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Neurodiversity-affirming resources to support autistic students.

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54 episodes

We're Jessie & Chris, an SLP couple from California with 4 boys and a passion for finding better ways to support Autistic kids. Are you ready to Make the Shift? Join us weekly to learn neurodiversity affirming ways to strengthen social-emotional development and regulation in your Autistic students.

Making the Shift for Autistic Kids Speech Dude & Jessie Ginsburg

• 4.9 • 132 Ratings
• JUN 1, 2023

Ep. 55: Strategies for Surviving with Sensory Differences Under One Roof

Does one person in the house always seem to listen to the radio or TV at a volume that is just too loud?? Does another person in the house love when all the lights are dimmed? Maybe you feel like you are always chasing around a child who seems to have a never ending source of energy or trying to create a calming environment for a child who is easily overstimulated.. When you have a family with different sensory needs, it can be tough to find the perfect balance to keep everyone regulated. But the good news is, it's possible! This week on Making the Shift we're talking about strategies you can use to survive and thrive under one roof.

• MAY 25, 2023

Ep. 54: Why You Shouldn't Withhold Preferred Items & What To Do Instead

Raise your hand if you have ever had a child walk into your therapy session holding their favorite toy and you thought, "You know what, I'm just going to take this toy away so it's not distracting?". Now raise your hand if you immediately regretted that decision... Been there! This week on Making the Shift we're talking about 5 reasons you should NOT withhold a child's preferred items and what you should do instead.

• MAY 18, 2023

Ep 53: Defying Neuronormativity Ft. Lived Experience Educator

This week on Making the Shift, we are sitting down with Autistic Advocate Sonny Jane Wise to discuss defying neuronormativity. Sonny Jane Wise, aka the Lived Experience Educator, is on a mission to build a neurodiversity affirming future and challenge neuronormativity so neurodivergent individuals are no longer labelled as disordered. Sonny Jane Wise is a multiply neurodivergent or more specifically, an Autistic Bipolar ADHDer. Sonny is an internationally recognized public speaker, advocate, author and content creator as well as the founder of the Drop In Care Space. Sonny was diagnosed as a child and grew up only hearing a deficit narrative about their neurodivergence. Since then, they have gone on to build an audience of over 100, 000 people online. They have written The Neurodivergent Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills and We’re All Neurodiverse due to be published November this year. They have worked with organizations around Australia to help change the narrative around neurodivergence. Make sure you follow @livedexperienceeducator on Instagram! DBT Workbook: https://livedexperienceeducator.com/store

• MAY 11, 2023

Ep. 52: Create Your Allyship Plan Ft. Dr. Jennifer Hutton & SLPA Celina Wright

We believe that creating an allyship plan is essential in today's society to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is important to recognize that allyship is not just a one-time action, but a continuous effort that requires an intentional plan. Which is why on this week's episode of Making the Shift, we are sitting down with Dr. Jennifer Hutton to discuss why creating an allyship plan is critical and how we can get moving on implementing that plan. Make sure you check out her Allyship Membership on https://www.buildingallyship.com/ and follow her on Instagram @dr.jpop

• MAY 4, 2023

Ep. 51: Quick Tips for Integrating Sensory & Gestalt Language Ft. Bohospeechie

Today we are welcoming Katja Piscitelli aka Bohospeechie to the show. Katja is an Inside Out Sensory Trained Clinician who now has a private practice where she specializes in working with gestalt language processors. Find her on social @bohospeechie

• APR 27, 2023

Ep. 50: Using a Sensory Approach to Build Language in Gestalt Processors Ft. SLP Melanie Weber

Last week on Making the Shift we talked about 4 ways to know if your gestalt processor is dysregulated. And lack of engagement can often be a sign of dysregulation. On this week's episode of Making the Shift we're discussing why it's crucial to address sensory needs in your sessions with gestalt processors. We decided to bring back Melanie Weber, Sensory and NLA Trained SLP to talk about the one client that she struggled to engage with and how she was able to use sensory strategies to: a) realize he was a gestalt processor and b) increase his progress in sessions. To learn more about the Sensory Certificate Course visit www.sensoryslp.com

Customer Reviews

132 Ratings

Great for parents too!

I’m a mom of 3 ND kiddos and I get so much great information from these episodes! Highly recommend!

5-Star Review - Dr. Tay

As a licensed child psychologist, I am such a big fan of this podcast and the authentic conversations Jessie and Chris have in every episode! This is a podcast I love recommending to my patients and their families without hesitation.

