Autism Strategies for the
Early Childhood SLP
2-hour Self-Study Video Course
To develop, learn, and have meaningful relationships with other people, young children need a core set of foundation skills on which to build. The five foundation skills addressed in this course include 1) nonverbal imitation, 2) joint attention, 3) sensory processing and self-regulation, 4) purposeful play (but not necessarily neurotypical play), and 5) early language development. Young children on the autism spectrum often struggle with acquisition of these critical foundation skills.
This course will provide an overview of the key features of autism in toddlers and preschoolers, how girls on the spectrum present differently from boys, along with a discussion of the five key foundation skills that need to be addressed in therapy and early childhood classrooms. The therapeutic strategies addressed in this course are not focused on establishing compliance or fixing deficits identified on standardized tests, but rather on helping autistic toddlers and preschoolers learn how to learn through social interactions with the important people in their world.
Learning Outcomes:
As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to:
1. Summarize the key features of autism in young children and how girls on the spectrum present differently from boys.
2. List and describe five key learning to learn foundation skills that are often missing or inconsistently displayed in young children on the autism spectrum.
3. Integrate strategies to support and promote the five foundation skills into functional IFSP outcomes and IEP goals.
Timed Agenda
- Minutes 1-5 Introduction
- Minutes 6-20 Early signs of autism in toddlers and preschoolers
- Minutes 21-35 How autism presents differently in girls
- Minutes 36-60 What autistic adults want us to know
- Minutes 61-120 Goals and strategies to promote the five learning to learn foundation skills
Meet the Speaker
Cari Ebert, MS, CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist in private practice in the Kansas City, Missouri area. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1993 and her master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1995. Cari is a therapist, consultant, author, and nationally recognized speaker who gets paid to do what she loves most…TALK! She works exclusively with young children, birth to age five, and their families and believes that early intervention is the key to future success. She has dedicated her career to helping young children achieve their maximum potential with speech, language, and social-emotional development. Cari has an autistic son which allows her to engage audiences both as a professional and as a parent of a neurodivergent child.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Cari is author of the book, The Learning to Learn Program, which she will reference in this training. Cari receives royalties from all book and product sales on her website. She also benefits financially for presenting this course.
Non-financial: Cari has an autistic son and shares personal experiences in her trainings.
Refund Policy
- If a student orders and completes at least 15%, but no more than 30%, of the course and is dissatisfied with the material, then a refund will be considered on a case by case basis. The student will be required to state their specific issues with the course as it relates to their profession for a refund to be considered.
- If a student completes more than 30% of a course, there will be no refund.
- If a student fails to complete the course within the 120 day time period, there will be no refund.
- If a student purchases a course but never starts it within the 120 day time period for any reason, there will be no refund.
- If a student completes a course but fails to print their certificate of completion, there will be no refund. A certificate of completion will be issued to the student after verifying that the course was completed.