Brooklyn Letters

My son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at 18 months, with a significant delay in expressive language. Craig has been an invaluable part of my son’s therapeutic team since my son’s diagnosis 5 months ago. Craig is very knowledgeable in his discipline, taking care to stay current with the latest research and evidence versus fads. He is very patient in his sessions, and is skilled at engaging children so that they are challenged but not overwhelmed. Craig approaches speech therapy with the family in mind. Craig consistently engaged me in my son’s speech sessions, explaining how to specifically target underlying issues associated with Autism that impede communication (such as joint attention, eye contact, social reciprocity). He also showed me creative strategies to engage my son to encourage communication, such as following my son’s lead and interests, playful obstruction, modeling sounds with actions, and adding tactile aspects to communication. This allowed me to carry over his recommendations at home. The most important lesson that I learned from Craig is that therapeutic approaches for children on the spectrum do not exist separate from the lives of the children themselves – progress can only made when therapy is put into context. I learned how to embed opportunities for communication in ways that didn’t feel forced or unnatural, which allowed me to always be a mom to my son first. What a joy it is to hear our son’s beautiful voice!