The longer I do this job, the more I’ve come to appreciate just how hard it is for a mom to rise to the occasion and deliver her best day after day, week after week for a child who may never make enough progress so that she can attend an IFSP or IEP meeting and not want to cry, or die, or both.

That takes some guts. And commitment. And strength that mothers of children who are typically developing will never, ever know.  

To all of those moms of toddlers with developmental challenges, I want to give you a big round of applause and tell you just how awesome I think you are this Mother’s Day. No one knows how hard it really is to live a day of your life unless they too have done it.      

I’ve also come to the point, both personally and professionally, that I can look at the worst moments I’ve seen with families as another opportunity to learn how I can best help a child. 

Even moms who are obviously struggling have done something right. Unless therapy services are provided  by court order, that mom somehow found a way to get her child help. For that decision alone, she deserves a huge dose of respect. Our colleagues who work in public schools will tell us that there are kids who show up on the first day of  kindergarten with significant language delays who have never been referred for an eval or seen for one minute of therapy. 

I remind myself of that any time I’m tempted to think anything less of a mom I’m working with or who’s writing me for advice. No matter what else has gone wrong in her world, if she’s out there looking for help for her kid, she’s doing something right.  

Beyond initial respect, what else can we do to support moms of toddlers with special needs? 

Here’s a list I’ve come up with for professionals who work in early intervention. Our job is different from therapists who work with older children and adults. We’re the first very representation of our field, and we need to do things right from the start to help moms feel supported on what can be a very long road with a toddler with delays.   

1. Answer her questions honestly. 

A child may have been to many specialists before seeing you. For a multitude of reasons, pediatricians, geneticists, orthopedic docs and even neurologists who see a child with an involved history and multiple medical problems can neglect to tell parents that a child will not learn to talk on time. Don’t assume that a family knows what’s expected, even when there’s already a firm diagnosis in place.    

You may be the very first professional a family sees beyond the pediatrician. It’s very likely you’ll be the only person who’s definitively confirming that things aren’t going well.  

No matter how many other people parents have seen or will see in the future, tell the truth. Give your honest opinion about what’s going on with a child with compassion and with the utmost sensitivity always keeping in mind that you’re talking about someone’s baby.  

This situation can be unsettling for some therapists, particularly when a child has significant delays.

Delivering this news will sometimes mean confirming the worst case scenario for a mom who’s already sick with worry. In grad school they didn’t tell you that part of your job title on some days is “Dream Killer.”  

Being honest can make you very uncomfortable, but withholding information to spare your own uneasiness isn’t right.  

Therapists in early intervention programs can feel that they are not in a position to offer an official diagnosis, yet they hold off on referring a child to another professional who could. Sometimes therapists themselves want to “wait and see.” That too, in my opinion, isn’t right. If a parent has questions you can’t answer, refer them to someone who can. It is our responsibility to help parents find answers to their questions, even when it’s painful for everyone involved. I hope I never take this position lightly, no matter how many years of experience I manage to rack up.

There’s a bright side to being honest too…

Fortunately for those of us who are pediatric therapists, being honest also means that you get to share some pretty fantastic news:

Early intervention gives a child his very best shot at achieving his highest potential.

Neuroplasticity is a wonderful concept. By putting the right strategies in place with very young children, we can literally change their brains.

How cool is that???

Does that mean that all children we see for therapy will eventually function within normal limits? Certainly not, but we can usually tell parents with a high degree of confidence that getting services early will make a difference as opposed to no treatment at all.  

2. Listen to a mom’s responses carefully.

As therapists we can ask the right questions, but we may miss very, very important information because we’re not really hearing a parent’s answers. 

A mom’s responses can let you know that she doesn’t really understand the nature of her child’s issues. Don’t miss that opportunity to clarify and educate (and re-educate…). For most of us, it took a master’s degree to learn all that we know about child development. Years of experience have taught us what those classes didn’t. Moms don’t have this same knowledge base, so we need to share what we know as we ask and answer questions about her child.  

A mom’s responses can also tell you that she doesn’t understand what you do and how your services can benefit her and her child. Take the time to explain exactly what her child is doing that differs from what you hope to see. Discuss your treatment plan and strategies every single session so that she sees what you see and knows what you want to accomplish during therapy.

