Banish Bad Therapy!

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

In a previous post, "Not All Therapists Are Created Equal," I discussed the qualities of a good therapist.  That post focused on the idea that, regardless of qualifications on paper, all therapists have different strengths, weaknesses, and experiences.  Therapists who look the same on paper may not be the same in practice.  Clinical judgement is a difficult thing to teach.  The sad truth is that there are some bad therapists out there.  I hope my previous post has helped our parent readers to evaluate their child's therapists.

Because I have previously provided my thoughts on what defines good and bad therapists, I think it is now important to discuss what this means for your child.  This sounds like common sense, but I think it is worth saying anyway: bad therapists will provide bad therapy.  I will not go into extensive detail about what makes a bad therapist or what defines bad therapy because that information is available in "Not All Therapists Are Created Equal."  This post will focus on the effects of bad therapy.  

What I want you to know is that bad therapists and bad therapy can have detrimental effects for your child.  If you have identified that your therapist is not right for your family, please make a change--and do it quickly! I know that requesting a change in therapist can feel awkward or intimidating, and can even come with feelings of guilt.  For any parents out there who find themselves struggling with this decision, I write this post for you!  I want you to know the effects of bad therapy so that you can make an informed decision for your child.  What you are about to read may sound frightening.  It is not my intention to scare you, but I do want you to know the truth so that you and your family can receive the best therapy possible.

MiliWHO??

Posted by Dani, Speech-Language Pathologist MA CCC-SLP

Milieu! Milieu teaching is pretty much the most accurate way I can describe the way I do therapy given my population and their needs.  

I subscribe to the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research and I received an article that caught my eye the other day. Long story short, it led me to a really old article (1993, I was only in 3rd grade!) entitled "Facilitating Prelinguistic Communication Skills in Young Children with Developmental Delay" (Warren, Yoder, Gazdag, Kim &Jones, 1993).

OK don't worry this isn't going to be a boring journal article post but the speechie geek in me got really excited while reading this. Why? Because it literally describes EXACTLY how I do my therapy!! Specifically the article highlights the effectiveness of milieu approach to teaching prelinguistic (before speaking) communication skills. So get ready to learn a new word and feel smart: MILIEU! (To all my professors and speechies, yes this word rang a bell from the days I spent studying, just never stuck with me so meaningfully!)

What is ABA?

Posted by Hiroe, Special Educator

I’ve been working at an agency that provides services through the Early Intervention Program (EIP) as a teacher and behavior analyst for the last several years.  Before I became a teacher, I worked as a service coordinator for the EIP.  As service coordinator I met many parents who opted against Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services for their children.  In my experience, parents often made this decision because they were misinformed by people who did not fully understand ABA.  Unfortunately this is very common in the field!  ABA is arguably the most misunderstood science.  I hope that this post, and this blog as a whole, will help to clear up some of those misconceptions.  Before discussing what ABA is, I think it might be helpful to discuss what ABA is not.

Labeling or Disabling?

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

Because we work closely with our families (which all educators should do, by the way!), we often hear the thoughts and concerns of our parents.  One very common concern I encounter has to do with labeling children.  Many families feel uncomfortable with having their child labeled with a diagnosis.  This raises countless questions.  Will this label follow my child throughout his life?  Will it prevent opportunities for him in the future?  Will he be judged or stigmatized?  Will the diagnosis cause more harm than good?  These are just a few of many concerns some of our parents face.

An open letter to the world..on behalf of "My parents"

Posted by Dani, Speech-Language Pathologist

Dear parents everywhere,

Let me first state that I am not yet a parent. More specifically, I am not a parent of child with special needs and/or interfering behaviors. That being said, I have gained significant experience in counselling, educating, and collaborating with parents who raise children with a range of diagnoses including Autism and PDD-NOS ("my parents"). I give credit to my amazing coworkers who I continue to learn from every day, the strong and loving parents who share with us their most vulnerable states and rawest emotions regarding raising a child with special needs/interfering behaviors, and most of all, I accredit the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (it's science! it works!)