Helpful, knowledgeable & educational

To any parents of neurodivergent kids or Neurodivergent adults themselves I highly recommend this podcast. Not only does Jessie have guests on her show that are actually autistic but they are also professionals in the field of Speech and OT as well. They speak on their Lived Experience as a Neurodivergent individual as well as a Therapist in the field, and help fill in the gaps of what a Neurodiversity Affirming practice should look like. Jessie & Chris give their thoughts on many topics that hit home in many households & break it down in a very easy way! I highly recommend Jessie’s course to any SLP out there and for parents trying to learn about the sensory thresholds, and for parents needing IEP help Chris is your guy !

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15: You Used WHAT To Motivate Those High School Students?!

What materials do you use for older students that function at a first-grade level or ones that have social skill challenges?  In this area, especially during this crisis time, boom cards, stickers, and cartoons won't work.  So what are you going to do? 

In today's episode, I have Speech Dude, Chris Wenger on the show to talk about what motivates older students. Chris is an enthusiastic school-based SLP and nationally-acclaimed presenter who loves to share his knowledge about technology and practical ways to infuse it into the SLP practice for middle and high school students.

Prepare to be blown away with Chris' creativity and tons of great resources! He shares his a-ha moments and his brilliant ways of using technology to teach kids emotional control.  He shares tips on keeping them engaged and motivated to learn. 

If you're ready to step out of your comfort zone and make an impact, don't miss this episode!

In this episode you’ll discover: 

• Chris’ technical background in high school that determined his path
• The challenge of working with older students with language needs
• How to deal with high functioning students on the spectrum who have social skill challenges
• Ways to repurposing materials for speech
• How to use videogames to target your speech goals
• The right mindset to have for learning new tech for your older students
• Chris’ solution for students feeling isolated with distance learning
• Using videos to teach students to control their emotions
• Tips and tricks on Zoom virtual backgrounds

It's also no secret that reaching our goals consistently sometimes feels so out of reach.  You may be bogged down with paperwork, carrying a heavy caseload, and may have unrealistic demands put on you by admins.  Your brain might be ready to explode and you are questioning your confidence.  That is why I decided to have a little fun and put together a free quiz.  It will help you discover which movie character best represents your SLP confidence so you can begin to reclaim your time and banish overwhelm for all. Head to www.speechtimefun.com/quiz .   Take this quick quiz to find out your unique confidence persona and get a foolproof formula for stress-free planning that keeps your students engaged!

Joke of the Week

What do you call a male SLP at a national convention?

Answer:  Lucky

Resources Mentioned: 

Quizizz.com

Episode on Edpuzzle – 10: My Favorite Free Tool!

News actually worth sharing @tanksgoodnews

Some Good News on Youtube

Awesome SLP sites w/ Free Subscriptions

Connect with Chris:

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Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today so you don’t miss any future episodes! I already have so many amazing guests and topics lined up, I would hate for you to miss a single one!  Click here to subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Could I ask a big favor? If you are loving the podcast, I would LOVE it if you would leave me a review on Apple Podcasts . I read each and every review.  Plus, you get to pay it forward because it will allow other teachers like you to find the podcast! Wondering how to leave a review? Click here to review, then select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”.  So easy and so appreciated! 

Do you have a question you would like me to answer on the podcast? GREAT! CLICK HERE TO FILL OUT THE FORM! 

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Chris Wenger is an enthusiastic school-based SLP and nationally-acclaimed presenter who loves to share his knowledge about current trends in technology and practical ways to infuse it into the school setting for older students. Chris’s experience in using confidence building strategies in his own speech therapy sessions has provided him a depth of knowledge for making effective connections between self-confidence and education. Chris is the author of Speech Language Technologists: What’s New in Technology to Save Time and Accelerate Therapy Outcomes, an extensive resource handbook. Chris is better known on social media as "Speech Dude." A prominent thought leader in the field of education, Chris motivates and entertains fellow clinicians through his humorous and inspiring posts and videos. You will walk away from Chris’s lively webinar with new ideas that will help foster student engagement and motivation from a variety of innovative therapy activities.

Chris receives a salary from Chaffey Joint Union High School District and Wings Speech and Language Center. He earns revenue as a national speaker for Bureau of Education and Research. He receives compensation for his Boom Learning store and Teachers Pay Teachers materials.

