1 – Story Champs Intervention

I utilize Story Champs with so many of my students.  I wrote a review of it last year as well that you can view here.  Story Champs is flexible and I’ve seen really good growth from utilizing it.  In my mixed language/articulation groups, I’m able to target story grammar, vocabulary, articulation, and more with this tool.  There is also a Spanish Bilingual version available now.

Cost: $298.00

2 – iPad/Apps

I’ll just get this out of the way here.  I do utilize my iPad and apps frequently as therapy tools.  My iPad is much easier to take around to my quick artic sessions, screenings, etc. than a pile of artic cards or paper screeners.  I utilize it in various ways as well, using apps that aren’t solely for therapy as well.  I will say that we don’t ALWAYS use the iPad and I never let my students just “play” on it (unless they’ve earned free time after an assessment).  I typically sit next to them when we use it and I always hold it and have control in the session.  There are many great apps out there that can unleash your creativity as a clinician and apply speech/language skills in a different way.  I would recommend attending the upcoming XceptionalED Special Apps Update conference if you are interested in learning more.

Cost: iPad $329-1149  Apps: Vary $0-90

3 – Books

We use books constantly in therapy.  They are wonderful for mixed groups, themes, etc.  I typically find my books at thrift stores because they are so affordable there.  Occasionally I splurge on new literature.  There are so many great books that I won’t be naming them.  However – here are a few great lists by some of my favorite bloggers: Crazy Speech World; Speechy Musings Book Lists by Speech Sound and Books for Teaching Story Grammar in Speech Therapy; The Speech Space; etc.

Cost: $0.50-$20

4 – Super Duper

Honestly, for the most part I have moved away from the games and card decks from companies like Super Duper.  However, there are a few products that are flexible enough to be used for many goals and groups.  These are the products I pull on occasion to target 4-5 different goals in a session: “WH” Chipper Chat; Pirate Talk, What Do You Say…What Do You Do… At School?; The Question Challenge Card Game; Turtle Talk Fluency and Language Game

Cost: $55-70

5 – Board Games

We don’t play a lot of games but when we do, they address goals!  Now, I preface this by saying that most of these will need some adaptations made to make it work in therapy.  But that’s why we do the therapy and the material doesn’t do it.  Some of my favorites include Hedbanz, Blurt, 5 Second Rule Jr, Riddle Moo This, and others.  Again, I hunt thrift stores for these as I would much rather spend $3 on a gently used game than $15 on a new one.

Cost: $12-20

6 – Teachers Pay Teachers

I would be lying if I didn’t say that I utilize many wonderful materials from TpT.  Not everything on TpT is created equal and I highly suggest reading information and reviews carefully.  Also look for any information about the use of the product from the seller or others.  Some of my go-to resources include Editable SLP Assessment Templates; Cycles for Phonology Toolkit; Grab N’ Go “WH” Questions; Nyms-O; Nonfiction Texts Targeting Articulation and Language

Cost: $3-30

7 – Your School Campus

There is no reason to keep yourself inside the therapy room at all times.  Get out of there!  Within your school and on your campus are great opportunities for language and articulation.  We have done attribute searches (find something red, find something square), sound walks (find your articulation sound), and more.  Some of our favorite places to visit are bulletin boards, the playground, and my administrators (we like to ask them questions or tell them stories using our good articulation for example).  A big part of our job is moving the skills we work on from isolation into the general education environment.  These structured therapy times outside of the speech room can do just this.

Cost: Free

8 – Maps

A lot of my students have not been outside of the city they are growing up in.  They may travel to a nearby state or to Mexico to visit family occasionally.  We like to use maps – the bigger, the better – in my speech room.  We can use these to plan a road trip and read about/discuss attractions along the way.  We can hunt for cities that have their speech sound in the name.  We can talk about what we see around a place on the map (river, highway, city, park, etc.).  Maps are very interesting to kids in my experience.  They also love to use google maps to explore place they haven’t been or are just interested in.  We’ve used google maps to look at the house I grew up in – they LOVED that!  You can often get maps for free from local tourism shops, services like AAA, or from relatives who don’t want that atlas any longer.

