Mrs Speechie P

Mrs Speechie P Hi- My name is Andi Putt and I am a pediatric speech language pathologist, autism evaluation specialist, & disabilities advocate.

Welcome parents, & professionals!

Autism is a spectrum, and while it is comprised of differences in social communication and interests and routines, the w...
11/18/2025

Autism is a spectrum, and while it is comprised of differences in social communication and interests and routines, the way people can experience those differences is vast.

While I personally don’t like to give “levels” (see Oliver for a great example of why!) - I wanted to use them for this example to highlight that while some kids might need more intense supports, many of those supports are similar across profiles. I also wanted to highlight some common misconceptions among the profiles.

Looking to learn more about Autism and support? Check out my Autism Handbook, comment Autism below and I’ll give you a code for 15% off!

If you support kids who are scripting, I *highly* recommend the course! It changed the way I support kids and helped th...
11/17/2025

If you support kids who are scripting, I *highly* recommend the course! It changed the way I support kids and helped them progress so much faster!

The best news? The code ANDI will get you 30% off until 11/21, which is the lowest price you’ll find! It’s all updated and has a total of 37 hours worth of material- including a short course about Autism by me!

Check it out here:
http://www.meaningfulspeech.com/a/2147498926/zscizfFR

Have questions or not sure if this course is right for you? I’m here to help, just comment below or send me a DM! ❤️

Affirming therapy can look many different ways because individual needs, desires, and goals should always be considered....
11/14/2025

Affirming therapy can look many different ways because individual needs, desires, and goals should always be considered. But, I’ve got some core principals and examples of non-affirming therapy for you!

And slide 4 for all of the people who missed the point and were consequently upset by yesterday’s REEL.

Something I always say- something that is affirming for most isn’t affirming for all. If I have a *child* who wants to work on something largely considered “non-affirming,” it actually IS affirming to them if that’s their own personal desire/goal.

11/13/2025

🌟Suppressing & internalizing Autistic traits is *NOT* progress, it’s harmful.

Teaching kids to ignore their own natural instincts in order to make other people more comfortable is unhealthy. It encourages masking which has many negative mental health outcomes.

Suppressing stimming is not neuro-affirming and can often result in increased dysregulation and anxiety on the *inside*

Allistic (Non-Autistic) people need to listen to Autistic voices to understand what’s right, safe, and comfortable for them, and NOT assume those things based on allistic experiences. We are different and we have different needs!

And lastly, if a child has anxiety, I would want that supported by a psychologist. Behavior modification does *not* support anxiety. If a child has stims that are harming themselves or others, I would want that supported by an occupational therapist. It’s important to address underlying needs if we truly want to support kids in a positive manner. ❤️

Today Kam turns double digits! 1️⃣0️⃣🎉As most of you know Kam is Autistic, and I love giving yall his life updates, so h...
11/12/2025

Today Kam turns double digits! 1️⃣0️⃣🎉

As most of you know Kam is Autistic, and I love giving yall his life updates, so here we go!

• Kam LOVES supercars and while he’s still into Minecraft, we now joke that thoughts of cars take up 90% of his brain.
• He’s in 4th grade and not loving school like he used to. The work is getting harder and he has less capacity to try hard things. His teachers this year *finally* are seeing the inattention I’ve been asking teachers about for years, so looks like we might be able to get an ADHD dx at last.
• He has two best friends that are both long lasting friendships and his teacher even told me he gets in trouble for socializing in class (which I celebrated 🤣)
• He’s pretty happy go lucky for the most part but we have seen an increase in PDA responses- especially when he’s not given advanced warning of demands that he views as threats (like we have to do homework, it’s time for a bath, clean up your toys, someone else is picking the movie, change in our schedule, etc). But with that, he is doing much better communicating his dysregulation *before* it’s full blown fight/flight and also beginning to attempt self regulation strategies independently.
• He’s so super loving and honestly the sweetest kid! This last year has been a mix of positives and many things improving while other things become harder- something that’s so super common yet I don’t think we talk about enough.

Happy Birthday Kam!

“If they have low support needs, do they really need a diagnosis?” I get asked this often and my answer is that if evalu...
11/10/2025

“If they have low support needs, do they really need a diagnosis?”

I get asked this often and my answer is that if evaluations and diagnosis is accessible to the family, YES! An evaluation will give you a lot of info about how a person’s brain works, how they learn, and how they can be best supported! Having a diagnosis can also be a protective factor for many mental health challenges many autistic people experience as they get older.

