Affirming Communication for Autistic Children
Online Course For Speech Therapists who Support Autistic Children
Navigating the pathway towards being a confidently Neurodiversity Affirming Speech Therapist… It’s not easy and it’s not straightforward.
I’m here to help you along this journey!
You want to understand what goals, strategies and activities are aligned with a Neurodiversity Affirming approach and why.
You want to become confident in supporting your autistic clients / students using affirming approaches.
You are seeking clear guidance for how you can advocate for your autistic client / students with their families and others in their support teams.
What you get when you register
📺 Access to the 4 recorded Core modules + Welcome module + Bonus content! Core modules are between 1-1.5 hours long – a total of 6 hours of Professional Development
✨ Get immediate access to the modules & downloads, and for 12 months – watch and re-watch as needed, when it suits you!
✅ Tools to support your learning & implementation: Practical activities, handouts, cheatsheets, checklists, quizzes
💬 Facebook group support to help you on your journey, keep accountable, and check in with Adina and others in the course around your progress and questions
🏆 Certificate of participation when you’ve completed the course, for 6 PD hours
Welcome Module
Short video, setting the scene for our course and the Neurodiversity Affirming approach to speech therapy and assessment. This one will fire you up for the modules to come!
Module 1
Affirming Assessment
- Learn my framework for holistic, child-centered approaches to communication assessment for autistic children
- Learn about the research, impact and reasons for using standardised assessments when necessary
- Tools, skills and ideas for other assessment approaches
- Decision-making process for choosing your assessment pathway
- Template for affirming communication assessment reports that you can use, change, or refer to
- Note: this module touches briefly on assessment for autism diagnosis purposes, however this is not a main focus
Module 2
Therapy: Communication, Interaction & Play
- Evidence-based approaches that support child-led, sensory-based, play-based approaches aligned with Neurodiversity Affirming support for autistic children
- Learn which strategies are helpful and affirming to support your interactions with children, and to guide the strategies you teach to others
- How to support all communication preferences, including discussion about AAC, Gestalt Language Processors, and children who are non-intentional communicators
- Examples for how speech therapy sessions can flow, in different settings and for different goals
- Activity ideas aligned with different sensory preferences
Module 3
Therapy: Social & Other Communication Areas
- Practical ideas for supporting social interactions, that fits with the Neurodiversity Affirming approach (note – this is mostly different-but-aligned content to what I teach in my On-Demand Webinar ‘Affirming Ways to Support Social & Peer Interactions‘
- Guidance for how you can support autistic children to build their understanding of themself, their strengths and needs
- Considerations for supporting autistic children in other areas of communication including: speech, fluency, voice, literacy
Module 4
Therapy: Change the World Around the Child
- Zooming out to consider how you can be part of changing the world around the child – helping you level-up your advocacy!
- Ideas for supporting parents, teachers and other adults to get aligned, to understand and to support autistic children in Neurodiversity Affirming ways
- Learn my framework for how to deal with ‘tricky FAQs’ that others in a child’s world may ask us
- Service delivery model considerations – big ideas to consider maximising your impact
Here’s how the Affirming Communication for Autistic Children Course can help you!
Clear, practical information about what Neurodiversity Affirming approaches to speech therapy and assessment look like, in practice
Useful resources like templates, checklists, and flowcharts to support you in putting your learning into action
Ongoing support and accountability as you move through the modules and take action, make changes, and move into a more affirming therapy mode
But wait, have we officially met?
About Me
Hi! I’m Adina Levy.
I’m an Autistic ADHDer with over a decade’s experience working professionally as a speech therapist, with autistic & neurodivergent children, their families, and their support networks. I’ve been an educator in various settings for almost 20 years, and I’m absolutely dedicated to helping others learn, reflect and take action on big concepts and ideas.
I make learning fun, engaging, relevant, and practical. I blend lived experience, personal reflection, clinical experience and evidence-based practice (with a critical lens!).
More than 1,000 professionals have taken my Neurodiversity Affirming Practice workshops and webinars to date! I hope you’ll join us!