If that differs from what mom sees and wants, you need to know! In this case, you’ll want to adjust your plan, her expectations, or both!   

A mom’s responses can also tell you when she’s overwhelmed. If mom is telling you that a strategy doesn’t work,  she didn’t have time to work with her child, or things are no better, listen to her! Figure out a way to make it easier for her to follow-through. Rarely does a mom who invests her time and energy into getting her child help not want to do her part too.

Occasionally a mom’s responses will tell you that she’s waiting on you to wave your “Magic Speech Wand” to “fix” what’s wrong, but even that illusion can be overturned with a gentle conversation. Thankfully, once a therapist becomes skilled at explaining therapy and gets a parent to buy into the treatment plan, that kind of response becomes the exception rather than the rule.

3.  For some moms “less is more.” 

By this I don’t mean fewer visits or providers as some state early intervention programs have mandated. 

I’m talking about the strategies and ideas we recommend for families during a visit.

In our zeal to help, we can overwhelm moms with too many recommendations and add to the sense that things are beyond their control.

As a therapist do you ever find yourself providing one great suggestion after another and are met with a deer in the headlights look? Do moms seem to shake their heads in agreement, but not follow through? Does a mom appear to be tuning you out when you speak to her?  

When that’s the case, she’s telling you that she needs less, not more. 

I’d rather a mom concentrate on a few things that she can and will do with her child rather than giving her a whole list of things that will never get done.

Some moms can handle only one new idea at a time. I’ve finally learned this lesson and gauge my recommendations on what I’m seeing and hearing from a mom from visit to visit.  

Less can be more and THAT’S OKAY.

4. Don’t just tell a mom how to help her child; show her.

In this age of the consultative model and the “No Toy Bag” rule in state early intervention programs, we’re forgetting a very important aspect of our jobs.

The mom you’re seeing doesn’t know how to do therapy with her kid!

She doesn’t have a degree in speech pathology, occupational therapy, or early childhood education. She doesn’t know what to do.

Would you be there if she did???

A mom needs you to teach her how to work with her child.

Many of us don’t learn best from a lecture alone. In fact, for some adults who are visual or hands-on learners, you’d might as well be the Charlie Brown teacher. All those parents hear you say is, “Wah wah wah wah.” 

Parents need to SEE you do what you’re recommending. Then they probably need to think about it and watch some more. Finally, they’ll be ready to do it themselves with feedback to tweak what’s not going well.

Hands-off approaches are NOT what we’re trained to do as SLPs, OTs, and PTs in our educational programs. As a therapist you’ll need to learn to defend why your direct intervention IS necessary to determine the best approaches for helping a child and his family.     

Demonstrating and modeling treatment strategies with a child as the parent observes IS parent education. Don’t let anyone tell you that this is no longer needed and ineffective.

To prove my point, let me ask you this question: how did you learn to do therapy? Did you simply listen to a lecture and then proceed to the clinic to work with children, or were there observation hours involved first? Did you dive right in with clients after a few words of advice, or did your clinical supervisors watch you like a hawk and critique you until you got it right?

Exactly!

We listened to lectures, read, watched someone else do it first, and THEN we moved on to doing therapy ourselves.

That’s how every other adult learns to do therapy too. 

The next time you’re in doubt, ask a child’s mother if she’d rather you tell her what to do or have you show her how to do it. I’ve never met a mom who turns down the demonstration. You will never go wrong showing a parent exactly what to do with her child.

(If necessary for your program or agency, document that mom requested a visual model of the technique.)       

5. Let a mom know that you’re there just as much for her as you are for her child.

This statement takes care of moms who don’t want to participate. By telling her that you’re there for her too, she becomes an important part of the treatment plan. You frequently ask for her comments, questions, and feedback throughout the visit. Her presence is welcomed in sessions, not mandated by the state or an agency policy. The message of “we’re in this together” can be powerful.    

While most of us are not social workers, psychologists, and have little desire to be a mom’s friend, some days, that’s what a mom needs more than anything. I’m all for maintaining boundaries and keeping things professional, but especially for those of us who do home visits in early intervention, we need to meet mom where she is and go from there.

