What SLPs Should Know about ABA Terminology (Top 10 ABA Terms)

As an SLP, I’ve noticed that ABA professionals often have their own language and terminology. Don’t get me wrong - as SLPs we do this too (and so does every profession), but as a related service professional serving many students who also have ABA, it’s been important for me to learn new terminology. Although it seemed confusing at first, I’ve found knowing this terminology has helped me communicate with ABA professionals and understand what my students are working on. 

Basic Terms 

Before we get started, it’s important to define ABA and some of the terminology you’ll see in therapist’s titles. Full disclosure, before writing this I had to consult a friend who is a BCBA because I wanted to make sure to get it right (I hadn’t understood it correctly - it’s important to be real here). 

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)  -  a scientific, research-based way to teach behavior change 

Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) - A BCBA must have a graduate degree and practical experience in this area including supervised treatment hours, and pass a BCBA exam. 

Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst (BcABA) - must have a bachelor's degree (can be in any area), be supervised by a BCBA, and pass a BcABA exam. 

Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) - Must have high school diploma and pass an RBT exam 

A behavior analyst or behavior specialist doesn’t necessarily have any special training. The board certification is very rigorous, and so take note when people are board certified. 

Therapy Terms 

Chaining - Chaining is a way to teach a series of skills by breaking them down into their component parts. For example, when teaching a child how to wash their hands, we may start by practicing drying hands with a paper towel and throwing it away or using a cloth towel at home and making sure it stays in its place. Over time, we can “add more links to the chain” so that a student can do the entire task and all the component steps. 

Discrete Trials Training (DTT) - A specific action (i.e. “stand up” or “clap hands”) is taught through repetition. For DTT, there is a specific response or action expected from the child (i.e. an action, pointing to a specific picture). 

Intraverbal - answering a question (“what did you have for breakfast?”), or completing a phrase “twinkle, twinkle, little _________”). 

Mand - when a child asks for (demands) what they need; or requesting 

Tact -  labeling an item; for example a bar is presented and a child says “ball” 

Pairing - developing rapport with a student on an ongoing basis 

Collaborating With ABA Professionals 

As you move forward, I hope this blog post helps you understand the level of expertise and job descriptions of various ABA professionals, as well as some common terminology they may use. I’m guessing that you already use chaining to teach complex skills (even if you don’t use the term), and as SLPs we often work on requesting (manding), tacting (labeling items), and we realize that without building rapport (pairing), our students won’t truly show us what they know. 

If you want more information, ABA Speech is a blog with a BCBA/SLP named Rose Griffin, and it’s a great place to get helpful information on these topics. 

10 Hands On Winter Activities to Build Speech and Language Skills

Winter can mean kids are cooped up indoors and full of enthusiastic energy. It’s especially important this year to have activities that can be done at school or at home that are hands-on and interactive. In this article, you’ll learn 10 ideas of active activities to do this winter that gets kids moving and excited to learn. 

Musical Chairs (Snowflake Hop) 

https://www.pinkoatmeal.com/snowflake-hop-winter-gross-motor/

This snowflake hop is much like musical chairs, and is great for following directions with verbs and is great for Pre-K and Kinder students. 

For this activity, you’ll place papers on the floor that have one action per sheet of paper (for example: jump, run, clap hands). As you play a song (there are plenty of great winter-themed playlists on YouTube), the SLP presses pause and children do the action listed on their paper that they ended up on. If you’d like, you can remove one paper per turn (trial? segment?) so there is a winner, but that part is optional. 

Snowman Describing 

https://speechtimefun.com/low-prep-speech-therapy-ideas-for-winter/

This drawing activity is great for elementary-aged students working on using descriptors and synonyms. 

For this activity, students will draw a snowman and then put synonyms together (cold/chilly) and write them on the snowman. Students can even color code the word pairs. One thing I like about this activity is it can go home with students, and they can “teach” people at home their word pairs and use these words in sentences. 

Draw a Snowman Barrier Game 

https://speechtimefun.com/low-prep-speech-therapy-ideas-for-winter/

This drawing activity (from the same blog post as above) is also great for elementary-aged students working on receptive language, following directions, prepositions/location concepts and descriptive words. 

Marshmallow Toss

https://www.speechtherapyideas.com/2019/01/28/marshmallow-toss-therapy-activity-3-different-ways/

This activity is an excellent reinforcer game for preschool and elementary-aged students, and all you need is mini marshmallows and a mug (or several). Students can practice their speech or language task and throw a mini marshmallow into a mug to earn points. 

