About Julie Meyerowitz
Hello, I’m Julie. Welcome! Are you ready to challenge the limiting, outdated misinformation about what’s possible for folks on the autism spectrum? Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and strive for MORE? Well then, I’m excited to meet you! Let’s do it.
About my approach (style) to therapy…
The first thing you need to know about me is that I’m highly allergic to the phrase, “This child will never…” And I include in that not just kids but also adults (because even we adults are someone’s kids, and we get spoken about like that, too).
The next important thing to know about my approach is that somewhere along the way I figured out that the deeper you start, the more you can accomplish, more quickly, with less work, and longer-lasting, broader-reaching results.
As someone who is neurodivergent myself (I received an ADD diagnosis when I was 17 years old), I am passionate about finding the balance between growing our brains and getting the support we need. I’ve found through my own personal experience and through observing my clients over the years, that when we find this balance that’s where growth, change, and connection REALLY happen!
Sadly, most therapies don’t generate the kinds of results you want in everyday life, because that’s not actually their main focus. In order to fit the current model of scientific understanding, most therapies are focused on isolating specific behaviors, separating them from everyday contexts, and generating “replicable and measurable” results in these specific behaviors. The assumption is that these behavioral changes will then generalize outside of therapy, leading to improved “quality of life” (which, by definition is NOT, “replicable and measurable.”) The current research is showing us that this approach to intervention is failing to make good on its promises, particularly when it comes to autism.
Instead of dissecting children, families, and independent adults into “normal” vs. “broken” parts, taken out of context, I take a much more holistic and empowering approach. I hand the steering wheel back to YOU to determine what’s not working for YOU and then give you the clarity, guidance, and support you need to make it work better.
I unequivocally reject the popular, but distorted, approach of “fixing broken kids.” I replace that with supporting the most powerful influence in your child’s growth and development. That is, YOU.
Our brains, bodies, everything about us is growing and changing in relationship to the world around us all 168 hours of every week. NO ONE has more influence over your child’s weekly 168 than YOU. We provide the expertise, guidance, support, and encouragement you need to make the MOST of your child’s Weekly 168!
Also, my approach is ALL about collaboration and doing real life everyday activities in the natural environment. When we have the support we need, we can find our own voice and build on that support to grow into our best selves.
About my background and training…
I earned my BA in Dramatherapy with a minor in Russian language from Goucher College in 2000 and had the opportunity to volunteer for half a year in Irkutsk, Siberia following college. I earned my MS in speech-language pathology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2008. I chose Columbia’s program for its focus on bilingual language development and the opportunity to work in its Neurocognition of Language Lab. Since that time, I’ve worked with clients– babies through adults– in schools, homes, and online in NY, PA, MD, & WA, helping them improve their communication skills in all areas including: speaking for the first time, achieving smoother and clearer speech, and improving language comprehension and expression whether in speech or in writing.
Soon after earning my degree in speech-language pathology, I received training in ABA. As my experience as a speech-language pathologist (aka “speech therapist”) grew, so did a special interest in my autistic clients. Over time, I found that even as their skills improved and they met their goals, the social connections and academic progress we’d worked towards together continued to elude them.
I began to experiment with approaches I’d learned in my undergraduate training in dramatherapy, as well as the broader theater training I’d received when I was younger. One day, unprompted, an autistic kindergarten student I was working with walked into the speech room, looked me and said, “Miss Julia (I didn’t correct him), now that I know about talking to people, I actually kind of like it.” At the end of the school year, I met with his father to dismiss him from speech, as he’d met all his communication goals. At the meeting, his father showed me the tattoo of a phoenix he’d gotten in honor of his son.
Since then, I’ve made it my mission to learn all I can to help others like this little boy who inspired me.
About my work (ideal clients)…
Who benefits most from the work I do?
Folks who are missing some major connection in their lives.
Whether it’s parents whose children are disconnected from them due to Autism Spectrum Disorder or some similar social difference, adults who are having trouble connecting in their important relationships (social, professional, family, romantic), or professionals looking to boost their teaching or therapy in my areas of specialization, working with me is about finding practical and lasting solutions you can apply right away!
My initial training as a speech-language pathologist has enabled many to improve their communication– whether it’s making the shift from pre-verbal to fully and meaningfully verbal, developing a more American-sounding accent, or learning to prepare an awesome presentation or essay. Meanwhile, my training as a Relationship Development Intervention consultant and beyond has enabled me to support individuals and families to make even bigger shifts! Additionally, I continue to explore many more interventions and schools of thought, including other relationship and play-based approaches, such as DIR–Floortime, Patti Wipfler’s Hand-in-Hand approach, Advancing Social-Communication and Play, & others.
I’ve also familiarized myself with body-based approaches, such as the Polyvagal approach shared by Dr. Porges, Deb Dana, & Dr. Mona Delahooke, Primitive Reflex Integration and the work of Stanley Rosenberg. Through this ongoing exploration I’ve found a path from lost, disconnected and chaotic to self-directed, genuinely connected, and purpose driven.
And by the way, no previous diagnosis is necessary to make progress in our work together; and I do not give a formal diagnosis. (However, if you are seeking a formal diagnosis for yourself or your child, I can help connect you with the right people.)
