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!

Summer is full of sun and fun… and language opportunities.  Whether you are looking for language-rich activities to recommend to the parents of children that you work with or for your own children, the following list will help you seek out the perfect activity for those sunny (or rainy) summer days.

Farmers Market:

Farmers Markets can be found across the world.  Local markets typically occur on weekend mornings but in some areas they may be on weekdays.  Farmers markets are incredible opportunities for vocabulary growth including nouns, attributes, categories (fruits, flowers, meat), etc.  This is also a great opportunity for children to work on requesting items from a vendor to target speech sounds, social skills, question formation, voice volume, and other skills.  Search for nearby farmers markets here.

Sporting Events:

Summer is a great time to take in a professional or minor league sporting event.  You may not realize but there are 160 Minor League teams playing in 42 US States and 1 Canadian province from April to September.  You can also catch pre-season baseball and football camps and have greater access to players.  These events also allow for increased opportunities to learn and use language in a way that children don’t each day.  From the car ride to the event, the snacks at the event, and the goings-ons during the event, children can learn and use many new words and practice other skills in a new and fun environment.  Local MiLB baseball teams can be found here, United Soccer League teams here, or search online for local teams in your area.

Zoo/Petting Zoo:

Local zoos and festivals offer a great opportunity for children to see various animals up close.  They can see their behaviors, attributes, food, living environment, etc.  This gives great context to children as they continue to develop their vocabulary and understanding of books that they read/hear, information learned in school, and more.  If you have the opportunity to visit a zoo, stop in at guest services to check to see if there are any kid-specific programming that day (shows of animals with zookeepers, feedings, etc.) that you can attend.  The majority of activities within zoos are free after initial admission which is typically minimal or free for children.

Theater:

Summer is full of outdoor theater activities.  Children typically enjoy music and the interaction that live theater provides.  Local theater companies produce many shows in the summer to large audiences at parks, outdoor theaters, etc.  There are also camps for children available in many cities.  Theater productions introduce children to different worlds, stories, music, vocabulary, etc.

Garden/Conservatories/Nature Centers:

Summer is a great time to visit a local outdoor garden/nature center or indoor conservatory.  These environments provide a great opportunity for discussing plants, flowers, bugs, weather, etc.  Again, many of these gardens provide activities for children in the summer including talks, crafts, walks, camps, and more.  Public gardens are typically free or donation-only areas and provide a great opportunity for children of all ages.

Water:

If you are lucky enough to live near an ocean, lake, or river, summer is a great time to explore these areas.  These are places where you can discuss animals that live in these environments, discover new plant life and animals/insects, and learn about a different environment.  Hunting for shells and rocks in these locations provides an opportunity to discuss attributes of these objects (smooth, black, small, etc.) and discuss how that item got to where you found it (animal that lived in it, etc.).

Parks/National Parks:

There are 58 National Parks, 6,624 State Parks, and countless local parks in the US.  Many local, state, and National Parks offer free programs for children in the summer and other months.  You can find local state parks here, national parks here, or search for all park types near you/a zip code using this site.  At parks, you can of course discuss the landscape, habitats, animals, plant life, weather, and more.  These parks offer endless opportunities for language expansion opportunities.

Art Festival:

Summer brings street festivals.  Many of these include music and vendors.  However, one of the best festival types for language is an art festival.  Many small and large cities offer opportunities for local artists to show and sell their work.  You will see every type of art from painting to photography to sculpture and more.  Children love art and are drawn to these pieces.  While these festivals require a great amount of supervision for children (so they do not touch/break pieces) they can provide incredible opportunities for children to view varying types of art.  There will be interesting mediums used, colors, scenes, etc that lend themselves to discussion, interpretation, inferencing, and more.  I love using art to discuss opinions and subject matters.  Art Festivals are a particularly good location to take older children who can more deeply understand and discuss the work.  It also provides an opportunity for them to interact with the artists (formulating questions, social skills) as well as participate in crafts for children (following directions, creating).

Museums:

For those rainy days, local museums are a must.  Even the smallest local history museum can provide several hours of language opportunities for children.  Children’s museums, aquariums, art museums, and others can be great opportunities for discussing various topics.  The best way to increase language at all museums is to follow a child’s lead to what they are interested in, ask follow up questions, discuss opinions, model language, and discuss content-specific vocabulary with children.  Particularly with items and experiences that are new and unknown to children, take time to imbed definitions of new vocabulary when discussing various items in the museum.  Again, many museums will offer day camps and activities as well as special talks for children and families throughout the summer.  US Museums can be searched for here and Children’s Museums can be searched for here.

Other Summer Toys & Activities:

Summer is a great time for these outdoor activities in back yards and local locations across the world.  Some of the best language-stimulating activities and toys for summer include:

Bubbles  –  Pools  –  Walks  –  Camping  –  Picnics  –  Water Fight  –  Sensory/Water Tables  –  Gardening  –  Crafts  –  Sidewalk Chalk  –  Sports  –  & More!

Finding activities and toys to keep kids engaged, developing, and entertained during the summer is important.  For children with language, speech, social skills, and other developmental difficulties/delays, imbedding these skills into the summer activities is crucial.  The more that you practice working on language during these activities, the more natural it will become and the easier it will be to do so with nearly any activity that you do with your child.

In addition to those listed above, Care.Com provides a great list of ideas to keep kids busy and engaged in the summer months.  There are also many books and websites that list great local ideas for your specific city.  Simply search online to find these resources.  Enjoy your summer!

    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!

