There are certain toys and tools you hear about in grad school and run out to get them. You just HAVE to have them in order to be a fun and effective therapist. Then there are some things you learn about as you practice and wonder how you ever got by before them! Generally, the toys and
Receptive language tasks/skills are vital for performance in school, during formal assessments, and in order for us to gauge what our clients know. However, drilling during this type of activity can be somewhat boring at times. When I see little friends getting a bit bored of the typical receptive activity, I have a few tricks
Speech and language therapy can happen just about anywhere, and in some cases unfortunately does. We have all either heard or experienced having to do therapy in closets, in the hall or some other challenging
I have been feeling a little nostalgic of late and in honour of Canada's 150th birthday, I thought I would talk about using the book, "The Hockey Sweater" in therapy (no affiliate links). It is a
Most Recent From the BlogMy Favorite FidgetsI currently work with preschoolers, ages 3-5. Many are non-verbal/low-verbal, many on the autism spectrum, and I have a slew of initial evaluations that walk into my room. To keep
Feel confident you're delivering effective early intervention and parent coaching sessions with the Early Intervention Handbook.
Looking for affordable Valentine's Day therapy tools? Try candy hearts for reinforcement, a mini mailbox for articulation or language activities, sticky note envelopes for writing exercises, heart-shaped cookie cutters for comparisons and games, and heart-shaped beads for articulation or minimal pai
I've heard much discussion from you (SLPs) about the method that your district/state uses to evaluate your performance. Some have said they are evaluated much like the teachers are, others said they're not evaluated yet because the district is unsure how to do so. In my district, all teachers, SLPs, OTs, PTs, specialists, etc. are
These are some of my favorite Valentine's Day apps for speech-language therapy. They help practice targets such as vocabulary, following directions, verbs, articulation, prepositions, and more! These apps provide engaging and educational activities for therapy sessions.
The components of an informal assessment of communication skills in children with selective mutism.
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A social skills blog post about developing perspective taking in younger children. Includes evidence-based interventions and ideas for speech therapy activities.
I’m talking some more today about narrative skills in students, including those who do not speak. I can’t stress enough the importance of developing narrative skills in children. Narratives are important because they allow us to move away from the “here and now,” and to focus less on our personal experiences, while allowing students to talk about what is not immediate, but rather the decontextualized language of the classroom. Narrative skills begin to develop in young children and are mediated by parental support. These early interactions build the foundation upon which children build their narrative and academic skills (Boudreau 2008). The narrative skills of preschoolers are predictive of academic success in school, as well as social success. As students with narrative language deficits continue having difficulties in academic and social success, we are reminded of the importance of intervention at the narrative levels. Shared Reading : These early interactions [between parent and child] build the foundation upon which children build their narrative and academic skills (Boudreau 2008). The narrative skills of preschoolers are predictive of academic success in school, as well as social success. As students with narrative language deficits continue having difficulties in academic and social success, we are reminded of the importance of intervention at the narrative levels “One of the most ubiquitous and powerful discourse forms in human communication is narrative.” (Bruner 1990). Narrative is crucial in human interactions, yet often receives the least attention. Bruner went on to name the 4 areas of grammar critical to narrative production: A means for emphasizing actions towards obtaining a goal, A sequential order should be established and maintained; so that events are stated in a linear way Sensitivity to what forms and patterns of language are acceptable Containing a narrator’s perspective or ‘voice.’ Note: Take a look at this narrative/story resource here Narrative has been found (Nelson et al 1989) to capture not only the events of daily interactions, but to encourage interpretation, imagination, and use of self-talk to solve problems. One factor that is shown to have an influence on students’ skills in narrative discourse is early interactions around books and experiences. The interactions with parents or other adults that provide scaffolding of story telling/ experience retelling, that co-construct narratives with children and gradually decrease that support, are critical. By providing opportunities to interact with partners who provide quality exchanges students develop the narrative skills that they need. There are 3 basic types of narrative scripts: personal experiences, scripts, and fictional stories (Hudson & Shapiro, 1991). Personal narratives are the easiest place to begin in intervention with children. And they are the most often used types of narrative. “By focusing on narratives in our language intervention, we can explore processing limitations, create opportunities for using decontextualized language, facilitate social relationships, provide practice in constructive listening, improve reading comprehension, and identify language learning strengths and weaknesses.” (Johnston 2008) For AAC users, focusing on the use of core words and important fringe, and moving from single symbols to sequences of symbols for generating novel utterances (SNUG), we need to keep our AAC users moving on the "oral" - literate continuum. This means teaching AAC users to construct messages and sequence ideas in order to engage in meaningful conversations. Boudreau, D. (2008) Forword. Topics in Language Disorders, 28 (2), 91-92 Catts,H et al (1999). Language basis of reading and reading disabilities: Evidence from a longitudinal investigation. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3(4), 331-361. Gillam, R, & Pearson, N. (2003)The Test of Narrative Language. Austin, Tx: Pro-Ed. Johnston, J. (1982). Narratives: A new look at communication problems in older language-disordered children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in the Schools, 13, 144-155. Johnston, J. (2008). Narratives: Twenty-five years later. Topics in Language Disorders, 28 (2), 93-98
Looking to add some St. Patrick's Day magic to your therapy? Here are 5 affordable items under $5: foam shamrocks for matching games and describing, gold coins for feeding games and positional concepts, tin buckets for sorting and reinforcement, mini leprechaun hats for minimal pairs and ring toss,
This blog post gives ideas for teaching students with autism about detecting sarcasm in tone of voice by isolating specific skills.