This also reduces the possibility that moms feel ”judged.” 

Unless, of course, you’re doing just that. Many moms of children with special needs feel so much misplaced, unnecessary guilt over their child’s unavoidable situation that they can’t bear one more ounce of unreasonable pressure. Let go of any tendency to overtly or unconsciously blame parents for developmental issues, even if you do feel that there are things in a child’s environment that are less than optimal. Except for situations of severe abuse and neglect, almost every child on your caseload would likely have had a delay anyway, regardless of the kind of parenting he’s received. 

In case you’re thinking that this doesn’t happen, how many times have you heard a therapist remark something like, “He gets away with everything at home. No wonder he’s the way he is.” Isn’t that a statement of judgment? Do we really want to go back to the time when we blamed a child’s mother for everything that goes wrong developmentally? If you’re in doubt, read the information on the causes of autism from the 1950’s and 1960’s. It’s scary!   

When you do observe things that can be improved, give mom the information and assistance she needs to make the change and move on from there. Criticizing her week after week will probably only make things worse. Truth be told, she may think you’re not so great at your job either…

You’ve probably read this quote before, but it’s so applicable here:

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Making a mom feel heard, valued, and supported may be the best thing you ever do for a child on your caseload.

That’s important every day, but especially now! 

If you haven’t told the moms of the kids you see “Happy Mother’s Day,” it’s not too late!

Start out the visit this week with those words. She may not have heard that greeting from anyone, and you may never know how much she desperately needs it. 

If you’re the mom of a toddler with developmental challenges, I want to tell you myself…

Happy Mother’s Day! 

In my mind, you’ve certainly earned it.

All 3 of my best-selling therapy manuals are now bundled together and available for a limited time at a significant discount.

In this combo pack you’ll receive Teach Me To Play WITH You, Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual, and Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers.

Teach Me To Play WITH You is a therapy manual written for parents working with young children who have difficulty interacting socially with others. Instructions are included for beginning play with developmentally-appropriate activities using simple games and toys that are readily available in most homes. There are separate chapters with explicit directions, words, and hand motions for many familiar finger plays and traditional childhood songs. Activities are written so that professionals can copy pages of a specific activity, complete the activity during a session, and share the copy with parents with “homework.” The final chapter explains approximately 20 different common problems related to sensory processing issues that we see interfere with a child’s ability to engage others along with multiple strategies for addressing these challenges during play at home. (Regular price is $48)

Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual is written specifically for speech-language pathologists and other early intervention professionals who work with young children birth to 4 with receptive and expressive language delays and disorders. Many therapists tell me that this manual should be “required reading” for any EI provider who works with children with communication delays. This manual is especially helpful for goal writing and for designing fun and developmentally-appropriate treatment activities for toddlers and young children functioning from the 6-9 month developmental level up to the 48 month developmental level. It’s the ultimate “how to” tool for working with infants and toddlers with language delays. (Regular price is $54)

Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers is the newest therapy manual released in MAY 2012! Learn the 8 levels of teaching a late talker to learn to imitate words. Many times we don’t see success with late talking toddlers because the therapist jumps straight to teaching single words without considering all of the prerequisites necessary to teach a child to imitate. Learn the “in between” steps. Our professional plans can also fail when the techniques are too clinical for parents of children in early intervention programs. This simple approach is easy for both parents and therapists to understand and implement during familiar play-based activities and routines. The last chapter is full of copy-ready handouts for parent homework centered around 5 common toddler favorites including: Potato Heads, Vehicles, Dolls, Bubbles and Farm Animals. There are also GREAT handouts with recommendations for using this approach for daily routines including Bath time, Snacks and Meals, Playing Together in the Kitchen, Reading Books Together, and Dressing/Diaper Changes. Don’t miss this great IFSP and family training resource! (Regular price is $48)

Save 10% May 12-19 ONLY by getting all 3 for $135. (Regular price is $150.)  

Click here to order.

PayPal Express is now available during checkout! Click here to order! 

Therapy Tip of the Week 4.27.12

In this week’s video I’m sharing ideas for teaching language to toddlers with developmental delays using Mr. Potato Head.

