparently, the online debate between S2C supporters and SLPs is getting pretty dang heated. So,on this follow-up to my last episode on ableism, I reflect on how SLPs and other helping professionals can respond to conversations about S2C with more compassion, emotional awareness, and care vs. jumping straight to debate or research citations. I emphasize the importance of understanding that many parents are coming to these conversations from a place of hope, stress, grief, and deep desire to understand their child.
I try to offer a trauma-informed lens for navigating online discussions and real-world conversations alike, with attention to how stigma, systemic neglect, and caregiver exhaustion can shape the way families engage with communication methods. I, of course, also discuss the role of authorship testing, autonomy, and evidence-based practice ('cause I can't help but info-dump about those things), while emphasizing that being thoughtful and empathetic does not mean abandoning professional standards.
This episode is for SLPs, educators, AAC providers, and other helping professionals who want to hold space for complexity, avoid escalating conflict, and support families in ways that are grounded, humane, and respectful.
About:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
23 min - Does being skeptical of Spell-to-Communicate (S2C) make you ableist?
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231In this episode, I unpack why questioning facilitated communication variants is not the same as being ableist. I talk through the difference between respecting lived experience and still asking for authorship testing, independent access, and evidence-based practice when communication support is involved. I also reflect on the tension between advocacy, bias, and the real need to protect vulnerable people from harm while still honoring autonomy and dignity. This conversation is especially relevant for speech-language pathologists, OTs, educators, and other helping professionals navigating autism acceptance and the ethics of supporting nonspeaking communicators.
If you work with autistic clients, use AAC, or want a more nuanced take on the facilitated communication debate, this episode offers a grounded perspective for thinking critically without losing sight of compassion.
About:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
49 min - New SLPs: Imposter syndrome and the impact of SLP Influencers
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231Have you ever seen an SLP influencer's post and immediately felt like everything you’re doing is wrong?
In this episode, I react to a CF-SLP who’s overwhelmed by all the “this is harmful” and “you’re doing it wrong” takes—and unpack what’s actually going on (e.g., algorithms & rage bait, burnout, research moving at a snail’s pace).
We get into:
- Why therapy isn’t as black-and-white as the internet makes it seem
- How to ground yourself using trauma-informed principles (without spiraling)
- How to support clients without piling on shame—yours or theirs
- Why feeling unsure doesn’t mean you’re a bad clinician
No perfect checklists here—just a more realistic, human way to think about your work.
If you’re deep in imposter syndrome or having anxiety around your entire clinical existence after scrolling… you’re not alone. And you’re probably doing better than you think.
About:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
23 min - Facilitated Communication, Ethics, and Harm: An Ethical Deep Dive (part 2 of Former Facilitator Interview)
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231In this episode, Janyce and Kim continue their conversation about the old and new forms of facilitated communication (e.g., letterboards, spelling-to-communicate, rapid prompting method) and telepathy claims in non-speaking autistic people.
Together we unpack how subtle cueing, ideomotor effects, and sleight-of-hand style dynamics can create the powerful illusion of independent communication—even for well-intentioned, reflective professionals and parents. They also explore false abuse allegations, high-control group tactics around FC, what real authorship testing looks like, and why independent AAC access and consent, autonomy, and presuming competence have to stay at the center of ethical practice.
We also discuss critical differences in how training SLPs use certain terminology (e.g., independent, neurodiversity-affirming) vs. how facilitators are co-opting the terms and redefining them.
This episode is geared toward speech-language pathologists, OTs, educators, psychologists, and caregivers of non-speaking children and adults who want to stay trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, and evidence-based while avoiding practices that can unintentionally cause serious harm.
