More Than Words^® Advanced Workshop for Speech-language Pathologists

As an SLP, you know how much children with autism benefit from parent involvement in their intervention. More Than Words is a three-day Advanced Hanen Workshop led by a specially trained Hanen Instructor that offers the best tools, strategies and resources to help you support parents' involvement in their child's early language intervention.

Offered around the world, the More Than Words Advanced Workshop shows SLPs how to lead the More Than Words® Program for parents of young children with autism spectrum disorder, as well as  how to apply the More Than Words approach to their everyday clinical practice.  

Why Take the More Than Words^® Advanced Workshop?

►Practical tools for effectively involving parents of children on the autism spectrum in their child’s early language  intervention

After taking the More Than Words Advanced Workshop, you will understand the advantages of a social-pragmatic approach to intervening with children on the autism spectrum. You will also will know how to help parents become their child’s primary language facilitator. This includes helping them understand and accommodate their child’s sensory preferences, provide the structure and predictability that help their child learn, as well as integrating the strategies that support the child’s social interaction and communication into their everyday activities and routines.

►Certification to lead an evidence-based, early language intervention program to groups of parents

Like all of Hanen's programs, More Than Words was developed by expert speech-language pathologists at The Hanen Centre. The program is grounded in extensive research that demonstrates the most effective approach to facilitating the communication development of children on the autism spectrum. 

For a detailed research summary and empirical evidence, click on the link below:

Parents who take the More Than Words Program learn:

Focusing on parents’ natural, day-to-day life with their child, the program teaches parents practical ways to adapt the activities they’re doing with their child already and turn them into productive and enjoyable learning opportunities.

Read more about the More Than Words Program here.

►An effective teaching methodology

Taking time to teach can sometimes be frustrating when you’re not sure if the learner is really absorbing or making use of the information you provide to them. That’s why the More Than Words workshop teaches you the most effective ways to engage parents to ensure absorption, retention, and generalization of the strategies you teach them.

Based on the core principles of adult learning, the More Than Words Program recognizes that adults learn best when adequate demonstrations, discussions and opportunities to practice are afforded to them. As in It Takes Two to Talk, the combination of stimulating, interactive group training sessions and individual videotaping feedback sessions, maximizes parents' ability to retain the strategies they learn in the More Than Words Program.

►Resources to use in your More Than Words^® Programs, as well as in your clinical practice

At the More Than Words Advanced Workshop, you’ll receive all the materials you’ll need to offer the More Than Words Program for parents. These resources include:

1. The More Than Words^® Making Hanen Happen Leaders Guide

This step-by-step guide lays out the entire parent program for you, and includes all the handouts and checklists you’ll require to lead the program.

2. The More Than Words^® Program Slides DVD with embedded video clips

This DVD shows real-life examples of the strategies in action, allowing for deeper understanding and easy verification for parents that they’re applying the strategies correctly.

3. The More Than Words^® Parent Guidebook and Companion DVD

The Parent Guidebook and Companion DVD are used alongside the program to reinforce what parents learn and to provide them with fresh new ideas for interacting with their children to improve their skills.

4. Introduction to Hanen DVD

This DVD serves as an ideal introduction for parents to the Hanen approach.


Not every SLP who takes the More Than Words workshop has the ability to conduct parent programs as frequently as they would like. But even if you aren’t offering the program, More Than Words resources can be very useful in other ways:

To find out more about how More Than Words parent resources can be integrated into your clinical practice, click on the link below:

►Professional development hours

The More Than Words Workshop is a great way to earn 21.5 professional development hours. All North American workshops are registered with ASHA for 2.15 Continuing Education Units. If you are attending an International workshop and wish to receive ASHA CEUs, please email ceu@hanen.org at least 6 weeks prior to the workshop date.

►Ongoing Support

As a Hanen member certified in More Than Words, the Program Director and Hanen team will be there to support you and answer any questions you may have about leading the program or using the resources. You’ll receive frequent updates on the latest news and research about More Than Words and the social communication development of children with autism.

Taking the More Than Words^® Advanced Workshop

To take the More Than Words Advanced Workshop, speech-language pathologists need to first take It Takes Two To Talk® Certification Workshop and have current Hanen membership. At It Takes Two to Talk, you'll learn how to implement a naturalistic, child-centred approach to language-facilitation, as well as how to apply the principles of adult education to helping parents learn to use responsive interaction strategies consistently when interacting with their children in everyday contexts.

The More Than Words  Workshop then builds on what you learned in order to address the specific needs of parents of children on the autism spectrum.

Find a More Than Words workshop near you.

View the More Than Words Workshop Fact Sheet.