Don’t skip straight to expressive language with this toy. Work on receptive language, or comprehension, first! You can help a child learn to understand body parts and select those parts on request. This is a huge first step in helping a child learn to follow directions. Don’t forget to point out the same body parts on both yourself and the child as you play to help him link words with his own eyes, nose, or shoes.   

All of the expressive language goals (or levels) mentioned in this week’s video are from my new book Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers available in May 2012. This great book outlines how to teach a child to imitate words. See this link for more information.

As always, I welcome your feedback!

Until next week…. Laura

Cause & Effect  Toys

Cognition plays a HUGE role in the development of language. A child must master the important cognitive milestones of cause & effect, simple problem solving, and object permanence BEFORE he or she is developmentally ready to talk.

In the video I showed you a few of my favorite toys for teaching cause & effect.

Remember, if you’re seeing a child who is not demonstrating age-appropriate play skills or even those who prefer to use toys for self-stimulation rather than the way they’re intended, you need to back up and teach a child how to play.  

For a thorough discussion of how to teach cognitive milestones to children with developmental delays, check out my book Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual. Many SLPs, developmental interventionists, and other professionals in early intervention have told me this manual has become their favorite resource for writing goals, planning therapy sessions, and finding easy, practical ideas to teach families during home visits. 

While this book is written specifically for therapists who treat young children, parents who are taking a hands-on role in working with their own  children at home can also use this book to provide direction, purpose, and guide your time so that you’re more effective. Check it out here at this link.

Until next time…. Laura   

Toys with Keys

Young children love toys with keys!

On a basic level, these toys provide not only an opportunity for a young child to develop fine motor skills, but also to practice simple problem solving.

Problem solving is one of the CRITICAL cognitive skills that toddlers must exhibit before they are ready to learn to talk. (If you need more information about cognition in toddlers with developmental delays, please check out my book Teach Me to Talk: The Therapy Manual. There’s an entire chapter devoted to teaching the 3 most important cognitive milestones to help a child learn to play and eventually, learn to understand words and talk.)  

From a language perspective, you can target many, many different skills with toys with keys. In the video I introduced my favorite key toys all of which are available in various versions on amazon.com or in major retailers like Target or WalMart. 

In the video I forgot to mention one important point:

If a child cannot use keys to unlock a door, provide hand-over-hand assistance to help him! This increased level of help is required for many toddlers with developmental delays, especially if the child also exhibits motor challenges.

When you’re ready to target expressive language, my new therapy manual outlines the approach I use. The book is set to be released in May 2012 and is called Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers. If you need a step by step guide to sequentially teach a nonverbal child to imitate words, then this is the resource for you! See this link for more information (including a special sale price in April 2012!): Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers 

I’d love to hear your feedback and about your favorite toys with keys! Feel free to leave me a comment below.

Until next week - Laura

teachmetalk.com is so excited to announce the release of the new book Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers in early May 2012.

In this 150 page therapy manual Laura Mize, pediatric speech-language pathologist and founder of www.teachmetotalk.com, explains the hierarchy of verbal imitation skills she teaches to therapists throughout the country.

Many times parents and therapists don’t see success with late talking toddlers because the adult isn’t working on the right things. The child actually needs to learn several “in-between” steps before he’s ready to begin to imitate words and learn to talk. Professional treatment plans can also fail when the techniques are too clinical for parents to be able to remember and practice at home with their own child.

This simple, straight-forward approach is easy for both parents and therapists to understand and implement during familiar play-based activities and daily routines.

Laura’s method delivers a framework for knowing where to begin work with a late talking child, provides ideas for what to try when a young child’s progress stalls, and can serve as your new approach when your standard methods don’t seem to be adequate for a particular child’s issues.

Each of the eight levels is broken down into its own chapter and includes:

·         A detailed description for each level so you’ll know exactly what to do to teach the new skill. The rationale is presented so that you’ll understand why you’re working on each skill and how the skill relates to overall speech-language development.

This information is critical for parents to understand as they work with a child, but often SLPs and developmental interventionists aren’t exactly sure how to explain what we do so that parents are able to carry-over those successes. Laura’s practical style will fill in that gap so that you’ll know what to say and how to teach parents to follow-through at home.

