A Crash Course In
Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal Writing 
(recorded replay)

In this recorded replay of a live 2.5 hour training taught by Autistic SLP Rachel Dorsey, you’ll learn how to write goals that support the authentic participation and well-being of your autistic clients. Following Rachel’s concrete process and true-to-life case studies, you’ll walk away confident that you can write truly strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming goals for every neurodivergent client you encounter. 

This is a short version of our full course, Goal Writing for Autistic Students, and is a recorded version of a previous live training using a participatory process and new case studies. It will be on sale now through July 6th and then registration will close! When you register you’ll have access to the self-paced training for one month.

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Quick Links

FAQs
Meet the Instructors
Course Objectives
Testimonials

Continuing Education
from Learn Play Thrive

Learn a neurodiversity-affirming process that will change
your goal writing

MODULE 1: Neurodiversity & Autism Overview (15 minutes)

In this module you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the neurodiversity paradigm and your autistic clients so that you can truly connect with your clients and write goals that help them become their most authentic selves.

MODULE 2: Strengths-Based vs. Traditional Goal Writing (45 minutes)

The medical model teaches us to write deficits-driven goals that wreak havoc on the mental health of autistic students. But there’s a better way!

In this module, we tackle why and how the old model harms neurodivergent learners, and how strengths-based goal writing can help our clients to truly thrive.

MODULE 3: Case Studies (1.5 hours)

With Rachel as your guide, you’ll apply the course concepts to true-to-life case studies to identify a client’s strengths, their challenges, the need for accommodations or modifications, and the targeted skills for your goals. 

Gain Practical Experience

Through Rachel’s careful scaffolding in this participatory training, you’ll gain practical experience writing neurodiversity-affirming goals that will leave you confident in translating this course into your practice with ease.

Get Game-Changing Resources

To truly bolster your confidence using this new process, you’ll get a practical, essential handout that outlines the strengths-based goal writing process so you can bring new expertise in neurodiversity-affirming goal writing back to your work and your team.

Want More Details?

Fill out the form below to join my email list for more info about the course and tons of free autism resources.

Learn Play Thrive Continuing Education
Investment

$59 for 2.5 hours packed full of actionable content. You’ll also get a coupon for $59 off the full course, Goal Writing for Autistic Students.

Access

Registering for this course will give you access to the recorded replay of the live training. You’ll have access for one month.

Continuing Education

This course is registered for .25 AOTA CEUs and .25 ASHA CEUs

FAQs

Information about completion requirements, accommodations, and more can be found in the FAQs.

View FAQs
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This course is
for you if...

You are an OT or SLP writing goals for autistic kids in any setting, and want to write neurodiversity-affirming goals with confidence and ease

You know your work will be more effective if your goals are truly aligned with your autistic clients' strengths

You are ready to learn first-hand from an autistic SLP because you know that autistic adults are the true experts on autism

This course was an excellent introduction to how traditional goals for autism are truly deficit-based and force the autistic child or client to become more like a neurotypical person, no matter what the expense to the autistic person might be. I love the use of modern research in the course that incorporates the views of autistic adults on what success means to them and what supports are actually helpful in therapy. In occupational therapy, we want our goals to be truly person-centered; the Learn Play Thrive courses are a great way to understand how to be person-centered and how to appreciate the autistic client as a whole in a way traditional practices never could. And, as our goals shape our intervention, this is a great place to start.
Taylor W.,
Taylor W.,CCC-SLP
This course doesn't just tell you what to do, it gives you the tools you need to actually implement the information. I highly recommend it to both neurotypical and neurodivergent clinicians.
Taylor W.,
Taylor W.,CCC-SLP
This course is a must-take course for any Speech-Language Pathologist working with autistic individuals. After taking Rachel's course, I feel confident in my abilities not only to write neurodiverse-affirmative goals, but also in advocating for my clients in my daily practice. Rachel's course serves to uplift autistic voices and impacts how we evaluate and implement appropriate educational goals for autistic students.
Jessica,
Jessica, SLP
I had been anxiously waiting for a course on ND affirming goal writing and this course did not disappoint! In fact, it far exceeded my expectations. Rachel is knowledgeable, insightful, professional and a phenomenal lecturer. I look forward to more wonderful content from her.
Maribel Serrano Holder,
Maribel Serrano Holder, CCC-SLP
This is truly the best course out there on this topic. It is well-organized, thought-provoking, engaging, and immediately applicable to my caseload. Rachel's approach to her autistic students, based in both personal and clinical experience, is empathetic, curious, practical, and full of belief in their strengths and potential. She covers a variety of obstacles that professionals are sure to encounter when writing goals, from a lack of information about students to conflicting parental expectations to students placed in non-neurodiversity-affirming settings. The course uses authentic materials and a gradual release model that leads participants to feel confident in their goal-writing abilities. I think anyone who works with or is considering working with autistic students could benefit from this course.
HP,
HP, SLP-CF
I can't recommend this course highly enough!
Mallory Skinner,
Mallory Skinner, SLP
This course is impactful, meaningful, and valuable. It prioritizes consent, affirmative care, and validating those you work with. It gives me hope for the future of speech-language pathology. With solid organization and relatable case studies (including that familiar experience where one tiny detail makes the situation more convoluted -- we've all been there!), this course offered a digestible -- yet satiable -- amount of knowledge. While I work in an outpatient setting and the framing of the course is built around services in the education system, the information was transferable to my clinic.  Since completing Goal Writing for Autistic Students, I have been strongly encouraging my colleagues and students to enroll
H.F.,
H.F., SLP
Ms. Dorsey clearly delineates how current goals minimize and hinder autistic students, and better yet, shows us how student-centered, neurodiversity-driven goal writing can empower autistic students in new ways. If you're unsure where to start in advocating for your students with the IEP team, this is an excellent start! The inclusion of Jess Miles' [OT perspective] was enlightening and valuable.
Ruchi Kapila,
Ruchi Kapila, MS, CCC-SLP
"This is one of the best trainings I have ever undertaken. I have been a speech therapist for the last 10 years and like many therapists, I continued to follow the recommendations for goal setting based on outdated university and workplace information. This training has enabled me to write the goals that will support my clients to be their authentic selves and truly thrive."
Rebecca
Rebecca
"I cannot recommend this course enough. I believe all providers and educators who work with autistic students have a responsibility to learn about the neurodiversity movement and how to support autistic students within the neurodiversity affirming paradigm. Let's stop harming students with deficit based report writing and deficit driven goals. We can do better. This course will help you understand how to build on strengths and write goals that set autistic students up with the supports and accommodations that they need to grow and learn authentically."
Emily M.,
Emily M., M.A., CCC-SLP
"As a neurotypical SLP working with Autistic students, this course has been incredibly powerful and effective. It has helped me understand more about my students and how I can be an agent of change. There is a lot of work to be done and this course provided me a great opportunity to continue to learn and grow as an SLP."
Christina Filia,
Christina Filia, M.S. CCC-SLP
"Rachel Dorsey's course is absolutely AMAZING!!! It's intensive, incredibly rich in case studies and beyond my expectations!!! So very appreciative for Rachel's insight, perspective and sharing! Thank you for giving me so much to think about, to want to learn more about and for guiding me to be a better clinician! Keep sharing, Rachel! We are all knowing better from you and you make us all strive to do better!"
Christine,
Christine, SLP
"I just want to say THANK YOU for such an excellent course. It has completely shifted how I view our field as it pertains to working with autistic students. This course goes beyond just goal writing and is one of the first times in my career I have felt I have gleaned something meaningful since graduate school from a CEU course."
KF,
KF, M.S., CCC-SLP
This was the course I have needed for years. I have always believed that speech therapy should help the child be more confident, happy and successful. Traditional social skills training has never felt quite right to me. This course was completely in line with my values and I am excited to have guidance in providing therapy which is more respectful of my students as unique humans.
Laura
Laura
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Meet your
Instructor

