Free App Friday

This is a big day for free apps!  Smart Apps For Kids has a list of 95 apps that are free today!  This is the largest list I have seen yet and there are some great apps available.  Go check it out and have a happy Friday!

Finding a Speech-Language Pathologist

In my last post I talked about finding a Speech-Language Pathologist if you were concerned about your child's speech or language development.  I thought it might be helpful to dedicate an entire post about the different programs that are available. 

Infants & Toddlers:

Many people are not aware that every state in the United States has an Infant-Toddler Program that provides home based therapy services to children 0-3 years of age.  These services are often provided at no charge to the family. However, more and more states are implementing a sliding fee scale for some families, or billing insurances if the family has private insurance.  Each state is different, so it is best to ask about how services are covered when you call to refer your child.  There are a range of therapies that are available to your child depending on their area of concern, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, developmental therapy, clinical  services for parents and families, service coordination, etc.  You can talk with your child's pediatrician about making a referral, or you yourself can call.  Just go to this website, click on your state, and call the number provided.  They will take down your information and a service coordinator will call you back to start the intake process. 

Preschoolers:

If your child is 3 years or older you can call your local school district.  Each district is different, but some have screening days throughout the year.  Others will have you schedule directly with the Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP).  Either way, they will do a quick screening on your child and determine whether or not a full assessment is needed.  If your child qualifies for services through the school district, you would take them to the school, usually once a week, where they would be seen directly by the SLP.  Sometimes children are seen in pairs or small groups in the schools.  If your child has other areas of concerns, a full developmental assessment may be done to determine whether they would benefit from attending a special education preschool.  If they qualified, children usually attend 2-4 days per week, again depending on the district.  More and more of these programs have typical peer models that attend as well.  Speech therapy is usually provided in the preschool classroom if your child attends, but some pull-out services may be provided as well.*

School-Aged:

Once again, if your child is already attending school and you become concerned about their speech or language skills, the school district is one option for seeking out speech services.  You can talk with your child's teacher about your concerns and ask if he/she can make a referral to the school SLP.  Or you can contact the SLP at your child's school directly.  If your child qualifies for services, they would see the school Speech Therapist once or twice a week, most likely in a small group.*

* More and more states are using Speech-Language Pathology Assistants (SLPA) to provide direct speech therapy to your child in the schools.  This means they have a bachelors degree in speech-language pathology, but have not completed their masters degree, which is required to become a certified speech-language pathologist.  The Speech-Language Pathologist would supervise the SLPA, and would most likely see your child occasionally.  For more information about SLPA's, ASHA has a great FAQ section you can check out.

All Ages:

• Private Clinics: If your child does not qualify for services through the Infant-Toddler Program or the school district you can still seek out services privately.  You would need to talk with your child's pediatrician about making a referral if going through your insurance.  Or if you are paying out of pocket you can contact a clinic directly.  Sometimes a quick google search will bring up several clinics in your area, or the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (AHSA) has a section where you can search for certified SLPs in your area.  If your child is evaluated and demonstrates delays in their speech or language skills and speech therapy is recommended, they would see a Speech-Language Pathologist 1-2 times a week.  This would be at the clinic and your child would be seen in a one on one setting with the SLP.  
• Hospitals: Hospitals provide outpatient services either at the hospital or at different locations throughout your area. Again, talk to your pediatrician about making a referral to the hospital.  An evaluation would be completed to determine whether speech therapy services are needed.  If recommended, your child would be seen 1-2 times a week at the outpatient clinic closest to you. 
• State Agencies for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing:  If your child has a hearing loss, speech therapy services are sometimes provided by your local agency for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  SLPs working for these agencies specialize in working with children with hearing loss and are often fluent is ASL.  For more information, here is a list of agencies in each state.
• Universities: If you live in a city close to a university, you may want to check to see if they offer a speech-language pathology program. If they do, they will have a clinic where graduate students provide speech therapy at a reduced cost.  The graduate students are supervised by a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist.
• Scottish Rite Masons: Some cities have Scottish Rite Speech Therapy Centers that offer speech therapy services free of charge.  There is an application process and if your child is chosen, services are provided 1-2 times a week.  You would have to do a search (Scottish Rite Speech Therapy City, State) to see if there is a program available in your area.

