My approach starts with building a relationship of trust with the child and families. We are typically working together for a decent period of time, so that means that the child needs to know I am listening to them and supporting them in their journey from day one. Speech for children with CAS is hard work and I try my best to acknowledge them for the efforts they are putting into our sessions. I like to also acknowledge the families’ efforts and dedication to the children’s needs. For younger children, our therapy is play-based and I try to find activities, books and motivating toys to coincide with target words we are working on. As the child’s confidence in using their words grows, we will focus on high repetitions of target words. I rely on parent input for words or phrases that are functional and important to their family so that we are spending our time and energy on words that matter. I strive to make our sessions fun and feel less like the hard work we know it can be. In addition, parents are present and participate in each session, so they can help support their child in the session and reinforce therapy activities at home when appropriate.