Cost: Free

9 – Sensory Materials

I love integrating sensory bins and materials with my “everyday” speech materials.  We love using kinetic sand, fake snow, water beads, etc. to create a sensory component of our sessions.  I will often hide thematic/sound-based dinky doodads and other tiny items in sand and excavate them.  We may close our eyes and describe what we feel using our description details.  We might just put some laminated TpT cards or other stimuli in the sensory item and work on those.  Regardless of the activity, my students love working with sensory materials.

Cost: Free – $10

10 – Box of Highly-Preferred toys/items

If you work with students using PECS or other AAC devices/systems, having many highly-preferred items at your fingertips can be the key to unlocking their language skills.  I often keep several varieties of wind-up toys, light-up toys, poppers, sensory items, etc. nearby.  This allows me to quickly have students requesting with attributes and working on describing their items.  This can also help in motivating younger students to complete tasks and earn a preferred item.  I recommend looking in the dollar sections, holiday clearance, thrift stores, and even fast food meal toys.  Pro tip: keep these out of reach/sight if you aren’t using them or you may have a distracted and upset child on your hands.

Cost: Free – $4 each

Therapy is not all about the material you use.  It’s important to remember that the material is not the therapy, YOU provide the therapy and may utilize a material/tool in doing so.  What are some of your go-to therapy materials… share below!

To start off the month, I would like to give you a sneak peak into The Hanen Centre‘s great booklet series called Make Play R.O.C.K and give you a chance to win a set (see below)!  These booklets are designed to for parents (and therapists) to assist young children with autism who have difficulty learning to play.  This great series of booklets (50-80 pages each) give parents and clinicians practical, research-based strategies for helping children expand their play skills through everyday activities!

Because play skills have been linked to the development of skills such as language, vocabulary, social skills, and problem-solving, it is an incredibly important part of a child’s life.  As a therapist, particularly when I was providing early intervention and Pre-K services, it was important to empower parents to be their child’s therapist in many ways.  They spend the most amount of time with their children.  However, I always found that teaching parents how to play with their children in a beneficial way was always a surprisingly difficult task.  These booklets could be very helpful for this purpose.

Booklet 1: Plan for People Play

This booklet discusses ideas for building a child’s interaction and communication skills by playing games that focus on interaction over toys.  I love the language that this, and the other booklets are written in – so parent-friendly!  This booklet has a nice “People Play Interaction Checklist” which help parents to identify what their children can already do and what next steps will be.  The booklet also discusses Hanen’s “O.W.L.” technique (Observe Wait Listen) to help parents interact in the most beneficial ways.  It also introduces the Repeat, Offer opportunities, Cue, and Keep techniques which make up the R.O.C.K. method.  It gives great examples of what this method would look like.  Additionally, the book references the sensory needs of young children with autism.  Finally, it begins to walk parents through some games at each stage of play.  The booklet also includes a “People Game Plan” for parents to develop a plan for their children.

Booklet 2: Take Out the Toys

In the second booklet, toy play skills are discussed.  This booklet discusses typical toy stages for children and how children with ASD may differ in their development.  Again, this booklet includes a “What’s My Play Style” quiz to assist parents in parents in finding their style of play and adjusting as needed to help their child.  The booklet then gives incredibly parent-friendly tips on facilitating play.  I always found myself giving these tips to parents during sessions and modeling it.  I think this would have been a very nice supplement to my sessions for parents to continue the work during the week.  Another section of the booklet discusses next steps for play.  Parents determine how their children currently play and what next steps for them are.  There are also great suggestions for types of toys to help facilitate the acquisition of certain toy skills.  Finally, the booklet discusses ways to R.O.C.K. the child’s play and examples of that before concluding with a “Toy Play Plan” for parents to complete.

