TalkAbility™

TalkAbility™ – The Hanen Program® for Parents of Verbal Children on the Autism Spectrum, is a family-focused program that gives parents of children aged 3 to 7 on the mild end of the Autism Spectrum Disorder scale practical tools to help their children communicate. These children can talk, but having extended conversations and making friends is very challenging for them.

By applying the TalkAbility strategies, parents and professionals will help verbal children on the Autism Spectrum:

• Take appropriate turns in a conversation and then wait for others to take theirs.
• Tune into what people say without words in a conversation.
• Understand how other people feel and respond appropriately.
• Learn how to play with other children and make friends.

More Than Words Parent Training Classes

More Than Words® A Hanen Program for Parents of Children with Autism: Funded by the San Diego Regional Center(call for details)

Since 2002, we have offered More Than Words to families of children with Autism teaching and empowering parents to improve communication of their children. More Than Words consists of hands-activities, group discussions, text book learning, instructional videotapes, and home visits. This class is invaluable to a family navigating therapy methods and programs. Funding is available through the San Diego Regional Center. Call for dates and more information.

What parents are saying about More Than Words

“My husband and I were graduates of More Than Words three years ago and in that time we have not faded in our enthusiasm for this vitally important program for families faced with children challenged by ASD. It is by far the most helpful and hopeful experience we have had as a couple and family. We learned where our son was in the communication spectrum of autism and what we could do at home to help him improve. Kara Dodds helped guide us through daily planned activities as he goes through preschool and beyond. Additionally, this program helped us to network with other families dealing with same issues as we were. We remain friends with many families we met in the More Than Words program and that truly is a special gift too”.

--Todd and Dayna Hoff

Founder of Autism Tree Project Foundation (www.autismtreeproject.org)

“Before More Than Words, I was unaware that I really didn’t know how to effectively communicate with my son. Since the class, my husband and I have completely changed our approach to communicate with our son and he has responded unbelievably well. More Than Words is an invaluable class and I got more out of this class that I had ever expected. I would definitely recommend it for parents of children with Autims/PDD.”

--Joe and Katie Hucknall

“We loved the More Than Words program. Kara and Breena are great and they teach the strategies in a way that is fun and easy to implement. We leaned a lot from them and our daughter has improved so much. It is such a relief and a joy to see her speech developing so well. I would recommend this class for everybody who has a child with Autism.”

--Martin and Cecilia Gonzalez

“The More Than Words program proved to be an invaluable experience for our entire family. Their brilliant approach integrates aspects of “everyday life” that has resulted in huge progress in our child’s ability and willingness to re-connect with us. Learning this approach allowed us to teach other family members and now, even his sister and grandparents know how to communicate with him. A tremendous side benefit of course was all the new information on Autism shared between parents in this class. For us, More Than Words gave us far more that we expected.”

--Rick and Laura Sylvester