The holidays are over and we’re still in the early days of winter – sigh.  I’m sure that many of you are shivering as you read this post.  So… what are some books to use in therapy that are NOT holiday books?  What can we pull out of our Mary Poppins bag and use with our clients until the Earth tilts back towards the sun and we can start planning spring therapy?

Here are 7 of my favorites:

Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

This is easily one of my top books to use.  We typically use it in conjunction with snow-themed sensory bins, creating instant fake snow, or other activities. Snowy Day can be used for inferencing (e.g. What did he find sticking out of the snow to make a third track?  What will happen when he hits the snow with his stick? Where did the snowball go?), narrative retell, vocabulary (slowly, firm, heaping, deep, drag), and more.  It’s a classic and easily adaptable for most elementary client ages.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow by Lucille Colandro

Of course I have to mention a “There Was an Old Lady” (when will she ever learn and does she have pica?!?) in this list.  Aside from some of the snow-based activities listed above, we use this book to work on vocabulary, answering “why” and other wh- questions, and pairs well with various TpT activities like this one from Jenn Alcorn of Crazy Speech World.

The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino with Jon Nelson, Ph.D.

If you have upper elementary clients or clients in middle/high school, take a look at this book.  It is more nonfiction with a little flair with great vocabulary and is a good way to work on comprehension of science texts in the therapy setting.  I like to use it as a transition from more “young” fiction texts to the textbooks that my students are learning from.  It’s  a nice bridge between the two.  This book can be read in chunks and activities planned for each area of the book.  Also, there is a “How To Catch Your Own Snow Crystals” experiment which wouldn’t work well for me in Phoenix but if you’re allowed to go outside with your clients in colder climates, could be great for you as a follow-through activity.

Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows

Hibernation is a big winter-related topic for many of our clients in their classrooms.  Here is a nice and slightly different book that looks more into the topic of hibernation.  I love that the animals are wearing pajamas and the cute illustrations.  There are problems to solve within the book and a lot of good “sound” words and animal vocabulary.

A Loud Winter’s Nap by Katy Hudson

I will confess… my mom gifted this book to our speech/language room this year, it wasn’t my find.  The illustrations alone are hilarious and useful for therapy.  I love the “sound” and vocabulary words included, the emotions discussed, figuring out just why “tortoises don’t like winter”, and the overall message of this fun little book.  A quick read and easy to pair with animal, snow, or winter activities.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr/Eric Carle

Of course I have to mention this gem.  If you work with younger clients, including pre-K and even EI, this book is truly wonderful.  It is even better if you’ve used Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? with the client before.  There are oodles and oodles of TpT and other materials to pair with this book – no need to re-invent the wheel.

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

The wonderful SLP that I have the privilege of sharing a caseload with this year introduced me to Bear Snores On. This book pairs wonderful illustrations with descriptive vocabulary and rhyming words that make this book a sing-song read.  I love to pair this book with a book companion from Shannon Werbeckes of Speechy Musings and mix and match the skills depending on my groups.

There are, of course, many other wonderful winter books to use in therapy, please share your favorites below!  I can’t say how much the use of literature has improved my therapy provision and I highly recommend the use of books in therapy.  Happy winter and have a wonderful 2018!

Being an SLP is hard work.  It’s paperwork, meetings, tough clients, data, evaluations, therapy, materials, parents, teachers, therapists, and more paperwork.  It’s easy to get bogged down by the copious negatives.  Sometimes your SLP Soul needs a little pick-me-up… a little “Chicken Soup”!  This blog hop is the perfect place to be reminded of the amazing occupation we are in and all of the wonderful and funny things that happen in therapy.

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First Words

For most children, first words are uttered around 12 months of age.  It’s an exciting time for families.  However, for many other children, first words don’t come until much later or in an unexpected way.  I have been very lucky to witness first words with a few of my clients and it has been an incredible experience each time.

First, you should know that I didn’t decide to become a Speech-Language Pathologist to rid the world of articulation delays or because I had once needed Speech Therapy.  I originally wanted to teach Gifted Education and was on the path to doing just that when a High School assignment changed my life.  I decided to become a Speech-Language Pathologist after observing a child with Cerebral Palsy utilize an AAC device in her speech session.  I was immediately hooked.  I thought that it was incredible that a child, who if born only 30-40 years earlier may have been placed in segregated schooling or living placement and thought to be “feeble-minded”, was using this device to articulate her incredibly clear thoughts to her SLP during their session.  I have had a love of AAC since that day.

