Category: blog

Social Stories describe a situation, skill, or concept in terms of relevant social cues, perspectives, and common responses in a specifically defined style and format. For many years, we could only create these stories via paper and pencil, but wonderful apps for both Apple and Android products have been developed that allow parents and therapists to create colorful, simple, and engaging social stories. Although your child’s therapist may have some great ideas for appropriate social stories, if you’re curious, the following link offers nice instructions on how to develop your own social stories as well as questions to ask while reading it with your child. https://www.erinoakkids.ca/ErinoakKids/media/EOK_Documents/Autism_Resources/Comic-Strip-Conversations.pdf

The term ‘neurodiversity’ is not a new one; it suggests that there are differences in the human brain due to natural variance in DNA. It is a biological fact. This idea is not the same as the neurodiversity movement. Unlike the term, the movement is related to social justice. Its members advocate for equality, respect, and full societal inclusion for the neurodivergent.  The movement was developed to  counteract the prevailing notion that neurodiversity is a thing to be fixed rather than celebrated. In honor of Autism Awareness Month, this neurodiversity movement discussion will be applied to autism. Not all families, adults, and children with autism align themselves with the neurodiversity movement. However, those that do, advocate for acceptance of autism

Schools are always searching for new ways to become more inclusive. One stand out special education teacher at Lawton Alternative School in San Francisco, CA has developed a fun and functional way for her students to integrate into their school and neighborhood communities. Her “Coffee Cart” reinforces interpersonal, academic, and life skills. Please check out this video for her innovative story. How does your child’s school support and celebrate neurodiversity? http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/11/12/a-fun-way-to-help-special-needs-students-feel-valued-by-school-community/

Spring is finally here and kids are eager to spend more time outside. While playgrounds are an automatic “fun” zone, they can also be a great place to reinforce language and social concepts. Building an obstacle course by using sequencing words “first, second, then, before, after” is a simple way to practice following directions. For instance, you can say “first go down the slide, then go across the monkey bars.” If your child is working on social skills, the playground is ripe with opportunities to take turns, make introductions, or simply say “hi”. For more ideas check out: https://www.speechandlanguagekids.com/speech-and-language-activities-for-the-park-or-playground/

Spring is upon us and before you know it you’ll be celebrating the end of another school year. Research tells us that kids lose up to two months of learning over the summer. So it is even more vital to continue to support learning for kids with learning disabilities, speech/language, and pragmatic impairment. Although there are many camps designed for children with various diagnoses, don’t overlook your city’s park district summer camps or activities. They offer a plethora of classes that tangentially support, receptive/expressive language and social skills. For instance, an acting class’s primary goal might be to produce a play, but it may also support social and expressive language skills. Here are a list of possible camps based on

Individual Education Plan meetings can sometimes be intimidating for parents. While there are many professional experts in the room, it’s important to remember that you too are an expert on your child. Take the opportunity to ask questions, advocate for specific services or an increase in minutes, and clarify terminology. This article provides a quick review of the parent’s rights and key questions to ask during IEP meetings. http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2014/03/17/what-should-parents-ask-for-in-an-iep-meeting-2/

Hearing individuals are constantly taking in sound through both ears at lightning speed and transforming these sounds into messages that convey language. But sometimes there is a breakdown while processing and organizing these sound parts. This disruption results in a Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) and leads to a breakdown of language processing.  A person with this disorder may have difficulty following complex directions, rhyming, identifying all the sounds in a word, or identifying a compound word like “cowboy” if each word chunk was presented to different ears. Because the symptoms stem from a breakdown at the acoustic level, an audiologist makes the CAPD diagnosis. Children as young as 6-7 can be diagnosed. The initial symptoms can appear as a

Technology is marketed towards kids in the form of apps, games, and books. One of the growing areas is children’s books which are available online or through Kindle. This new book form, called e-books, offers a novel way of interacting with books. These options include special effects, videos, pieces within a page that can be manipulated, and even a read-aloud feature. However, research tells us that kids learn best through human interaction and without monitoring, e-books can easily become a one-way device. Reading Rockets, an education based website, has developed a great list of practical ideas to remain focused on reading and the story. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/how-read-e-book-your-child

In the last few years’ executive dysfunction has become a hot topic in the world of education. It has become an important area of research for good reason! There is mounting evidence to indicate that the collection of skills that comprise executive functions are a stronger way to gauge academic and social success than IQ. So what does this new buzz word mean? It is an umbrella term for the collection of the following skills: regulation of emotions and impulses, organization, sequencing, adapting, recalling information, persisting through a task even when it’s difficult, working memory, and task initiation. Reduced development in these areas can affect all areas of academics and social interactions.  We are all born with the capacity to

Car time can be a natural and fun way to reinforce speech and language skills. Check out the list below for specific ideas for toddlers, pre-k -kindergarten students, and 1st-2nd graders. One favorite strategy is talking about schedules and using specific words like “before, after, first, then” to talk about the day. You could even talk about activities from the previous or next day to reinforce past and future verb tenses. http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-activities/reading-activities-in-the-car/