It's sad to say, but one of my favorite parts of my jobs is organizing. Folders, printed materials, labels, dividers, hole punches, highlighters... It all makes me giddy. There was an empty filing cabinet in
If you have ever been a parent or worked with a small child, you know they love activities that involve actions or movement. You also know it doesn’t have to be anything fancy to engage them, which is why I am sharing my DIY cereal box feeding activity. All you need is an empty cereal ... Read more
Whether you're working with little ones or older students, incorporating seasonal themes into your sessions can add an extra layer of excitement and relevance. In this blog post, let’s look at a range of interactive and creative teletherapy activities specifically for the winter season.
A blog post by a speech language pathologist about using interactive notebooks to improve language skills in preschoolers in the home setting.
Prelinguistic skills are acquired as babies and toddlers develop. They are important for early childhood communication.
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Today we will be focusing on tips and tricks for eliciting /s/. There is much to say concerning the different error patterns for /s/ and I don’t like long blog posts (reading or writing them) so I’m reserving tips and tricks for the lateral /s/ as a separate entry. We will focus solely on the ... Read more
Get practical grammar intervention tips that are aligned with Evidence-based practices with links to research articles.
Today as I picked up my second grader for my first group of the day, he said to me, "My mind is asleep. And my muscles." I'd been wanting to use the game "Twister" in therapy for a while - my mom even got it for me for Christmas because she knew I'd put a
Looking to transition to teletherapy as an SLP? Get all the information you need to make a seamless switch in speech therapy service delivery models.
With vocabulary now identified as "an area of weakness" across my school district this year (based on standardized testing), I've been delving deeper into how we as SLPs and educators in general can improve our
Looking for affordable Easter-themed therapy tools? Here are 5 must-have items under $5! Mini eggs for reinforcement, bubble wands for communication skills, plastic Easter eggs for hiding objects, Easter grass for sensory boxes, and stretchy bunnies for target practice. Find them at Dollar Tree, Wal
No more guessing about what themes your older speech therapy students will love! Get tons of specific ideas for themed therapy with your middle and high school students.
Activity Ideas for Engaging Active Kids in Gross Motor Activities During Speech Therapy - Let's Get MOVING
Listening comprehension is a vital skill for all children. Providing visuals is the perfect way to scaffold the task, while gradually increasing the difficulty. This resource contains 3 different levels of difficulty: 1, 2, & 3 sentence mini-stories. Each story comes with a visual support to assist in answering the questions. Use these visuals as needed and fade them when possible. This resource is perfect for targeting listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and Wh- questions - making it ideal for mixed groups. There are 16 different mini-stories with 3 levels each (1, 2, & 3 sentences) plus one visual per story; 48 question cards plus 16 picture cards = total of 64 cards! The follow-up to my best-selling first version, this edition has proper names and more specific details, making it the perfect next step in your listening comprehension toolbox! → What's Included? 16 different stories of increasing length 16 visual scenes a variety of wh- questions at each level You Might Also Like... Short Story Listening Comprehension Scaffolded with Visuals for Speech Therapy Receptive Language Flipbook - Superhero Syntax ☠ Clickhere to follow Speech Language Pirates and stay up to date on the latest resources, freebies, and special promotions!
Get practical grammar intervention tips that are aligned with Evidence-based practices with links to research articles.
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Most SLP would describe themselves as having more of a type A personality. We don't like to make mistakes, especially in front of others. At least I don't. But I am here to encourage you
It's the first day of summer vacation and I'm celebrating this break! Over the school year I completed over 100 different evaluations. I work on a play-based evaluation team. Here are a few quick tips
