Support social communication and connection during meaningful interactions   

Are you looking for strategies to promote extended conversations and social skills in autistic children who are speaking in sentences?

The TalkAbility™ Advanced Workshop offers a research-based framework for supporting parents to promote their child's social skills and language abilities during everyday routines and activities. You'll learn how to help parents and children find more joy and connection in their interactions and understand each other's perspectives, as well as how to support the child's conversations with both adults and peers. TalkAbility builds upon and respects the child's unique strengths and interests, while centering around the activities and interactions that are meaningful and enjoyable to them. 

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Lead TalkAbility™ – The Hanen Program® for Parents of Autistic Children Who Are Speaking in Sentences and Having Conversations. 
• Describe the structure, format and content of the TalkAbility program and how this program differs from the Hanen More Than Words® Program.
• Define and identify children who meet the criteria for a TalkAbility program.
• Describe current research on the development of social cognition and how this applies to children within a TalkAbility program.
• Select appropriate social communication goals based on assessment of the child's social and communication skills.
• Describe the TalkAbility strategies and how these strategies help children appropriate for TalkAbility achieve their social communication goals.
• Review how to facilitate parents' learning of the TalkAbility strategies through the use of the 4P Teaching-Learning Cycle.
• Review and apply the video feedback learning process to facilitate parents' application of the TalkAbility strategies within everyday activities with their children.

Certification

This workshop certifies you to:

1. 1. Lead the TalkAbility Program for Parents of Autistic Children Who Are Speaking in Sentences and Having Conversations

   In this program, parents learn how to help their child have more extended conversations and form deeper connections with adults and peers. They also learn how to understand their child's perspective, and how to help their child understand the perspective of others. 

   • Learn more about the program
   • Read the research behind the program

2. 2. Use TalkAbility Program materials in one-to-one contexts

   You’ll be able to use TalkAbility resources in your individual parent coaching sessions and everyday clinical practice.

3. 3. Offer the TalkAbility Program via telepractice

   Your certification includes a license and resources to deliver the program online to groups of parents. The telepractice version of TalkAbility maintains the best practice elements of in-person Hanen programs while increasing accessibility of the program to families.

Once certified, you will gain access to the following digital materials:

TalkAbility Making Hanen Happen Leaders Guide

This detailed guide includes all the information, handouts and checklists you need to lead the program and support your individual therapy sessions.

TalkAbility program slides with embedded video clips

These downloadable resources include the presentation slides for all sessions of the program and include real-life video examples of parents using TalkAbility strategies.

TalkAbility Telepractice Materials

Resources to deliver the TalkAbility Program to groups of parents online. 

Part 1: Self Study

Before the training, you'll complete an assignment to prepare you for full participation in the workshop. You'll learn about what the research says about children meeting the criteria for a TalkAbility Program, and you'll start thinking about how the content may apply to a particular child on your caseload.

Part 2: Live, online interactive training

In a small online group, you’ll participate in a series of highly interactive and personalized learning sessions. Each session includes discussion and small group practice activities, as well as the opportunity to reflect and receive feedback from your peers and the instructor.  

View the workshop agenda

Note on attendance:

Hanen workshops require participants to attend all days of the workshop in full, as indicated on the workshop registration page. Full attendance is required in order to be awarded certification and a license to offer the TalkAbility Program, as well as to obtain ASHA CEUs.