·         The prerequisite skills a child should have mastered before each level is realistic are listed. You’ll know exactly when a child is ready to work on the next level. This will prevent a child from going weeks or months without seeing any measurable progress. You’ll also receive suggestions for targeting the prerequisite skills so that you help a child progress when he seems to be “stuck.”

·         A chart is provided for each level with many, many examples of the skills to target with a young child to move him along to words. There’s no guessing! You’ll know exactly what to work on with a child to address each new level. Each chart is a great tool for therapists to copy for parents & caregivers to reinforce what you’re working on during visits and for “homework” between sessions.

·         Each chapter includes a list of time-tested and toddler approved materials to use during play and during daily routines for each level. All activities are appropriate for use during therapy sessions in a clinic setting or during home visits with parents and siblings.

·         Specific “how to” instructions for eliciting each skill are included for each level. This information is especially helpful for parents, for therapists who are new to early intervention and have limited treatment experience with late talking toddlers, and for experienced therapists who want to expand their repertoire of proven treatment strategies for young children with speech-language delays.   

·         Troubleshooting tips for additional ideas are listed at the end of each chapter. There’s no more second guessing why a child isn’t making progress. You’ll receive specific instruction for what to try if you’re not seeing results, and the next steps are outlined so that you can move a child forward. 

·         A handy, one page quick reference chart is included at the end of the manual. This is particularly suited for therapists to use as a “cheat sheet” during sessions or to provide for parents as an overall guide for treatment.

Because young children learn best during play, Laura provides specific examples for using this approach with the following five common toys toddlers love: bubbles, farm animals, baby dolls, Potato Heads, and cars and trucks.

Additionally Laura lists specific recommendations for using this approach at home for several daily routines including meals/snacks, bath time,  dressing/diaper changes, reading books, and playing in the kitchen.

If you’re a therapist looking for ideas to teach parents to use to incorporate language learning, then this is the resource for you! All charts and activity pages can be copied to share with parents as “homework” for between sessions.

This resource is INVALUABLE for therapists who work in programs embracing a “no toy bag” or consultative approach. Not only will you receive many, many practical ideas, but you’ll have plenty of written “how to” directions to share with parents in an easy-to-understand format.

(PayPal customers can now easily pay with PayPal Express through our online store. Click the link above to order.)

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Do you want to know more? Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction of Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers:

 …

What happens when this sequence of events doesn’t unfold as expected?

What’s going on when a child isn’t talking when there are two or even three candles on the birthday cake?

Other adults try to reassure worried parents with statements like, “He’s too busy to talk,” or “Her words will come when she’s ready.”

A family member may mistakenly make learning to talk about behavior or personality by saying, “This child is too lazy or too stubborn to talk!”    

Let me challenge your thinking here by stating a fact:

Late talking is a developmental skill deficit.

It’s not that the child won’t talk.

He or she can’t talk!

Making this distinction is a HUGE first step to help a child learn to communicate. When we begin to look at late talking as a developmental challenge rather than a behavior or trait a child can purposefully control, we find better ways to address the problem.

I’ve spent my career doing just that. As a speech-language pathologist who specializes in treating very young children ages birth to 3, I’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of late talking toddlers and their families. There are a couple of things I do now know for sure:

All late talking children are not the same.

There are as many reasons, complicating factors, and contributing circumstances to late talking as there are children who are late talkers. There is truth to the age-old statement, “Every child is different and will develop at his own rate.”

I also do know this to be true:

Unless you’re working on the right issues, things are not likely to get better.

Well… let me back off that statement a little.

Because of a wonderful, naturally occurring phenomenon known as maturation, most children do eventually learn to talk, and that’s why many people, doctors included, do ill-advise parents to wait … and wait… and wait before seeking professional intervention for a late talking toddler.

But some parents begin to ask, “Just how long am I supposed to wait?”

That’s a very good question in light of research that tells us that communication skills are the single best indicator of developmental performance in children less than three years of age.

When a toddler is not talking, it does lead to questions about how things are going developmentally, and it can imply that a child is not learning and developing as he or she should.  

