Category: Uncategorized

December Wee Speech Newsletter

Guess How Many? We have a guess jar in the waiting room!  Children and siblilngs are encouraged to fill out a slip each month with their guess.  Don’t forget your first name and last initial.  The drawing is at the end of the montoh and a special prize awaits the winner!!What’s Happening in the Clinic this Month?Welcome!Please say hello to our newest team member,   Connie Izquierdo M.S., CCC/SLP, CSOM. Connie has wide range of experiences in the area of speech and language.  Check out her bio on our staff page.   Team MeetingsThis month our team discussed Aided Language Learning.  This technique was designed to enhance vocabulary learning and syntax development.   We’ve worked hard to increase readability in our report writing. 

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Bilingual Language Development

Some parents who speak multiple languages wonder whether teaching more than one language to their child will confuse their child or delay speech and language development. The fact is that children can learn two languages with practice, and learning another language will not cause or worsen speech or language problems. The American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) states that children who are bilingual follow a similar language development trajectory as monolingual children, but there are some normal deviations during bilingual language development: The child may not talk as much, or go through a “silent period,” when they start using a second language. This can last several months. The child may mix grammar rules of both languages in the same utterance.

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August Newsletter

Guess How Many? We have a Guess Jar in the waiting room!  Children and siblings are encouraged to fill out a slip each month with their guess.  Don’t forge your first name and last initial.  The drawing is at the end of the month and a special suprise awaits the lucky winner!   August Birthdays! Zev BEric BEzra GAvery KEli & Avi M Devorah RJoshua RAri SJack TFelipe VAmi WShmuel Z            What’s Happening in the Clinic this Month?Comings and GoingsPlease say hello to our newest team member,  Hollis Thomann, SLP. Hollis has wide range of experiences and interests in the area of speech and language.  Team MeetingsOur team loves to learn!  This month at our team meeting,

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Two columns post layout

The left columnTypography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning).The right columnTypography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning).Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking),

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Two columns post layout

The left columnTypography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning).The right columnTypography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning).Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking),

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Keeping Your Voice Healthy

Voice is so important to our ability to communicate and express ourselves. Many people don’t realize that there are behaviors that can help or hurt normal vocal functioning. The National Institute of Health provide a list of helpful vocal hygiene tips to prevent voice problems: o   Drink water: The vocal folds move best when the body is well-hydrated, o   Limit caffeine: Caffeine is drying to the entire body. Cutting back on these drinks can help keep your vocal folds hydrated. o   Don’t overuse your voice:Doing a lot of talking, especially in noisy situations (sporting events, restaurants, bars, parties, social gatherings, industrial settings) can be tiring for your vocal folds. Give yourself voice breaks or moments when you don’t use your

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Communicative Gestures Used as a Predictor for Later Language

A variety of gestures have been shown to be a predictor for later language development in children with autism, children with Down Syndrome, and typically developing children. Gestures are described as actions produced with the intent to communicate and are usually expressed using the fingers, hands, arms, and facial features. Early use of gestures has been linked to increased language production, language comprehension, and object naming. A child’s joint attention skills, such as giving or showing objects may also predict later language skills. Lack of joint attention behaviors between the ages of 2 and 3 years old may be an indication of developmental deficits. The frequency of gesture use as a form of intentional communication is an important factor when

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Home Literacy Activities and Executive Functioning

Researchers from the University of Washington recently conducted a 5-year longitudinal study of 241 families to study home literacy and its impacts. The participants included a group of first- to fifth graders and a group of third- to seventh graders. The study found that children with higher reading and writing achievement at school engaged in more reading and writing activities at home. Parental rating scales also indicated that children’s ability to self-regulate attention spans remained consistent throughout the study, however, executive functioning skills including goal-setting, often improved.

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The Wilson Reading Program and how it be can be utilized in speech therapy.

Wilson Reading System is a research-based, systematic, multi-sensory reading program designed to improve the five areas of reading including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.  It is a 12-step program, with the first 6-steps teaching consistent foundational patterns, and the later 6-steps teaching more complex concepts. Letter-sound knowledge is taught systematically and paired with a multisensory approach as it is the building blocks for reading and writing. The multi-sensory approach is shown to activate more neurons during language learning and improve the chances that it becomes stored in long-term memory. The program is for students in grades 2-12 who have word-level deficits and poor sound/symbol systems for both reading and spelling.  This program is appropriate for students with language-based

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Communicating with Baby: Tips and Milestones From Birth to Age 5

The American Speech Language Hearing Association and Read Aloud 15 Minutes have collaborated on a series of handouts for parents that discuss speech and language development.  The handouts are grouped by age and offer a bounty of useful information on communication and literacy skills.  Check them out here.

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