Category: blog

Development of  Play Play is engaging with an activity for enjoyment. Young children learn and explore their  environment through play. Play develops and becomes more complex as children age. It reveals multiple aspects of a child’s development such as ability to take turns, problem solving, gross and fine motor skills, sequencing, etc. The following describes each type of play and behaviors that are observed during each period of development: *Unoccupied play (birth-3 months): Babies engage in body movements with no clear purpose. *Solitary play (birth-2 years old) : Children engage with toys appropriately on their own such as rolling a ball, pushing a car, and hugging a doll. *Onlooker play (2-2.5 years old): Children will watch others play or ask questions about

  “Wait and see” was the standard advice for parents of preschoolers with emerging stuttering for many decades. Although we now understand so much more about stuttering and its complexity, echos of this (very much outdated) advice are still too common.  The truth is, fluency development plays out very differently from one child to the next. While one child may go through a brief period of disfluency and spontaneously recover, another child may not. Timing of intervention is important — the longer a child stutters, the more likely the stuttering is to persist. In an evaluation, speech-language pathologists examine a wide range of risk factors (based on the most current research) to determine an individual child’s likelihood to continue to stutter

Enhancing Your Child’s Speech and Language Skills During Summer Outings   Are you concerned that your child may lose his/her skills over the summer break? Fear no more – Summer break offers children endless opportunities to build memories with their family, experience new things, and engage in hands-on learning activities. Some activities that promote learning opportunities for children to develop their speech and language skills include: going to the pool or beach, museums, and parks, creating a checklist for vacation, reading books about animals at the zoo, etc. Wherever you plan to bring your child this summer, make sure you are engaging in conversations with your child about their surroundings. Asking your child open-ended questions about what they are seeing

  Favorite Family Road Trip Games (Activities That Will Elicit Language) Are you looking to keep your children occupied on a long road trip without relying on screen time to entertain them? Here is a list of simple and engaging games for all ages that are sure to liven up that long car ride: ISpy: Take turns choosing an object to describe. The player can fill-in-the-blank with any word that describes the object (I spy something blue and round). Players will guess the object based on the description provided 20 Questions: Take turns choosing a mystery item. Players will take turns asking yes and no questions to guess the mystery object (Is it something that is living?) The Alphabet Game:

    Vocal hygiene is developing healthy habits to keep your voice healthy. Like the rest of our body, our vocal folds are made up of muscles and tissues. Whenever you exercise or overuse your muscles, you might feel sore. Similarly, our vocal folds can experience strain when the muscles are overused. The goal of vocal hygiene is to lessen the impact of negative vocal behaviors on a daily basis. Examples of negative vocal behaviors include shouting, excessive talking, constant clearing throat/coughing, excessive caffeine, and whispering. When developing healthy vocal hygiene habits think of including the following:   Drinking 6-8 glasses of water Reduce excess taking (if you are taking for 3o minutes take a 10 minute break) Reduce shouting 

When considering extracurricular activities for children with special needs, it’s essential to focus on their interests, abilities, and comfort levels. Here are some suggestions to look into: Adaptive Sports: Many communities offer adaptive sports programs tailored to children with disabilities. These can include wheelchair basketball, adaptive swimming, or sensory-friendly sports activities. Here is a link to Chicago’s Adaptive Sports page: https://www.chicagoadaptivesports.com/ Art Classes: Art allows for self-expression and creativity. Look for art classes or workshops that accommodate various abilities and sensory needs. Here is a link to a specific program in Chicago: https://artsoflife.org/ Music Therapy: Music therapy can be highly beneficial for children with special needs. It can help improve communication skills, sensory integration, and emotional expression. Here is a link to

  Museums serve as valuable resources for speech therapy, offering a dynamic and enriching environment that supports language development, communication skills, and social interaction in individuals of all ages. Check out some of these free museum days this spring and summer for Illinois residents.   -Adler Planetarium: Wednesdays 4pm-10pm -Field Museum: Every Wednesday  -Shedd Aquarium: Tuesdays 5pm-9pm (March 26th-June 25th) -Chicago History Museum: April 10th, 18th, 24th and May 1st, 27th, 29th -Museum of Science and Industry: April 21st -DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center: Every Wednesday  -Museum of Contemporary Art: Every Tuesday -Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum: Every Thursday -Illinois Holocaust Museum: last Friday of the month year-long. 

Why does the history intake form ask about the types of textures my child eats and how does this relate to speech therapy? If your child is undergoing a speech therapy evaluation, it is important for the therapist to know if your child struggles with any textures because that can be an implication of a deficit. Speech therapy often involves addressing oral motor skills, swallowing difficulties, and sensory sensitivities, all of which can be influenced by the textures of the foods a child consumes. Here are some examples of how different food textures relate to speech therapy: Smooth/Pureed: These textures are often recommended for children with swallowing difficulties or oral motor delays. Smooth foods require minimal chewing and are easier

    The school year has come to an end!  How do you create a successful environment to practice your speech? First, identify your children’s speech goals. Write your child’s goals down on a white board or family calendar that is visible for you and your child to see. If you are unsure about the goal, reach out to your child’s Speech Language Pathologist regarding their current goals in therapy.  Second, discuss the importance of practicing with your child and other caregivers in your child’s life. Applying the skills learned within speech sessions into different environments can help to broaden your child’s understanding of concepts. There are several ways to incorporate practicing in your everyday life. You can incorporate a

What is a carryover activity? A carryover activity takes the skills we are targeting in our speech therapy session and carries them into the client’s environment. Applying the skills learned within speech sessions into different environments can help to broaden the client’s understanding of concepts. Additionally, the use of a carryover activities multiple times per week allows for additional practice of the targeted skill. There are several types of carryover activities that can be used to target skills, a couple of my favorites include picture scenes, I spy, and read aloud.    For more information about carryover activities and fun activities check out ASHA’s publication    https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/scaling-the-carryover-wall/full/