Closing Time

Another school year has come to an end...  after 15 years in the "biz" the anticipation of summer still provides that wonderful tingly feeling!  Of course, the weather in Minnesota this spring has not made me feel tingly, but rather cranky, sad and tired.  While waving goodbye to the students from "the hill" yesterday (a tradition at Glendale) I overheard one student remark, "Well it sure doesn't feel like summer vacation out here."  According to the ever accurate and consistent meterologists next week will feel more like summer.  Now that, is definitely something I am looking forward to!

See you in August

 

BSHM - "Hear" Ye "Hear" Ye Don't

With the last week in May upon us (feels more like the start of April here in Minnesota), here is the final post in honor of Better Speech and Hearing Month 2013 (BSHM)
  



 

BSHM - Voice

A little bit of information on voice disorders and vocal hygiene

 

 

 

BSHM - Fluency Facts



 

SPEECH GRAFFITI

To celebrate Better Speech and Hearing Month with my students we created a bit of "speech graffiti" to display in our main hallway at school.  Students were asked to complete one of the following statements:

1)  My goal in speech class is to...

2)  The thing I like best about speech class is...

3)  My favorite activity in speech class is...

The variety of responses were tremendous!  It was wonderful to see the awareness students had about what they are trying to accomplish in speech group, as well as the things they enjoy most during group time.  Of course, I was especially touched by those students who said the thing they liked best was little old me.  Sniff Sniff...

Here is a shot of the final project.

 

 

On a side note, as an end to our Teacher Appreciation Week this week, students dressed like their favorite teacher/staff member today.  I was honored to have a few of my favorite girls think of me.

 



BSHM - Love of Language

 

 

Better Speech and Hearing Month - Did you know?

Here are a few tidbits about communication disorders and the world of speech language pathology.

 

MAY IS BETTER SPEECH AND HEARING MONTH

 

Better Speech and Hearing Month is a time to raise public awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the various forms of communication disorders including those of hearing, speech, language, and voice. Speech and language disorders take many forms such as articulation, voice, stuttering, and receptive and expressive language difficulties. These impairments may be learning based, acquired, or the result of accidental injury or illness at any age. Speech and language disorders can limit academic achievement and social adjustment within their educational setting.

As a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) I work to prevent, identify and treat various forms of communication impairments including speech, language, voice, stuttering, hearing, and related disorders.

To celebrate this month, my speech and language students will be creating speech graffiti in the main hallway at school to promote awareness of communication disorders. Furthermore, each Monday in the month of May, I will be posting examples of DIY promotional materials and/or resources for parents and teachers to learn more about speech/language development and communication disorders. 

 

Explain Everything -- A Handy Tool for Speech Therapy

In the month of March I decided to try my hand at a new app called Explain Everything. This tool allows you to create a slideshow including narration, photos and videos. Two of my fluency students used it to research what stuttering is, the different types of disfluencies, as well as strategies used to produce smooth speech. Here is one of the presentations we created:

All About Stuttering

 

April Home Practice for Speech/Language Students

Thanks to the SLPs Fairy Godmother and If I Only Had Superpowers for the following April Home Practice Activities.  These activities can be used for students working on improving both their expressive and receptive language skills or articulation skills.  Language students can answer the questions as stated while the articulation students can answer the questions using their target speech sounds (each student should be able to tell you which sound we have been working on in group each week).

April Calendar
 

 

 April - Week by Week



 

Speech 101

Ahhh.... winter break is over.  Or should I say WAHHHH!

Now that we are back in the swing of things, I thought it would be a perfect time to share a few resources for parents and classroom or specialist teachers to better understand vocabulary in the world of speech/language.

The first was created by www.msjocelynspeech.com and the

second by www.carriescorner.blogspot.com. 

 

Link:  https://www.box.com/s/24o58vj6z08h04rfdn0k

 

  

 

Link:  https://www.box.com/s/4fwwvd7q52h407l6tzo2

A Little Lesson in Voice Use

One of my favorite things to do during my ACT week (indirect) each month is to visit classrooms and conduct mini lessons on a variety of topics in the speech and language world.  One of the classroom teachers' favorites is the lesson I provide on voice use and projection.  One of my teacher friends has been "talking me and this lesson up" to SLPs in other districts recently which has resulted in SLPs connecting with me to share this particular lesson.

I present the lesson via Notebook for SmartBoards with some opportunity for interactive activities for the students, but have transferred it to  PowerPoint since it is used more universally.



 

Link:  https://www.box.com/s/ulz6iis999tymt9qvmrh

The Coughing Sound = K

Lucky Me!  We are nearing the halfway point of the school year and over the past two weeks I have been fortunate enough to celebrate a few "graduations," as well as add several new students to my caseload.  A few of the newbies are what us SLPs like to call "fronters."  This just means the students use a fronted tongue position when producing sounds, so a 'k' comes out as a 't' or a 'g' comes out a 'd.'  It can be very difficult for these kiddos to find and use accurate tongue placement in the back of their throat for the /k/ and /g/ so here is another great resource from Heard in Speech. 

