Author Archive for Laura
Toddler Groups
One of the best experiences of my professional career was running a playgroup program for toddlers with communication delays/disorders. I’ve mentioned this several times on my podcast and last month I received a request from a speech-language pathologist to talk more about my program and more importantly, give her some ideas to use in these [...]
Add Novelty to Expand Play and Reduce Boredom!
Are you “stuck” with a child who only wants to play with the same toy in the same way over and over?
That kind of perseverative play is often seen in toddlers with developmental delays. We need to break this pattern so that a child can move on to do (and learn) something new.
Many times [...]
Winter Therapy Guides with Activities for Toddlers
Take advantage of these cold, snowy days and plan your therapy sessions for the next several weeks!
Check out my Therapy Guides for great seasonal ideas to encompass a wide variety of children on your early intervention and preschool caseloads.
SLPs can earn ASHA CEUs! (Approval is pending. The brochure with specific course requirements for ASHA [...]
Books Come to Life with Props
Have you noticed that many toddlers with receptive language delays don’t enjoy reading books with another person?
This can break a mom’s heart, particularly if she likes reading or if she feels unsuccessful trying to “teach” her child.
This may also frustrate a therapist who thinks, “How am I ever going to get this [...]
Play Ideas for Kids Who Don’t Like Toys
Do you have any kids you’re seeing who don’t seem to like ANYTHING you plan for therapy?
Are you frustrated when your own toddler would rather play with the box than with the $30 toy you just bought?
Have I got some great new ideas for you!!
Last month I did two entire podcasts full of [...]
Toy Rotation
Are you drowning in the sea of all the junk, I mean, presents your kids received for Christmas?
Are you frustrated when your child has a room full of toys but doesn’t seem to want to play with anything?
As a therapist, are your little clients bored when you present the same activities session after session?
I [...]
Number of Words in a Child’s Vocabulary
SLPs and therapists who work in early intervention and preschool programs are often surprised when we take a minute to look at normal expressive language development. Most of the time, it’s because our perceptions of “normal” become skewed over time. We administer tests and come to think of those test questions and the age ranges [...]
Success Story
Today I finished an amazing journey with a very special family…
Last Christmas during his 3rd visit or so with me I was elated as he struggled to imitate the word “ball” and popped out the word “pour” as we played with water.
Fast forward one year…
This morning he used full sentences in conversation with [...]
It’s Our Anniversary at teachmetotalk.com!
Six years ago today, at my husband’s insistence, I was preparing to take off for 2 WHOLE WEEKS, to try my hand at writing for parents and professionals who worked with toddlers with language delays. At that time, there wasn’t much REAL LIFE information available and I hoped I could make a difference for worried [...]
Ideas for Kids Who Don’t Like Toys
Have you been keeping up with the podcast?
Recently I’ve done 2 shows about ideas for playing with toddlers who don’t play with traditional toys.
Listen for Part One of this show here.
Part Two is at this link.
Remember, kids don’t always reject a toy because they don’t like it. Many times it’s because they don’t know [...]
