“I tucked my kids in last night and said, ‘See you in the morning!’ and then we laughed and laughed. Saw them 16 more times before sunrise.” - Unknown

A question I was sure to never miss when first meeting a family, whether for an evaluation or therapy, was, “How’s sleep for your child?” The most common reaction from parents? An eye roll.

I get it. As a mom to two little ones, it seems unfair the discrepancy between how much I love sleep and how much they, well, don’t.

But, before I could really help any family better understand their child’s development, increase their connection, respond to challenging behaviors, or manage worries… we had to make sure that sleep wasn’t a contributing factor. We’d be fighting an uphill battle to address these issues with an overtired child.

Often times, we are able to “clean-up” sleep with some quality sleep hygiene practices. And no, sleep hygiene is not about going to bed clean (though that doesn’t hurt!). Sleep hygiene, or positive sleep...

I (Lori) once had a father come in for testing for his 5-year-old son. The father noticed sensory differences with his son (e.g., overreaction to noises, sensitivity to touch, clothing), so he had taken him to an occupational therapist for testing and treatment. After a few months, he was making some progress, but his kindergarten teacher was still very concerned about his behavior. His father was then referred to me, a psychologist, for more testing to look into ADHD. When I first met with the father, he expressed the typical ADHD concerns: his son had difficulty paying attention, was very distractible, disrupted the learning of other children, and was constantly moving and talking. He was completing little work at school due to his lack of focus.

However, there were also other concerns which were characteristics of autism. For instance, he had never really made friends with anyone and was often fighting with other children at recess. He liked to spend a lot of time at home lining up...

April is autism awareness month, and we want to do our part in increasing awareness and *acceptance*, as well as answer all of your autism-related questions. Our team at The Childhood Collective has a huge heart for autistic children and their families! All of us have spent our careers specializing in diagnostic evaluations and therapy for these children, and have seen many changes occur over the past decade. We hope to offer you some professional insights and share a bit about our own experiences. Let's start with the basics: what is autism? 

What is Autism?

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts a child’s ability to communicate and socially interact with others. Children with autism also show repetitive behaviors and special, focused interests.

The current diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is made when a child shows differences in communicating and interacting with others and either (currently or in the past) has shown challenges in ALL of...

Navigating the school system with an exceptional child can be stressful. As a parent, you’re looking to get your child the help they need, while being thrust into a new world of acronyms, policies, and procedures that can feel downright mysterious.

Back when I was still a practicing child psychologist, I lost count of the number of families who, in complete sincerity, asked me where to move in the entire Phoenix-metro area in order to go to the school that would best support their exceptional child. Countless families were prepared to go to the lengths of a significant life event (moving!) in order to make the school process even just a little bit easier!

Understanding Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and 504 Plans, their similarities, and their differences is a great place to start in your advocacy journey. While there is a lot to know about these two documents (seriously, I took a semester-long course in graduate school focused almost solely IEPs and 504 Plans), I’ve narrowe...

Let’s take a trip down memory lane…

I (Katie) have been a speech language pathologist for almost nine years, but I remember my first few months like they happened yesterday. Fresh out of graduate school, working in a large private practice, I was closer in age to some of my clients than I was to their parents… and it definitely showed! Being in my mid-20’s without any children of my own, it was incredibly intimidating to do parent training. Unfortunately for my 26-year-old self, working in private practice means that parents are generally highly involved in the therapy process, so hiding in my office wasn’t an option!

It honestly took me a long time to truly feel comfortable giving parents feedback. Thankfully, I had joined a practice that had several experienced clinicians, and they shared their best strategies for getting parents on board with the therapy process. Over the years, I began to actually enjoy having parents in my office (no hiding needed!), and I learned how much fast...

We want you to take some time to celebrate your accomplishments over this past year! Be proud of the goals you met and all the amazing experiences you had. We also want to reflect a little on areas for improvement in the new year. As you think back on the year, did you find it difficult to have positive interactions with your child on a day to day basis? Were you feeling overwhelmed by your child’s behavior or emotions and unsure of how to help? If so, now is a perfect time to sit down, get out a pencil and paper, and start making some parenting goals for the new year. We know you might be planning resolutions right now, so on the blog we are sharing 7 tips for making goals you can crush in 2020!

We love providing you with inspirational quotes and parenting tips, but we also realize that this information may not actually result in change without a clear plan. For instance, when we do therapy with families, we work with both parents and children to create clear goals and actionable ...