The Real Reason Your Autistic Student Shuts Down

Your autistic student shuts down, walks away, says “no,” or stops engaging as soon as you introduce a therapy goal. You want to be child-led and neuro-affirming—but you also have goals to address. Can you do both? Yes. And it may start with changing how we invite participation. In this conversation, I sit down with Susan Golubock, autistic retired occupational therapist and founder of Making Sense of Autism, to talk about what may be happening when an autistic child isn't ready to participate. We talk about looking beyond “How do I get them to engage?” and getting curious about what may be making participation hard—including regulation, sensory needs, auditory processing, body awareness, working memory, and the expectation itself. You'll also hear practical examples of how we can use modeling, visuals, videos, co-regulation, and invitation before expectation while still working toward meaningful therapy goals. Because not participating isn't “no data.” It may actually tell us something important about what the autistic person needs from us. Grab our FREE Invitation Before Expectation guide: https://www.makingsenseofautism.com/i... If you're an SLP, OT, educator, therapist, or parent looking for practical ways to move from compliance-based autism support toward a neuro-strengths-based approach, subscribe for new conversations each week. New to Understanding Autism through the autistic lens....start our $17 course, Changing To A Neuro-Strengths-Based Support for Autism Framework, go here: https://www.makingsenseofautism.com/n... Learn the Neuro-Strengths-Based Support for Autism Framework: understanding how the autistic brain experiences the world to create support that builds on strengths, not deficits. Follow us here:   / making.sense.of.autism     / making.sense.of.autism     / makingsenseofautism