Social Skills are more than just etiquette and manners. Ashley Rose, founder and clinical director of Mission Cognition Social Skills Development Center, is here with me sharing about the importance of social skill instruction. We discuss the framework for planning groups, selecting and setting social skill goals, how to plan for generalization, and the topic of masking in individuals with Autism.

Play based therapy opens the door to facilitate social, play, and language interactions. Speech therapist Emily Cohen joins me today to talk about the ins and outs of the opportunities that can be found with play. She shares advice and ideas for parents for getting the most out of play time and building their children’s skills.

Today I chat with Marisha Mets, a school-based SLP and founder of the blog SLP Now. Marisha talks about the importance of using language samples to assess students with Autism in their natural environment. She shares the types of samples you can look for as well as many ideas and resources. Marisha highlights that function of language is the main goal and that language samples give the best snapshot to see right where your students are!