Buzzwords Speech Pathology

15/05/2022

“We are SO fortunate for her communication device, or high-tech AAC, that AIDED her speech development and allowed her to be able to communicate her needs.”

It’s , and our founder and executive director, Julia Dapkus, took to our blog to share a bit about her daughter’s apraxia and experience using high-tech AAC. Check it out to read about the progress she’s made in the last 2.5 years. https://www.communicationiskey.org/post/apraxia-aac-and-an-anecdote

02/05/2022

💯 It’s so important to support parents who are worried about their child’s communication development.
📎Telling them not to worry does actually invalidate their feelings, when they would be better helped by having friends, family and health professionals supporting their decision to seek professional advice.
📍That way, the child’s access to support is not delayed and the parents feel empowered to help their child. 🙌
✅ So, if you have any concerns about your child’s speech and language development, seek an assessment to find out if your little one would benefit from therapy.
⏰ Early Intervention is the way to go. There is no need to wait and see- that advice is outdated.

⭐️ Share this Post ⭐️

I hear well meaning people (family members, friends, teachers, pediatricians, random internet people, etc) tell parents “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine!” ALL THE TIME when I’m like - oh hey, I think you should see a SLP!

And yes, sometimes it is true that a child may be a little slower to develop and then catch up without support. However, it’s also VERY common for comments like this to invalidate parent feelings and delay interventions for kids who really do NEED it.

And also, why would anyone want a two or three year old who didn’t have a way to communicate to just “suffer through” or “wait it out” when we could support them RIGHT NOW? I know I wouldn’t. So next time someone asks about their child’s development, you can be supportive of the parent AND recommend an evaluation. Because truth be told, unless you do an evaluation - you don’t know if the child needs support.

01/05/2022

A leading expert on autism says a new model of early intervention can reduce diagnosis of the disorder by a factor of three and could take pressure off the NDIS.

01/05/2022

🗣 Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Have you heard of this hidden disorder that is very common? It is affects people throughout their lifetime. It’s good to know the signs so that we can help. Here is a great video about DLD.

Do you know about Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)? Eddie & Dyls (9yrs) find out about DLD 1-2-3! Please add your comments and do send us links to your ...

29/04/2022

ℹ️ DLD Fact: Over 80% of children with behavioural disorders have undiagnosed language disorders

https://bit.ly/2O1IeM9

24/04/2022

❤️ this

22/04/2022

Griffith University are inviting parents or caregivers of autistic children aged 3-16 years who have accessed healthcare in a hospital (public or private) in Australia within the previous five years (2018-2022) to participate in an online survey. They are trying to better understand the barriers autistic children encounter when accessing hospital healthcare. You can find details here https://buff.ly/3jPVovE
An optional prize draw is available where participants have the chance of receiving 1 of five $50 Prezzee Smart eGift cards.

18/04/2022

I believe there is a lack of language around navigating infodumping, and that means we're in this space of wanting to be free to unmask and infodump, but also getting overwhelmed when we are on the receiving end of it. Traditionally the signals for it being too much lean towards the unspoken, which doesn't exactly bode well when you're autistic.

So here are some scripts we can use where we can be honest about our capacity to receive but it's not a personal attack (such as "omg you never shut up"). It can take work to not be offended receiving these boundaries, because often we have so much trauma from being "too much" that stuff like this can set it off. But it is healthy for us to have boundaries and respect other people's boundaries without taking offence. Including this dialogue into your parenting, especially when your kid is trying to tell you a million facts about sharks while you cook dinner, can also be really helpful.

If you have boundary scripts, I'd love to read them in the comments 🧠💜

[Image text:
Boundaries around Infodumping

The standard way

Indirect hints.
Unspoken signals.
Roll eyes.
Look away.
Turn body away.
Give basic responses.
Give no responses.
Complain behind their back.
Avoidance.
Passive aggressive put downs.
Hope they take the hint and stop.
End the friendship.

A different way

"I really love hearing you talk about things you're passionate about but I just don't have the capacity for it right now. Maybe we can talk more about it another day."
"My brain is too full right now and I'm finding it hard to listen to you. Can we just sit and enjoy each others company in quiet for a bit?"
"I love talking about special interests, now I've heard about yours, can I share about mine?
'I'm not being rude but this is too much for my brain right now."]

02/04/2022

🌈 💜Celebrating Autism Acceptance Day! 🥳♾

31/03/2022

📌 Helpful information here about Dyslexia

30/03/2022

50% off AAC APPS from AssistiveWare!!!!

Our discount is LIVE! Get 50% off Proloquo2Go, Proloquo4Text, Pictello, Keeble and Videos On Demand! https://assistivewa.re/3sGD6lN

[Image description: Large text on a bright background says “50% off! 29 March - 4 April, 2022”. Around the text, with hands reaching towards them, are the icons for Proloquo2Go, Proloquo4Text, Pictello, Video on demand, and Keeble. The bottom right reads “Autism Acceptance Month”. The AssistiveWare logo is in the top right.]