#316: Your Complete Guide to Daycare for Kids with Autism: Skills, Supports, and Success
Turn Autism AroundShow Notes
Is your child ready for autism daycare? In this podcast, Dr. Mary Barbera—autism mom, behavior analyst, and nurse—explains how to tell if your child is ready and how to help them thrive in a daycare environment. With special guest Kelsey General, we dive into how to assess daycare readiness, what core skills to teach at home, and how to reduce anxiety through visual supports and gradual exposure. We also talk about what makes a daycare autism-friendly, how to handle drop-off struggles, and how to advocate for the support your child needs.
More from Turn Autism Around
Michelle C. shares her daughter Elena's autism success story, from severe language delays and tantrums at age two to thriving in a general education third-grade classroom. After COVID disrupted therapy services, Michelle used the Turn Autism Around® approach to assess Elena's skills, build communication, make learning enjoyable, and track progress. Elena went from using only a few meaningful words to hundreds, while Michelle gained the confidence and tools to support her development. Today, Michelle also helps other families as a Team Barbera coach.
Mary Barbera welcomes back Michelle, a parent and autism coach, to share her daughter Elena's remarkable journey. Michelle discusses recognizing early signs of regression, receiving an autism diagnosis, and navigating therapy shutdowns during COVID-19. She shares how implementing at-home teaching strategies helped Elena progress from two words to 180 words and phrases in just 33 days. Now eight years old and thriving in third grade, Elena continues to make progress. Michelle reflects on the challenges her family overcame and the importance of empowering parents to actively participate in their children's development.
Mary Barbera interviews longtime collaborator Tracy Rasmussen about helping her 16-month-old granddaughter, Cece, who was showing signs of a speech delay. Tracy shares the strategies she learned through Mary's program, including language sampling, modeling words, repetition, structured table time, and reducing pressure around speaking. She also discusses Cece's early progress with new word approximations, communication, and cooperation. The program is designed to give parents, grandparents, and professionals practical tools they can use to help children build stronger communication and language skills.
Dr. Mary Barbera explains why "free" autism advice and therapy can still carry a cost when they delay real progress. Mary shares two parent stories: Ruth, who spent 150+ hours piecing together free content without a step-by-step plan, and Kelsey, who had funded therapy in place but watched her son work on the wrong goals. Both stories point to the same lesson: parents need to become the "Captain of the Ship" with a clear plan for teaching language, reducing problem behaviors, and supporting progress every day.
When a child has words but speaks too quietly to hear, low volume may be connected to confidence, fluency, and how difficult the word feels. In this coaching call excerpt, Dr. Mary Barbera explains how to increase talking and voice volume by giving the answer, modeling words clearly, slowing down practice, using 3D objects, matching, microphones, mirrors, songs, outdoor play, and weekly word lists. The goal is to shape louder, clearer communication without constant correction or pressure.