For many late toddlers unless you’re working on the right skills, things are not likely to get better, at least in the short-term.  

I am not one to wait around only hoping things get better in time; are you?

As parents we all want our children to live their best lives and reach their potential not only in the long-term, but we also want short-term success too. We want our babies to meet every big milestone when expected. It’s enormously stressful when that’s not happening. 

I’ve rarely met a parent who doesn’t feel that they should and could be making a difference in their child’s development. All parents who take the time to enroll in therapy or explore additional ways to help a child learn to talk should be given a pat on the back for taking that first, big step! Their children will be much, much better off than if they had waited and waited or done nothing at all.    

If you’re a professional, it’s a given that you believe in your heart of hearts that you can and do make things better for the children on your caseload. When we think about achieving milestones and meeting goals, sooner is always preferred over later!

But as a parent or as a professional, unless you’re examining and treating the underlying reasons for a child’s lack of expressive language, you may see your days or weeks of anticipation waiting for a child’s first words turn into long, long months of anxiety and frustration.

Before we get into the particulars of making sure we’re treating the right skills and in the right order, let’s step back and take a look at several different descriptions of late talking children. Maybe you’ll recognize one of these images as the child you love and are concerned about…      

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Order your copy today at a special Pre-Sale price! All books ordered in April 2012 will be shipped on or shortly before May 1, 2012. Special pricing will expire the day the books begin to ship.

Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers - Regular Price - $44.99

Order now at this link! Select BUILDING VERBAL IMITATION IN TODDLERS.

PayPal Express is also available to our customers. Click the link above!

 

Reviews are coming in!

“Hi Laura - I just love your new book. Thank you, thank you for this valuable resource for parents and professionals!!” Pat, Early Intervention SLP

 

“Laura, love the new book!! I’ve read about a fourth of it and I am already implementing some of the great ideas you provided. Thank you!” Angi, SLP, Alabama

 

“Thank you so much for the new therapy manual Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers! I love the handouts and think they will be so helpful to the families of clients in our birth to 3 program. ” Jennifer, SLP, California

Researchers found that labeling, simply stating an object or an event name, is more effective than any other kind of talking to help a child maintain attention to what he is doing.

Many times adults “mindlessly narrate” when a child is playing offering all kinds of words, or descriptions, or directions that make no sense to a child based on what he’s attending to or his language level. Can’t you hear it now? A non-verbal two-year-old eyes a rubber ball. His therapist begins her diatribe,

“I think you’ve found something you want to play with. What do you think you’ll do with that right now? Are you going to bounce it high up in the air or will you roll it on the floor? Maybe you want to kick it over here to me. Let’s play a game and take turns.”

Do you recognize the problem? Although the SLP is certainly talking about what’s captured the child’s attention, she didn’t label “ball” or use a language-level that’s appropriate for him.

A better way would be to say something like,

“Ball! There’s ball. Wow! Ball! Let’s play ball!”

By using simpler language and repeating your target word, there’s a much greater chance the toddler will actually make the connection between the object and the word.

Many times we overwhelm late talking toddlers with too many words. They walk away looking disinterested or bored when they’re really trying to say, “I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Sounds a lot like common sense to me!  Laura

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To read the whole article, take a look at Chapter 4, Helping a Child Learn to Attend or Well-Intentioned Ways We Mess It Up in Therapy Session from Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual.

For more information, click here.    

Therapy Tip of the Week for 3.16.12

Easter wind-up toys are a fun way to teach initiation and requesting. There’s a whole “how to” section for using wind-up toys in my book Teach Me To Play WITH You.

The video contains several ideas for using Easter Eggs including:

Address your expressive language goals by hiding small objects inside and then modeling the names for a toddler to imitate. If a child isn’t ready to repeat single words yet, try exclamatory words or animal sounds. If a child is working on imitating phrases, try “more please,” “Open egg,” “more egg,” “help me,” etc.. (My new book Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers will address these skills in detail!)

For receptive language, work on prepositions in/out as you hide objects inside the eggs and take then out. You could also try having a child hide the egg in various places: in Mommy’s pocket, under the table, by the door, etc…

You can also use Easter eggs and a child’s learning preferences or splinter skills to target language processing or following multiple step commands. These are great ideas for older toddlers who are on the spectrum and already talking, but who have difficulty following directions. Watch the video for several ideas!

