Getting Kids with Autism to Talk or Talk More

Its very important that your child or client is able use their verbal language skills as much as possible. Dr. Mary Barbera shares simple techniques to encourage these skills, along with practical advice and over two decades of Behavior Analyst wisdom.

Is Lack of Pointing a Sign of Autism?

Did you know that lack of pointing with your index finger by the age of 18 months is a red flag for possible autism? In this video blog, I'm going to show you how you can keep an eye on this early communication skill in babies and toddlers and how to work on teaching toddlers with or without a diagnosis of autism this important skill. <style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</style><div class='embed-container'><iframe src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL0_NcGwhzOkivofOPDNeyy3eYl7O5sheY' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/lack-of-pointing-sign-of-autism/#more-7152">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Is Lack of Pointing a Sign of Autism?</span></a></div>

Delayed Echolalia and Scripting in Children with Autism

Many kids with autism who have some language but are not conversational say lines from movies and pat phrases repetitively. We call this scripting or delayed echolalia. So today I'm going to cover why kids with autism script so much and give some strategies to reduce it if it becomes a problem. <style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</style><div class='embed-container'><iframe src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL0_NcGwhzOkj5XgArdddhjZsfC9iXhcKZ' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/delayed-echolalia-and-scripting-in-children-with-autism/#more-6517">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Delayed Echolalia and Scripting in Children with Autism</span></a></div>

Autism and Eye Contact: Should You Be Teaching Eye Contact to Children with Autism?

Many children with autism spectrum disorder struggle with and have poor eye contact. Both parents and professionals often wonder if we should focus on teaching eye contact, and, if so, how to teach this important nonverbal skill. Today I'm going to get on my soapbox about autism and eye contact. <style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</style> <div class="embed-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL0_NcGwhzOkgJyrVcd3ZISX6_KfxOsNAt" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/autism-and-eye-contact-how-to-improve-eye-contact/#more-6473">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Autism and Eye Contact: Should You Be Teaching Eye Contact to Children with Autism?</span></a></div>

How to Overcome Picky Eating for Children with Autism

Many children with and without autism are picky eaters, and some even have serious feeding disorders, which need to be treated by medical professionals. In these circumstances, a thorough evaluation at a feeding clinic may be needed, but there are a lot of kids that can be helped at home or at school, so today I'm going to give you 7 picky eating strategies to help picky eaters start to eat better. <style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</style> <div class="embed-container"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL0_NcGwhzOkiCG7mgFBg5iGpUSDHaEc8c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/how-to-overcome-picky-eating-for-children-with-autism/#more-6262">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">How to Overcome Picky Eating for Children with Autism</span></a></div>

Communication Skills for Kids with Autism

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Many parents of young children with autism dream of the day when they can have full conversations with their children. But getting children who are not talking much or at all to become conversational is a big mystery for most parents and professionals. So, today Im going to break it down and talk about how to teach communication skills for kids with autism.</span> <center><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL0_NcGwhzOkiMj0UnN-HmGuJubM3l1hTg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></center><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/communication-skills-kids-autism/#more-6144">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Communication Skills for Kids with Autism</span></a></div>

Echolalia and Autism: The Best Way to Get a Child with Autism Speaking

Do you have a child or client with less than five words that you can rely on? Maybe the child has some pop-out words, but you don't know how to get the child speaking more? Today, I'm going to talk about echolalia and autism, and the main way we can start to get words heard more frequently and to develop the ability for the child to echo our words and to expand their language even further. <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL0_NcGwhzOki5zzlnlHaeRFjCP8lksDb4" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/echolalia-and-autism-the-best-way-to-get-a-child-with-autism-speaking/#more-6007">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Echolalia and Autism: The Best Way to Get a Child with Autism Speaking</span></a></div>

Teaching Pronouns to Kids with Autism &#038; Avoiding Pronoun Reversal

Many children with autism have a difficult time teaching pronouns to kids with autism. For instance, if you tell a child, "Hang up your backpack" that child may say "Hang up your backpack" while he's hanging up his own backpack. It gets to be a bad game of who's on first. So today I'm going to talk about my procedures for teaching pronouns. <style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</style><div class='embed-container'><iframe src='https://www.youtube.com/embed//sFKRcP89rCQ' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe></div><div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/teaching-pronouns-kids-with-autism-and-avoiding-pronoun-reversal/#more-5594">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Teaching Pronouns to Kids with Autism &#038; Avoiding Pronoun Reversal</span></a></div>

Tit for Tat Programming &#8211; Properly Programming for Autism Children

I am probably the most pro-verbal behavior programming person you will ever come across, but I have seen a lot of behavior analysts and teachers focusing on the wrong targets in the wrong order. Today, I'm going to get on my soapbox and talk about what I call "tit for tat programming". <a href="https://youtu.be/hU5oYv8cJmE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img class="wp-image-5578 aligncenter" src="https://marybarbera.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Capture-2-300x170.png" alt="tit for tat programming" width="842" height="477" /></a> <div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/tit-for-tat-programming-properly-programming-autism-children/#more-5573">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Tit for Tat Programming &#8211; Properly Programming for Autism Children</span></a></div>

Teaching Kids with Autism to Love Table Time for Learning

A common problem in home and school ABA programs is kids resisting coming to the table or work area, or leaving the work area. Today, I'm going to talk to you about sanitizing the environment, and how this can be a critical step to get kids running to the table to start and continue to love table time for learning. <a href="https://youtu.be/3lrcAxylZXc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-5566" src="https://marybarbera.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/captureee-300x169.png" alt="learning" width="788" height="443" /></a> <div class="more-link-container"><a class="more-link" href="https://marybarbera.com/teaching-kids-with-autism-to-love-table-time-for-learning/#more-5561">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Teaching Kids with Autism to Love Table Time for Learning</span></a></div>