Sometimes clinics or agencies have waitlists, which means that your child's services will be delayed until a SLP has an opening.  If this happens, I encourage you to check out different agencies or clinics in your area to see if they have immediate openings or if their waitlist is smaller. 

Good luck with your search, and let me know if I missed any agencies or resources for seeking out speech therapy!

Free App Friday

Yay, it's Friday!  Which mean lots of free apps to choose from.  Smart Apps for Kids has a list of 15 apps that are completely free today! Go check it out!

Ideas to Encourage Speech & Language Development in Toddlers

Children develop speech and language skills at their own rate, which means some children are perfectly on schedule with what textbooks and websites say, some are a little slow to talk, and some demonstrate advanced skills.  Regardless of where a child is with their speech or language, I am often asked, "I think my child might be delayed, what can I do to help him talk more?"  Well, this post is dedicated to answering that question.  I've put together a list of ideas and activities to do with your toddler to encourage more language production and work on age-appropriate speech sounds.   

For a child who is around 2 years of age, the sounds they should be starting to master are the ones they produce mainly with their lips:  /b/ /p/ /m/ /w/, as well as /n/ & /h/.  Focus on these sounds while doing language stimulation activities with your child:

1. Play around with these sounds in the mirror.  Make silly sounds, simple words, or animal sounds and see if your child will imitate (ba, be, bo, bye, bay, bob, beep, boom, etc.).  For example: Mom says, "baba" while pointing to her mouth, then point to child's mouth and say, "Your turn."  Wait at least 5 seconds, then repeat if the child didn't imitate.  Children also like videos, so you can even do this while recording this activity on your phone or tablet, then watch it with your little one when you are done.  Oftentimes children imitate sounds/words a second time when watching the video.  If your child doesn't respond well to direct activities like this, just model these silly sounds during play.

2. Use simple 1-2 word phrases when talking with your child, get down at their level so they can see mouth movements and the way sounds are produced.  

3. Speak slowly.  I feel like I am always saying, "We need to hurry!"  As I am rattling off a list of things for my daughter to do so we can leave the house.  We get so caught up in the hustle of everyday life that we often push our little ones to "hurry hurry!"  all while throwing tons of language at them, spoken at a very fast rate.  All children benefit when we slow our rate of speech & model good conversational turn-taking skills (eye contact, getting down at their level, body directed towards your listener, wait for child to respond, etc.).

3.  If your child says something and it sounds like gibberish,  but you understand what they want based on context, model the words you think they are trying to say. Example:  Child: "Bbash tisad"  while pointing to the milk, Mom: "Want milk? Okay. Here's milk. Milk. Yummy Milk."  Then hand them the milk, "Mmm milk!"

3. Sing simple nursery rhymes and children's songs with your child, as the lyrics have many of the early developing sounds a toddler should be starting to master.

4. During play, model environmental sounds like car sounds, silly sounds, and animal sounds and see if your child will imitate.

5.  When trying to get your child to imitate a word (stick to 1-word phrases), give them the model, wait 5 seconds, prompt one time for them to say it, wait 5 seconds, then move on.

6. Bubbles are great a great way to work on language, because most all kids LOVE bubbles.  Have your child request "more" or "bubble."  Talk about popping the bubbles, "pop!" or where the bubbles are, "up" "down."  Even things like, "Uh oh," "all gone."  "bye bye." Etc. 

7. Offer a choice of 2 items.  Even when you know your child just wants milk, offer milk or water--label each one, "Milk? Water?"  Wait the 5 seconds, if your child points to milk, label "Milk, want milk?"  Wait 5 seconds, then label it a few more times, "Milk, yummy milk."  and give them the milk, even if they didn't imitate.

8.  If your child is struggling to produce words, baby sign language can be a nice bridge to verbal communication.  I like to focus on one sign at a time and start with one handed signs like "milk," "eat" or "drink."  Chose something that will be rewarding to your child and model the sign as close to your face/mouth as possible.  Always say the verbal production of the word while modeling the sign as well.  Baby Sign Language is a great resource.  You can look up a sign, watch a video, and even print off a picture of the sign to color with your child.  I tell parents to hang it on the fridge or a high traffic area so both you and your child will see if often.

