Cari and Jim chat in front of a live audience at the Michigan Division of Early Childhood Conference in Mount Pleasant, Michigan! In this episode we talk about the traits of playful adults and how important they are when supporting the developm

Episode 53: Autism Awareness vs. Autism Acceptance

Apr 1st, 2024 37m 45s

Cari and Jim have a passionate discussion about the difference between autism awareness and autism acceptance. Because our words matter!

Episode 52: Let's Talk About PECS and AAC

Mar 14th, 2024 44m 35s

Cari and Jim discuss the reasons why Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an outdated AAC option.

Episode 51: Autism and Homeschooling

Feb 2nd, 2024 45m 29s

Cari and Jim talk about their journey homeschooling their Autistic child. They discuss the benefits and potential barriers of homeschooling a child with a disability.

Episode 50: Let's Talk About Play-Based Therapy

Jan 30th, 2024 40m 58s

Cari and Jim have an animated discussion about the history of play-based therapy, the importance of play-based therapy, and how child-led play differs from adult-directed play.

Episode 49: We’ve Come So Far

Dec 29th, 2023 23m 57s

Final episode of 2023!

Episode 48: Making the Holidays Merry

Dec 11th, 2023 40m 11s

Cari and Jim discuss strategies for making the holidays merry for children who struggle with changes in routines.

Episode 47: Transition Strategies

Nov 29th, 2023 37m 38s

Cari and Jim discuss why transitions can be so tough and provide 13 strategies for making transitions easier.Link to visual timer discussed in this episode:Time Timer

Episode 46: Neurodiversity Affirming Birthday Parties

Oct 20th, 2023 36m 38s

Cari and Jim discuss thoughtful strategies for throwing a neuro-affirming birthday party for your autistic child.

Episode 45: Parent Coaching in the Clinic Setting

Oct 11th, 2023 40m 7s

While parent coaching is an integral part of early intervention home visits, it's not typically a big part of therapy visits that are done in the clinic setting. Cari and Jim discuss 10 strategies for bringing parent coaching into your clinic-b

Episode 44: Neurodiversity Affirming Halloween Tips

Oct 4th, 2023 27m 6s

Cari and Jim discuss how to create a neurodiversity-affirming Halloween experience for ALL kids.Free Halloween AAC

Episode 43: What Does ’Neurodiversity-Affirming’ Mean?

Sep 19th, 2023 32m 45s

Cari and Jim discuss the term neurodiversity affirming. Neurodiversity affirming services. Neurodiversity affirming therapy. Neurodiversity affirming provider. Neurodiversity affirming parent.

Episode 42: What’s wrong with using food reinforcers?

Sep 6th, 2023 20m 27s

Cari and Jim talk about the issues with using food (and other) reinforcers when supporting autistic children.

Episode 41: Speech Therapy Tips for Toddlers

Jul 12th, 2023 17m 16s

Join Cari and Jim as they discuss 8 speech therapy tips for use with minimally verbal toddlers.

Episode 40: Apraxia: An explanation for parents and caregivers

May 29th, 2023 22m 50s

Cari and Jim outline what parents and caregivers need to know about childhood apraxia of speech.

Episode 39: Executive Function Skills (Part 2)

Apr 21st, 2023 32m 54s

Cari and Jim continue the conversation about building executive function skills through play-based learning. Please be sure to listen to episode 38 before diving into this one.

Episode 38: Executive Function Skills

Mar 22nd, 2023 31m 12s

Cari and Jim talk about school readiness and the importance of building executive function skills in early childhood.

Episode 37: I just found out my child is autistic...now what?

Feb 21st, 2023 30m 40s

Cari and Jim discuss what parents go through immediately following an autism diagnosis for their child. Choosing the best therapy journey for their child is a daunting task. This episode provides thoughtful guidance to help parents navigate the

Episode 36: Bagless Visits in Early Intervention

Jan 29th, 2023 25m 53s

What Part C of IDEA says about the natural environment and how this applies to the "magic toy bag" so often used in early intervention visits.

Episode 35: Ethnographic Interviewing

Dec 27th, 2022 23m 5s

Learn 10 tips for asking the right questions in the right way when doing an initial evaluation. Reference articles:2003 article on ethnographic interviewing2022 article on ethnographic interviewing

Episode 34: Help! The toybox is full and the holidays are coming!

Dec 1st, 2022 29m 44s

Join Cari and Jim as they discuss tips for buying high-quality toys. They also dive into how to manage the toy clutter that happens after the holidays!

Episode 33:Gestalt Language Processors

Nov 1st, 2022 25m 52s

Join Cari and Jim as they discuss analytic vs. gestalt language processors.Be sure to follow @meaningfulspeech and @bohospeechie on Instagram for more information on gestalt language processing.

Episode 32: The Goal is Communication

Oct 18th, 2022 36m 34s

Cari and Jim discuss all things AAC (augmentative and alternative communication).AAC Book

Episode 31: PLAY is Not the Enemy

Oct 11th, 2022 28m 4s

This is a spicy episode about the power of play-based learning. Cari and Jim discuss how the cognitive hypothesis has changed society's views on play and learning.Free download

Episode 30: Halloween Costume Tips

Oct 7th, 2022 20m 2s

It's October and that means Halloween is right around the corner. Wearing a costume can be a stressful experience for some children. In this episode, Cari and Jim discuss tips for making Halloween costumes more tolerable.