ASHA Learning Pass

When autistic children become “captivated by the social world,” their rate of initiating nonverbal, pre-symbolic forms of communication becomes the foundation for symbolic language development. This session reviews the neuroscience and evidence-based practices that are essential considerations for creating learning environments that enhance active engagement for pre-symbolic autistic children. The session identifies high-priority objectives in social communication, emotional regulation, and creating learning environments for neurodiverse learners that promote active engagement.

This course is a recorded session from the 2022 ASHA Schools Connect online conference.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• List strategies that modify learning environments to enhance active engagement for pre-symbolic autistic children
• Identify high-priority objectives in both social communication and emotional regulation for pre-symbolic autistic children that are foundations for developing symbolic language
• Explain to multidisciplinary school-based team members the research in neurodevelopment that justifies a focus on nonverbal, pre-symbolic communication for autistic children who are not yet talking or using symbolic language

Related Courses

View all courses from the 2022 Schools Connect online conference.

Presenter Information

Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP, is the Director of Communication Crossroads, Inc., in Decatur, Georgia. She is a speech-language pathologist specializing in social emotional engagement and its relationship with language development, learning, and positive outcomes. As a former adjunct faculty member and lecturer at Yale University, she served as a member of their Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic. She has also served as an instructor for the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, where she developed courses to prepare graduate-level students for addressing the needs of children with autism and their families. She participated as a member of ASHA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a committee charged with developing guidelines related to the role of speech-language pathologists in the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of ASD. In addition to SCERTS, Emily’s publications have focused on early identification of autism, contemporary intervention models, and programming guidelines focused on the social emotional engagement of all learners. She is a co-developer of the Social Emotional Engagement – Knowledge and Skills (SEE-KS) professional learning approach, which provides freely accessible tools for measuring learner engagement, enhancing engagement in everyday settings and academic instruction, and empowering educators to sustain the work through peer-to-peer mentorship. Emily provides support for the development of community-viable models of staff training. Her focus is on building the capacity of school systems and early intervention providers to serve as informed consumers of evidence-based practices.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Salary and ownership interest in Communication Crossroads, Inc, an Educational Outreach private practice
• Royalties from Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. for authorship of the SCERTS Model Manuals

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

Assessment Type

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

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by September 6, 2027.

Program History and CE Information

Online conference dates: July 13–25, 2022
Content origination date: July 13, 2022
End date: September 6, 2027

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).