Booklet 3: Put Pretending into Your Child’s Play

This booklet builds upon the previous booklets, or stands alone, as a resource to help parents expand their child’s pretend play skills during everyday activities.  This booklet begins by discussing pretend play and the importance of those skills, sequence of pretend play development, and how pretend play may differ in children on the autism spectrum.  The booklet then discusses next steps, including a mini checklist of for parents to determine how their child plays and what steps would be next for their play style/skills.  There is also a checklist for parents to determine what their play style with their children is and ways to adjust those styles to benefit their children.  Like the other booklets, this discusses R.O.C.K. and examples of implementing that technique.  The booklet wraps up with a “Pretend Play Plan” for parents to complete.

Overall, these booklets are an incredible resource for parents and for clinicians.  I found the parent-friendly language and progression to be very easy to follow.  I could see these being used by parents of children with autism as well as children with general developmental delays.  The complete set sells for $42 (before taxes and shipping).  I feel that this price is fair for the amount of information received in these booklets.  It would make a practical addition to the libraries of clinicians working in Early Intervention and Pre-K as well.

Now, to our giveaway from Hanen… Enter below!  But don’t worry, everybody is a winner with their Autism Awareness Month coupon codes – Save on More Than Words, TalkAbility and the Make Play ROCK booklets with “AAM2017” on their Teaching Tuning In, Coaching Parents in How to Play or Starting Early e-Seminars with “AAMSEM17”.

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About The Hanen Centre:  Founded more than 35 years ago, The Hanen Centre is a Canadian charitable organization with a global reach. Their mission is to provide parents, caregivers, early childhood educators and speech-language pathologists with the knowledge and training they need to help young children develop the best possible language, social and literacy skills. This includes children with or at risk of language delays and those with developmental challenges such as Autism Spectrum Disorder.  They fulfill their mission by:

I’m an SLP and I enjoy long walks… down the hallway?

Most SLPs have a packed schedule.  Trying to organize therapy minutes for 60+ students across multiple grade levels and goals into about 30-35 hours per week is extremely difficult.  I’m not sure about you, but I end up with sessions back-to-back nearly all day.

Each year I’m surprised with how long it takes me to walk to and from my students’ classrooms.  This year I’m on a very spacious campus.  For example, if I have 1st grade students scheduled at 9:00, I am leaving my office with my previous group at 8:58.  It takes a few minutes for me to gather all of them from their classrooms and organize them.  It’s 9:02 when we leave their pod area.  We begin walking, as briskly as their 1st grade legs will move, and arrive at my room at 9:05.  By the time they are sitting and calm and I begin our activity or lesson, it can be nearly 9:10.  At 9:28 we must depart to return to their rooms.  We don’t walk silently, I’m trying to engage them in conversations that further target their therapy goals but it is difficult to do without bringing along materials.  I feel like I’m missing out on so many minutes of potential therapy each day.

I know that part of the solution is students moving about campus and arriving to my room independently.  While my older students should be able to come to me on their own, there are those beginning weeks of learning schedules as well as those students who demonstrate “difficulty” with getting from their classroom to me.  And eventually I’d like to be able to send my Kindergarteners and 1st graders back on their own but we’ll likely be starting our sessions together for a majority of the year.

To take advantage of these minutes of transition, I’ve developed these Walk ‘n Talk cards to keep on hand.  I have included a majority of the targets my students work on in 16 prompt cards (printed 2-sided) that I can use as we walk across campus.  I can have students practice articulation for 3 more minutes, warm up with some reminders and questions, practice fluency carry-over or conversation skills, etc.  These cards are available here!

I have really enjoyed having prompts on-hand during our transitions and it has also been something that I can utilize for quick articulation and language RtI and screenings, provide to teachers for RtI and carryover in the classroom, and send home for parents.

I would love to hear from you on this topic.  Are transition times something you struggle with as well?  How do you take advantage of those minutes?

Have a great week!

    One of our favorite social skill curriculums has recently gone mobile with their app: Social Detective from Social Thinking and Social Skills Builder.

When you begin, a single user may create and select their avatar. This is saved and can be used on the next time through the app.  Each area includes narration and instruction and practice items before progressing to a test with video scenes and questions.

