Pediatric Speech Therapy

Speech Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorder

We take a neurodiversity-affirming, play-based approach to supporting autistic children's communication. That means we honor your child's natural way of communicating, whatever that looks like, and build skills through genuine connection and play rather than compliance-based drills.

In practice, that means following your child's lead and interests instead of directing every moment of a session, treating all communication as valid (spoken words, gestures, echolalia, scripting, or an AAC device), and never pushing forced eye contact or masking as a goal in itself. We collaborate with your child as a partner, presuming competence throughout.

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AGES

18 months to 18 years

SESSIONS

30-45 minutes

FORMAT

In-clinic or telepractice

Our approach

What Neurodiversity-Affirming, Play-Based Therapy Means

  • • We follow your child's interests and let play lead the session, not a rigid script.
  • • Echolalia, scripting, and AAC are treated as real, valid communication, not something to eliminate.
  • • We don't target eye contact, masking, or stimming as goals unless your child wants support with something specific.
  • • Goals are built around what actually helps your child and family, not making your child appear less autistic.

General guideposts

Communication Reference Points

Every autistic child's communication timeline looks different. These are general reference points, not a checklist your child needs to match:

9-12 months
Shares attention by pointing or looking back and forth between a person and an object.
12-18 months
First words appear.
24-36 months
Combines words into short functional phrases.
By school age
Uses language for a growing range of purposes, from requesting to commenting to asking questions.

General guidance only — every child develops differently. An evaluation gives you an answer specific to your child.

What to look for

Signs Your Child May Benefit

We build functional communication using whatever modality works best for your child, including AAC, without treating spoken words as the only valid goal.

Echolalia is real communication. We build on it rather than trying to eliminate it, helping it grow into more flexible language when that's genuinely useful to your child.

Turn-taking and shared conversation can be built through your child's own interests, at a pace that feels good to them.

We use your child's genuine interests as the entry point for connection and learning, never something to redirect away from.

A child who communicates well at home but differently elsewhere often benefits from support that respects both, not a push to perform the same way everywhere.

Our process

What to Expect

1

An evaluation focused on how your child currently communicates

2

Goals built around your child's interests and communication style

3

Close collaboration with parents and other providers (OT, ABA, school teams)

Between sessions

How You Can Help at Home

  • • Follow your child's interests as the starting point for connection, not a task to redirect from.
  • • Treat echolalia and scripting as real communication worth responding to.
  • • Give extra processing time before repeating or rephrasing a question.

Frequently asked

Common Questions

It means we see autism as a natural variation, not something to fix. Therapy goals focus on your child's quality of life and functional communication, not on making them appear less autistic.

No. We only work on those if your child or family specifically wants support with something related, never as a default goal.

Yes, and we treat AAC, gestures, and spoken words as equally valid ways to communicate.

Appointments

Support your child's communication, their way.

Serving families in Calabasas · Agoura Hills · Woodland Hills · West Hills · Westlake Village · Tarzana · Encino · Malibu · Simi Valley · Thousand Oaks · Moorpark

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