Ice Skating with Paper Plates 

https://pocketofpreschool.com/classroom-winter-party/

This activity is a great open ended reinforcer for preschool and elementary-aged students (I think even my middle school students would enjoy this). Students use paper plates on their feet to cross the room, sliding on the plates. 

I could see doing this with irregular past tense verbs, for example (Today I catch the ball, yesterday I _____ the ball) and then crossing the room to see who can get the most trials in a certain time period. For an articulation student, I’d do the same except for a targeted articulation word, phrase, or sentence. 

Snowy Mountain Craft 

https://www.gluedtomycraftsblog.com/2017/09/watercolor-snowy-mountain.html

For this craft, you’ll need construction paper, watercolors, a glass of water, a paintbrush and cotton balls. Students will watercolor paint the background, you can glue on a few brown or blue triangle shapes for mountains on top, and then glue a few cotton balls onto the top of the mountains so they look snowy. This craft turns out really pretty and also, kids of different ages can do this craft and it can look quite different. 

For articulation students, you can write your target words on the back (write the words the next day, after the project has dried) or even work on saying 5 articulation words for each step. For language students you could do something similar, for example for each step ask the child if you’d use “is” or “are” in the sentence, and then write some fill in the blank sentences on the back for homework (“She _____ climbing, They ______ climbing, etc.). 

Make Snow Dough

https://buggyandbuddy.com/white-playdough/

Also FWIW, my favorite dough recipe is salt dough, here: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/240641/salt-dough/

If you like making your own modeling clay or salt dough, you can make this with your students, or do what I do and pre-make the dough and do winter activities with the dough together. Ideas: make a snowman out of dough, make “snowballs” out of dough and toss them onto a hand-drawn target, make a snowflake - and more, the possibilities seem endless. 

Make an Icicle Craft 

https://www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com/2019/01/easy-icicle-winter-craft.html

This craft can become a great token activity, and all you need is pipe cleaners and beads. This is an ideal craft for your articulation students, who can say a word, phrase or sentence with their target sounds as they put on each bead. 

Snowman In a Bag 

https://www.ohmy-creative.com/winter/sudsy-snowman-kids-craft/

This craft includes a baggy with shaving cream (which is fun to push and squeeze) and a construction paper face glued on top in order to make the likeness of a snowman. This can be a fun sensory activity or can work like a fidget in sessions, as long as students can also concentrate while the snowman in a bag is close! 

Cooking - Snowman Snack Ideas

https://fun-a-day.com/5-snowman-snack-ideas-kids/

Many of my students love to cook, and when parents ask for activities they can do at home to promote language skills, I often tell them to look up recipes to do together. Cooking is a great interactive activity to do at home and model vocabulary and new words. This blog post has some sweet treats and some healthier options (such as apple and pretzel snowman snacks). 

Let’s Get Moving!

Wherever this winter takes you, I hope you consider adding some hands-on and gross motor activities into your speech therapy activities. The winter can be a challenging time for speech therapy sessions (especially since kids are often indoors and sugar fueled this time of year), and active hands-on activities can help.

Sarah Lockhart is a speech language pathologist in private practice in Ashland Oregon. She specializes in working with the birth to five population, particularly Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Autism.

What SLPs Should Know About the 3 Levels of Autism

Lately I’ve been hearing more and more about the three levels (1-3) of Autism. 

Full disclosure, I hadn’t heard about these levels before this year, even though this leveled system has existed since 2013 when the DSM-5 was published. The DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (5th Edition), which is primarily used by mental health professionals. Previous to this year, I hadn’t heard many parents or medical professionals use this terminology; but especially lately I’ve had Autism Reports by medical professionals as well as parents use this terminology. I had to dig in, research, and figure out what these levels meant, and what it means to SLPs. In this post, you’ll learn the basics about the 3 Levels of Autism as defined in the DSM so that you can be familiar with these levels, in case they are used by parents or related professionals. As SLPs, we don’t use the DSM as a diagnostic tool, but it’s helpful to be familiar with the terminology that we will see moving forward. So, let’s get to it! 

The Basics 

The levels of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the DSM-5 go from 1-3, from the least to the most impacted. For example, a child with Level 1 Autism may appear as neurotypical in many social situations (to untrained professionals), whereas as a child with Level 3 Autism will “require very substantial support” and will typically have just a few words and you may see a lot of repetitive and restrictive behavior. 

