23: Fishing for Social Behaviors: Reframing The Knowledge Deficit with Steph West

Sharon Baum sits down with fellow speech-language pathologist and behavior analyst Steph West, founder of Starfish Social Club.

Steph brings a rare and powerful lens to her work—one that thoughtfully bridges the neurotypical and neurodivergent worlds through choice. Rather than teaching conformity, she supports clients with social-pragmatic challenges with defining their own social goals - while understanding how neurotypical peers may be interpreting a situation. Her work centers autonomy, self-awareness, and informed decision-making without any pressure to mask or perform.

Sharon and Steph also open up about their own lived experiences with ADHD and reflect on the realities faced by teens and tweens with AuDHD who are navigating sensory regulation, executive functioning, and increasingly complex social expectations. Together, they explore how internal regulation and external demands so often collide; and how clinicians can support students without pathologizing them.

Grounded in behavioral learning theory, Steph’s approach emphasizes learning over judgment. She invites us to look at behavior not as a measure of compliance or performance, but as information. Through observation of social scenes, reflection on others, and insight into the self, Steph empowers neurodivergent youth to establish, commit to, and revisit social goals that genuinely matter to them.

You can follow and learn from Steph's work on (4) Instagram, and on her website https://www.starfishsocialclub.org/. Her book can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Social-Skills-Canceled-Autism-Anxiety/dp/B0FGL9YQY2.

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