When a child with CAS attempts a word in therapy, they are showing enormous courage and trust. I take this level of trust seriously. My first priority is ensuring the child has a reliable and efficient means for communicating basic messages of controlling their environment. Can the child indicate that they want to be "all done" with an activity? - That they want "more" bubbles? - Refuse "no" when presented with a toy they did not want? - Indicate they need "help" or assistance? If not, we will work on strategies and AAC to increase access to these messages. Key functional communication is a universal human right! From here we turn to working on trust and motivation to address the child's first area of success with speech sounds. I tend to combine perspectives (e.g. DTTC and Cycles) to find cueing methods that best work for the child. Additionally, my area of particular passion in CAS is the continuum of treatment from spoken to written language. Children with CAS have a higher-risk of reading difficulties, and I have extended education to address these concerns