 I can't even begin to describe the strength and perseverance I see in so many of my parents. I assure you that my parents come from ALL walks of life. I assure you that despite socioeconomic, cultural, and religious differences-- my parents have MANY things in common. The obvious commonality is the fact that they are parents of children with special needs. More importantly, they all love their children deeply and enter into Early Intervention for that very reason-- to try and find the best and most effective way to help their children.

Modifying Behavior: The Process

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator & Peri, Licensed Psychologist and BCBA

How many times have you wished you could change the behavior of the people around you?  Whether it be your spouse, your colleagues, your friends, or your children, most of us wish we could change someone's behavior at some point during our day!  Well, we are here to share a little secret with you: you can change behavior!  That is what the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is all about!  The principles of ABA are founded in the idea that all behavior is learned and that all behavior can be modified.  And, fortunately, these principles are not a secret!  In fact, they are a science!  We are here to share them with you!  While we are closet (or maybe not-so-closet) nerds who enjoy reading ABA textbooks, we realize that most people do not!  Our goal here is to take that information and break it down in a way that is useful to those of you who are not ABA nerds like us!  Now let's get down to business...

What's the Point of Center-Based Intervention?

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

In the field of Early Intervention, the majority of services are provided within a child's home.  This is a widely accepted model and there are many advantages to home-based instruction.  One primary strength is that the child is being taught in his/her home environment, hopefully making the instruction  age-appropriate, natural, and meaningful.  This allows therapists the wonderful opportunity to integrate instruction into the child's already existing daily routines (e.g. making lunch, brushing teeth, getting the mail, etc.)!  It is also beneficial because it makes parent involvement a little easier.  When therapy is provided in the home, parents are more likely to be included and to be treated as collaborative partners, which is hugely important!  It also allows regular opportunities for the therapists and caretakers to observe one another and offer support.  So, with all of these great benefits to home-based instruction, what's the point of center-based intervention? (Hint: there are many benefits, so keep reading!)

Responding to Name

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

As we know, based on diagnostic criteria, individuals with autism display marked differences in the areas of socialization and communication [more information].  Differences in these areas are required in order to receive an autism diagnosis.  What this means may vary from child to child.  Differences in these areas may vary drastically in both degree and form.  Remember that every child is a unique individual.  However, although every child is different, there are sometimes specific areas of need that are common to many (not all) of our students.  One of these areas is responding to one's name (i.e. acknowledging when someone has called your name).

"Play" Is Not A Four Letter Word

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

...Okay, so maybe it is a four-letter word, but not the bad kind!

Very often when people think about Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), they immediately picture a miserable-looking child sitting at a desk with a therapist who is running mass trials (i.e. drilling the child).  The therapist presents all instructions and praise using a monotone and robotic voice, then pats the child on the head, hands over a cookie, and records some data.  Yes, I too have seen these scary YouTube videos!  I'll be honest with you: these types of therapists and programs do exist.  In my opinion, this type of therapy is grossly outdated.  This is what you need to know: although that type of ABA may exist, it does not represent all therapists or all programs.  It certainly does not represent our "Getting the Words Out" team, if we haven't already made that clear!  Our core behavioral belief system is probably pretty consistent with those therapists [see posts on ABA and Behavior Modification], but our implementation and practice is quite different!  It's those old-school-totally-uncool-therapists who give our beloved ABA a bad reputation!

A Peek into the World of Sensory Integration

Posted by Nicole, Occupational Therapist

Learning the language of Sensory Integration can be an overwhelming task without previous knowledge of what sensory processing actually means. As an Occupational Therapist who provides treatment to children recently diagnosed with Autism and PDD who also have sensory processing deficits; I receive lots of feedback from parents having trouble understanding what Sensory Integration and what the different terms mean.

What's this "PDD" thing all about?

Posted by Peri, Licensed Psychologist, Board Certified Behavior Analyst

As the psychologist of this group, I feel very strongly about addressing the role of a child’s diagnosis in early intervention, what it all means, and how if effects our families.  In my beginning stages of working in Early Intervention, I spent a significant amount of time doing evaluations for young children; the purpose usually being to diagnose or rule-out Autism.  Now as the director of the ABA center-based program, I rarely conduct evaluations because my current role is to provide clinical and administrative support for the program.  Part of this role involves doing tours and intakes with families; and what I’ve found during this process has made me petrified for families beginning the evaluation process for early intervention.  It frequently boggles my mind with the inappropriate (or mostly complete lack of) information that is provided to parents when their child receives a psychological evaluation.  More times than not, parents walk into my school for a tour and say, “My child has PDD.  What’s that?”

Let's Get Related!

Posted by Dani, Speech-Language Pathologist


Hello everyone and thanks for reading my second blog post! The goal of my blogs is to inform the reader but keep it social so that everyone can enjoy it :)  A significant number of kiddos that I work with are missing the pre-linguistic skills of communication (pre-linguistic = before speaking).  Relatedness is a prerequisite to functional communication. What is relatedness?

Teaching Is Not For Wusses

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

I’ve recently had quite a few conversations with new teachers about their first-year experiences in the field.  The common theme of these conversations is that most new teachers start out feeling overwhelmed, incompetent, and sleep deprived!  That’s exactly how I felt my first year of teaching as well!  This is no reflection of how much you love your job or your students.  It’s just a tough job, especially in the beginning!  I don’t think that any one, or any educational program, can truly prepare you for your own classroom.  It’s sort of like being thrown in the deep end of a swimming pool.  You feel a little shocked, your feet don’t reach the ground, and you have to decide pretty quickly if you’re going to sink or swim.  Not to mention that you’re not exactly sure how to swim!  Sure, you’ve taken some classes, watched some videos, but you’ve never had to do it on your own, you’ve never had to do it without your life jacket.  But, here you are, in the deep end, with no lifeguard.  It’s just you (and a bunch of children you’re responsible for!)  That can be a pretty scary feeling, and is a feeling that I think a lot of new teachers can relate to! 

ABA Drill Sergeants: ABOUT FACE...

...and keep on marching!

Posted by: Natalie, Special Educator

Out of our wonderfully assembled team of brilliant, hardworking women dedicated to improving the lives of children with special needs and their families, I believe I am the newest one to the field. I dabbled in high school history, elementary school math, and middle school ELA. But then, I stumbled across this science called ABA in my graduate program at Teachers College, Columbia University and hit the ground running! Never having been more passionate about anything else in my entire life, I've dedicated myself to trying to be the best teacher, behavior therapist, and play buddy for all of the students I have had the honor to work with.

I'm just an SLP livin in an ABA world... :)

Posted by Dani, Speech-Language Pathologist

Hello everyone! This is my first time blogging so hang in there! I am a part of a dynamic team of amazingly intelligent and passionate women who kick some major butt at their jobs (to quote Heather from Real Housewives of New York City- "HOLLAA!!") and I represent the "Speechie" of the group.

Like many speechies, I was groomed against ABA (applied behavior analysis) during my undergrad and graduate years (I more specifically remember my grad school childhood language professor emphasizing the unnaturalness of using ABA for language development). All in all- I was taught that ABA is this terrible old school way of teaching children.

Not All Therapists Are Created Equal

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

This seems to be a regular topic of conversation with many of the families we work with.  I cannot begin to count the number of parents who have expressed dissatisfaction with one or more of their child’s home-based therapists (e.g. ABA, Special Instruction, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy).  In many cases, parents come to us explaining that they feel that something is not quite right, but also doubt their feelings and intuition.  Some parents feel confident in their instincts, but feel unsure of what to do next.  Especially in the field of Early Intervention, when families are just beginning to navigate this overwhelming world of special education, many parents do not feel that they have the knowledge or experience necessary to evaluate a therapist’s skills.  I hope the information provided here will offer guidance to any parents who find themselves in this situation.

Getting The Words Out

Posted by Ashley, Special Educator

Why this title for our blog?

It seems fitting to begin our posts with an explanation of our title, as it lays the groundwork for all that follows.  This phrase was chosen because we feel that it encompasses who we are as professionals, the work we do, the needs of our learners, and the ultimate goal of this blog.  The meaning behind this phrase is multi-faceted, so let’s start from the beginning.