Author: Wee Speech PC

H It’s a very noisy world, and children are at risk for developing hearing damage due to loud and repeated sound exposure. Dr. Frank Wartinger, Audiologist at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, outlines several tips in his article (link below) for parents to help protect their children’s hearing: Teach children to respect their hearing: Talk to your kids about how important hearing is to everyday life. They will be more likely to protect their hearing if they understand and appreciate it. Dr. Wartinger suggested having your child identify his or her favorite sound and share how they would feel if they could no longer hear it. Know when a sound is dangerously loud: When your child is listening to music or

Children with communication impairments may significantly benefit from the use of “wait time” to allow for time to process. Try waiting 3-5 seconds after asking your child a question, giving a direction, or wanting them to elaborate on an idea. Recent research shows that wait time decreased “I don’t know” responses from children with longer responses recorded following this wait time. Think time may also be extremely effective for children with word finding difficulties to allow time to formulate their idea and retrieve their words. Using a visual picture to represent think time can be a good reminder to both you and your child to slow down! https://blog.asha.org/2019/05/22/3-steps-for-using-wait-time-to-improve-treatment- outcomes/

Reading with your child is an excellent time to point out spelling patterns by talking about your observations! For example, try pointing out patterns such as ‘ss’ at the end of the word as in “press” and have your child look for other words containing that spelling pattern. Also, take the time to look at base/root words while reading. For example, “I hear the word ‘cycle’ in the word ‘bicycle’”. Additionally, children may frequently ask how to spell an unfamiliar word. Encourage your child to sound out the word and address it in smaller chunks (e.g. syllables, prefixes, root words, rhyming words, etc.). Check out the article below for more helpful tips and examples! https://www.spell-links.com/download/10ThingsSpellingEnglish.pdf

The ASHA Leader highlighted recent evidence that suggests an advantage of traditional books over electronic books. A study conducted at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital (Munzer TG, et al. Pediatrics. March 25, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2012) found that parents and toddlers verbalized and interacted more while reading traditional print books as opposed to e-books. The interactions noted included commenting on the illustrations, asking and answering questions, and discussing life experiences that related to the story. While families also interacted when reading enhanced e-books (with sound effects and animation), it was significantly less collaborative than with traditional print books. In fact, the conversation while reading e-books often revolved around the device itself and the associated effects as opposed to the

Play Schemes Play combines prerequisites of joint attention and imitation and encourages problem solving, creativity, risk-taking, and flexibility in thinking. Play is said to greatly facilitate the sensory, motor, social, and emotional development of children. In addition, strong play skills are said to correlate with the language skills. Play develops early in the first months of life and is said to emerge in complexity as children develop. The foundations for play are established early in development as children learn from others in their environment through back and forth interaction (e.g. peek a boo, patty cake, singing.) Early play develops in infancy when babies learn to use their bodies and objects purposefully for movement, activation of sound, and cause-effect. Before 1

Amy Jandrisevits, a former Wisconsin social worker in pediatric oncology realized that play dolls marketed for children were lacking in inclusivity and diversity. She decided to passionately pursue doll creation starting with GoFundMe to raise funds for providing dolls to children in need.  Through access to her website “A Doll Like Me”, dolls are available for purchase for children of all colors, genders, and body types. She also stressed the importance of having dolls available to children who may have limb differences, cleft pallet, birthmarks, etc. to ensure all children with differences and disabilities are represented in the world around them. Her initiative is growing in popularity, with thousands of followers on Facebook and Instagram supporting her in this cause.