A Little About Me…
I’m married to my best friend. Together we strive to bring out the best in ourselves and each other and to support our two young daughters as they grow into themselves in this big, bad, awesome, incredible world. I love to garden, cook (especially maatar paneer), and sew; hikes; wildcrafting; swimming; yoga and pilates; and watching tiny house videos.
And permaculture. OMG! Anything permaculture… in fact I’d love to combine that with this one day…
SPECIALTIES
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Autism
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Increasing Dynamic Intelligence & Growth Mindset
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Resilience and Social Relationships
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Improving communication with and for the pre-verbal among us
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Expressive and Receptive Language
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Speech Clarity and Fluency
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Literacy and Written expression
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Presentation Skills
Results shared by former clients:
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(W)e have been able to better connect in a loving way with our son — for instance, he asked the other day for his dad to cuddle him, which he’d never done before. There is nothing better than that. Also, we have been able to reduce the frequency of explosive outbursts a lot, and when they do still occur, we have a great set of tools to resolve them as positively as possible. And finally, we have observed him improve certain skills that have been hard for our son to develop (ability to handle plans changing, ability to creatively brainstorm solutions to problems that come up, ability to restore a sense of calm when he is scared / panicked, etc.).
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As a result of working with Julie my children have greatly approved in everyday speech and now speak more clearly. More family members and friends understand them while they are speaking, telling stories of their favorite things or trying to explain something.
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In terms of results, there are many layers of positive effects.
1) PLAY. While he was almost 6 when we started working together, Julie introduced us to a play scale which showed that the sophistication of his play was on par with a 2 year old. Through targeted activities and realistic expectations, we slowly progressed his play to be more imaginative & self-directed. While he has not “caught up” with his peers, watching him play, he looks more engaged and interested in play than before, and is more observant of his peers, adapting better to the play he is invited into.
2) NARRATIVE. Our son had no attention span or retention for stories or movies. Julie identified “narrative” as a struggle for many kiddos on the spectrum. With this as well, we used targeted goals and methods to encourage interest, show him what to watch and listen for, highlight motivation, and just encourage enjoyment of stories and movies. Now he loves movies and can usually identify some of the key pieces of a story or movie. Here again he still has much growth, but we’re confident that the foundation is laid.
3) COMMUNICATION. We were able to identify some of the patterns of communication that were making conversation with our son complicated. By framing better ways to communicate, modeling our thought processes outloud, checking in with Julie about what was “fair” / “typical” to expect, our son’s conversation is far more relatable to a broader group of people.
4) INITIATION & AUTONOMY. Our initial concerns included our son being very passive and showing little interest in things. He was content with what was introduced to him but initiated/asked for very little. Using Declarative Language was extremely helpful to pass the baton to him while giving him some framework to work within. He now wants to do many things by himself (big kid style) in a very age appropriate way. He’s still finding his “thing” interest wise; we’ve got a few leads that we’re fostering and we’ll see what sticks.
5) PERSPECTIVE. Finally, while Julie does not purport to be a marriage counselor, it really was helpful to have an informed third party to facilitate some difficult conversations around the challenges of parenting an autistic child. We got into some difficult topics that, left to our own devices, we may never have addressed, or would have had no outside perspective to shine a light on what other families experience.
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(Our daughter’s) language was just rambling without words, using signs etc. It was frustrating for her not to be able to tell us what she wanted and it was upsetting for us not being able to understand what she wanted. This caused a lot of tantrums for our girl… As a result of working with Julie, our daughter little by little started saying more and more sounds. She helped facilitate this process and helped our daughter realize what she was capable of, one sound at a time. Now, our daughter doesn’t stop talking all day long!
What it’s like to work with me (also from former clients):
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Working with Julie has been great in so many ways. First of all, she has such a rich, deep, wide knowledge of so many helpful tools, exercises, books, videos, etc. One reason I was excited to work with her was to accelerate my own journey as a parent, and working with Julie is like going to study with a really wise old karate master. Second, she has done a great job of tailoring our time to what we most want to focus on. We appreciate that she is flexible and skilled in understanding what makes sense to focus on each week, given what is going on in our house. Third, she is supportive and caring towards us — she is able to guide us in a way that feels nice, but still ensures we are identifying problems and working on them. Besides what we actually work on and talk about, it is valuable just to spend time in her presence, being positively affected by her energy and warmth. Fourth, she has been very professional and reliable… She has been very thorough and impressive in her ability to hear us, retain that information, and bring it to bear over time to help us.
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Working with Julie has been educational, not only for my boys but for me as well.
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We love Julie, not only is she amazing at what she does, but she is also very educated in the knowledge and background of speech and language. Julie is also very caring and loves what she does which makes her excellent at what she does and how she performs.
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Julie is a renaissance practitioner. She is never satisfied with her knowledge base and is constantly exploring other fields of thought, theories, methods, connections, and viewpoints that may shed light on a particular kiddo.
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Working with Julie was such a wonderful experience, even virtually. It takes a special person to be able to hold a toddlers attention virtually, but she did it. She found fun games that interested my daughter, and was flexible when we needed to change things up because it wasn’t working anymore. We appreciated her genuine interest and passion for helping our daughter. She stretched her so much and was so patient.
Years of Experience: 14
Licenses:
CA: SLP 31943
MD: SLP 08297
NY: SLP 019612
PA: SLP SL010424
Other Certifications:
Certified Relationship Development Intervention Consultant
American Speech Language & Hearing Association Certificate of Clinical Confidence