More facts about this presentation:
• This child gets written off as “quirky” and/or a “know it all”
• This child laughs along with others but doesn’t always understand why people are laughing, or why what they said was funny
• Because this child is book smart, adults in their life assume they understand more than they do, and they often get in trouble for taking things literally/being misunderstood. Teachers also spend less time explaining misunderstandings because they assume they understand (and this child is VERY good at masking misunderstandings so it’s a cycle)
• This child is often bullied in school
• This child is at extra risk for depression, eating disorders, and severe burnout (often with self harm or suicidal thoughts) during big life changes such as transitioning to high school, college, working life, or starting a family

Autism is not limited to extremes. Why some people experience Autism as “all positive,” and some people’s experience is ...
11/07/2025

Autism is not limited to extremes. Why some people experience Autism as “all positive,” and some people’s experience is “all negative,” for most Autistic people, it’s a mix of both strengths and struggles. And this is okay!

It’s also okay to not want to struggle, or for parents to not want their kids to struggle. Many comments online are rooted in ableism, but also many comments are rooted in people willing to do anything and everything within their power to help kids (and adults too!) be happy and have less struggles in life. No message here other than I wish we could work better together to support *all* Autistic experiences.

Just a reminder 🤷🏼‍♀️
11/06/2025

Just a reminder 🤷🏼‍♀️

If you’ve been here a while, you know I go through periods of burnout. But what you probably don’t know is that I seem t...
11/05/2025

If you’ve been here a while, you know I go through periods of burnout. But what you probably don’t know is that I seem to be in a perpetual Autistic Burnout Loop.

This isn’t an official or scientific graph, just the pattern I find myself in, and one I suspect many of you might recognize too. I’ve pushed through for years, and I really hit burnout once I became a mother, and kinda just stayed there.

I’m lucky that I can take some breaks when I need to, but I still stay in this loop, usually because my rest is interrupted or just not sustainable. Because the truth is: my responsibilities don’t disappear when I rest. Attention and connection are what regulate my child (and usually dysregulate me). I still have to make money to support my family. My main regulation strategy is travel, which means I have to earn more than survival to access that kind of rest.

And then there’s so much guilt. Guilt that I’m not as present as my son deserves. Guilt that my business isn’t thriving like others’ social media creators seem to be. That I don’t have the business mindset or motivation or capacity for my business to thrive. Guilt for comparing myself at all. And guilt knowing there are people with less privilege facing greater hardships while I’m here talking about my struggles which aren’t really comparable.

I don’t have a solution for this cycle. But here are a few things I remind myself when it feels so heavy:
• Your feelings and experiences are valid.
• You are doing your best within your capacity.
• Rest is not a reward. It’s a right.
• You can’t keep pouring from an empty nervous system.
• Every small rest or break still helps!

I’m not out of the loop yet. But I’m learning to pause inside it. To try to catch my breath, to honor my limits, and to stop seeing survival as failure.

If you’re stuck in it too, you’re not alone. 💛

Parents and therapists spend tons of time teaching kids how to advocate, and then we tend to *not* respect advocacy beca...
11/03/2025

Parents and therapists spend tons of time teaching kids how to advocate, and then we tend to *not* respect advocacy because it wasn’t done the “right way” and/or not teach the adults in the child’s life how to respond to their advocacy.

It’s important for us to recognize that advocacy is a skill kids need to understand, practice, and use successfully if we want them to continue to advocate. But when we do the first two steps and then they use it in real life, only to be shut down… they won’t use this skill!

As a therapist, I always give teachers and parents a heads up about the advocacy skills kids are working on in speech and how they can best respond to it- even when it’s blunt!

As a parent to a anxious and people pleasing child, I am sure to let his teachers and therapists know that we are working on self advocacy, that it’s *super* hard for him, that it’s not always clear or “seemingly polite,” but it’s a huge goal for him and something that needs to be successful with zero negative feedback if we want him to continue. When they have this info, they are much more likely to take a moment and consider their responses at school. And it’s made a big difference for Kam! He just asked last week about his access to one of his accommodations! 🔥

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Mrs Speechie P

Mrs Speechie P is a blog designed to share information about speech and language development to parents of children with delays and/or disabilities, Speech Language Pathologists, and Educators. I have a passion for early intervention and parent education/involvement in intervention.