Category: blog

  According to Scholastic, shared book reading is one way to build a child’s vocabulary and object recognition skills, spark their curiosity in different experiences, and create wonderful moments of engagement from birth. Selecting books can be challenging given the vast array of choices and styles of children’s books.  Research suggests that one of the best means for selecting books relates to the age appropriateness. Babies and toddlers are reported to do best with high contrast board books that are simplistic, repetitive, and durable with their design. Bath and sensory books which are made of vinyl or cloth are engaging for young infants and can be incorporated in different environments such as when taking a bath or playing at the

  For children who benefit from reading support, this support may fall into one of three categories (reading comprehension, the ability to decode at the phonological level, and the ability to read fluently.) Reading Fluency refers to the ability to read accurately, at an appropriate rate, with naturalistic expression similarly to how people would converse. In short, Reading Fluency refers to the ability to recognize and produce written text with automaticity and ease. Reading Fluency Challenges may look like: *getting stuck when reading aloud *requiring extended time to read a passage aloud (reading slowly) *losing one’s place when reading aloud *having monotone/choppy expression when reading aloud *reading words inaccurately in a given sentence/passage *using frequent start/stop/correct patterns when reading aloud 

When working with your child on increasing your child’s ability to functionally communicate at home, it is important to focus on words that are going to be most effective across a variety of environments and activities.  While nouns (e.g., cookie, star) and politeness terms (e.g., please, thank you) are important, the most effective and research-based words to focus on for early talkers are pronouns, verbs, and prepositions, otherwise known as “core vocabulary.” Studies have shown that these words make up 89% of a typically developing preschoolers vocabulary.  Let’s think about why these words are so effective.  Imagine you are playing cars with your child and your child says “car.” You are likely to interpret that to mean that your child

  Dysregulation affects how children (and their caregivers) interact with their environment and other individuals. Difficulty with sensory processing affects how many children process their environment and can present in various ways (increased energy, quickly moving throughout their environment, or slow, passive wandering with reduced energy). It is important to attempt to reach optimal arousal in order to encourage learning; this can be done by trying to assess a child’s arousal level and attempting to either increase their arousal by providing input or reducing their level of arousal by decelerating into a calm state. Start by asking yourself, “Can I adjust my own energy level to affect the child?” Jessie Ginsburg, CCC-SLP provides strategies to alter states of arousal in

Mealtimes in a household with a child with feeding difficulties can be stressful, not just for the parent, but for the child too! Increased stress at mealtimes often results in reduced willingness to try new foods. Luckily, there are many strategies available to create happy, enjoyable mealtimes. Below are some strategies that you can try at home!  Help your child transition to mealtime by giving a verbal warning (e.g., “dinner is in 5 minutes”) and setting up a meal time routine (e.g., go wash your hands then go to the table).  Eat meals as a family. Pass the food around family-style and allow your child to see you eating and enjoying food. You can assign mealtime roles, such as setting

  Oral language skills are the foundation for a child to develop the reading and writing skills they need as they start and progress through school.  Researchers  who study early language development have identified six conditions in a child’s environment that can promote language learning (Dickinson, D. K., Griffith, J. A., Michnick Golinkoff, R., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. , 2012). An easy way to create these conditions at home is through reading with your child. The six conditions that promote language learning are: Children need to hear many words often.  Between the ages of one and five years of age, children learn approximately 3-4 new words per day.  Books expose children to many new words, because they often include new, unfamiliar

As of July 2021, the ACT is now allowing students with communication disabilities to qualify for accommodations via their IEPs and 504 plans. These changes will apply for the 2021-2022 school year. To receive testing accommodations, one only needs to submit their IEP or 504 plan that shows the testing accommodations to ACT when they register to take the test. They are also offering accommodations to those without IEPs or 504 plans when documentation from a licensed professional identifies a physical or mental impairment, which limits one or more life activities. People can also submit current and official accommodations or an expired IEP or 504 plan if no longer a student. Deppe, J. (2021, September 1). Act Test Will Now

    Your child may be using augmentative or alternative methods (AAC) to communicate. When introduced to AAC, users may initially use it primarily to request. However, once they’ve reached success with requesting, how do we begin to move beyond that? Better yet, what other ways are there to communicate? Communication goes beyond just requesting items. Communication can also be used to ask and answer questions, to comment, to express our opinions, to protest and to retell individual experiences. How do we model these functions? One way is through aided language input, defined as a communication partner highlighting symbols on an AAC system as they interact verbally with the individual using AAC with a goal to teach language (Goosens, Crain,

  Self-advocacy can play a significant role in a child’s success in the classroom. It is important to evaluate a child’s ability to self-advocate for their needs or when they need help. Children may not self-advocate for themselves if they have reduced awareness for their skill level, feel anxious when needing help, or if they are unable to find the words to use to request assistance. Self-advocacy also requires executive functions such as planning, inhibition, and organizing. Teaching self-advocacy using graphic organizers, visual supports, and rating scales can help children become more confident in their self-advocacy skills. See the article from the American Speech and Hearing Association regarding self-advocacy for more information: https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/leader.FTR1.26082021.32/full/

Did you know that in 5% of children who begin to stutter, 70-80% of those children will recover naturally without formal intervention? It is actually common for children between the ages of one and five to have disfluencies (e.g., repeating words- “ba-ba-ball” or phrases- “I want I want ball”) and it is usually a sign that the child’s vocabulary is expanding quickly and he or she is beginning to learn complex language rules. Many times, these forms of stuttering will reduce on their own, but it is important to monitor and seek professional help when needed.  So, when should you become concerned that your child’s stuttering will persist? If stuttering has lasted for 6-12 months or more If the child