Year: 2017

Why is my child’s speech so hard to understand?

  Developing intelligible speech is not so easy. It means that your child has to correctly produce enough sounds to be understood. So what could be causing your child’s difficulty in producing intelligible speech? There can be several causes. It may be because he hasn’t learned the correct placement or manner of production for certain sounds. It could be because he is only able to inconsistently produce the sounds he has mastered. It is also possible that your child’s speech is difficult to understand because of structural problems or oral weakness. The role of a speech pathologist is to evaluate why your child’s speech is difficult to understand.  Finding the underlying cause/s for your child’s reduced speech intelligibility is essential to correctly treating the condition.

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Help! … My Child Drools

It is common for infants to drool.  Although less common in the very young child, mild drooling is still considered normal.  Drooling in infants and children to age 2 is generally due to an immature neurological system and or teething.  Over the age of 2, drooling is no longer considered typical and further assessment is warranted. After age 2, drooling is less socially accepted.  If there is no direct medical cause, drooling may be secondary to the poor development of oral motor skill and or strength of the muscles of the head and trunk.  This lack of development can lead to difficulty managing saliva.  Chronic droolers may show minimal or reduced awareness of saliva loss. When to seek help: Does

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Asperger’s Are Us

Asperger’s Are Us is a new documentary film that looks at the lives and comedy sketch troupe of 4 young men who have Asperger syndrome. Check it out on Netflix!

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Ford Motors Autism Hiring Program

Ford Motor Company has just expanded their hiring initiative for people with autism. FordInclusiveWorks is a program that provides individuals with autism work experience and the possibility of competitive employment.  This program is in partnership with The Autism Alliance of Michigan.  

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Winter Vacation

Winter vacations can be a great time to spend time together as a family.  They are also full of opportunities to grow vocabulary and language!  We all have phones that take pictures now.  When you are out and about during winter vacation, be sure to snap some shots of the places you go and things that you do.  These can be used to retell events using sequencing and event specific vocabulary.  Don’t forget to take pictures of relatives that you visit – these are great for WH question practice!  Who did we see? Where do they live? When were we there? Print your pictures and glue them into books so that you can use them over and over, retelling events and solidifying vocabulary retention.

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