It’s important to know that the levels are a way to describe children diagnosed with Autism, and the overall criterion for diagnosis remains the same. SLPs are typically very familiar with these: challenges with social communication and interaction, restricted and repetitive behaviors, symptoms must be present in early life, must result in a clinically significant level impact on functioning, and other impairments (such as Intellectual Disability or Developmental Delay) have been ruled out as the primary challenge. 

Level 1

Autistic individuals at this level have challenges with inflexibility which have significant effects, difficulty transitioning between activities, and problems with organization and planning. 

This level is described as “requiring support” meaning that without support in place, these challenges would be noticeable by others. This individual may have strong language skills, but difficulty taking turns in conversation and initiating conversation. 

Level 2

Autistic individuals at this level have social challenges which are apparent even with supports in place. 

This level is described as “requiring substantial support,” and that the effects are noticed by the casual observer. This individual may speak in phrases and has some challenges in language skills, and limited initiations and responses in conversation would not be similar to those of neurotypical peers. 

At Level 2, you would typically see behavior challenges, inflexibility, significant difficulty with change, and restrictive and/or repetitive behaviors that are noticeable to the casual observer and “interfere with functioning in a variety of contexts.” Transitions or changes result in distress in individuals with Level 2 ASD. 

Level 3

Autistic individuals at this level “require very substantial support” for communication and social scenarios. This level is characterized by severe challenges in social interaction, communication, and a minimal response to the social/communication initiation of others. Autistic individuals at this level may have just a few verbal words, and it can be a significant challenge to figure out what they’d like or need. When others initiate, an individual at Level 3 would have a limited response or no response. 

At Level 3, you would typically see restricted and/or repetitive behaviors that significantly impact their daily functioning and great distress shifting attention and transitioning. 

Test Your Knowledge 

Take a look at these three Kindergarten students and decide for yourself if each student’s profile most closely aligns with Level 1, 2, or 3; the answer key is in the next section. 

Taylor is a Kindergarten student who was diagnosed at age 4 and has attended speech therapy since that time. During transitions Taylor continues to complete the previous activity, and it is especially difficult to get her to move on to a new activity if she doesn’t feel like the activity is complete, or if it’s a highly preferred activity. Taylor wanders the classroom, and her teacher has decided that this is a self advocated for break, and gets a few minutes to do this when she opts to by using a break card. Taylor speaks in words and short phrases and can be difficult to understand, since she has difficulty taking turns in conversation and staying on topic. 

Blake is starting Kindergarten and was identified as an Autistic individual at age 3. Since then, he received occupational therapy and speech therapy. Although Blake needs reminders, he can often self calm when asked “what would make you feel calm right now?” as he has been taught many strategies and has a few favorites. Blake is very verbal, but can get stuck on certain topics and benefits from reminders from social peers “let’s talk about something else,” and is flexible when this happens. Blake transitions between activities, but does well transitioning between activities in Kindergarten once he knows the schedule. 

Meegan is a Kindergarten student who loves to play with Play Doh and enjoys listening to songs on YouTube. Her words are typically marked by echolalia (“that’s a tractor,”) and it’s difficult to figure out what she needs. She typically wanders the room, flapping her hands and blowing raspberries or lining up toys and looking at them from a side angle. Meegan uses an AAC device to communicate that she’s just starting to learn to use. During transitions, she typically yells or cries out, even if the transition is for a preferred activity. 

Answer Key 

How were those examples? 

The answers are: 2, 1, 3. 

These weren’t based on any particular students, but it can be affirming to realize that once you understand the levels, it becomes easier to figure out where your students would be, based on these levels. 

As an SLP, I don’t diagnose children with levels of Autism or use these levels in my own therapy, but it has been useful to understand this framework as other professionals and parents use it to help me understand what they are talking about. Although we may or may not use these levels in our own therapy, communication or session notes, since others we communicate with will use these levels, it’s important to have a basic understanding of what they mean. 

Could these levels be limiting? Yes. They provide a common framework, but if taken too seriously or as if they are permanent, they can downplay the rate of growth that many people have and can be taken too literally and prescriptively. These levels also are really based on a deficit framework, instead of a strengths-based framework, and I believe this is a change we will see in the future of ASD diagnosis and treatment. Until then, understanding this common language can be incredibly helpful to SLPs as we move forward to collaborate with other professionals. 

