Episode Summary
Many kids with autism have significantly delayed play skills, as well as they have difficulty learning new skills and expanding upon the skills they already have. More often than not therapists find themselves trying to teach children with autism how to play through imitation, but these children often have major difficulty with the imitation of others. Combine that with poor engagement and visual regard for others and learning to play for a child with autism can be daunting task. In this episode, we bring on Meg Proctor MS, OTL/R who is an expert in working with children with autism and who loves teaching therapists strategies to put in their tool belt. Meg and Sarah chat about all things autism and play.
Show Notes
Meg and Sarah discuss:
- Common misconceptions about autism
- Looking at the broader picture of children with autism
- Utilizing the right tools for each individual child
- Importance of evaluation and re-evaluation
- Meg’s journey into specializing in autism
- Finding the right mentor who aligns with your purpose and values
- Working in early intervention and how that shaped Meg’s current work
- Common questions from other therapists about autism and play
- Selecting the right goals for working on play skills with children with autism
- Identifying play skill goals versus social play goals and when to use them
- Using simple activities to increase generalization from during therapy to the child’s daily routine
- Utilizing a balance between using resources within the client’s homes and bringing a therapy bag
- Use of naturalistic strategies to get them to start imitating
- Scaffolding up or down to adjust the strategies to teach them skills, especially when they are rigid
- How to structure you sessions
- Meg’s company Learn Play Thrive
Contact her:
http://www.learnplaythrive.com
Coupon Code for OT 4 Lyfe Listeners: OT4Lyfe25
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OTandAutism/
Email: meg@learnplaythrive.com