The first section is unexpected vs. expected behaviors.  The second section is about good vs. uncomfortable thoughts.  The third section is about making smart guesses using tool box items.

I liked that this app includes video examples of familiar situations.  In the third section, you get to see what happens after the student makes a smart guess about what will happen.  It has good questions that reinforce the Social Thinking curriculum and books so it is a great companion to that for those who use it.  It would still be good discussion for those who do not use that curriculum but is most beneficial for those that do.  I like that some questions have more than one component to them to expand upon.  The videos don’t automatically progress after correct answers so that you can discuss further before the next scenario.  The narrator reads the answer choices which can be helpful (but answers are not highlighted when they are read so students may have a hard time retaining which one to select).  Finally, data is tracked on the app and there is the ability to e-mail the data!  Awesome!

I wish that this app had better sound quality in the videos.  It can be hard to hear the conversations at times.  Because you can only use one avatar at a time, you may have difficulty with tracking progress of students if they are seen in group.  However, I overcome this by having the students come up with a “team” name and avatar to utilize. When you complete all of the levels, nothing happens.  It would be nice to have a fully dressed detective with badge presented at the end or another reinforcer for the children.

Overall, this is a great app to have if you utilize the Social Thinking curriculum/materials.  I would not recommend it to be used without that material.  It would be best to use in an individual session or a session with a maximum of 2-3 students.

This app retails for $24.99 and is available at iTunes or check out more information and reviews at YappGuru!

Everyday Speech, a company which has previously released the iPad apps “Let’s Be Social”, “Let’s Use Language”, and “Let’s Learn Emotions”, has now released 36 Social Skills videos written by Brittany Lehane, CCC-SLP, an ASHA-certified SLP.  These videos include:

I have had the privilege of previewing several of these videos so that I may discuss them with you!  First, I love that the videos are labeled by topic!  I also like that they explain the problem and go over the definition of terms that may be unfamiliar before beginning the video.  They then show a video of the situation going poorly.  Then, you get a peek into the characters’ minds to see what they’re thinking!  Feelings are discussed as  well.  Then a few discussion questions are listed and you can easily pause the video for student feedback before continuing.  Finally, a situation going well is shown which is a great use of peer/video modeling.

Explaining

Feelings

Learning

Thoughts

Young Group

Older Group

Overall, the videos that I previewed were great.  I see these videos being beneficial for a variety of students and a wide range of ages.  Even middle and high school aged students would benefit from watching older group videos.  These videos would be a great companion to many of the other Social Skills products and curriculums that are available.  While the terminology is not exactly the same, the concepts are similar enough that they would be extremely useful.  Plus, these videos can be viewed on your computer, iPad/iPhone, Android, etc.!  The uniquely SLP approach to the creation of these videos will be appreciated by therapists and their clients.

If you would like to purchase the rights to the 36 published videos at 50% off, consider the bundle which is a complete collection.  You can click here and use the promo code “sublimespeech” to receive this bundle for only $35!  Enjoy!

Today we take a look at Social Norms by Virtual Speech Center.  You can learn detailed information about the app by watching the video tutorial below.

The navigation from the first page is simple and easy to get started.

I like that you can easily adjust these two important settings: Text and Audio.  This helps to customize the activity to your needs and the goals of the client.

One of the best aspects of this app is the ability to add personalized stories.  Having social stories for children that you work with is a great tool.  This app makes it easy to create and store these stories for those clients.  You can add illustrations or real photos.

There is a very extensive list of ready-made stories to use.

You can choose multiple stories to do in a single session which lessens the amount of time between each story for setup.

The stories have decently clear and nice illustrations.  The emotions are conveyed well throughout.

Each story shows that adults can help in social situations which is helpful for younger clients.

Overall, this app from VSC offers a very nice way to present, create, and store Social Stories for children.  The pre-made stories are best for younger students (Probably Pre-K through 2nd grade) but the ability to add customized stories would make this appropriate for nearly every SLP working in schools/EI.  This app is available for $9.99 in the App Store.

