Guest Blog by Maria Wahlstrom

There has definitely been progress and my son is doing so much better now, but how do I know how long I will have my child in therapy?

Seth’s mom: “Seth is so frustrated, and I just can’t do anything that helps him. I have tried and tried to get him to talk! I have held back food and toys and tried to get him to ask for them-nothing works. We came to speech and language therapy so he could learn how to use words and communicate with us. When do we start to teach him words?”

Despite the fact that speech-language pathologists have the knowledge base to help your child with speech, language, communication, feeding, and social learning challenges, you are a critical member of our treatment team.

We have all seen this! You’re at a restaurant and you look across the way and right before your eyes—a whole family completely unaware of each other. Everyone at the table is on a device—kids on tablets and parents on smartphones!

Challenges in communicating and relating are core features of the diagnosis of Autism. You will definitely need a high-quality speech-language pathologist (SLP) on your child’s team. Improvement in communication and social interaction can make a qualitative difference in your child’s life.

The building of our language house requires a strong foundation. These foundational skills are a prerequisite for talking.

What can you do to promote executive function skills in your child?

Executive functioning? What does that mean?

Do you ever feel as if you are constantly having to tell your child what to do? “Get your jacket.” “Don’t forget to put your homework in your backpack.” “You’re going to dance, you need your ballet shoes in your dance bag.”