What’s evidence-based and neurodiversity-affirming shouldn’t be in opposition. Effective interventions that build resilience and help kids build healthy relationships should be “affirming” by definition. Yet many clinicians remain confused about how to apply this to practice; especially when it comes to things like “social skills” or “pragmatic language”. One of the most common complaints I…
Tag: social skills
EP 69: What’s really causing “topic maintenance” issues?
Topic maintenance is a skill I’ve seen on many language therapy IEPs in the category of “pragmatic language”, but often it’s a surface-level symptom of something else. When we’re talking about “topic maintenance” we’re often referring to someone’s ability to stay on a topic during a conversational exchange. Yet when we focus only on what…
EP 58: How to build social problem-solving skills (without being ableist)
How do you know if an intervention is neurodiversity affirming and evidence-based? Are child-led interventions actually in a child’s best interest? What’s the right way to build social skills, “pragmatic language” and social communication skills? I’ve done a lot of soul-searching surrounding this topic. The typical pragmatic language interventions that focused on preaching the “right”…
EP 037: Building skills for connection (with Miriam Campbell)
How do we hold students accountable for their actions, but acknowledge their unique neurological profiles at the same time? How do we help neurodivergents (e.g., ADHD, Autism) build genuine connections with others and succeed in academic, vocational, and social situations? In this episode, I invited special guest Miriam Campbell, founder of Skills for Connection, to help answer…