Here we go!  One of my favorite times of the year… A TpT Sale Party!  “Teachers are Heroes” sale starts this week and we’re linking up with our cart favorites just for you!

I have finally started to feel my product-producing MoJo coming back and have begun to make a new series of products for Articulation.  The first in this series is available now and will be a great price during the sale!  Articulation Strips – /r/ are a totable articulation drill activity for readers! Great the traveling SLP, RtI/push-in services, independent practice, homework, and more!  There are over 180 articulation strips in this pack!  More sounds will be added soon!

I have also Bundled my Animal Puzzles!  These interactive puzzles are perfect for EI/Pre-K Speech therapy, classrooms, and more. Endless targets including requesting, body parts, following directions, describing, animal noises, free play, and more.

Now for my over-flowing cart!  Here are 5 of my picks for the upcoming sale!

Interactive Vocabulary Books: Color Books from Speech Room News

Leveled Grammar Intervention from Allison’s Speech Peeps

Mad Scientists Inferences from Live Love Speech.

Apraxia – Interactive Apraxia Activities Value Bundle From Teaching Talking

No Prep Articulation by The Speech Bubble SLP

Enjoy the sale!  Share below what you will be purchasing!  And check out more posts on the Linky Home for more ideas of great products to purchase!

]]> http://sublimespeech.com/2015/02/whats-in-your-cart-hero-sale-edition-linky-party.html/feed 1 http://sublimespeech.com/2014/12/appy-new-year-yapp-guru-expert-linky.html http://sublimespeech.com/2014/12/appy-new-year-yapp-guru-expert-linky.html#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2014 01:57:07 +0000 http://sublimespeech.com/?p=2082 As 2014 comes to an end, Yapp Guru is looking at which apps are the Top Ten apps that the App Experts loved in 2014.  My iPad has had such a crazy 2014!  I went from working in 2 elementary schools with K-5 and children with severe Autism (including many nonverbal students) to working within the Early Intervention system with clients 0-4 on my caseload.  However, I want to give you my Top 10 from the entire year… these are apps that stay on my iPad instead of floating in the cloud and are used most frequently.  Some of them made their debut in 2014 but others have been around for a bit.  Regardless, these are the apps I recommend to you!

(In no particular order of course!

Articulation Test Station – $49.99

I love using this app for RtI screener, speech samples during evaluations, and progress monitoring.  It is incredibly easy to use and is always my go-to for a quick paperless evaluation/screener!  Watch for sales but it’s worth the $50, and I don’t say that easily!

Peekaboo Barn – $1.99

This is one of my favorite apps for preschool clients.  We utilize it to work on following directions, identifying animals, and labeling.  We can also talk about the animal attributes, what’s in the barn, and more.

Avokiddo Emotions – $2.99

I love to use Avokiddo emotions with a wide range of clients.  We use this with social goals to identify emotions, talk about why the character feels that way, etc.  We also use this to work on attributes, actions, describing, requesting, and so much more.  It’s a well-made and versatile app!

ArtikPix Level Plus – #29.99

This is a very versatile and clean app for articulation therapy.  I love the way it is set up and remembers settings and data between sessions.  If you work with a lot of articulation clients and/or RtI for Articulation, this app is a great investment!

aacorn – $189.99

AAC is an ever-changing area.  This app is great for some students and a great way to introduce AAC to younger children.  It learns the student and can be customized completely.  I also love that they offer free version to SLPs for therapy and trials.  Plus, of all AAC options, this is one of the best made and affordable options.  I have used this with nonverbal elementary students as well as nonverbal children under 3.  With some training, it can be utilized by most students easily.

Soundable – FREE

Sometimes you have to kick back and relax with a nerdy little SLP game.  Soundable is a great refresher for IPA and fun SLPs!  Think of it as Scrabble with IPA!  Enjoy!

Toca Kitchen Monsters – FREE

This is a great free app from Toca Boca.  As a general reinforcer, it is goal.  However, if you dig deeper you’ll find that you can do following directions (which food to pick, how to cook it, etc.), talk about attributes, vocabulary, and much more!

I Dare You Articulation – $4.99

This app has been a favorite of mine since it’s arrival in the app store.  My older articulation students love it!  We even were able to go around our school with the app and “dare” some teachers and the principal to do the dares by utilizing good speech sounds.  It was so motivating and the staff loved it!  Erik X. Raj has so many motivating articulation apps!

Real Vocabulary Pro – $29.99

I really enjoy how this app targets vocabulary learning in students K-5.  You can work on antonyms, synonyms, definitions, multiple meanings, and idioms within this app.  It also keeps data for you!  There are reinforcer games as well which is helpful for older clients!

Sentence Ninja – $19.99

Sentence ninja is a great way for students to work on grammar and syntax.  It can also be used for language and articulation carry-over.  It’s a very motivating theme for students and they enjoy working on this app during sessions.  It has built-in data tracking also.

There are so many incredible apps being added to the marketplace each day.  These 10 were my favorites of 2014 and I can’t wait to see what 2015 will bring!  I hope you’ll visit the other blogs in this linky to see which apps they loved this year!

Appy New Year!!!

]]> http://sublimespeech.com/2014/12/appy-new-year-yapp-guru-expert-linky.html/feed 3 http://sublimespeech.com/2014/09/appy-friday-social-norms-by-vsc.html http://sublimespeech.com/2014/09/appy-friday-social-norms-by-vsc.html#respond Fri, 05 Sep 2014 10:00:31 +0000 http://sublimespeech.com/?p=1845

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: