Talking Children Podcast Sarah Verdon

In this episode we discuss childhood apraxia of speech also known as CAS. We talk about this motor speech disorder, its prevalence, features and approaches to treatment.

In this episode we look at the statistics around the experience of mental health issues among people who are neurodiverse.

We also discuss why neurodiverse people are more vulnerable to abuse and what strategies we can put in place to reduce this vulnerability in children from an early age.

**Trigger warning, we discuss sexual abuse, suicide and domestic violence.

In this episode Lucia shares her honours research looking at the experiences of parents in raising children and supporting communication development in Australia.

This week we are sharing some insights into providing evidence based reading instruction - teaching kids to read, write and spell.



Helpful links for literacy:

https://www.learnwithlee.net/

https://twitter.com/lifelonglit?lang=en

https://www.readingdoctor.com.au/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogks_oVVPok

https://pamelasnow.blogspot.com/

https://svp-slp.com/the-ultimate-free-resource-guide-for-speech-language-pathologists/

Have you ever heard of the term echolalia?

Maybe its Gestalt Language Processing! This is a newer area of research in understanding different ways of acquiring language. Many Gestalt Language Processors are neurodiverse and so we see these types of communicators a lot in our work.

This episode dives into what GLP is and how we can support people who communicate using Gestalts.

Picky eating, problem feeder and ‘the white diet’, we’ve heard it all before. But is there more to it than that?

In this episode Sarah and Lucia discuss ‘Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder’ also known as ARFID. This episode unpacks;

- What is ARFID?

- What is the DSM5 diagnostic criteria for ARFID?

- What are the commonly co-occurring factors alongside ARFID?

- How is ARFID managed and treated?

- Who is involved in supporting people with ARFID?

- The link between ARFID and neurodiversity.

Key references used for this episode

Brigham, K. S., Manzo, L. D., Eddy, K. T., & Thomas, J. J. (2018). Evaluation and treatment of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in adolescents. Current Pediatrics Reports, 6, 107-113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40124-018-0162-y

Cobbaert, L., & Rose, A. (2023). Eating disorders and neurodivergence: A stepped care approach. Eating Disorders Neurodiversity Australia.

https://nedc.com.au/assets/NEDC-Publications/Eating-Disorders-and-Neurodivergence-A-Stepped-Care-Approach.pdf

Dovey, T. M., Kumari, V., & Blissett, J. (2019). Eating behaviour, behavioural problems and sensory profiles of children with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), autistic spectrum disorders or picky eating: Same or different?. European Psychiatry, 61, 56-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2019.06.008

Hay, P., Mitchison, D., Collado, A. E. L., González-Chica, D. A., Stocks, N., & Touyz, S. (2017). Burden and health-related quality of life of eating disorders, including Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), in the Australian population. Journal of Eating Disorders, 5,

1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-017-0149-z

Zimmerman, J., & Fisher, M. (2017). Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, 47(4),

95-103.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2017.02.005