You're in! Access Tamara Kasper's learning tool, "Indicating Responses and Play Chains" in the Bridgify Community 

This course is designed for SLPs, BCBAs, savvy caregivers and other professionals who support children with complex communication challenges.  Many tools can be used to collaborate with technicians, paraprofessionals and caregivers.

Session #1: Foundations of Communication:  Exploring Neurodivergent and Neurotypical Development

1. Identify two types of social stimuli less likely to garner attention or increase behavior in infants/toddlers with autism 
2.  Identify contingencies responsible for the development of speech and language skills in neurotypical children given examples

Session #2: Identifying and Encouraging Communicative Behavior in Play

1. Identify the parts of a social behavioral play chain
2. Discriminate clusters of indicating responses from potentially communicative behavior

Session #3: Speech Production Fundamentals: The Path to Target Selection

1. Identify variables that influence the complexity of a target and enhance speech target selection
2. Identify and use methods to transcribe and analyze vocal and/or speech samples

Session #4: Shaping Speech: Successive Approximations in Action

1. Identify the main learning principles involved in K&K instructor modeled successive approximations to the target: phonological processes & shaping
2. Identify and use methods to teach instructor-modeled successive approximations to the target

Session #5: Using Kasper SSP to Guide Vocalization Strategies

1. Identify practices to increase vocalizations in low rate talkers
2. Will use the Kasper SSP to select intervention practices based on client characteristics

Session #6: Echoic Foundations: Bridging ABA & SLP through Phonetic Hand Cues

1. Identify at least one method from the combined field of SLP and ABA that can be used to develop/improve echoic responding.
2. Demonstrate proficiency in execution of Phonetic Hand Cues  

6 weekly sessions: 

• On-Demand access to class recordings. This option includes six 60-minute recordings, learning materials, and a Community to directly engage with Tamara Kasper and colleagues. Instantly available upon registration. This content was published on May 8, 2025. 
• Join the waitlist for the next live cohort 

There are no funding sources that are required to be acknowledged.

A signed release for the use of the likeness and  image of all children depicted in this course series is in place and is available upon request. In many instances, the faces of individuals are blurred or models used to demonstrate procedures.  •A special thank you to the caregivers, parents, clients, and staff who allowed their images to be used for this presentation. Their joyful faces and genuine responses are inspirational.

When caregivers, professionals, and practitioners diverse in background and experience work as a team, they are more successful in their endeavors to disseminate clinical and translational science to relieve the impact of intervention disparities.

I, Tamara Kasper, pledge to make every effort (given biases of which I may or may not be fully aware) to offer diverse, equal, inclusive and accessible training and mentoring in dissemination of evidence-based practices with representation across racial, ethnic, sex, gender, age, socioeconomic, geographic and disability status.

Diverse collaborators offer bold ideas, creativity, and experiences to cross boundaries, collaborate in teams, innovate processes and work with systems.  

Tamara Kasper was the primary owner and director of The Center for Autism Treatment, Inc., directs Kasper Enterprises, LLC., currently serves as Consultant, Clinical Center of Excellence for Caravel Autism Health.  In her contract with Caravel, Tamara is specifically granted rights to use the materials developed in her role at Caravel as long as they are documented as such.  Tamara is Co-Founder with Dr. Lilith Reuter-Yuill of BRIDGIFY, a company which provides vetted Expert Voices and Practical Tools, enabling real learning.  Tamara is the co-author, with Nancy Kaufman, MS, CCC-SLP of the K & K Sign/Select to Talk Nouns & Verbs Kit and receives royalties for sale of this product. She has written permission to use images from the Kit and manual as part of training and advertising.  She is also a contributing author to the book, Understanding Ethics in Applied Behavior Analysis 2nd Edition by Ann Beirne (Author), Jacob A. Sadavoy  (Author) and “Promoting Language for Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Guide for Applied Behavior Analysis Practitioners”  and several research articles and blogs. Tamara’s products may appear in videos and photos within this presentation but are not the focus of the presentation.

• Tamara is Communications Coordinator for the Speech-Language Pathology and Applied Behavior Analysis (SPABA) Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), and an active member of the Assent SIG of The Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP), and several other special interest groups.

References for Speech Superclinician Session 1

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Anderson, D. K., Lord, C., Risi, S., DiLavore, P. S., Shulman, C., Thurm, A., Welch, K., & Pickles, A. (2007). Patterns of growth in verbal abilities among children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(4), 594–  

604.  https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.75.4.594

Brady, N. C., Fleming, K., Thiemann-Bourque, K., Olswang, L., Dowden, P. Saunders, M.D. & 

Marquis, J.  (2012).  Development of the Communicative Complexity Scale.  American Journal of Speech- Language Pathology, 21(1), February 2012.  https://doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360(2011/10-0099)

da Silva, S. P., & Williams, A. M. (2019). Translations in Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing: Autoshaping of

Learner Vocalizations. Perspectives on behavior science, 43(1), 57–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-019-00228-9

Delprato D. J. (2001). Comparisons of discrete-trial and normalized behavioral language  

                intervention for young children with autism. Journal of autism and developmental 

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Esch, B. E., Carr, J. E., & Michael, J. (2005). Evaluating stimulus- stimulus pairing and direct

reinforcement in the establishment of an echoic repertoire of children diagnosed with autism. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 21, 43-58 

Frost, K. M., Brian, J., Gengoux, G. W., Hardan, A., Rieth, S. R., Stahmer, A., & Ingersoll, B. (2020). Identifying and measuring the common elements of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for autism spectrum disorder: Development of the NDBI-Fi. Autism, 24(8),

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Gale, C. M., Eikeseth, S., & Klintwall, L. (2019). Children with autism show atypical preference for non-social stimuli. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 10355. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46705-8

Harms, G. & Greer, D. (2021).  Joint attention: A verbal behavior analysis. [PowerPoint Slides].

