Category: blog

  Internalized Anxiety is believed to be one of the largest hurdles to learning for all people. As stress is experienced in the body, adrenaline levels increase, forcing us into a flight or fight response. According to an article taken from the Washington Post (June 2011), studies show that anxiety for children in a home or classroom environment can be predictive of learning and social-emotional challenges. According to Primary Times Cornwall (Instagram April 2019),  childhood anxiety can take on many forms and can manifest as ‘something else’, suggesting children externalize anxiety in varied ways. Recognizing these indicators provides parents with helpful insights into supporting  children who demonstrate signs of anxiety at an early age. 1. Anger~Research shows that anger is often a major

  Typically, there are eight phases that must occur before your child will talk. These phases center around the importance of targeting the pre-linguistic skill of imitation. It is important to remember that imitation is a core skill that must begin before your child develops linguistic skills. Phase 1: Imitation of Actions with Objects (e.g., child imitates you stacking blocks) Phase 2: Imitation of Communication Gestures (e.g., child imitates finger movements while singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider”) Phase 3: Imitation of Non-verbal Actions with Face/Mouth (e.g., puckering lips to blow a kiss) Phase 4: Imitation of Vocal Movements (eg., pretending to growl like a dog) Phase 5: Imitation of Exclamatory Words (e.g., child imitates “wow” or “uh oh”) Phase 6: Imitation of

Traditionally, the early babbling of babies has been thought to primarily be a mechanism for babies to learn and practice how to use their mouths and voices. New research published in the journal, Developmental Science, shows how early babies begin to understand that their vocalizations can impact the people around them. The study showed that babies as young as 3-5 months of age changed the amount and intensity of their babbling when an adult stopped responding to their vocalizations, showing that a baby’s babbling functions as a tool, as they build associations between their own non- crying sounds and the reactions of adults, and learn the value of vocalizing for communication purposes. Parents and caregivers can encourage communication by tuning

  Its Fall and apple picking is underway.  When gazing down the long rows of trees you will notice signs indicating the vast number of apple types and even apple hybrids there may be in any given orchard, and if you ever decided to make anything with those delicious apples you will notice that different recipes call for different types of apples.  We need to know the type of apples to know how to use it.  Similarly,  speech therapists need to investigate the type of speech sound errors their clients and patients may make in order to best provide the right treatment method.  This may be straightforward and understood at the time of the initial evaluation, may need follow up

Winter is here, holiday activities are mostly over  bringing with it a significant decrease in  feasible “park days” for parents and kids to easily incorporate movement into their busy schedules.  However, movement is essential for healthy development with speech and language development as no exception. In fact, physical activity likely plays a larger role in a child’s development than previously thought. Research suggests that promoting movement and activity in young children can help increase memory, perception, language, attention, emotion and even decision making. When language is combined with movement, learning has been shown to increase 90 percent. Some ideas to consider increasing movement opportunities during these bleak months may include dance party movement breaks, nature walks with scavenger hunts, activities

    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

  Yes! Children who have language delays have the capacity to learn more than one language, especially when they are very young. Research has shown that bilingualism does NOT cause a language delay or disorder. Some children who are exposed to more than one language may experience a “silent period,” in which they demonstrate limited verbal communication as they spend time observing and listening to the sounds and structures of the second language. The “silent period” can occur from approximately one month to six months, depending on various factors such as the child’s exposure to each language or his/her age; However, it is important to note that the presence of a “silent period” does not indicate a language delay or

    Music can be a fun way to help your child develop their language, motor, and memory skills. The rhythm of the music and the repetition words can not only help them build their vocabulary, it can encourage them to try sounds or words they might not attempt while talking. Most parents probably know the classics like Old McDonald and Itsy Bitsy Spider, so here are a few suggestions of silly songs you can add to your repertoire.  Links are provided just to help you learn the tunes and actions because these are songs you and your child should sing and act out together!   I’m a Little Snowman- sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot”, it

Here are 5 common techniques used by speech-language pathologists everywhere, that parents and caregivers can use when practicing with your little ones at home: 1. Give Choices: Instead of asking your child a yes/no question (“Do you want juice?”), ask an either/or question (“Do you want juice or milk?”). This will encourage their use of more vocabulary. 2. Simplify Language: Keep it short, clear and concise. If your child has difficulty comprehending language, this can help with understanding. You can still expand your child’s sentence structure without being too wordy. Instead of, “Do you want to go in the kitchen with me to bake some chocolate chip cookies?” try, “Let’s go bake some cookies!” 3. Wait Time: If you ask

‘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