This course reviews the application of current research to support expressive language development in minimally speaking autistic children, including an examination of frameworks such as Gestalt Language Processing (GLP) and Natural Language Acquisition (NLA). The course discusses Toy Talk, a responsive modeling approach used during child-led play to stimulate language as well as introducing the Sentence Diversity Index, a simple and effective tool for tracking expressive language growth over time. Attendees will leave with practical, theoretically-sound, evidence-based strategies for supporting the language advancement of minimally-speaking children with autism.
Live Webinar
Tue, Dec 9, 2025 at 3:00 pm ESTCEUs/Hours Offered: ASHA/0.1 Intermediate, Professional; Calif SLPAB/1.0; IACET/0.1; IBCCES/1.0; Kansas LTS-S1370/1.0; SAC/1.0
Learning Outcomes
- After this course, participants will be able to discuss evidence-based approaches for supporting early language development in minimally speaking autistic children.
- After this course, participants will be able to explain the principles of Toy Talk and its application in play-based interventions.
- After this course, participants will be able to review practical methods for assessing expressive language growth in children with limited speech using the Sentence Diversity Index.
Agenda
| 0-5 Minutes | Introduction |
| 5-10 Minutes | Review of Recent Popular Approaches |
| 10-15 Minutes | EBP for Expressive Language Development |
| 15-30 Minutes | Toy Talk: Background, Evidence, Updates, and Tutorial |
| 30-50 Minutes | Sentence Diversity: Practice Tutorial (assessment) |
| 50-55 Minutes | Key take aways and future directions |
| 55-60 Minutes | Summary, Q&A |
Presented By
Danielle Kent
MS CCC-SLP
Danielle Kent is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist with over 14 years of experience in clinical and educational settings, specializing in self-regulation, executive functioning, and neurodiversity-affirming care. She holds a Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology and is a VT-LEND fellow, with a deep commitment to empowering adults to support children's development. Danielle is the owner of Piece of Mind Therapy and Consulting, LLC, and co-owner of VT AAC, LLC, where she provides evaluations, consultations, and professional development across Vermont. She also teaches with the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative, focusing on early language and literacy, and is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Vermont. Danielle hosts the Coaching Youth For Life podcast and is the author of the children’s book Max Learns to Pause.
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Tiffany Hutchins
PhD
Dr. Hutchins has researched the relationships between mother-child interaction strategies and social cognition and child cognitive and language development. She has developed and validated new measures of theory of mind (theoryofmindinventory.com) that can be used in research and practice. She has investigated the social validity and efficacy of story-based interventions to promote social learning. Most recently, Dr. Hutchins has conducted translational research in autobiographical, episodic, and semantic memory. The primary focus of her Social Cognition lab is to develop and evaluate assessments and treatments to support memory and social connection in children and adults with developmental disabilities. Dr. Hutchins teaches courses in the development of spoken language, cognition and language, measurement in communication sciences, and language disorders.
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Financial: Danielle Kent was paid an honorarium for this presentation. Non-financial: Danielle Kent has no relevant non-financial relationships to disclose.
Financial: Tiffany Hutchins was paid an honorarium for this presentation. Non-financial: Tiffany Hutchins has no relevant non-financial relationships to disclose.
Sponsor Disclosure: This course is presented by SpeechPathology.com in partnership with the University of Vermont.
Content Disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.
Course participation information
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NOTE: Full attendance for all courses is mandatory. For self-study courses, this includes reading the full text, listening to the full audio recording, or watching the complete video, as appropriate for the format of the course.
Passing an online exam and completing a course evaluation will be required to earn continuing education credit.
Live Webinars allow presenter and participant interaction. The exam and course evaluation for these courses must be completed within 7 days of the event.
On-demand courses include texts, video and audio recordings of live webinars, and multimedia formats. The exam and course evaluation for on-demand courses must be completed within 30 days of course registration.
To participate in the course, complete the exam and course evaluation, and earn continuing education credit, you must be a SpeechPathology.com member. Participants must complete the entire course; partial credit is not allowed.
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American Speech-Language-Hearing Assn.
Intermediate Level
0.10 ASHA CEUs
California Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology Board
SpeechPathology.com is approved by the California Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board as a Continuing Professional Development Provider, approval number PDP 268. This course may meet the requirements for 1.00 hours of continuing education credit for speech-language pathologists as required by the California Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology Board. The responsibility for determining whether or not this specific course counts toward an individual's requirements for license renewal is up to the individual. Please refer to the CA state board rules regarding allowable topics and self-study limits: https://www.speechandhearing.ca.gov/licensees/slp-au_cpd_req.shtml Live webinars on SpeechPathology.com are not included in the self-study limit under California professional development guidelines.
International Association for Continuing Education and Training
Continued, LLC, DBA SpeechPathology.com, is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). Continued complies with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices. As a result of this accreditation, Continued is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. continued, LLC, is authorized by IACET to offer 0.10 CEUs for this program.
International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards
The continued family of websites, including SpeechPathology.com, is a Certified Training Partner of IBCCES. This course is offered for a maximum of 1.00 CE hours for the autism certifications issued by IBCCES.
Kansas Dept for Aging and Disability Services
Approved for 1.00 continuing education clock hour(s) for Kansas licensed Speech Pathologists by the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. Long-Term Sponsorship number: LTS-S1370.
Speech-Language and Audiology Canada
Clinically certified members of Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) can accumulate continuing education equivalents (CEEs) for their participation with SpeechPathology.com. One hour of coursework equals 1 CEE. All SAC members are encouraged to participate in on-going education.