Biggest things to remember:

1. Label label label and repeat repeat repeat.  The more your child hears it, the better!


2. WAIT.  Too often we tell a child, "Say milk, milk. Do you want milk? Say milk?"  All without even pausing to give the child a chance to say it. It can be hard, so I tell parents to literally count to 5 in their head.


3. Use simple phrases when talking with your child.  1-3 words max.


4. PLAY! Talk about what you are doing, what he is doing, make silly sounds, and most important have fun!


5. Reward immediately. If your child requests using real, clear words, or imitates you after you have modeled a word or sign, give them what they asked for as soon as possible!


6. Slow down while talking with your child.

I usually tell parents to hang this list on the fridge, look at it every morning and pick one thing they are going to focus on that day with their child. Once or twice a day for 5-10 minutes is all it takes! Please remember, however, that this blog and the information I provide is for educational purposes and is NOT meant to be a replacement for therapy provided by a licensed speech-language pathologist. If your toddler demonstrates delayed speech or language skills, I encourage you to seek out a speech-therapist in your area, or contact your local Infant-Toddler Program to see if they qualify for therapy. 

Free App Friday!

This week Smart Apps For Kids has a nice list of the top 50 apps that are free on iTunes, so check it out!  Also, Best Apps For Kids has a list of free apps as well as Free App Friday.  Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend.

Apraxia Awareness Day

Today is Apraxia Awareness Day!! Be sure to check out this post to learn more about Apraxia and ways to get involved. Here is an updated list of ways to get involved. 

I Am Hiding!

I recently stumbled across "I Am Hiding" by Mercer Mayer and got a little too excited about how perfect it would be for targeting several language concepts.  Each page is very simple, with repetitive text that could be used for working on the pronoun, "I," the be-auxiliary, "I am," action words, and verb+ing.  It could even be used for targeting other pronouns such as "he" and "she" as you describe what the brother/sister is doing.   

Here are some simple ways to work on each of these targets as you read this book with your child, create a group activity for your class, or work with a student in therapy:

Pronouns: 

• When targeting "I" just have the child repeat the phrase on each page word for word. ("I am sneaking.")
• If the target is he/she, describe what the brother or sister is doing and have the child repeat the phrase.  Or ask them, "What is he doing?"  ("He is resting."  "She is looking.")

Be-Auxiliary ("I am"):

• Have the child repeat each phrase in the book. ("I am hopping")
• After reading each page, have the child act it out and describe what they are doing. ("I am creeping.")

Action words/verb+ing:

• Label each action for the child and have them repeat it.
• If they are at the phrase level, have them repeat each sentence after you read it.
• Again, simply having them act out the action on the page, and then label it is a great way to work on action words.  

Large Group/Small Group:

• Give each child a copy of the book so they can follow along as you read it. 
• Act out the actions on each page and have the children repeat the phrase from the book. 
• Have the children describe what other children are doing to target the pronouns he/she. "What is Sarah doing" "She is jumping."  or "Who is looking" "She is!")
• Play hide-and-go seek at the end and have the child 'seeking' use the phrase, "I am" as they are looking. ("I am looking."  "I am walking."  "I am stretching")
• Once they find the child that was hiding, ask the class, "Who did he find?"  Then have the class repeat either "her" or "him" to target those pronouns.  If you were still working on children's names, you could have them say the child's name. 

For additional activities, Speaking of Speech has a great section on targeting verbs, including "I am." 

Summertime, Booktime!

I know I have been very scarce with posts during this summer break, but as I begin my new job I hope to get back in the swing of things. In the meantime, I had to share some great books I have run into that would be wonderful for both therapy and large groups.  The first one was read at my daughter's story time at the library the other day.  It is called, "Jump" by Scott M. Fischer. 

It is a great story that could target animal names and actions.  Each animal "JUMPS" away from the animal they meet, with repetitive text that would be easy for imitation of words and actions while reading it.  I found this fun song that could even go along with it:

I am already planning a fun large group with this one! The next one is called, "Pepper Picks a Pumpkin" by Linda Bleck.  This one may be a little harder to find, but is a great one for individual therapy focusing on /p/.  Honestly, just reading it word for word provides some great auditory bombardment.  

