Author: Wee Speech PC

    I had the opportunity to take a course regarding working through parents’ reactions to a diagnosis of a child with special needs. Just like every child is different from one another, so too is the process parents may have in response to their child’s diagnosis. Some may grieve the diagnosis – whether that be immediately following it or delayed in the weeks and months after.  Some may be familiar with the Kübler-Ross model which describes the grieving process through five different stages including: denial & isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Parents and caregivers may be going through some of these stages. A thing to keep in mind is that their experience with these is not always linear and

‘Technoference’ refers to the interruption of social interactions by personal technology. An example of this might be if you’ve ever been out with friends at dinner and someone repeatedly checks their phone. This can happen when interacting with children as well. Correlational research suggests that technoference is associated with increases in challenging behaviors for children, relational difficulties for couples and co-parents, and aspects of parent- child attachment. It’s easy to just suggest to parents to “get off your phones” but consider a more compassionate and empathetic viewpoint: in a survey of mothers of children under six (self- reported,) mothers with higher levels of stress engaged in more problematic smartphone use, such as checking notifications. This use was then associated with

Jen Richardson is an educational audiologist who works with those with hearing needs in grades K-12. She was recruited by a young client’s mother who worked for the American Girl company. Richardson provided her expertise on creating a hearing aid for the company’s new doll, Joss. In addition to providing pediatric hearing aids and various accessories to the company to help with the physical design, Richardson provided information that contributed to the character’s story. According to the book, Joss wears a hearing aid in her right ear due to a bilateral hearing loss and occasionally utilizes sign language. Richardson was also contacted for her input on a new Barbie doll. This posed a challenge due to Barbie’s tiny features but

The kids’ TV show “Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go” recently introduced a new character who has autism. The character’s name is Bruno the Brake Car and he is voiced by child actors who also have autism. Chuck Smith voices the U.S. version of the show, while Elliot Garcia voices the U.K. version. The TV show’s production company, Mattel Television, consulted with various autism organizations and Autistic people when developing the character. Refer to Shelley D. Hutchin’s article from the ASHA LeaderLive listed below. Hutchins, Shelley D. (2022). Thomas the Tank Engine Introduces Autistic Train Voiced by Autistic Actors. The ASHA LeaderLive. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/2022-1011-thomas-autistic-train-slp/full/

By 3, a child will typically produce 3-4 word phrases, make animal and environmental sounds, name most common objects, produce personal pronouns, answer yes/no questions, and request using power words.  As these skills are emerging, you may want to see your child demonstrate these skills.   Here are some ways language can be modeled: Child is playing with a truck on a slide. “Whoa, look at the truck! It’s going up-up-up, weeee!” Child is playing with a baby doll. “Uh oh, baby is crying, she needs mama. ‘Mama, where are you? Mama help!’”  The adult is modeling language a child can imitate that is also describing the play routine, so it is relevant and fun for the child. It’s like watching

  With the outbreak of COVID-19 more than two years ago, schools and clinics resorted to using virtual platforms in order to continue providing educational and therapeutic services to students and clients. Nowadays, it appears Zoom is here to stay as an effective and convenient means of conducting therapy if in-person services are not an option, or simply if a family chooses to elect telehealth for their child. If your child is participating in virtual services, here are some key tips for making sure their therapy sessions are successful:   1. Make sure your child has a designated area to work in. Your child should have a specific area at home that they are able to use their iPad, computer, or

Stuttering is a fluency disorder that causes disruptions or disfluencies in one’s speech. Stuttering can also cause an individual who stutters to have negative feelings about how they talk, to avoid situations to prevent a possible stutter, to escape a stuttering moment such as eye blinking, or to have physical tension when speaking. With stuttering encompassing a wide range of difficulties, there are a variety of false statements that surround this fluency disorder. Education about the falsehoods of stuttering can ensure a better understanding of the disorder and reduce biases towards people who stutter. Here is a list of the most common myths about stuttering: -People stutter because they are nervous. -Stuttering effects one’s intelligence. -Stress causes stuttering. -People who

  Attache is a great article shared by the Hanen Centre titled “How to Use Book Reading to Build Interaction in Children on the Autism Spectrum” This article provides information about how to incorporate wordless picture books in a shared reading experience, incorporate your child’s interests, and facilitate commenting while engaging together. Keep the interaction going by trying https://numerologist.com/ Desyrel to expand beyond what you see in the book! Make it fun by adding movement, sound effects, and pretend play related to the book. http://www.hanen.org/SiteAssets/Good-­‐‑Dog-­‐‑Carl_Autism-­‐‑Month-­‐‑ Handout.aspx?_cldee=GXWAexeDl403LqAiXHrcUlwpOLoMjQxt9q9p9tdJ_vmZCuu_rKLI_9g6 D4BNeK4V&recipientid=contact-­‐‑0c5f98b26c62ec118f8e0022486d976c-­‐‑ 78e2d5e11da94eaaaa938ee671c348ba&esid=4ef81745-­‐‑1bbf-­‐‑ec11-­‐‑983e-­‐‑0022486dc62a