Sarah Lockhart is a speech language pathologist in private practice in Ashland Oregon. She specializes in working with the birth to five population, particularly Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Autism.

What do you do with Echolalia?

Echolalia Q and A 

As an SLP or parent working with children who exhibit echolalia, knowing what to do can be confusing. Is echolalia something to be extinguished? Is it meaningful? How should we respond to a child’s echolalia? 

This post explores the definition of echolalia and suggestions for moving forward to students who exhibit echolalia. 

Echolalia Defined 

Echolalia is the repeating of words, phrases, or sentences previously heard. Echolalia commonly occurs in Autistic individuals, and is especially noticeable as these individuals build language. Echolalia can be immediate (a child repeats what you’ve just said) or delayed (a child repeats something they’ve heard earlier, i.e. in a movie). Echolalia is typically presented with an exact intonational pattern of the original unit of language heard. This repeated language can happen often and out of context, and it’s difficult to tell if the person is using this meaningfully or this is a repetitive sensory behavior. 

Here are some examples: 

A child loves the Toy Story movie and frequently repeats “to infinity, and beyond!” when eating a snack. 

A child typically tries to run out the front door, and parents and caregivers often say “stay here, the door is locked,” and the child frequently repeats “the door is locked” throughout the day in many different routines, and this doesn’t seem purposeful. 

A child loves watching Dora The Explorer and frequently says “swiper, no swiping!” during play time with peers. 

Echolalia Indicates Gestalt Language Processing 

Echolalia can help children process language. Children who demonstrate echolalia frequently are gestalt language learners, meaning they process language units not as stand alone words but as longer strings (phrases and sentences). 

Of note, many children are gestalt language processors, not just kids with Autism. We don’t necessarily know that all children with ASD are gestalt language learners, but echolalia can be a significant sign of a gestalt language processor. As a general rule, echolalia shouldn’t be taken literally but instead we can examine some possible functions of echolalia (see next section). 

Also, sometimes these units of echolalia can be very long (as in longer passages from movies). This can be especially difficult to work with because echolalia turns take so long, but remember to use the same strategies outlined in this blog post for those too. 

Echolalia - What does it mean? 

Unfortunately, when I was learning about echolalia, the common perspective is that echolalia was a maladaptive behavior that should be extinguished - that the goal would be to eliminate echolalia in our students. I never was quite clear on how to do that or what that meant. 

Turns out, current research suggests that echolalia is a sign of gestalt language processing. This means that our students are learning units of language, typically in phrases or sentences. As our students process that language, they will repeat those phrases. These may or may not be meaningful, but they do always indicate language learning and processing. 

Students can use echolalia for a variety of pragmatic purposes, for example - 

To Request - A student walks up to the refrigerator and says “swiper, no swiping!” and tries to open the refrigerator. It could be this student knows that this phrase is meaningful, but isn’t sure exactly how, and wants a snack. 

To Make a Choice - When given a choice between two objects, perhaps a student doesn’t point or gesture, but repeats “to infinity, and beyond!” reaching for a particular object. 

To Express Rejection - When presented with a less preferred activity, a child moves away and yells “the door is locked!” 

To Ask for Help - a student is trying to get a sticker off the sheet and it’s stuck, and yells “swiper, no swiping!” and looks at their communication partner.

For Self Regulation & Language Processing - What about when the echolalia doesn’t seem purposeful? It’s true that the function for echolalia is sometimes self regulation or a processing of language. 

Turn Taking - sometimes children use echolalia to “take a turn” in the conversation, i.e. the content of what the child is saying isn’t purposeful, but the child knows they are supposed to talk on their turn, so they use a previously learned phrase/sentence (echolalia) for their turn. 

(And more!) 

This brings us to one of the most important things we’ve discussed thus far - echolalia is language learning and processing and as communication partners, we can consider the child’s intended meaning and model that language. 

Here’s an example: 

A parent presents bubbles to a child, waiting for an initiation or request. Student turns away and yells “the door is locked!” and pushes away with their hands. 

The communication partner models “no bubbles, let’s try something else.”

Another example: 

A student is trying to open modeling clay to play with but cannot open the top, and yells “swiper, no swiping!” and then attempts to open the top with their teeth. 

Adult models, “help” and the adult opens the container. 

