Our Thoughts on Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy

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A post shared by Halle Demchuk, MSc(A), SLP (@haepislp)

At HAEPI SLP, our goal is to provide neurodiversity-affirming speech and language therapy to all of our clients.

But what is neurodiversity affirming therapy anyways?

Neurodiversity-affirming therapy involves understanding the unique obstacles that neurodivergent individuals face, and validating their experiences while celebrating their differences.

At HAEPI, we celebrate the strengths a child already has (using a strength-based instead of deficit-based approach), and allow each child to be their truest, most authentic self by working within while gently expanding their comfort zones.

We are committed to fostering connection OVER compliance. The ways we do this include:

• Child-led therapy
• Using special interests to guide therapy
• Encouraging the movement of bodies/stimming
• Creating goals that focus on advocating for one's needs

So how do we do this in practice?

I'll give an example from this week! One of my clients LOVES letters, and instead of "worrying" about a fixation of his interest, I used it in therapy! I hid pieces of a letter puzzle all around a playground, and he was super motivated to find them. I modelled the gestalts "let's find it," "keep looking," "I see it," got it!," "put it together," etc., in play. It was also a joint session with his OT, and because some of his OT goals included climbing on the equipment, he was motivated to do this while searching for his letters. It was also a great opportunity to discuss gestalt language strategies with his OT, and for them to see it work in practice.

My therapy feels much more meaningful using these practices, and my clients show MORE speech and language progress when we focus on connection first.

by Halle Demchuk, SLP

Paediatric SLP | GLP-Trained Clinician | Owner of HAEPI SLP