All children have unique sensory preferences, including autistic children. Learn how you can make the most of these preferences by matching them to “people games” – toy-free games where all the fun is in the interaction!

A recent study explored what parents of young autistic children found helpful – and also what they found challenging – about their early intervention experience. Here’s what they said, along with some tips for how you can communicate with your child’s early interventionist to ensure the greatest benefit for you and your child.  

As a parent of an autistic child, you might ask yourself, "Although I know my child best, can I develop the knowledge and skills to best support my child’s communication? Is it really effective when parents provide therapy at home with their child?" Find out what the research says!

Emergent literacy skills are the building blocks of learning to read and write. These early skills are essential for all children to learn. For young autistic children, it's important to consider their individual strengths and interests when deciding how best to support their emergent literacy skills.

While the More Than Words® Program for parents of autistic children used to be offered in person only, many Hanen Certified SLPs now also offer it online. But what do parents think of the virtual version of the program? The Hanen Centre partnered with researchers at Western University to find out.

We’re excited to announce that we’ve updated More Then Words® – The Hanen Program® for Parents of Autistic Children or Children Who May Benefit from Social Communication Support. Part of this update involved doing research on what constitutes a neurodiversity-affirming approach and then analyzing the More Than Words® Program in terms of the fundamental elements of this approach.

Parents sometimes wonder what the best toys are for helping their young autistic child interact and communicate. The research might surprise you!

Reading with your autistic child helps to build both their early literacy skills and communication skills. But did you know that the way you read with your child can make a big difference? Use these fun, simple tips to make the most of book reading to encourage your child to interact and learn.

When you have back-and-forth interactions with your child, you have many opportunities to support their social communication skills. However, you may not always be sure how to join in what your child is doing to get an interaction started. Try this fun and easy way to join in your child's play.