Yet another example: 

A child is blowing bubbles with an adult and blows through the wand, but there is no bubble solution left. The child says “the door is locked!” 

Adult models, “more bubbles” and dunks the wand into the bubble solution. 

Echolalia - It’s a Guessing Game 

Although the above examples are situations in which the communicative intent is clearer, chances are you won’t always know what a child wants or if the echolalia is meaningful. As communication partners, we treat communication as meaningful and model appropriate language for that situation. 

There are plenty of times that it may be difficult to tell if the echolalia is meaningful or how to respond. Over time, as we get to know the children we work with, we will get better at this. Take time to get to know your student, and be patient with the process. 

Sometimes echolalia is sensory stimulation? Sometimes, yes. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore it or try and get rid of it. Remember that it’s language learning, and ask yourself how you can model something meaningful. 

Echolalia Summary - Skills for Language Partners 

When students exhibit echolalia, there are some tips for therapy which can help: 

Wait for the Child to Initiate

Choose High Interest Activities 

Give the Conversation “Blank Space” (quiet time) 

Model a More Appropriate Response 

Sources: 

Steigler, L. (2020, June 29). A Language-Based Approach to Managing Echolalia. https://apps.asha.org/eweb/olsdynamicpage.aspx?title=a+language-based+approach+to+managing+echolalia+(on+demand+webinar)&webcode=olsdetails

Sarah Lockhart is a speech language pathologist in private practice in Ashland Oregon. She specializes in working with the birth to five population, particularly Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Autism.

Books on Antiracism, White Supremacy & White Privilege for SLPs

Are you an SLP looking for resources on antiracism? There are so many books and resources that it can be difficult to know where to start.

Like many educators, my own realization this summer came as a surprise and shock of how little I knew about these topics and how much there was to learn. 

The opposite of racist isn’t neutral, it’s antiracist. 

~Ibram X Kendi in How to Be Antiracist 

Should educators talk about race? 

Absolutely. By not talking about race we are ignoring the issue, and are allowing racial inequities to continue. As Ibram X Kendi notes, the only way to undo racism is to understand what racism is, name it, dismantle it, and not allow it to freeze us into inaction. 

There’s so much to learn, and learning will take a lifetime. Although there is so much to continue to learn, here are some books I’ve read lately that have informed my own learning. I do want to make it clear that I’m not a racial educator and have no specific training on this, but instead I’m sharing what I’ve read. I’ll give a short summary of each book in case you are interested in any of these books, and would like more information so you can know where to begin. The books here are in the order that I read them, and are in no particular order as far as how highly I recommend the book. 

Please feel free to purchase these books anywhere you buy books to support local businesses. For easy reference, I’ve included Amazon links in this particular article, but they are not affiliate links and I do not gain a commission or any financial rewards for sharing. 

Books 

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo 

This book is a helpful resource to examine the emotional reactions that many white people have when they encounter just how deep racism goes and just how complicit we (speaking as a white woman) have been in systemic racism. 

The author outlines reactions such as the “crying white woman” or how white people can make conversations about racism about them. 

One of the author’s main subpoints of this book seems to be this - if you are a white person learning about racism and our culture of white supremacy: do racism work on your own, without placing the emotional or educational burden on Black people, and acknowledging your own emotional and/or defensive reactions in order to continue the conversation. This isn’t about you. 

This book, which should be noted was published in 2018, already feels a bit out of date since so much has happened since then in our national consciousness. I did also want to note that this is the only book on this list written by a white woman. DiAngelo has been a racial educator for decades. 

This book is not perfect, but was an important starting place for my own education. The Atlantic published a thoughtful article titled: The Dehumanizing Condensation of White Fragility: The popular book aims to combat racism but talks down to Black people. 

The article above is a must-read for anyone who has read White Fragility. The author, John McWorter, reviews the book, ultimately stating that: 

“White Fragility is, in the end, a book about how to make certain educated white readers feel better about themselves. DiAngelo’s outlook rests upon a depiction of Black people as endlessly delicate poster children within this self-gratifying fantasy about how white America needs to think—or, better, stop thinking. Her answer to white fragility, in other words, entails an elaborate and pitilessly dehumanizing condescension toward Black people. The sad truth is that anyone falling under the sway of this blinkered, self-satisfied, punitive stunt of a primer has been taught, by a well-intentioned but tragically misguided pastor, how to be racist in a whole new way.”