Chris is the CSHA Treasurer in California. He is the co-chair of the WESELPA SLP Council. He is part of the West End SELPA Special Education Technology Team (SETTS).

Materials that are available for purchase on Chris Wenger's Boom Learning and Teachers Pay Teachers store may be mentioned during the course of this presentation.

This webinar was funded by our sponsors, SLP Toolkit and SLP Now. We would also like to thank the presenter of this course who has provided his speaking services at no charge.

• Describe new ideas to increase engagement for older students.
• Identify 3 tech tools that can be used to motivate their students.
• Explain the steps to maintain student motivation when engagement levels have dropped.

Participants must provide course feedback and pass a course exam with a score of 80% or higher in order to receive a certificate of completion for certification maintenance hours (CMHs). Additionally, participants must complete a final opt in step for your completion to be submitted to the ASHA Continuing Education Board.

ASHA CEUs are awarded by the ASHA Continuing Education Board once eligibility requirements are met. The exam, course evaluation, and CE paperwork for this course must be completed by the date outlined for the course offering. If you do not correctly and completely finish all steps by the deadline, you will not be eligible to receive ASHA CEUs for this course. If you have questions about this process, email us at [email protected].

To read more about CMHs vs. ASHA CEUs, click here.

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How to Watch Joe Biden's 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner Speech

P resident Joe Biden is slated to deliver remarks at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner on Saturday before a crowd of journalists, celebrities and politicians as protesters have vowed to gather outside the event.

The Context

Outside the dinner site, protesters have pledged to rally against Israel continuing its war in Gaza. The conflict began after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that left 1,200 people dead and saw over 200 more taken hostage.

In the nearly seven months of war, the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 34,000, with more than 76,000 wounded, according to the Associated Press, per the Gaza Health Ministry. While the Hamas-run ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in their count, it says at least two-thirds have been children and women.

The staggering number of Palestinian deaths has ignited international criticism that has led to protests across the globe. The death toll and distressing images of children dead in the rubble of bombed buildings resulted in mounting calls for a ceasefire and increased pressure on Biden to take a tougher line on Israel, a longtime U.S. ally.

What We Know

Comedian Colin Jost, known for his role on Saturday Night Live , is expected to deliver humorous jabs at the president and other politicians during the annual event at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

The WHCA hosts the black-tie event that usually features the sitting president and popular comedians mocking politicians and current events. In previous years, Biden has used the dinner to mock his political rivals, notably former President Donald Trump .

The dinner will air online on C-SPAN's website beginning at 8 p.m. EST and can also be viewed on C-SPAN's YouTube channel as well C-SPAN's TV channel.

Newsweek reached out via email on Saturday to representatives for the White House for comment.

More than two dozen journalists in Gaza recently wrote a letter published by Medium that urged members of the press corps to boycott the historic event.

"As Palestinian journalists, we urgently appeal to you, our colleagues globally, with a demand for immediate and unwavering action against the Biden administration's ongoing complicity in the systematic slaughter and persecution of journalists in Gaza," the letter states. "We insist you publicly boycott the upcoming White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 27 as an act of solidarity with us — your fellow journalists — as well as with the millions of Palestinians currently being starved in Gaza due to the Biden administration's continued political, financial, and military backing of Israel and cut-off of funding for live-saving humanitarian aid."

Photos captured before the event began showed dozens of protesters trying to block guests outside of the venue.

In an interview with Sirius XM radio host Howard Stern on Friday, Biden said he planned to emphasize the importance of a free press during his WHCA dinner speech.

The president also told Stern that the media is not hard enough on Trump, the presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee, saying: "I think some of them are worried about attacking him, worried about taking him on."

What's Next?

The WHCA dinner begins at 8 p.m. Biden is expected to deliver remarks around 10 p.m. and will be aired online.

Update 4/27/24, 6:18 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.

Related Articles

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• Protesters Hang Palestinian Flag from Venue Before Joe Biden's Speech

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What polling can (and can't) tell you

On Nov. 5, election officials across America will count more than 150 million ballots to answer a burning political question: Who will be president of the United States? Until then, the best signals we can get will mostly come from public opinion polls, which will be the fuel of endless debate on who has the lead, Democrat Joe Biden or Republican Donald Trump. But what do polls really tell us? Lik

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The Profound Cowardice of the Free Speech Warriors

It was a week filled with hypocrites. but texas gov. greg abbott came close to winning the crown..