Here is the official App-ometer Rating:

Today’s post is a first in a series.  We start today with 5 supplies any SLP needs if… they work with clients with severe disabilities.  This is a population that grabbed my heart and has never let go.  They are the most wonderful clients and are the reason that I became an SLP.  It can be a highly rewarding and extremely challenging position.  If you work with clients with severe and profound disabilities (including Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, genetic disorders, etc.) there are a few supplies that you will need to be successful!

Velcro –

Velcro is magic and is a must in any SLPs toolbox.  However, if you work with clients with severe disabilities you will definitely need oodles of velcro.  You will use this for PECS books, materials, books, and organizing materials.  Velcro helps you to be flexible and address clients’ goals in many different ways.  Velcro dots are a quick way to use velcro but any velcro is helpful.

Board Books –

Paper books are easily torn and do not stand up to saliva and other bodily fluids.  One of the best investments I made was in popular therapy books in board books.  Many of these books can be adapted for clients who use devices and will last much longer to disinfecting, throwing, and much more.  These can usually be found at thrift stores, discount stores (like TJ Maxx) and from friends who have children that are getting too old for board books.

Fidgets – 

Many OTs will recommend that children have access to “Fidgets” within their classrooms.  Speech sessions are another great place to have fidgets available for clients.  Some examples of fidgets are: squeeze balls, velcro under the desk/table, coil keychains, weighted lap pads, sensory brushes, putty, tangles, foot bands, and more.  Consult the client’s OT for the best recommendations based on the needs of the child and what behaviors you are seeing during sessions.

Tablet case – 

If you utilize a personal or workplace iPad or tablet  you will want to invest in a quality case.  I go for cases that are somewhat waterproof – at least enough to be able to wipe down and/or sanitize the device if it is drooled on or something else.  There were countless days where my device had been bespeckled with many things during the session.  My case (OtterBox) allowed me to wipe it off with a clorox wipe with no negative effects on the tablet.  You will also want a case that provides protection for your tablet.  My clients typically threw, dropped, or jumped on my tablet during any given therapy session.  However, my iPad is still alive and kickin’ because of the quality case that I had on it.  You paid hundreds of dollars for the tablet and apps… you might want to pay $50-100 for a great case as well.

Highly motivating and easy-to-use toys –

Many of my clients were working on basic communication skills.  Highly motivating toys are universal and are easy to create communication opportunities with.  Some great examples of these “toys” are: bubbles, cars, balls, blocks, dolls/baby dolls, pretend food/kitchen toys, toys that move, etc.  Find toys that are easy to clean, target multiple clients’ goals (don’t buy something that only works with one client), and is sturdy.  I love exploring my local thrift stores and garage sales for these items.

If you are lucky enough to work with clients with severe disabilities, I hope that you find this post of 5 must-have supplies helpful!  What are some supplies in your “toolbox” for this population?

]]> http://sublimespeech.com/2014/08/5-supplies-you-need-if-part-i.html/feed 2 http://sublimespeech.com/2014/04/stars-in-her-eyes-navigating-the-maze-of-childhood-autism.html http://sublimespeech.com/2014/04/stars-in-her-eyes-navigating-the-maze-of-childhood-autism.html#comments Tue, 29 Apr 2014 05:00:25 +0000 http://sublimespeech.com/?p=1455

“Even though autism is now a household word, many people do not understand the first thing about it.” ~Dr. B “Stars in Her Eyes”

I have always had a love for working with children with autism and other severe and profound delays/disorders.  I love that each child is incredibly unique and incredible in their own special way.  I currently work with 16 children who are diagnosed with autism.  Each of these children are incredibly special to me and the reason why my job as a Speech-Language Pathologist is so unique and why each day brings a new adventure.

In the relatively few years that I have been a practicing Speech-Language Pathologist, I have worked with and met people of every degree of knowledge on the subject of autism from knowing it in term only to having spent their entire careers working with individuals with the diagnosis of autism.  Parents, teachers, therapists, family members, and the public have a different view of and comfort level with these individuals.  I have seen first-hand what a well-informed parent or teacher can do for a child with autism.  I have also seen what damage a person without this knowledge level can do.

