Communicating Partners

One way we have learned to improve a child’s understanding of language is to give him or her less of it at any one time.Our video based research has shown , over and over, that much of what late talking children hear is mismatched language. Mismatch means that the language they hear is much more […]

In a men’s group designed to allow men to have personal conversations, I learned the value of a “talking stick’. When we first met there was a lot of random taking, ‘overtalking” and interrupting. The purpose, however, was to get men to listen and respond sensitively rather than superficially. For quite a few meetings […]

A parent recently asked me: Should I be more concerned with teaching my child facts and information or helping him interact more frequently and effectively with people?
We have been told that our son needed to be trained to learn cognitive skills like numbers and colors for school and to be reduce his “autistic” habits and […]

At least once a week I hear a grieving, frightened parent tell me her child has been called autistic or PDD or “on the autistic spectrum”. Usually they described themselves as ‘devastated’, ‘depressed’, “confused” and at a total loss for what to do. I have worked closely with such parents for over 35 years. […]