Should Parents Be in the Therapy Room or Waiting Room?
When Lucas was two years old, before his diagnosis of autism, we took him to speech therapy sessions weekly at our local hospital and the speech therapist that worked with him was great. She really taught me a lot. I was allowed and encouraged to be in the therapy room. They also had an option […]
Autism and Screen Time: Why I Wouldn’t Stop Screen Time
I recently got a question from a speech pathologist on one of my private Facebook groups about autism and screen time. She asked how she could support a family in reducing or eliminating screen time for their two-year-old with autism. They were watching up to four hours of TV a day.Before I get into my […]
PANDAS Disease and Autism: The Need to Knows
Back in June of 2004, my son, Lucas, was only six years old. He has moderate to severe autism so his behavior reflects his diagnosis. But one morning, he woke up with an acute onset of motor tics. The first day was really abrupt. He started flipping his shoulder and making a sound over and […]
Getting Kids with Autism to Like (or Love) Table Time
I’m a big proponent of table time even for toddlers. Most early intervention professionals and behavior analysts recommend more natural environment teaching methods for young children with autism. But I have found the quicker we can get a child sitting at a table to learn, the better he or she will do.https://youtu.be/5k80eQsj3xYInitially, we start out […]
Which is Better ABA or Verbal Behavior?
I’m Dr. Mary Barbera, Autism Mom, Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, and author of the book, The Verbal Behavior Approach: How to Teach Children with Autism and Related Disorders, which was published in 2007 and is now available in 10 languages. https://youtu.be/bA_IZgtTi1IOccasionally, I get a question, something like, “Which is better? ABA or verbal behavior?” This is […]