Can this book still be helpful for some? Yes, I believe so. Is it the best book out there on racism? No. This book can be a helpful way to be introduced to these topics, but as McWorter, in The Atlantic Article, posits - White Fragility is overly simplistic at best and harmful and pandering at its worst. 

There’s some additional criticism that since this book isn’t written by a BIPOC author, it’s potentially drawing income and recognition away from BIPOC authors who have written about these topics for those with first-person experience with racism. For all these reasons, this book doesn’t top my own recommendations list, but it was the first book I read this summer about racism, and so I want to make sure to share it, but with a caveat. I did learn from this book, and did want to share it here. That said, I’d encourage you to check out the rest of this reading list for your starting place to support BIPOC authors and hear from their experiences. 

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X Kendi 

Dr. Kendi is a writer, author and historian and is currently the director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. 

This book is more than 500 pages and is a historical journey exploring racism from the Greek Philosophers to present day. This book dives deep into history and is a recommended read for anyone who wants more context to understand antiracism as Dr Kendi explains it today and I’d recommend reading it before reading Dr Kendi’s book called How to be Antiracist (discussed later in this article). 

Be ready for a detailed historical journey as you read this book. As a warning, this book does take quite a while to finish because of its depth and detail, so I recommend being ready for a longer read before you start reading. That said, by gaining a historical view you’ll have a much more nuanced understanding of the present day, and for that reason I highly recommend this read. 

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown 

This memoir is a powerful journey into Brown’s life growing up Black in America. If this title sounds familiar, you may have heard of the author or the title from Oprah’s Book Club, Reese’s Book Club, or Brene Brown’s podcast. 

The book starts with Austin describing how she learned, at age 7, that her parents named her Austin so that others would assume she was white. Austin talks about evangelical Christianity and the work place in particular. As someone who grew up in the evangelical Christian church and has been processing racism within education at the workplace, Channing explores these themes within this fantastic memoir that will make you laugh, cry and maybe even throw the book across the room. 

Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist by Franchesca Ramsey 

In this book, Ramsey discusses her journey from a YouTuber with a day job to a network TV commentator and comedian. This book is a series of essays that are funny, personal, and insightful. Ramsey starts by discussing what happened when a YouTube video went viral, and she became YouTube famous, with all the accolades and criticism that came with it. Ramsey’s viral YouTube video called “What White Girls Say….To Black Girls” was both praised and criticized. Through this, Ramsey discusses what she learned about “call in” versus “call out” culture and navigating the online space while discussing racism and white supremacy. 

This book is a recommended read for anyone who is in the social media space and wants a thoughtful (and funny) discussion on these topics. 

How to Be an Anitracist by Ibram X. Kendi 

I recommend reading Stamped from the Beginning first, this book really discusses the 1980s and onward. Dr. Kendi talks about his own childhood, his own experience and his parent’s experiences with racism and offers a guide on how to be an Antiracist. Kendi discusses how to move forward for those who want to move forward from an awareness of racism to learning what antiracism is and how to work towards it.

This book came highly recommended to me, but I found it just as dense and academic as Stamped, but a lot more wandering. This particular book wasn’t my favorite on the list - but again, reading is personal. I know this book has been transformative for many people.

Currently Reading 

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad 

This book is a 28 day educational and journaling experience. There’s daily information and then thoughtful journal prompts. This book is taking me some time to do, both because the journal prompts are so powerful I sometimes need more time to dig into each. I highly recommend doing these activities with a friend so that you can discuss the journal prompts and support each other and learn from each other in the process. 

Digging Into the Books 

I hope this post was helpful as you consider what to read. Of course, there are many wonderful books out there that I haven’t read yet. This work will take a lifetime, and even then, I’ll still have more to learn. Overall, my recommendations would be: 

Love history? Start with Stamped from the Beginning

Love memoirs? Start with I’m Still Here. 

Want to read more about conversations about race on the internet, including social media? Start with Well, That Escalated Quickly. 

Like to journal? Start with Me and White Supremacy

Want an in-depth discussion on racism? Start with How to Be an Antiracist 

There are so many wonderful book lists out there if you want more information, including this list from the NY Times and this list from Goodreads. 

Sarah Lockhart is a speech language pathologist in private practice in Ashland, Oregon. She specializes in working with the birth to five population, particularly Childhood Apraxia of Speech and Autism.