FIND AND CONTACT JANYCE HERE: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/
About:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
Janyce's References:
- Four in the Bedroom: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/four-in-the-bedroom-lamentations-or-exploitation-of-non-speaking-individuals
- Abdication Patterns in Individuals Being Facilitated:: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/abdication-patterns-in-fced-individuals-a-review-of-bebko-perry-and-bryson-1996
- James Randi (Magician/Skeptic): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/a-magician-cannot-dispute-fc-or-can-he
- Types of Facilitator Behaviors (Across FC/S2C/RPM): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/an-fc-primer
- Discouraging Speech in S2C: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/an-inside-look-at-s2c-we-actually-discourage-them-from-using-their-speech-while-they-are-spelling
- ABA vs. FC (in terms of cueing): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/aba-vs-fc-what-aba-knows-about-autism-instructional-needs-and-the-harmful-effects-of-inadvertent-cues
- Tracy Kedar (mother/facilitator/author of "Ido in Autismland") having an awareness that physical touch was drawing criticism from school personnel, so she "developed" a form of FC that didn't rely as much on physical touch: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/clever-hands-skepticism-and-ido-in-autismland
- Critiques of FC Movies (including "The Reason I Jump"): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/movies
- Critiques of the Telepathy Tapes: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/podcasts
- Claims of superhuman powers by the Telepathy Tapes folks (including seeing and diagnosing medical conditions in other people): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/review-of-joe-rogans-interview-with-telepathy-tapes-host-ky-dickens-the-stuff-of-conspiracy-theories-fantasy-and-urban-legends-part-4
- Support for FC/Telepathy in the early 1990s by Donnellan and Haskew of the University of Wisconsin: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/haskew-and-donnellans-bizarre-take-on-fc
- A cost analysis of RPM (it's expensive!): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/rpm-and-dirfloortime-at-what-cost
- Portia Iversen's book "Strange Son" that recounts Soma Mukhopadyay's story and the introduction of RPM into the U.S. (Also, I don't think I mentioned it, but Soma failed two impromptu authorship tests) https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/truth-will-out-review-of-portia-iversens-strange-son
- https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/strange-science-in-iversens-book-strange-son
1 hr 33 min - Facilitated Communication, Ethics, and Harm: An SLP Interviews a Former Facilitator (Part 1)
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231In this first part of a two-episode interview, trauma-informed speech-language pathologist Kim Neely speaks with Janice Boynton—artist, educator, and former speech clinician—about her firsthand experience using facilitated communication (FC) in the 1990s and her later decision to publicly speak out against it.
Janyce shares how she became involved in FC during a period of rapid change in special education, inclusion, and communication practices, and how the training, messaging, and psychology surrounding facilitated communication shaped her beliefs at the time. We explore how FC was introduced in schools, why it initially felt compelling to helping professionals, and how concerns about authorship, cueing, and ethics emerged through research and real-world consequences.
This episode examines facilitated communication through a trauma-informed lens—focusing not on blame, but on understanding how well-intentioned clinicians, educators, and caregivers can be drawn to approaches that promise access, competence, and connection. Topics include the history of FC, the evolution into newer facilitator-influenced techniques (such as spelling to communicate and rapid prompting methods), the role of “don’t test, presume competence” messaging, and the ethical implications for SLPs and other helping professionals.
This conversation is especially relevant for speech-language pathologists, educators, AAC professionals, therapists, and students navigating evidence-based practice, neurodiversity-affirming care, and clinical decision-making in emotionally complex systems.
Part two will continue the discussion with a deeper focus on ethical implications, current resurgences of facilitator-influenced methods, and how professionals can critically evaluate communication practices while maintaining compassion and humility.
FIND AND CONTACT JANYCE HERE: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/
About:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
Janyce's References:
- Four in the Bedroom: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/four-in-the-bedroom-lamentations-or-exploitation-of-non-speaking-individuals
- Abdication Patterns in Individuals Being Facilitated:: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/abdication-patterns-in-fced-individuals-a-review-of-bebko-perry-and-bryson-1996
- James Randi (Magician/Skeptic): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/a-magician-cannot-dispute-fc-or-can-he
- Types of Facilitator Behaviors (Across FC/S2C/RPM): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/an-fc-primer
- Discouraging Speech in S2C: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/an-inside-look-at-s2c-we-actually-discourage-them-from-using-their-speech-while-they-are-spelling
- ABA vs. FC (in terms of cueing): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/aba-vs-fc-what-aba-knows-about-autism-instructional-needs-and-the-harmful-effects-of-inadvertent-cues
- Tracy Kedar (mother/facilitator/author of "Ido in Autismland") having an awareness that physical touch was drawing criticism from school personnel, so she "developed" a form of FC that didn't rely as much on physical touch: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/clever-hands-skepticism-and-ido-in-autismland
- Critiques of FC Movies (including "The Reason I Jump"): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/movies
- Critiques of the Telepathy Tapes: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/podcasts
- Claims of superhuman powers by the Telepathy Tapes folks (including seeing and diagnosing medical conditions in other people): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/review-of-joe-rogans-interview-with-telepathy-tapes-host-ky-dickens-the-stuff-of-conspiracy-theories-fantasy-and-urban-legends-part-4
- Support for FC/Telepathy in the early 1990s by Donnellan and Haskew of the University of Wisconsin: https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/haskew-and-donnellans-bizarre-take-on-fc
- A cost analysis of RPM (it's expensive!): https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/rpm-and-dirfloortime-at-what-cost
- Portia Iversen's book "Strange Son" that recounts Soma Mukhopadyay's story and the introduction of RPM into the U.S. (Also, I don't think I mentioned it, but Soma failed two impromptu authorship tests) https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/truth-will-out-review-of-portia-iversens-strange-son
- https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/blog/strange-science-in-iversens-book-strange-son
52 min - Re-release: My Response to The Telepathy Tapes
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231Here's my truama-informed critique of the Telepathy Tapes podcast. In this episode, I unpack how telepathy claims about non-speaking autistic people intersect with facilitated communication, dehumanization, and inspiration-porn narratives. It highlights ethical and practical concerns around FC-style communication modalities, ideomotor effects, and the need for independent AAC access and communication safety. Listeners gain alternative, evidence-aligned explanations for “mind-reading” stories and are invited to examine internalized ableism and magical-disability tropes so they can advocate for more humanizing, autonomy-supporting AAC practices.
