NETwork Interventions Blog

Below is a portion of my notes from Mark Sundberg's presentation. I will be posting these notes in chunks through out the week, as there was a lot of great information.

Analyzing and Removing Barriers that Impede Language Acquisition
Presented by Mark Sundberg on August 2^nd at the Pennsylvania State National Autism Conference Read more...

The terms “inappropriate... challenging... difficult... problem etc” are often used to describe behaviour that we (parents/society/peers) deem to be unacceptable. The debate around who defines and enforces these parameters is too big to fit into this blog space, even in three parts, so for the sake of time and space we must accept the use of terms such as the above and turn our attention to the practicalities, how do we deal with these behaviours? Read more...

Prepositions may be an area that require some work for certain learners. Prepositions are parts of speech that relate a noun or pronoun to another word in a sentence.  Some individuals with autism may confuse prepositions and use the wrong one, which may lead to communication problems. A good place to start when teaching prepositions is in the form of a mand. When a child is motivated for you to do something with their reinforcer, you can prompt them to use the correct preposition.  Read more...

A few weeks ago I received a lovely card from the first family that I had worked with, doing ABA. They had two boys with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and I had worked with them both.  Since then we have exchanged several e-mails, and it has been wonderful to hear about their continued progress. I remember when I first started working with the youngest child, he had no formal communication method in place at that point. There was lots of discussion about whether to teach him to use signs or PECS. In the end, the decision was made to teach him signs.  The mom was hesitant at the time, but now tells me how happy she is that we chose this path. After learning several signs, and beginning to spontaneously request things, we introduced vocal approximations. His first word was water-he was ALWAYS thirsty. His mom tells me he is having continued success now in working on novel requests.  Read more...

The inability to understand language and communicate wants and needs can often have adverse effects on the individual’s development including causing social, emotional and cognitive delays. NETwork Interventions can pinpoint these challenges, and intervention can help significantly reduce the impact language delay can have on your child’s overall development. Read more...

COMMENTS PLEASE - I have recently started a VB program but struggle to remember the key terms at times. Can someone please give me examples of what a Mand is compared to a Tact????? or tips for how you remember.....Thank You Read more...