INSTRUCTOR

Rachel Dorsey

M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist (she/her)

Please note: disclosure statements are contained in the Bio page for each speaker. Click on "READ BIO" above to review the disclosures.

This is the course I wish I'd taken before I ever wrote a goal for an autistic client.

– Meg Proctor, Founder of Learn Play Thrive

Course Objectives

Neurodiversity-Affirming Goal Writing

Learn how to confidently and clearly understand behaviors and plan interventions based on clients’ strengths.

Analyze pre-existing goals using the seven metrics  of traditional goals to determine why and when traditional goals should be modified to align with strengths-based goal writing.

Apply five themes identified by research on Autistic values to generate goals for Autistic clients/students.

Frequently Asked Questions

This course is developed for occupational therapists and speech language pathologists who write goals for their autistic clients. It is also appropriate for teachers and other professionals. This is not a course designed for parents.

 

This course is targeted at the intermediate level.

This course is appropriate for professionals working with kids from early intervention through adolescence.

This course is pre-recorded videos, including PowerPoint presentations and lecture. This is a replay of a course taught via live lecture and a participatory process of goal writing using several case studies. 

This course is available for .25 AOTA CEUs and .25 ASHA CEUs. It is not approved by any physical therapy associations, but check your state board to see if it meets the requirements.
The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.

You will have 30 days access to complete the training modules and pass the quiz in the course in Thinkific with a satisfactory score, then you will receive your certificate by email. 

No refunds will be issued after you have registered. However you do have the option of transferring your registration to another learner. If the live course is canceled by the instructor, you will be given the option of a full refund or access to a recorded version of the course. If you miss the live training, you will be enrolled in the recorded replay when it is available.

If you have special learning needs, please email meg@learnplaythrive.com before registering. Accomodations will be made to support learners in compliance with the Americans with Disability Act.

You can send an email to admin@learnplaythrive.com

Our courses are hosted on Thinkific. You will need one of the two latest versions of a supported browser to access the course. (Note: Internet Explorer is not supported).

Desktop:

  1. Chrome

  2. Firefox

  3. Safari

  4. Microsoft Edge

Mobile:

  1. iOS Safari

  2. Chrome

  3. Samsung Internet

In order to ensure that Thinkific runs well, you will need:

  1. The most recent version of one of the web browsers listed above

  2. Javascript enabled

  3. PDF plugin

  4. Graphic and audio output capability

  5. Broadband internet connection with a minimum speed of 5Mbps (recommended)

  6. TLS 1.2 supported by your web browser

This information was adapted from https://support.thinkific.com/hc/en-us/articles/360030354954-System-Requirements-and-Supported-Browsers

Why enroll today?

Continuing Education Credit

Receive 2.5 hours of continuing education credit through a self-paced online course that will leave you feeling totally confident in your ability to generate more relevant, effective, strengths-based interventions.

Discount to Goal Writing for Autistic Students

You’ll get a limited time offer for $59 off Rachel Dorsey's full training, Goal Writing for Autistic Students, as this content is also included in module 1 of the longer course.

Build your skills and your confidence with a process truly grounded in neurodiversity-affirming practices.

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This course will be available for ASHA CEUs from June 13th, 2022 through June 12th, 2027.
The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.
ASHA CE Provider approval and use of the Brand Block does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products or clinical procedures.
The recorded materials in this course were last updated on 5/6/2022.