For the first few years of my career, I worked with children with severe delays and disorders including Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism, and other genetic disorders within the school setting.  Many of my students had yet to say their first “meaningful” word.  (Though, as many SLPs and families who know children with these delays/disorders can attest, they communicate in many other meaningful ways.)  I had a particular student whose parents feared that he may never be able to communicate in a way that was understandable by others.  They had very limited resources and were unsure of the best path to pursue for their child’s communication.  We tried several lower tech devices for this child and he was able to utilize them to request basic needs but seemed uninterested in the devices on most occasions as he was fairly independent and able to use gestures or other means to get his needs met the majority of the time.  Because we suspected that his cognition was at a high enough level, we discussed utilizing a higher tech AAC device for the student.  We were able to secure a trial device through the state’s program and I took it home with me to program it with the basic starters for the next day.

When I arrived to work the next day, device in tow, I couldn’t wait for my session.  Though I was uncertain of how much we would accomplish, I was so excited to see what this student could do and what he had to say.  As we entered my office for his session, the student walked over to the device (powered off) and sat immediately.  He looked at it, searched for the power button, and then turned the device on.  Immediately he began exploring the symbols and moving through pages and pages of words simply pressing them to hear what they said.  Some of the symbols must have caught his attention because he would press them multiple times before moving on.  Finally, after we had gone through the majority of the pages with our exploration, we returned to the home page and cleared the sentence (which was of course an enormous run-on of nearly every word that was programmed on the device).  I paused and looked at my student who was sitting fairly quietly at the table.  It looked like he was just processing the mini computer that sat in front of him.  Then, he slowly lifted his finger up to the device and in only a few seconds used it to say “Hi, water go yes” before stopping to reach back to touch the door handle of my office.  We stood up and walked to the water fountain, got a drink, and returned.  It was his first request using more than one symbol and was so incredibly meaningful.  And it was just the beginning for him.

I would love to say that all AAC trials go like this.  They rarely do – there are many tossed iPads and rarely used devices placed in closets until “needed”.  But this student was different.  For him, the device was a way to unlock “our” language for his use.  He was quickly able to map his device that was purchased for him and could move through the device with incredible speed and use multiple word sentences within a matter of months after receiving it.  He still utilizes AAC to communicate as he has never “spoken” with his physical voice.  However, he has become very successful in communicating with his device, now an iPad, and I often think about his “first words” in my office that day.

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We’re so excited that you’ve joined our hop!  In addition to getting some Chicken Soup for your SLP Soul, we’ve gathered a few prizes for those who check out each post.  Below are the prizes that will be raffled.  You will also want to jot down the number below – you’ll need it on the final post to enter the raffle.

If you’re just beginning the hop, feel free to head back to the “First Blog” by following the link below.  If you’re ready to head to the “Next Blog”, simply click on that image and enjoy the next stop!  Thanks for stopping by!

Professional Development Session (1+ hours):
If you are lucky enough to be given time to sit down with teachers or support staff, take it!  Getting everybody on the same page regarding introductory AAC information as well as basic implementation strategies is priceless.  Make sure to make it informative and interactive.  Basic information should include:

• What is AAC and examples of types.  Bring with you any available devices and low/mid/high tech AAC examples that you can find.
• Basic implementation strategies including vocabulary, ways to elicit communication, and more.
• Why AAC implementation is important.  I like to make this portion interactive by having staff attempt to communicate with a partner about something as simple as what they had for lunch or their favorite movie.  One staff member can talk, one cannot talk, and one can utilize low or high tech AAC to communicate.  We then discuss the activity.
• We then do a Q&A or celebrations/struggles roundtable discussion.  A roundtable may also include other SLPs, parents, teachers, etc.