Kasper, T. & Kaufman, N. (2024). K & K sign/select and say. Northern Speech Services.

Kasper, T., Slim, L., & Reuter-Yuill, L. (March 6, 2024). Buckle Up! Steering Towards Effective SLP Collaboration. Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), Verbal Behavior Matters Blog. ABAI Behavior Analysis Blogs https://science.abainternational.org [Blog]

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Klin, A., Lin, D. J., Gorrindo, P., Ramsay, G., & Jones, W. (2009). Two-year-olds with autism orient to nonsocial contingencies rather than biological motion. Nature, 459(7244), 257–261. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07868

Koegel, R. L., O'Dell, M. C., & Koegel, L. K. (1987). A natural language teaching paradigm for nonverbal autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 17(2), 187–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01495055

Kuhl, P. K. (2004) Early language acquisition: cracking the speech code. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(11):831--843.

LeBlanc, L. A., Esch, J., Sidener, T. M., & Firth, A. M. (2006). Behavioral Language Interventions for Children with Autism: Comparing Applied Verbal Behavior and Naturalistic Teaching Approaches. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 22, 49–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393026

Miguel, C. F. (2016). Common and Intraverbal Bidirectional Naming. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 32(2), 125–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-016-0066-2

Miguel, C.F. ,Carr, J.E. & Michael, J. (2001/2002).  The effects of a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure on the vocal behavior of children diagnosed with autism.  The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 18, 3-13 

Mundy, P., Sigman, M., Kasari, C. A longitudinal study of joint attention and language development in autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 1990;20:115–128. 

Neimy, H., & Pelaez, M. (2021). Early interventions for infants at risk of autism spectrum disorder. In Springer eBooks (pp. 77–111). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57969-2_4

Ninio, A., & Snow, C. (1996). Pragmatic Development (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429498053

Palmer, D, (1996). The Role of automatic  reinforcement in the establishment of parity. Journal of the Experimental  Analysis of  Behavior. 65(1): 289–290. 

Pierce, K., Wen, T. H., Zahiri, J., Andreason, C., Courchesne, E., Barnes, C. C., Lopez, L., Arias, S. J., Esquivel, A., & Cheng, A. (2023). Level of attention to motherese speech as an early marker of autism spectrum disorder. JAMA Network Open, 6(2), e2255125. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.55125

Rowland, C. & Fried-Oken, M. (2010) Communication Matrix: a clinical and research assessment tool targeting children with severe communication disorders. Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, 3(4), 319–329. https://doi.org/10.3233/prm-2010-0144

Querleu, D., Lefebvre, C., Titran, M., Renard, X., Morillion, M., & Crepin, G. (1984). Réactivité du nouveau-né de moins de deux heures de vie à la voix maternelle [Reaction of the newborn infant less than 2 hours after birth to the maternal voice]. Journal de gynecologie, obstetrique et biologie de la reproduction, 13(2), 125–134.

Reuter-Yuill, L.M., Slim, L., Kasper, T.S., Castaño, L., Dower, N.R., & Gevarter, C. (2024). An Applied Model of Interprofessional Collaboration—Assessment (AMIC–A): A Process-Based Approach to Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Seminars in Speech and Language, 45, 194 - 212.

Schreibman L, Dawson G, Stahmer AC, Landa R, Rogers SJ, McGee GG, Kasari C, Ingersoll B, Kaiser AP, Bruinsma Y, McNerney E, Wetherby A, Halladay A. Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: Empirically Validated Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord. 2015 Aug;45(8):2411-28. doi: 10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8. PMID: 25737021; PMCID: PMC4513196. 

Shillingsburg, M. A., Hollander, D. L., Yosick, R. N., Bowen, C., & Muskat, L. R. (2015). Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing to Increase Vocalizations in Children with Language Delays: a Review. The Analysis of verbal behavior, 31(2), 215–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-015-0042-2

Simion, F., & Giorgio, E. D. (2015). Face perception and processing in early infancy: inborn predispositions and developmental changes. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 969. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00969

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“Social Communication.” American Speech-Language Hearing Association|
ASHA, 3 May 2024 https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/social-communication/

Sundberg, M. L., & Partington, J. W. (1999). The need for both discrete trial and natural environment language training for children with autism. In P. M. Ghezzi, W. L. Williams & J. E. Carr (Eds.) Autism: Behavior analytic perspectives. Reno, NV: Context Press.

Sundberg, M.  L., Michael, J., Partington, J.  W., & Sundberg, C.  A. (1996).  The role of automatic reinforcement in early language acquisition.  The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 13, 21-37.

So-Young, Y., & Bennett, G. M., (2000).  Effects of stimulus-stimulus  pairing procedure on conditioning vocal sounds as reinforcers The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 17, 75-88.

Vanderbilt University (n.d.). Preference Assessments What are preference assessments, and why should I conduct them? Evidence-Based Instructional Practices for Young Children With Autism & Other Developmental Disabilities. Retrieved May 14, 2024, from https://ebip.vkcsites.org/preference-assessments/