YouTube channel episode of my response: https://youtu.be/tgNmIDtzJpw (like and subscribe if you like it!)
About:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
1 hr 8 min - Trauma-Informed Care Explained: Red Flags, Green Flags, and Common Myths
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231What does trauma-informed care actually mean in practice—and how can you tell when something isn’t trauma informed, even if it’s widely accepted?
In this episode, we're going through common green flags and red flags of trauma-informed care, including bodily autonomy, presumed competence, neurodivergent-affirming approaches, compliance-based models, masking, and how neuroplasticity is often inaccurately used to market not-so-trauma-informed approaches.
About:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
YouTube Playlist for Late-Diagnosed Neurodivergents
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
56 min - The SIX Core Principles of Trauma-Informed Care...or is it really TWO principles???
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231*Seinfeld voice* What's the deal with safety and empowerment???
If you've ever wondered why I go on and on about safety and empowerment, and why I don't tend to mention the other five principles of trauma-informed care very much, this episode explains it for ya!
I also explain bit about where the heck I've been with the answer: Learning how to edit videos on YouTube! (It has been...a process. ugh.) But if you feel so inclined to support me (for free!), hop on over to https://www.youtube.com/@TTI-SLP and hit subscribe!! I'm currently going through a series for late-diagnosed neurodivergents using my own model of neurodivergent-affirming care (scroll down to find the Venn diagram on that page.) And I'd love for feedback, suggestions, and/or support just in the form of watching through some of the videos!
Thanks so much, and stay tuned for more content from me, a-Mario! ...I mean, Kim.
About Us:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website (Also includes my Work Cited page.)
Our email
Follow us on all the things! https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
36 min - POV: You're a neurodivergent SLP who has MELTDOWNS
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231I have had meltdowns my whole life. I didn't know that's what they were called, but I definitely had them my whole life. And they SUCK! They're uncomfortable, sometimes scary, exhausting, and disabling. But I've also noticed that many, MANY people have no idea of what it's like from a first-person POV.
Of course, this is only my experience, as any person can only talk about their own experience when doing a POV thing, but I describe it here just in case it helps others to understand meltdowns a little more.
Video version of this found episode here
Chapters:
01:23 Episode overview
03:14 Episode outline
04:14 Definitions of terms
10:40 Physiology of survival modes review
15:10 Meltdown stages and my experiences with them
(content warning for descriptions of self-harm from: 23:18 - 25:41)
34:03 Considerations for caregivers or anyone who works with people who have meltdownsAbout Us:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website
Our email
Our socials: https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
Recommended resources for meltdown support:
-Managing Meltdowns by Lipsky & Richards
-"Understanding Autism, Aggression, and Self-Injury: Medical Approaches and Best Support Practices" Thinking Person's Guide to Autism article
53 min - Burnout series episode 5: Neurodivergent Burnout
TOPIC SUBMISSION FORM: https://forms.gle/5AUvprN4Xtr8yxQD9
ACCESS FREE THREE MONTHS OF PATREON HERE: https://www.patreon.com/ttislp/redeem/90231One consistent aspect of living as a neurodivergent is burnout. Whether it's ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma exposure, or literally any other brain difference, we're all burnout from, I suspect, a younger age than most neurotypicals.
But as with workplace/professional burnout, I think there's more than "just burnout" going on; so let's talk about it.
TOPICS COVERED:
- Defining neurodivergent burnout
- Parallels to workplace burnout
- Sources of societal trauma
- Introduction into deconstructing ableism
Video version of this episode
About Us:
The Trauma-Informed SLP website
Our email
Our socials: https://linktr.ee/TTISLP
CITATIONS:
- Cieslak et al., 2014
- Mantzalas et al., 2022
- Maslach & Lieter, 2016
- TIP 57
- Shoji et al., 2015
51 min
About The Trauma-Informed SLP
From the publisher's feed
A professional podcast discussing the journey of how to become trauma-informed and how to apply trauma-informed care in the field of speech-language pathology (SLP).
Contact: [email protected]
This podcast is produced and edited by Kim Neely. Theme song written by Kim Neely.
Our Socials:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ttislp/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TTI-SLP
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087249284424