Have you ever thought about how you, as an SLP, talk to people? That means all people-- but specifically, non-verbal children with autism. We have two forms of sentence structures: questions and statements. We bombard children with questions. We do not give children time to answer these questions. Many children will ...

  Our young clients with ASD aren't really so difficult when it comes to lesson plans for therapy and fulfilling benchmarks and outcomes. In fact, they're very easy. Look at my list of Top Five Necessities and you'll see that the first four are ''get it and you'll have it'' kind of things. 1.    ...

Last December I was assigned a new child to my caseload. She was already being seen by several of my co-workers who each informed me of their grave concerns regarding her development. At the time, she had not yet been diagnosed with anything other than a developmental delay; however two of my seasoned staff members confided that they were ...

Welcome to March! It's not quite spring yet, but we know it is on the way! The first day of spring this year, 2009, is Friday, March 20. As we all know, spring is a time of hope, growth and new life. It marks the end of the winter season. Winter, especially in the northern hemisphere, is frigid and the earth is barren. Animals hibernate from the ...

Since beginning this blog in October 2008, one of my goals was to include both spiritual and holistic approaches to therapy, thus treating the WHOLE child, not just the disorder/delay. In addition, I believe, that just as we need to give attention to diet and exercise, we also need to address and feed our spirit. I believe we are spiritual beings ...

Last Friday's post, highlighted the first part of my interview with speech therapist, Susan B. Nachimson where we learned about her professional education, training and the experiences that brought her to the water. Today's post is a continuation of our interview. In our discussion, Susan describes her experiences with aquatic therapy, the ...

I have had the absolute pleasure of speaking with and interviewing Susan B. Nachimson (pronounced /nakumson/). Susan has been practicing speech therapy for over 30 years in many different arenas and venues. Susan is trained in both NDT (Neuro-Developmental Treatment) and WATSU (Water Shiatsu). She is also a certified massage therapist and ...

''Nature has provided us generously with everything we need to remain in good health.'' --Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897). The historical beginning of aqua therapy dates back to the ancient practices of the Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese and Romans. Then, in the 19th century, Sebastian Kneipp a Dominican monk revived the theory. He believed in the ...