This is  Totally Normal Quote of the Day , a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just  how extremely normal  everything has become.

“Some colleges are banning free speech on college campuses. Well, no more. Because I’m about to sign a law that protects free speech on college campuses in Texas. Shouldn’t have to do it. First Amendment guarantees it.” —Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, in a 2019 video and tweet

On Wednesday, the University of Texas at Austin added its name to the top of a lengthy and ignominious list when university president Jay Hartzell called in a mounted , multi-agency show of force to crack down on a student and faculty–led protest on campus. The programming of the protest day included guest speakers, study breaks, and an art workshop. Right around the time of the scheduled (and very menacing-sounding!) 6 p.m. pizza break, Hartzell unleashed not just the Austin Police Department but also Texas state troopers on his own students—one-upping Columbia University president Nemat Shafik in a standard-setting display of excessive retaliation against student demonstrations in a week chock full of it.

The raid at UT resulted in 57 arrests , including of a photojournalist for the local Fox affiliate who spent the night in jail.

The aggressive retribution of university administrations—unleashing police forces on their students, faculty, and department chairs gathering peacefully—has made for a low moment in the history of American education. And while Texas’ sweep was no more petty, tyrannical, dubious, or unnecessary than ones at Emory, Columbia, or USC, it takes the cake because of how annoying Texas politicians have been over the past few years, bleating about a commitment to free speech that they disposed of the instant a few kids voiced discomfort with the ongoing war in Gaza.

So, let’s quickly run down some of the most hypocritical actors in this whole display, and check out their pitiable explanations.

First up is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose shamelessness requires no editorializing. Here’s a famous Greg Abbott tweet from 2019 , replete with front-facing video dispatch: “I just signed a law protecting free speech on college campuses,” he brags. Now, here’s Abbott on this week’s particular display of free speech on a Texas campus: Student protesters “belong in jail” and “should be expelled.”

Here’s UT president Jay Hartzell, stating that the justification for the military-infused crackdown on college kids and faculty this week was not the breaking of rules by the student protesters but the expectation that rules would be broken: “The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced,” Hartzell said.

Usually you have to commit a crime before getting arrested; here, per Hartzell, the crime was the possibility ! Suffice to say, this must be a lesser coda to the common refrain of the free speech warrior. I left my travel-sized Constitution at home, but perhaps someone could point me to this famed caveat of the First Amendment.

Finally, here’s a university statement claiming that protests were overrun by outsiders, who made up half of the arrests: “There was significant participation by outside groups present on our campus yesterday. This outside group presence is what we’ve seen from the affiliated national organization’s efforts to disrupt and create disorder.” All of the charges have already been dropped, a good indicator of just how criminal these actions were; UT has since reverted to another constitutional doozy of a solution: The administration has circulated guidance claiming that anyone arrested for trespassing is now barred from campus, even if those charges have been dropped .

Set aside, for a moment, the fact that part of the reason there were “outsiders” arrested on campus was because the police decided to arrest members of another constitutionally protected class, the media. UT itself hosts an annual Free Speech Week in which outside influence is encouraged on campus—and is specifically outlined as protected, provisioned for, and celebrated .

“State law in Texas actually allows members of the public just like our university community to come onto campus and use our common outdoor areas for speech activity,” Amanda Cochran-McCall, the school’s vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, said on a Free Speech Week panel just last year, in 2023.  “I think that surprises a lot of students, they show up here and think, ‘who is this random stranger setting up a table talking about this thing I find upsetting?’ But that’s protected by state law.”

It’s been obvious that conservative free speech warriors don’t delight in the exercise of all free speech on campus. But what this quote and the events of this week make crystal clear is that there is a very specific sort of free speech on campus they do delight in.

It’s not the free speech of students that the governor and his jackboots wants to protect, but the free speech of outsiders that offend the pious sensibility of left-wing students. This only works for conservatives as a one-way street, and the Cheshire grin of Cochran-McCall as she says outsiders’ free speech on campus is “protected by state law”—perhaps picturing horrified undergrads having to contend with some real off-putting shit (not off-putting like a protest over the U.S. helping to fund a war that has killed 15,000 children and is starving untold thousands more but … the good kind of off-putting, like, uh, racist stuff)—says it all.

At least some of the other universities that unleashed force on their students have the humility not to host a weeklong parade celebrating a principle they have little interest in abiding by!

Of course, in Texas, as in New York, California, and Georgia, the big guns only get you so far. The very next day, there were more protesters.