hello.

Working with kids is the absolute best, but there was a time in my life when I was sure I wanted to work in adult rehab with stroke and brain injury patients. Clearly, that was the time when I was, ahem, out of my mind. Luckily, then, for the first time, I was given the opportunity to work with a child. I have never looked back.

I am an early childhood speech language pathologist. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that I work as a communication therapist with children (mostly under the age of 6) targeting primarily speech, language, and interaction. My favorite communication skills to work on are the skills that precede any verbal development. A child must learn so many things before they ever utter their first word.

For example, children in the very first months of life learn that vocalizing has a fairly consistent effect on those around them ("When I yell, coo, or scream, Mommy looks at me"). 

I specialize in working with preschool age-children who are not using any words in a meaningful way and do not engage with other people in ways that we would expect. Most of these children exhibit behaviors consistent with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

My primary goals for these kids are: 1) develop a meaningful connection/shared attention and 2) empower a child with the tools they need to communicate meaningfully. This blog is my best attempt at sharing the knowledge and strategies I have learned over the last 7 years with the parents and families of those amazing kids.

Amanda