We’re in the midst of a huge shift in how we ‘do’ support, the Neurodiversity movement is a rising tide. I’m delighted to see SO many speech therapists and other professionals join in, be brave to unlearn some ‘old’ ways, and take action to learn and practice affirming approaches.
Through the Affirming Communication for Autistic Children Course, my goal is to guide you to reflect on your knowledge, confidence and practice, learn new ideas, and make plans to shift the way you work with autistic children. I share tools, strategies, ideas, and provide guidance to help you clarify what the Neurodiversity Affirming Approach looks like, in your everyday clinical practice.
Here’s what other Speechies have said about the Affirming Communication for Autistic Children course:
“Reaffirming some of my practice, added to my toolbox, brought things together. Adina your manner and communication is clear, positive and motivating.”
“I love your positive and optimistic outlook and how clearly you communicate your ideas. I have accessed a number of online training and yours is the best so far… wish I’d watched you first! You managed to cover a wide topic area in enough detail and in clear manageable chunks. Thank you so much!”
“I liked the handouts and cheat sheets, super helpful!”
“The course was presented in a way that I don’t feel uncomfortable about my lack of knowledge about neurodiversity. The fact that Adina also challenge[d] her own thinking during the course made me feel comfortable to acknowledge and recognise my own growing understanding. The bonus of this is that when I speak to my colleagues I feel comfortable to have open discussion and acknowledge that I am growing in my own understanding, use of language and developing my own practices”
Who is the Affirming Communication for Autistic Children Course for?
You’re a speech Therapist, anywhere in the world 🌎
a.k.a Speech Language Therapist, Speech Langauge Pathologist, Speech Pathologist!
You support autistic children (up to around age 12 is who we talk about in the course)
You’re seeking practical guidance, resources and ideas for putting Neurodiversity Affirming approaches into practice
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the 'live accountability round' cost extra?
Nope! it’s included, as an option, to help you work through the content.
Opt in if it’s helpful and if you plan to work through the course at the time of the Accountability period. Don’t opt in if you want to complete the course at any other time in the 12 months from when you register!
WHAT TIMEZONE IS THIS COURSE IN?
Whatever timezone you want! Modules are pre-recorded and support/discussion is in our Private Facebook Group, so you can watch, participate and join in the discussion at whatever time suits you!
DO YOU OFFER CEUs / ACCREDITATION FOR THIS COURSE?
I am not able to offer formal accreditation for my course, however when you complete all modules you’ll receive a certificate outlining the title of the course, date of completion, your name, my name, and hours of professional development completed (6!). Most associations accept this as evidence of your course participation.
CAN MY team JOIN in too?
Absolutely! Access for this course is strictly per person.
I offer a discount for 5 or more registrations from 1 team. Email hi@playlearnchat.com if you’d like to access the team discount.
I'm not a speech therapist but I'm really interested in this course - can I join?
This course is very specifically designed for Speech Therapists / Speech Pathologists (or whatever terminology you use, we have various versions of our title!).
Please only sign up if you’re a speechie.
If you’re not a Speechie, you are SO welcome to register for my other training e.g. Neurodiversity Affirming Practice 2-hour Introductory Workshop for Allied Health Professionals
I tried to use an offer code and it's not working
Discount codes are valid for certain time-periods and for certain payment types (but not for others).
I am not able to extend discount code validity.
You’re welcome to explore other payment options that appear on the course checkout page.
💬 Get in touch
If you are enquiring about a workshop, webinar, training or a speaking opportunity, I will respond soon. Please note that it can take me a few days to get back to you as I juggle many roles!
If you've registered for a webinar or workshop and can't find confirmation or access information, please check your junk/spam email and add hi@playlearnchat.com to your safe senders/contacts list.
I am not able to provide personalised advice, resource or service requests/recommendations. You can view my resources & links page here, and view therapy services that I've worked with here. Please note that I no longer take on new speech therapy clients.
I am not able to reply to all feedback comments, but I do read them and appreciate you taking the time to share!
Thank you for your understanding!
For anything else - please feel free to contact me using the form below