Hiding Easter eggs is always fun for young children, and you can introduce this activity in therapy sessions before a child participates in a community setting.

I also discussed several cute ideas for making sensory boxes with Easter themes. If you’ve used sensory boxes previously, Easter grass, eggs, and tongs will be fun additions for the next few weeks.

Until then… Happy Easter! Laura

Therapy Tip of the Week 3.9.12

This week’s activities will give you some new ideas to expand your play with dolls, teach names for clothing items, work in some fine motor practice, and even target categorization and/or matching.

Remember to use these activities for receptive language practice too! At the easiest levels, you’ll have a child find the clothing you item you name. Say, “Where’s a hat?” or “Find a shirt.”

If a child likes using clothes pins to hang the clothes or if you’re lucky enough to find that cute washing machine toy, you can target functional directions such as, “Let’s hang up some pants,” or “Get a dress and put it in the washing machine.”

You can also target cognitive skills such as sorting by color, but I love this activity to teach grouping by category. Use several of each kind of baby clothes; for example, gather several shirts, pants, socks, hats, or shorts. Sort them by category saying, “Let’s get all the shirts.” After that, you’ll find all the socks, etc…

In the video I showed you the darling felt clothes I made for this activity cheaply! If you can’t draw your own patterns for clothes, search for a template online.      

If you’re working with preschoolers or a toddler with higher level language processing, you can use the felt clothes you made to target multi-step directions or identifying objects with two attributes. For example, “Find 2 dresses and 1 shirt” or “Give me the purple shorts.”

The possibilities for expressive language with these activities are wide open! You can have a child imitate or name the clothing items as you take them out of the container, hang them on a drying rack, or wash them. If a child is fairly imitative, offer choices such as, “Do you want pants or socks?” You can practice requesting as you withhold the items (for only 3-5 prompts!) and wait for a child to tell you what she wants next. You can also practice phrases with requests by modeling, “I want _____,” or “____ please.”

I know I’ll get this question, so I’ll go ahead and tell you that my little washing machine is from the brand Delicious Boutique. I bought mine at Walmart in January during the after Christmas clearance sale for $5.50. I think this toy may also be available on amazon, but it’s more expensive. I’d still have paid full price for it because this kind of toy has wide appeal for toddlers and preschoolers. Maybe you’ll be able to keep your eyes open and find a good deal! It’s a winner!

Let me know if you’re inspired! I love your feedback!

Until next week….

Laura

Therapy Tip of the Week for 3.2.12

BALL TOYS

Balls are developmentally appropriate and a fun toy for toddlers between 1-3 years old. Remember that you’re looking at a child’s developmental age here. Let’s face it; even older kids love balls!

Ball is also a great, early word for late talkers. Why? Because the word “ball” meets all the criteria for Word Selection for Establishing an Early Vocabulary. Those 3 keys are: 

1. Choose high frequency words - meaning words a toddler hears often. Most families own a ball, and likely, more than one, so it’s not a new brand word.     

2. Choose easy words - meaning words with simple syllable construction.

Many toddlers, even those with typically developing speech-language skills, say ball as “ba.” It’s a consonant-vowel (CV) combination which makes it among the 5 earliest syllable patterns we note with babies and toddlers. (For a brand new talker, please don’t overemphasize articulation or getting the right sounds in the right places just yet. Praise his attempts. Many children don’t master final /l/ until they’re 3 or 4.)

3.  Choose words with sounds he can already say - meaning you’ve heard the child use the sounds in other words or in babbling/jargon. 

“Ball” begins with an initial /b/, which is a bilabial or a sound made with both lips. Bilabials /b, p, m/ are usually among the first sounds babies acquire. Ideas for helping a child learn to get his lips together were included in the video.   

Some of my favorite ball toys and the concepts/words to target with each are included in the video. For more ideas with ball toys, read this article:

http://teachmetotalk.com/2010/12/06/recommended-toys/

By watching the video I hope you’ll get some new ideas for sessions or playing with your own child!

I welcome your feedback or questions!

Until next week - Laura