The last book is another fun one from the library.  It is called "If You See a Kitten" by John Butler.  This is one that could be used for both individual and group therapies.  It has simple text that focuses on simple CV combinations that kids can't help but imitate!  For example, "If you see a snake...say EEEEEEK!"  How cute is that!? After reading this one, you could have the children act out the story and encourage all the children to say the sound/word when they "see" the animal!  

I hope you are all having a relaxing summer!  

National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month

July is National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month.  I have been excited all year to write this post for some reason.  And I'm sure most of that reason is my nephew. This little guy is seriously the sweetest thing.  I love all of my nieces and nephews so much, but lets just say I hold a special place in my heart for this one.  (I mean just look at this cute kid!)

Photo by: Kassie Crapo Photographer

He was born premature, with a complete bilateral cleft lip and palate. And his parents had no idea until the doctors laid this tiny baby in their arms.  They were beyond shocked and overwhelmed.  To care for a premie is hard enough, but one that can't latch easily and has additional medical needs can seem impossible at times, I'm sure.  Me being the "helpful" younger sister right in the middle of graduate school, went to work getting services in place and providing [overwhelming] them with additional information and resources.  They lived in an area where I had done developmental therapy for the early intervention program and one of my professors was on the craniofacial team in the area--so naturally I was the expert they needed to help them through this. ;)  Truthfully they had wonderful hospital staff who provided them with most of the same information that I did.  Anyway, I share all of this because I think raising awareness is so important for people just like them.   Everyone knows there are different degrees to a cleft lip and/or palate.  Everyone knows that folic acid is crucial in the beginning weeks of pregnancy, specifically to help prevent certain birth defects including cleft lip & palate.  Everyone knows that the doctors will specifically check for a cleft lip during your ultrasound at about 18 weeks.  Everyone knows that most causes of a cleft lip and palate are a combination of genetics and environmental factors.  Everyone knows there are early intervention programs in every state to help with therapies, family support, and other additional resources.  But are these really things that everyone knows?  No.  My SIL didn't think to specifically ask if the tech could see that her baby had a cleft palate during that very special ultrasound.  Others have no idea that they can receive services or support through their state when their child is under 3 years of age at no cost or reduced costs.  And I'm sure there are still many who have no idea that not taking folic acid during pregnancy may lead to some birth defects.    There is a website specifically dedicated to spreading awareness this month- NCCAMP.org.  They provide wonderful information on how to get involved, events happening, how to organize your own event, and other helpful resources for families.  The Cleft Palate Foundation is another great resource if you are wanting to learn more.  They have wonderful handouts and information for families and professionals.  The Children's Craniofacial Association is one other website I would like to mention. This site has great information on different syndromes, qualified centers (listed by state), and events happening around the US.  So this month check out an event in your area and get involved or better yet, organize one yourself to spread awareness! 

International Children's Day

June 1st is International Children's Day and what better way to end the year than by having a day to celebrate children!  The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland, announced June 1 as International Children's Day in 1925. There are usually speeches on children's rights and wellbeing, and other events involving or dedicated to children on this day.  So celebrate your children this Sunday in some special way. They truly deserve it!

Summer Programs

If any of you were here last year, you know that I offered speech and language packets to work on throughout the summer.  This year, I am going to do things a little different.  I will provide wordlists of your child's sounds for the articulation calendars (if you request these lists), but the calendars for articulation and language activities will all be listed below.  No paper copies will be sent home this year.  I have included a PDF version, so it should be very easy to print one off each month.  This way I am able to offer a variety of packets, and you as parents can chose the packet that best fits your child's developmental level or interests.  I have also included some general ideas/activities you can just quickly look over and choose from.  

• June Summer Language Calendars:

Nonverbal PDF

Verbal PDF

• July Summer Language Calendars:

Nonverbal PDF

Verbal PDF

• August Summer Language Calendar:

Nonverbal PDF

Note: First Day of School for Elementary is actually August 20th!

Verbal PDF

• June Summer Articulation Calendar (be sure to keep the sound collage mentioned on the 10th for practice all throughout the summer). 