While I was in college, I had the extreme privilege of having Dr. Linda Barboa as a professor.  Today she releases her book, “Stars in Her Eyes: Navigating the Maze of Childhood Autism” with contributing author Elizabeth Obrey.  It is described as a book designed to help parents and teachers navigate the dizzying maze of autism.  This book includes narratives from four contributing authors who have “been there and done that”: a speech-language pathologist, a teacher, a parent with 2 children on the spectrum, and a psychologist with children on the spectrum.  These contributors are very honest and direct in explaining their opinions, advice, and unique views of many areas.  This book discusses the following areas:

• Red Flags: Communication, Sensory Issues, & Social Skills
• You are Not Alone – Know Your Team Members: Educational Professionals, Medical Professionals, Community, The Parents’ Role
• Interventions: Behavioral, Programs Based on Learning Theories, & Biomedical
• Schools: Choosing & Programming
• Resources: Your Rights, Respite Care, Camps, Funding
• Home Life: Self-Care, Disruptive Behaviors, Family Life, & Relationships.
• Final Thoughts, Suggested Readings, and more!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.  Stars in Her Eyes is a book which makes you feel as if you’ve been invited to chat with the authors and contributors over a cup of coffee about all of the ins and outs of having or working with a child with autism.  Throughout the pages I saw bits and pieces of the students that I work with each day.  I felt, as  a therapist, that I better understand the point of view of parents after reading this book.  I don’t believe that I have found another book which marries all viewpoints of therapists, parents, and educators as well as this does.  It is a book that should be read by and shared with anybody who knows a person who has been diagnosed with autism.  It will most definitely be one that I recommend to parents of newly-diagnosed children with autism as well as seasoned therapists and educators.

“For the larger community, education is the only avenue to autism awareness.  Understanding does not come quickly, as it is a complex disorder.  It falls to those of us who live in a world touched by autism to enlighten those on the outside peeking in.  Whether you are a parent, teacher, student or friend, you can spread the information that will educate the world about autism.”~Dr. B, Stars in Her Eyes

To read more about this book, including excerpts, visit Tate Publishing.

Stars in Her Eyes can be purchased at Amazon:

Dr. Barboa has offered a copy of this incredible new book for a giveaway!  Enter below for a chance to win a copy of Stars in Her Eyes: Navigating the Maze of Childhood Autism!

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Disclosure: A copy of this book was provided for review.  No other compensation was provided and all opinions are that of the blog author.

It’s time for the very FIRST Book Review here at Sublime Speech!  And, I’ve had the privilege of starting off with a bang with Easy-To-Say First Words: A Focus on Final Consonants!  This simple, yet incredibly useful, book was sent to me from the author, Cara Tambellini Danielson who is an SLP! (I’m a little biased towards those amazing SLPs!)

This book was developed to help children acquire first words and articulate final consonants.  It has unique and engaging illustrations that capture children’s attention. The target words in this book are easy-to-say because they are one-syllable words that contain early-developing consonants.  Since the words in this book are common first words, this book can be read with any child who is learning to talk. There are three categories of final consonants included in the book: words that end with /p/, /t/, and /k/.

I love that there is a parent guide explaining how to help children with his/her speech and language skills included.  This is easy to understand and can be used by parents … or SLPs!

I actually have used this with my K-5 students with severe Autism including a student who is currently nonverbal but working on those early sounds that are targeted in the book.  We utilize the great drawings to expand on each illustration.

As you can see… it’s a very engaging book and my kiddos LOVED the illustrations and the predictable format of the book.  This is perfect for EI/Early Childhood and students with severe Autism/other diagnoses who are minimally or nonverbal.

Overall, this is such a great little book!  It is currently available from Amazon for $10.39.

Cara has offered to do an amazing giveaway for THREE copies of the book!  Enter below and good luck!

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