This SIG 1 activity focuses on neurodiversity-affirming practices. The first article provides an outline of what neurodiversity is, why it is central to the provision of evidence-based practice, and how to educate speech-language pathologists on the need for neurodiversity-affirming care. The second article discusses research design and reporting in autism intervention research that should be considered by intervention providers. The third article examines the knowledge, experience, and training of school based professionals and their familiarity with early communication access for autistic children. The fourth article discusses a study that investigates themes in spoken narratives produced by autistic adults whose genders are marginalized in comparison to those of cisgender men. The fifth article describes gestalt language processing as one of the natural styles of language acquisition in children and a protocol for assessing the language acquisition of autistic and non-autistic individuals who utilize a gestalt process to acquire language.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• explain how neurodiversity relates to culturally responsive care
• define risks of bias related to autism interventions and an understanding of how they may impact research findings
• identify the members of an autistic student’s augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) team and describe the next steps in team collaboration related to AAC assessment
• identify major themes in a sample of personal narratives by autistic adults of diverse genders.
• describe and quantify the six stages of gestalt language processing

Assessment Type
Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

Articles in This Course

1. A Primer on Neurodiversity-Affirming Speech and Language Services for Autistic Individuals by Caroline Gaddy and Hillary Crow, published in SIG 1, Volume 8, Issue 6, December 2023
2. Overview of Issues in Autism Intervention Research: Research Design and Reporting by Kristen Bottema-Beutel, Micheal Sandbank, and Tiffany Woynaroski, published in SIG 1, Volume 8, Issue 6, December 2023
3. Autistic Communication: A Survey of School-Based Professionals by Amy L. Donaldson, Alyssa Hillary Zisk, Brandon Eddy, endever* corbin, Melissa Ugianskis, Erin Ford, and Olivia Strickland, published in SIG 1, Volume 8, Issue 6, December 2023
4. Thematic Analysis of Personal Narratives Spoken by Autistic Adults of Underrepresented Genders by Kelly L. Coburn and Diane L. Williams, published in SIG 1, Volume 8, Issue 6, December 2023
5. Using the Natural Language Acquisition Protocol to Support Gestalt Language Development by Marge Blanc, Amanda Blackwell, and Paulina Elias, published in SIG 1, Volume 8, Issue 6, December 2023