PDF

• July Summer Articulation Calendar 

PDF

• August Summer Articulation Calendar:

PDF

• Nonverbal Children: Summer Language Stimulation 
• Verbal Children: Summer Language Stimulation
• Speech & Language Activities for Each Day of the Week: Six Weeks of Summer
• Speech & Language worksheets: Summer Speech-Language Activities
• Toddler-Pre-k Activities: Summertime Speech & Language Activities
• More Toddler-Pre-k Activities: Top 10 Summer Activities 
• Activities to Maintain Skills Over the Summer: Handy Handout
• Summer Activities for Language: 5 Super-Cool Speech & Language Activities 
• *Natural Ways to Work on Speech: Encouraging Speech Development in Children 
• 5-tips to Make it Through Summer Speech & Language Practice: Heather's Speech Therapy

Enjoy your summer break! 

Better Hearing and Speech Month

Songtree

With end of year madness, we will be doing our Songtree for Large Group next week.  This includes singing lots of fun songs,  specifically including one of our latest favorites, "London Bridge Is Falling Down," nursery rhymes, and chants.  We will focus on pronouns, keeping a beat, doing the actions, and phonemic awareness.  There will be no learning card or weekly handout for this week. 

Next Year Changes

Some of you may have already heard, but if not I wanted to let you all know that next year I will not be coming back to Willow Springs.  :(  My husband has accepted a position in Seattle, so we will be moving up there this summer.  It has been fun these last 2 years, and I am so sad to leave all the students who will be returning next year.  I plan to keep this blog though, so feel free to check back often for handouts and information related to speech and language development.  I wish you all the best, and hope that you keep in touch. I love hearing from past students about their wonderful progress!  :)

Better Hearing and Speech Month

Mr. Potato Re-visited

Next week for Large Group we will be doing Mr. Potato Head again.  The students LOVED this one and got a kick out of putting his body parts on.  If you would like to read more about it, check out this post.  There will not be a learning card for this Large Group sent out this time.  Just refer to the one listed in the original post, or if you happen to still have the paper copy.  

National Stuttering Awareness Week

This is a busy month for speech and language awareness!  It is also one of the busiest months for school SLPs, so I'm sorry this is so late in the week.  Anyway, May 12-18th is National Stuttering Awareness Week (NSAW)!  This week is all about reaching the thousands of people who stutter who still feel alone and isolated.  It is an annual event that I hold dear to my heart, because I have several family members and friends who stutter.  The National Stuttering Association has some wonderful information about NSAW and how to get involved.  If you would like to learn more about stuttering, The Stuttering Foundation has wonderful resources as well.  It is my favorite go-to site for stuttering information.  So get out there and spread awareness about National Stuttering Awareness Week! 

National Apraxia Awareness Day

Today is National Apraxia Awareness Day.  Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder where children struggle with production of sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness, rather the brain has difficulties planning movements of body parts such as the lips, jaw, or tongue, used for speech. With CAS, children know what exactly what they want to say, but their brain has trouble planning and coordinating the muscle movements needed to say the sounds and words.  Apraxia -KIDS has a wonderful list of ways you can get involved and spread awareness.  

If you would like to read more about CAS, these are some great websites to check out:

http://testyyettrying.blogspot.com/p/learn-more.html

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/ChildhoodApraxia/

http://www.apraxia-kids.org

Better Hearing and Speech Month

Minecraft….again!

Yes you read that right, we are doing Minecraft…again.  It was such a hit, and I have had several requests from the students to do it again, so it will happen one last time before the end of the school year.  If you would like to read more about our last Minecraft Large Group, including learning card and weekly handout, check out this post.  Also, to give you an idea of how much fun we had, here are a few pictures from the last time:

Ms. Ange's Class

Miss Happy Steve

Ms. Jeana's Class

Scared and Happy Steves

Since our Minecraft Day, many of the kids have been building Minecraft structures with the legos, including Steves and Creepers.  Can you spot the Steve on top of the Lego house?!

There were a few classes that had little to no interest in the Steve Heads, so for those classes we will do some scarf dancing to make it more fun! ;)  Happy Minecraft Madness!