Classroom meeting (>1 hour):
Having a classroom or team meeting time to discuss AAC is also a valuable amount of time.  While you have considerably less time than a full PD session, a lot of information can be covered in less than an hour.  Again, keep this time informative and interactive:

• What is AAC and examples of types.  Bring with you devices and low/mid/high tech AAC examples that are pertinent to the students that the staff work directly with.
• Basic implementation strategies including vocabulary, ways to elicit communication, etc.
• Why AAC implementation is important.  I use a shortened version of the PD session activity.  I ask one staff member a question that they answer.  Then I ask another question to a different staff member after instructing them that they are not able to use their hands or mouth to communicate their answer.  Finally, I provide a device or low-tech AAC option to a third staff member and ask them a question.  A brief discussion of this follows.
• Finally a Q&A and/or brief training on the AAC used by students that the staff works directly with.  This can be done as a 1-on-1 training or a group discussion and training depending on needs.

If you were to ask me what the main reason was that I decided to change from wanting to be a Gifted Education teacher to wanting to major in Speech-Language Pathology, the answer would be a simple one: AAC.  When I was in High School I was interning with an amazing gifted ed teacher (that I actually work with now… how funny?!?) and had the opportunity to observe another educator.  At the hinting of my SpEd teacher mother, I observed an SLP.  He worked with a student with cerebral palsy who utilized an AAC device to communicate.  I fell in LOVE!  How amazing is it that children who would otherwise not have a “voice” are heard via a device?  Anyway, I digress…

I add a photo or drawing of “Speech Therapy” then record the voice saying it.  If you want to have another peer say the word it may help with it not sounding differently as an adult voice would.

In the newest release of the app, a great new feature was added.  “Pruning” allows you to trim words from the word trees to limit words available, correct a tree that was accidentally added to, etc.  Above you see that to utilize the pruning, you select the scissors icon on the right, select the word(s) that you want to delete from a tree, and then select the scissors again to confirm the deletion.  The words can always be added back but this great addition was a most-requested feature that is now available!  We will be pruning some word trees this week for sure!

Overall, this is a wonderful and relatively inexpensive AAC app!  There are constant improvements being made to the app as they develop it and hear feedback.  Here is my quick pros/improvements list:

Pros:

• It’s a new approach to AAC and the interface is gorgeous.
• Good symbols – easy to understand and fun.
• Real children were recorded for this app – gives the child a “real” voice.
• Promotes language learning in-app.
• “Learns” to anticipate what a child may be wanting to say.
• Designed for children specifically which is a pro if you work with children.
• Editing is “locked” by swiping or a pin.
• Every word is customizable at any time.  Using drawings, photos, recordings of words, and placement in categories.
• Words can be disabled if need be or added back into the library.
• Search bar included when adding words to the tree.
• Included “favorites” page creates easy access to frequently used sentences.
• Shortcuts remain on the screen at all times to have easy access to those needed frequently.
• Unlimited users/profiles.
• Students who have struggled with grid-based systems may benefit from this setup.
• “Connector” words are a huge part of this app and encourage full sentences (eg. “I want to eat apple” instead of “want apple”)
• “Pruning” allows you/the user to cut words from a word tree temporarily/permanently.
• aacorn staff is available to help users if difficulties arise.  They can even skype with you.
• It is cheaper than many current AAC app options.  It is $189.99 with a 50% discount on volume orders from education institutions and 15% donated to further research about children’s health issues.

Improvements:

• It’s a new approach to AAC and there is no research regarding it at this time.
• The included library is fairly small compared to some other apps.  I’m hopeful that they will add more words in future updates.  (for example, common words such as “shoe” is not included which seemed odd)
• I wish the speech bubble was a bit closer to either the word tree or the sentence bar.  Though, you can touch the first word in the sentence bar at any time to activate the sentence as well.
• The voices are quite young.  I would say using this for students that are teenagers or above at this time may be strange.  However, all words can be re-recorded so it is possible to use with any age if words are re-recorded.
• Students who are used to grid-based systems may experience difficulty.
• The editing tools and robot can be distracting – we utilize “guided access” to avoid this when needed.  The robot will be lock-able in future updates though.

Overall a great app that I have enjoyed using with several students.  As always, please consult a Speech-Language Pathologist or other qualified individual when considering AAC options for a child.  It is currently available for $189.99 in the app store: