The Relevance of Minority Stress, Intersectionality, and Community Connectedness for Affirmative Therapeutic Practice

Therapist Neurodiversity Collective’s Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices Series Live Event with Dr. Monique Botha (They/Them) The Relevance of Minority Stress, Intersectionality, and Community Connectedness for Affirmative Therapeutic Practice Subject matter: Intersectional neurodiversity, […]
Alzheimer’s dementia in a bilingual case study: A son’s perspective – September 30, 2022

Therapist Neurodiversity Collective’s Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices Series Dr. Alejandro Brice, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL “Alzheimer’s dementia in a bilingual case study: A son’s perspective” Subject matter: Neurodiversity, acquired neurodivergence, intersectionality, neurodivergent lived […]
Authentic Connection: Maximizing Motivation and Learning for Emergent AAC Learners – September 11, 2022

Therapist Neurodiversity Collective’s Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices Series Authentic Connection: Maximizing Motivation and Learning for Emergent AAC Learners with Kate McLaughlin, M.S., CCC-SLP Kate McLaughlin, M.S., CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist who […]
A Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Case Study in Acquired Neurodivergence – September 9, 2022

Therapist Neurodiversity Collective’s Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices Series Dr. Alejandro Brice, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL “A subarachnoid hemorrhage case study in acquired neurodivergence” Subject matter: Neurodiversity, acquired neurodivergence, intersectionality, neurodivergent lived experiences Dr. […]
The Process of Change: Evolving the ABA Discussion at the Provider Level – August 5, 2022

Therapist Neurodiversity Collective’s Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices Series Dr. Sarah Zate, MD “The Process of Change: Evolving the ABA Discussion at the Provider Level” Subject Matter: ABA and ethics; MD therapy referrals […]
Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy: Positions, Therapy Goals, and Best Practices

Neurodiversity-affirming therapy: Dozens of neurodiversity-affirming therapy goals and best practice resources for ally SLPs and OTs.
Influencer Therapists: Dubious Ethics & Poor Quality Services

“And, at the end of the day, that’s what a lot of therapy “influencers” are after: exploiting vulnerable families to benefit their own bottom line and their online image. And it’s time that professionals and parents begin talking about it and pushing back.”
Ableism in Speech Pathology

1/24/2022, by Nicole Lobsey, Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist Like most health and education fields, Speech Pathology is a heavily ableist field. Speech Pathology practices are based on: Assessment against neurotypical […]
Case Study in Neurodiversity-Affirming Care: A Toddler with Childhood Apraxia of Speech

At the beginning of the evaluation, Adam appeared to enjoy playing with zoo animals with mom and the therapist. He laughed and smiled readily and paired gleeful, albeit, infrequent, babbling with gestures like pointing and guiding his mom’s hands to the toys he wanted her to play with. However, after a few misunderstandings in which neither mom nor the therapist could figure out what Adam was gesturing for them to do, Adam became highly frustrated and emotionally dysregulated. He threw himself to the floor and, in between sobs, began to bang his forehead on the floor repeatedly. His mother was worried that this self-injurious behavior had started happening more and more frequently in recent weeks.
A Parent’s Guide to Respectful Feeding Therapy: Part 2

ABA providers will tell you to break your child, to reward your child for eating food, to re-present food your child has spit out or vomited, to restrain your child in a chair and do not let them leave the chair. There are better ways.
A Parent’s Guide to Respectful Feeding Therapy – Part 1

When children have trouble eating, it can be incredibly stressful for parents. But you’re not alone! There are qualified professionals waiting to help you and your child.
They refuse to work. So now what? Just let them become unemployed and play Fortnite and eat Cheetos all day?

They refuse to work. So now what? Just let them become unemployed and play Fortnite and eat Cheetos all day?
“First Do No Harm”: How SLPs Who Ignore Coregulation Reduce Children’s Access to Authentic Communication

Many speech-language pathologists do not think of sensory, emotional, or cognitive regulation as a part of their area of practice. In actuality, though, all communication originates from the need for regulation, and it is impossible to support a child’s communication skills or language development without understanding and supporting their regulation needs.
Stuttering is a type of Neurodivergence

I am used to my stuttering and I wish everyone else would get used to it too. My reactions and my feelings about stuttering are relative to how you, the listener, react. I am only uncomfortable because you are uncomfortable. I am uncomfortable FOR you.
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month: Building Trusting Relationships through Therapy

As a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), I often find myself trying to explain what I do. Our scope of practice is broad and not well understood by the general public. As an SLP specializing in feeding disorders, my work is even harder to explain! To educate the public about what SLPs (and Audiologists) do, the month of May has been designated as Better Hearing & Speech Month.
First, Do No Harm: An Open Letter to the Minnesota Department of Human Services and Education

Not only does ABA pose ethical issues that must be considered, but its efficacy is also questionable. The US government conducted outcome measures under the new T2017 TRICARE contracts and found that “76% of TRICARE beneficiaries in the ACD (Autism Care Demonstration) had little to no change in symptom presentation over the course of 12 months of applied behavior analysis services, with an additional 9% demonstrating worsening symptoms” (James N. Stewart, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, 10/25/2019).
TBI in Service Members – Real-life effects & the need for Empathetic, Compassionate & Trauma-informed Care:

Beginning in around the year 2000, the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has included Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) among their ever-increasing scope of practice, claiming that ABA is “one of the most effective treatments for managing mood, behavioral and other mental disorders associated with brain damage”.3 ABA, in its simplest form, treats the behavior associated with TBI, rather than treating the underlying neurological reasons for that behavior.
ABA: Modern-Day Brainwashing

Terrifyingly, ABA has infiltrated our healthcare system, schools, military, hospitals, and nursing homes. But you wonder, how can you even tell if someone is brainwashed? Here are common symptoms that you or someone you love has been brainwashed:
Why Perspective-Taking and Neurodiversity Acceptance? (Part 2 of “Training” Social Skills is Dehumanizing: The One with the Therapy Goals)

Wasted years upon years of endlessly drilling autistic children and adolescents to memorize and parrot “appropriate” rote phrases for specific social situations will not lead to their peers perceiving them as more likable. Social skills training is not a “cure” for autism despite what the ABA industry would like for us all to believe. All “social skills training’ does is to teach autistic people how to mask their autism. And the potential harms of masking (exhaustion, anxiety, depression, frustration, decreased self-esteem suicidal ideation) are significant.
The Problem with PECS®

PECS® uses Operant Conditioning, which is a behavior technique that can be used to target and increase a behavior by pairing performance of the target behavior with a positive or rewarding outcome.[2] Per Andy Bondy, inventor of PECS, “Skinner’s analysis of Verbal Behavior forms the basis for teaching particular skills at specific points in the training sequence and also provides guidelines for how best to design the teaching strategies.[3]” PECS uses picture-based prompting and reinforcement tied to error correction in order to teach language skills. The method allows the trainer to artificially cause frustration through the withholding of highly desired objects or food until the targeted behavior is achieved, even if the communicator becomes upset or angry. It is not a natural or nice way to teach language.