Although it has been a few years since my days as a home care therapist because I am now a mother of two with a 5-month old of my own, I am once again focused on the delightful language of babies. Recently, while discussing the communication habits of infants and toddlers, a close friend and colleague of mine said to me, ''babies really speak to ...

I have loved reading about SLPs' experiences with the iPad over the last year, and am enjoying the ADVANCE AAC and App review blogs. I am still a newbie when it comes to the iPad, and am looking forward to an iPad workshop and having one to use at school in the fall. Over the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to meet 2 very different ...

Dysphagia therapy encompasses many treatment options and approaches. There is always considerable debate about the efficacy of one treatment approach or another. This week, as I continue on with my advice for new clinicians in the SNF, I'd like to focus on swallowing therapy. Firstly, let me remind everyone that the resources and equipment ...

I'm still focusing on therapy materials that new clinicians in the SNF or geriatric setting might want to collect. One of the most versatile therapy tools you can use are everyday objects, which work for naming, following directions, describing, attention, memory, orientation, speech intelligibility and auditory comprehension. So many skills can ...

This week I'd like to continue with specific therapy material suggestions for new graduates and the books and manuals that have worked for me, with a focus on cognitive-linguistic resources. Cognitive-linguistic therapy is a very important aspect of our work in geriatrics and long-term care (LTC). At the very least, we should be supporting ...

When do you elicit a language sample? Certainly when you first see a child you would want to take a language sample. However, if the child is not comfortable on the initial assessment, there is nothing written in stone that says that it has to be completed the first time around. That in itself should tell you something. I feel that ...

Since I've written quite a bit recently about the changes and challenges the elderly face. I wanted to balance that out with some quick facts about aging in general. Although I often work with the frail and dependent geriatric patients, the happy truth is that most of us will not face nursing home placements and severe debility as we age. In ...

As we consider sensory changes that occur throughout the aging process, it is important to remember the subtle differences that will manifest and how they might affect a patient's participation in therapy and daily activities, as well as his or her quality of life. My colleagues and I often notice that while we are usually warm, often ...

In last week's blog post, ''The iPad Becomes a wePad for Autism,'' I encouraged you to develop a relationship between the iPad, the child and another person, rather than letting the child with autism treat it as a ''thing.'' Let's call that with the iPad. That's when we can turn it into a wePad and make those applications come alive ...

What better way to get children excited to learn language and communication skills than a birthday party? Toca Boca's ''Birthday Party'' is an interactive app that provides numerous opportunities to help speech-language pathologists expand language use and teach social skills, as well as AAC skills, in a fun and motivating way. ...