Neurodivergent children and their caregivers face unique challenges when a child needs to be brought into hospitals or similar medical settings. Unfortunately, many physicians working in emergency medicine and in hospital settings have little training in supporting children and families under the circumstances. Barry and Dave discuss these issues with Dr. Felix Kreier, an autistic physician working in Amsterdam, Netherlands, who has expertise and experience in working with neurodivergent children and supporting their caregivers, and who understands how critical the provision of compassionate and comprehensive care is, being neurodivergent himself.

One of the most exciting areas of innovation over the past few decades for children and adults with communication challenges and their families is augmentative and alternative communication options. Barry and Dave discuss a wide range of issues related to AAC with Rachel Madel, a speech-language pathologist who focuses on AAC in her LA – based practice serving children and adult clients, and their families.

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Polyvagal theory has emerged over the past few decades as an important construct in psychology and neurophysiology to help explain human reactions, especially when a person is under stress. It addresses a deeper, neurological basis to for understanding fight, flight and freeze responses, that have been misunderstood for years when observed in neurodivergent individuals. Polyvagal theory also provides guidance for approaches to support individuals of all ages. Barry and Dave discuss polyvagal theory with Sean Inderbitzen, an autistic mental heah therapist who recently published a book on this topic, “Autism in Polyvagal Terms: New Possibilities and Interventions“.

Emotional regulation is being embraced by parents, neurodivergent individuals educators and therapists as an important concept underlying respectful and developmentally informed practices for supporting autistic and neurodivergent individuals. As founder and Director of Children's Autism Services of Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Terri Duncan, CCC-SLP has prioritized emotional regulation as foundational to services provided to children and families. From these experiences, she has recently published a book focused on implementing services with emotional regulation as a priority. Terri discusses with Barry and Dave how emotional regulation has become so central to her practice, and to her center.

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Neurodivergent children and their caregivers face a unique set of challenges in ensuring that they have access to appropriate services supporting dental and oral health. Unfortunately, due to some of these challenges, many children grow up without appropriate supports, and experience long-term negative physical and mental health repercussions. Barry and Dave do a deep dive into these issues with Dr. Rose-Marie Daly, who has a high level of expertise and experience in working with neurodivergent children and supporting their caregivers, and who understands how critical dental and oral health is for each child and the family.

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As a deeply reflective, and insightful individual, Becca Lory Hector has constructed a life and career of sharing what she has learned about growing up autistic, without a diagnosis until adulthood. With her engaging new autobiographical work, she once again demonstrates that lived experience is the best teacher, especially when shared generously with others who benefit from her wisdom. Becca, Dave and Barry have an engaging discussion that amplifies important issues of great interest for parents, professionals and autistic and neurodivergent individuals.

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One of the most important cutting-edge discoveries for autistic and neurodivergent individuals is that non-speakers, many of them previously thought to be intellectually disabled and non-communicative, are now able to demonstrate their knowledge and share their experiences through supported communication. With their guest, psychology professor Dr. Vikram Jaswal, Barry and Dave discuss recent research and our evolving understanding of non-speakers who were and still are so misunderstood. 

Learn more about Vikram's work and find valuable resources on our website. 

Gestalt language Processing and Natural Language Acquisition: A Discussion with Marge Blanc, CCC-SLP, and Alex Zachos, CCC-SLP

Gestalt language processing and natural language acquisition are topics that have received a great deal of attention in recent years, grounded in research that goes back to the 1970s. These concepts have helped to explain and describe a process, often observed in autistic children and those with other neurodevelopmental conditions, in children move from the early use of echolalia to self-generated conversational use of language. Marge and Alex join Barry in a discussion of the history and current status in understanding children who demonstrate these patterns of language acquisition, in order to assist professionals and parents in supporting such children.

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Strategies for Successful Transitions Back to School for Parents and Professionals a conversation with Dave and Barry

Supporting successful transitions back to school is critical for maximizing success for the whole school year. Join us as we throw back to episode 31st, where Dave and Barry shared a lively discussion about challenges and creative strategies to help children of all ages to get off to a good start in this coming school year.

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A great deal of attention is given to different treatment approaches for supporting communication and relationships with children with social learning differences. However, how we actually speak to children in therapeutic and every day interactions, is given relatively less attention. Through her publications and presentations, Linda Murphy has devoted much of her recent work to supporting therapists, educators, and parents in providing more facilitative styles of language that have been shown to support language development and trusting relationships. In discussing the concept of “declarative language” with Barry and Dave, Linda provides specific guidelines and examples that will be helpful to both professionals and parents.

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