 

Link:  https://www.box.com/s/8czlo3j43zecq307sodf

Tips and Tricks for /S/ and /L/

Parents,

Here are a few handy handouts to help your child practice and you monitor his/her productions of the /s/ and /l/ sounds at home.

 

Link:  https://www.box.com/s/r2g36nzjkherwebr0t37



Link:  https://www.box.com/s/ioyeb71sjmz1zoekbxma

Everyone Loves a Board Game

Thanks to Rebecca Visintin of Adventures In Speech Pathology I have found another great resource for practicting targeted speech sounds at home. 

You can find printable board games for FREE that target each consonant sound in the English language in the initial, medial and final positions of words.  What a great way to enjoy a little competition and monitor your child's efforts in speech all at the same time :) 

You can find the link here:  Articulation Board Games

In additon, for those students working on enriching their language skills, you can incorporate the following resources into everyday activities and while reading together.

 

Descriptive Language Bookmark

 

 

Link:  https://www.box.com/s/g0hgpf424vuu026u9opm

 

Reading Comprehension Check

Link: https://www.box.com/s/vxjuw1terskowyh6ph9s

A Speech Language What?

I recently came upon the following post on a blog I visit and felt that it provides an excellent description of the many facets in the field of Speech Language Pathology.   

Beyond Lisps -- The life of a Speech Language Pathologist (via SpeechBop.com)

As in many social situations, I am often asked what I do for a living. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I hear “oh so you fix lisps?” as a response. I often times laugh this off and try to explain as best I can that there are an array of communication disorders that I treat throughout the day. People are often shocked by the extent of a Speech Pathologist’s work. “You do FEEDING?” or “You work with STROKE victims?” Once in awhile, I will come across individuals who empathize with my line of work and will add how a family member or friend is seeing a speech pathologist for one reason or another. I started to think, “how can I get the word out there about what we as SLP’s really do?” I guess that this blog and the help of fellow SLP’s can be a good way to start! Let’s begin with a list of just some of the things that SLP’s do on a daily basis:

Work environments include: hospitals, schools, clinics, private practices, home based therapy, organizations, agencies, colleges and universities, nursing-care facilities, state and federal government agencies, rehabilitation centers, research laboratories.

Bedside Assessment of Swallowing

Establishing safe diets for clients with oral-motor weakness
 

Feeding Therapy

Articulation Therapy

Voice therapy

Fluency treatment (stuttering)

A variety of formal and informal evaluations/assessments to determine language impairment.

Hearing screenings

Treating individuals with cleft-lips and palates

Accent Modification

Decreasing speech impediments (lisps) or increasing speech intelligibility

 Work as a part of an interdisciplinary team with other health professionals to diagnose and treat (occupational therapists, physical therapists, doctors, nurses, psychologists)

Treatment in a variety of communication disorders and medical conditions including but not limited to:  auditory processing disorder, comprehension deficits, hearing impairments, oral-motor disorders, myofunctional disorders, phonological processing disorders, Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Apraxia, Aphasia, ALS (Lou Gherigs Disease), Dysarthria, Dysphagia, Traumatic Brain Injury, AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication), Huntington’s Disease, Laryngeal or Oral Cancer, Dementia, Stroke, Tracheotomy patients, ADHD, Selective Mutism.

I am hoping that by sharing this information, people can better understand the work of a speech pathologist as well as the settings that they work in. The next time you are asked at a party, “what do you do for a living?” I hope you take that opportunity to spread the importance of speech pathology and how this treatment can change many peoples’ lives.

 

~SpeechBop.com

What happened to October??

Phew!  Where has the time gone?  It has been a while since I have had the chance to update the SpeechSpot.  October always becomes a whirlwind with parent/teacher conferences, re-evaluations, initial evaluations and of course the MEA break. 

What a wonderful day and age that we live in where we have the opportunity to connect, collaborate and share assessment and therapy ideas with other SLPs near and far.  Here are a few new speechie blogs that I have found.

 http://slpmaterials.blogspot.com/

http://cjmonty.wordpress.com/

http://letstalkslp.blogspot.com/

http://speech2me.blogspot.com/

Articulation Techniques At Home

Once again, thanks to Pinterest I have found some great resources for explaining articulation techniques for specific speech sounds in parent friendly language.  I hope to find additional sounds in the near future.  These handouts are courtesy of an amazing blog I often visit called Heard in Speech.



Link:  https://www.box.com/s/rflq5x6ppqmc88snpddk



Link:  https://www.box.com/s/d0hilmej1rfy55z7x50n



Link:  https://www.box.com/s/15d1baril9u6t9pa8bu9

Speech Signals

When working with students' articulation (speech sound) skills it's always helpful to have auditory or visual signals the students can refer to when attempting to produce a specific sound.

Below are kid friendly names that can help the student visualize what each sound should look or sound like.

Below are visual cues I use with students to think about articulator placement or airflow when producing target sounds.

Speech Sound Development

Teachers and parents often ask "Jimmy can't say his /l/'s.  Is this normal?"  Well, it depends on his age.  Here is a speech sound development chart which reflects at what age specific sounds should be mastered.  Keep in mind there can be a wide age range from when a sound may begin to emerge to when it should be mastered developmentally.