TalkAbility™ Advanced Workshop for Speech-language Pathologists
TalkAbility™ is a two-day professional development workshop for Hanen Certified speech-language pathologists who work with children ages 3-7 with high-functioning autism. Offered all over the world by specially trained Hanen instructors, the TalkAbility Advanced Workshop provides an approach to helping these children develop fundamental social skills and certifies you to offer the TalkAbility Program® for parents of verbal children on the autism spectrum.
Why Take the TalkAbility™ Advanced Workshop?
►You gain an approach that has simplified complex research into user-friendly information that is easy for parents to grasp
TalkAbility fills a longstanding gap in services for verbal children on the autism spectrum. The strategies parents learn from TalkAbility enable them to understand what their children need in order to develop the social skills that make their interactions with others more socially appropriate.
►The ability to teach a cutting-edge program to parents
The TalkAbility Program was developed by the Hanen Centre’s speech-language pathologists who specialize in the communication and social development of children with autism. TalkAbility is different from most intervention programs for children with autism because it shows parents how to help their child develop a theory of mind, or perspective-taking – one of the core deficits underlying the communication and social challenges of ASD.
The research-based program, as well as the accompanying resources, show parents how to help their child with high-functioning autism develop the skills he will need in order to become a successful communicator and develop friendships with his peers.
To view a detailed research summary and reference list for TalkAbility, click on the link below:
TalkAbility shows parents how they can use everyday routines to help their child understand the true meanings behind words, recognize other people’s points of view and have successful conversations with others.
When you offer the TalkAbility Program to parents, you’ll be empowering them to:
- Help their child develop empathy
- Encourage their child to pay attention to the social messages people send non-verbally
- Help their child have extended, back-and-forth conversations
- Talk so their child can tune in to what others are thinking
- Help their child tell stories and play imaginatively
- Help their child make friends
Read more about the
TalkAbility Program by
clicking here.
►Assurance that parents will remember what you teach them
The TalkAbility Advanced 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 common to all Hanen Programs®, the TalkAbility Program recognizes that adults learn best when adequate demonstrations, discussions and opportunities to practice are afforded to them. In offering the TalkAbility Program, you’ll be maximizing the chances that parents will retain and practice the things you’ve taught them.
►Resources to use in your TalkAbility™ Programs, as well as in your clinical practice
At the TalkAbility Advanced Workshop, you’ll receive all the materials you’ll need to offer the TalkAbility Program for parents. These resources include:
1. The TalkAbility™ 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 run the program.
2. The TalkAbility™ 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 TalkAbility™ Parent Guidebook
The parent guidebook is used alongside the program to reinforce what parents learn and to provide them with fresh new ideas for interacting with their children to help them build social communication skills.
4. Introduction to Hanen DVD
This DVD serves as an ideal introduction for parents to the Hanen approach.
Not every speech-language pathologist who takes the TalkAbility workshop will have the opportunity to conduct parent programs. But even if you aren’t offering the program, the TalkAbility workshop and resources can be very useful in other ways, including:
- Providing a framework for one-to-one therapy sessions for children with high-functioning autism with video examples so parents can see the strategies in action.
- Additional checklists, included in the TalkAbility Making Hanen Happen Leaders Guide, will help you set goals for each child based on their developmental stage.
- Supplementing home programming by providing pictures and information about what you are doing in therapy.
- Giving children on a waiting list for therapy sessions a head start by highlighting key parts of the guidebook that will give parents an idea of what to do while they wait for treatment for their child.
To find out more about how the TalkAbility guidebook can be integrated into your clinical practice, click on the link below:
►Professional development hours
The TalkAbility Advanced Workshop is a great way to earn professional development hours. In the United States, for example, the workshop is ASHA-approved for 1.3 Continuing Education Credits.
►Ongoing Support
As a Hanen member certified in TalkAbility, 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 concerning social communication development in childhood autism and the TalkAbility Program.
Taking the TalkAbility™ Advanced Workshop for Speech-Language Pathologists
Because TalkAbility is an Advanced Hanen Workshop, there are two prerequisite workshops that must be taken first.
1. It Takes Two To Talk® Certification Workshop for working with parents of children with language delays
In this foundational workshop, you'll gain an evidence-based teaching methodology for working effectively with parents to maximize their learning of responsive interaction strategies and help them apply these strategies successfully to everyday interactions with their child.
To find out more about the It Takes Two to Talk Certification Workshop, click here.
2. More Than Words® Advanced Workshop for working with parents of children on the autism spectrum.
This workshop addresses the specific needs of parents whose children are on the autism spectrum.
To find out more about the More Than Words Advanced Workshop, click here.
If you’re already a Hanen member certified in More Than Words, click here to find a TalkAbility Advanced Workshop near you.
To view the TalkAbility Advanced Workshop Fact Sheet, click here.