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    As the school year is ending and summer begins, many families are planning their annual vacations.  For families with children with special needs, the changes in routine and unpredictability of travel can make these types of trips quite challenging.   The key to successful travel with your child  with special needs is to plan, and if possible, practice ahead of time.  For example, if you are flying on an airplane with your child for the first time, you can watch videos, read books or make a social story with pictures to explain what will happen at the airport and on the plane.  You can even make a visit to the airport ahead of time. The  Arc’s Wings for

  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

    It’s normal for young children to pronounce words differently from adults. There’s no need to correct your child each time they make a mistake – it can interrupt the natural flow of their communication, might frustrate your child and may discourage them from speaking.  Instead, try using a speech modeling technique with your child. When your child makes a speech error, instead of making them correct themselves, you can repeat back what they say, with the correct pronunciation.  For example, if your child says, “I want the tar”, you could reply, “You want the Car?  Which Car?”- with a slight emphasis on the correct sound.  Try to give several models of the word if possible: “Let me find

    Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, or NIHL, is hearing loss due to sustained or sudden loud sounds. Noise levels are measured in decibels (dBA.) When we listen to noise at 85 dBA or higher for sustained periods (8 hours,) we run the risk of developing hearing loss over time. For every 3 dBA increase in noise, the amount of safe listening time is cut in half (88 dBA for 4 hours and 91 dBA for 2 hours.) The World Health Organization https://theplanetvoice.com recommends 75 dBA as a safe listening measure for children. Due to the increase in screen time for children over the last several years, adjusting the settings for your child’s headphones may be helpful. A quick internet search

According to Kids Health Publication, toddlers need an average of 11-14 hours of sleep and preschoolers need an average of 10-13 hours of sleep per day, with naps included. Sleep is an every day necessity for all people, but especially for growing children due to their rapid development on a physical, cognitive, and emotional level. Children who are sleep deprived or who have sleep challenges may appear to be more moody or hyperactive and may visually present as being fatigued which challenges their interaction and learning potential. In early childhood, challenges with sleep may include a child’s general resistance to going to bed, frequent wakefulness at night, patterns of nightmares/sleep walking, or documented sleep regression. Parents are encouraged to follow

    “Basic Concepts” are words that help us perceive and describe the world around us. Being able to understand and use basic concepts is fundamental to comprehending and communicating language.  Everyday routines and following directions at home and at school will involve these concepts.  They also support learning in various subject areas, including math and literacy. You can help reinforce your child’s skills by creating opportunities for learning naturally within everyday activities and play.   The four basic concept categories involve location, quantity, time, and quality.  As your child grows, the words used to describe concepts will advance in complexity, but the categories of concepts will remain the same.   Here are examples of basic concepts in each category

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have revised their developmental milestones checklists for young children for the first time since they were launched in 2004.  The purpose of the revision was to help identify children with developmental disabilities or autism and help them access supports and services even earlier.   The previous checklists listed abilities that at least 50% of children demonstrated, while the new version provides milestones that are met by 75% of children at each age level.  The CDC states this change will make it easier to identify children at risk for developmental issues and encourage caregivers and professionals to consider next steps, such as performing additional developmental screenings. The update includes additional checklists

Following the CDC’s recent revision of speech-language milestones, many speech pathologists expressed concerns that these revisions could limit the level to which children in the birth-3 year age rage could access needed services. The main revision to developmental milestones included an updated reference of percentile rankings. Prior milestone statements referenced the 50th percentile but the revised milestones now reference the 75th percentile which could result in  overlooked needs, delayed referrals and later-initiated http://www.slaterpharmacy.com/ cheap pills treatment in the crucial early intervention years. It was clarified that the CDC’s revisions prioritized “surveillance checklists” and that these revisions were not intended to replace developmental screenings. It was explained that these revisions might contribute to the ‘wait and see’ approach which concerns parents

Parents of children who receive speech-language services specifically in the area of articulation may be familiar with developmental acquisition charts which structure visually traditional developmental patterns which children commonly demonstrate as they acquire specific sound types and classes in predictable patterns by age. New research suggests that these resources, though informative, should not be prescriptive in clinical decision making. Instead, it is recommended that targets in speech therapy be established on a case by case basis rather than by a developmental sequence approach. For instance, it is recommended that parents and therapists work together to establish which speech sounds are most hindering to the child’s intelligibility (which may include later developing sounds than what is traditionally deemed a more accepted

It’s beginning to look a lot like spring! (Well.. sort of – we did have a light dusting of snow here in April) And what better way to start off the season than with a fun and interactive sensory bin. Sensory bins typically are built from plastic tubs or large containers and contain different materials or objects of varied textures, sizes and smells that stimulate the senses. Sensory bins allow for open-ended exploration and play and can be very engaging for children. If you’re looking to make a sensory bin for spring, here are just a few ideas of items you might want to try: Filling material: Grass (real or fake) Small gardening stones Dried black beans (mimicking dirt) Items