In a world where feeling heard can seem more difficult than ever, it’s crucial to create awareness for accessible and beneficial resources that are truly impactful to human health. For those living with autism, it can be overwhelming to decide what professional resources are best to improve skills that contribute to everyday life.
Autism diagnosis rates has been steadily increasing since 2000. Children, teens, and adults with autism has increased by 241% in 22 years. Those who live with these autism adaptations can feel intimidated by “straight-forward” impersonalized options they’ve previously have. That is why awareness of this neurological disability is so important, because those with autism can then have proper access to the care they deserve.
Great news for individuals with autism is that professional telehealth therapy is a convenient option that can be specifically designed for each individual’s needs and challenges. Virtual speech therapy is perfect for both autistic children and adults who may need assistance with certain speech and language irregularities. Online speech therapy gives those the ability to find highly qualified providers who genuinely have their best interest at heart. It is a safe space that provides comfort and the ability to grow in a healthy way.
The times of waiting months for an autism specialized provider to see you in-person are of the past. Telehealth speech therapy has been promoting more inclusivity towards autistic individuals. This provides tools to use with societal baselines and to feel more empowered with options to utilize in a variety of situations. Certain less developed areas can be worked on to hit benchmarks that wouldn’t have been possible without professional assistance.
How You Can Access Online Speech Therapy for You or Someone You Love:
- Do the research online to find an accredited professional who’s right for you
- Get referrals from someone that you trust or who has been through speech therapy
- Reach out to your doctor or someone in the autistic community to get recommendations
Autism speech therapy has been a rapidly growing subset of speech therapy due to the steady increase of diagnosis statistics. Along with the inflating numbers, there are also a lot more people becoming aware that this is a legitimate, obtainable method of support. Not only can a speech therapist assist an autistic person to utilize their own unique traits, he or she can increase their confidence around social situations and strangers.
If you’re the parent or guardian of someone who is autistic, know that a speech therapist (also known as a speech pathologist) is going to help your child’s overall success and ability to feel more comfortable in uncertain situations. Their level of human engagement can become improved, where in the past there may have been hesitancy.
Some skills that speech pathologists focusing on autism are:
- Social skills/pragmatics
- Answering and asking different questions
- Understanding non-verbal communication skills such as body language
- Conversational skills including initiating and maintaining a conversation
- Expressive communication skills such as semantics and syntax.
- Receptive language skills including auditory processing, etc.
Speech pathology as a whole is becoming more engrained in schools, clinics, and even in the comfort of your home. This is due to so many people seeing the distinctive benefits from individually customized techniques.
Social interactions can be a large stressor for those with autism, so speech therapy can support with the ability to speak to someone while also actively listening and engaging. Instead of more firm and direct answers, the person will now have more tools to express how they’re feeling with compassion and greater emotion.
Speech therapy continues to be life changing. Early intervention is recommended, because the earlier someone with autism starts working consistently with a therapist, the more he or she can benefit from the techniques taught. Remember, you can start at any age!
Find a therapist that makes those with autism feel comfortable and heard. This officially begins their journey towards supported and encouraged communication.
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WRITTEN BY:
–LAURYN FETKOVICH
-NICOLE BUTLER, M.A., CCC-SLP/L (ASHA Certified and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, Founder and Executive Director of Speech Within Reach.)
SPEECH WITHIN REACH provides in person and telehealth speech therapy for children and adults. We are happy to support your speech therapy needs. Please feel free to reach out to us.