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 ...

As SLP's we are often included as part of the team that transitions students from school to school, and grade-to-grade. We are often one consistent person who is a member for a child's team for many years; as a result we have a unique relationship with the child and family. In my district, we have lots of transition meeting with families and ...

In my blog on May 31, The Power of a Talking Stick, I gave you the solution if a child with autism or any language disorder is non-verbal or if they are a motor mouth. There were several comments about this blog so I felt it worth a re-visit and another ''Kathie strategy'' for the SLP bag of tricks. The Talking Card and Talking Stick are: FUN ...

This survey is designed for the parents of a child or children that are either currently receiving or have ever received Early Intervention Birth to 5 services in any developmental area at any time. The purpose of this survey is to gather useful feedback about the EI experience from a parent's perspective. As an SLP working in EI for almost ...

Last week I posted the first half of my interview with a trained speech language pathologist who is now using her speech and language skills in a new role, as an Assistive Technology Consultant/ Professional Development Specialist. Today I would like to share the second half of my interview where my guest provides instructive and helpful ...

This past week my theme for therapy has been vegetables. Here's the list of vegetables I decided to use: cabbage (green and purple) carrots green beans (great to snap in half) broccoli lettuce (easy to tear) peas peppers (green, yellow and orange) tomato eggplant cucumber I put each vegetable in a tightly sealed clear container to ...

Many children we work with do not see a link between their behavior and immediate positive consequences they can receive, let alone the connection between their behaviors and their long-term impressions on others. As SLPs, these students can be challenging in many ways, not only because it can be difficult for us to get them to participate in ...

Autism Awareness Month began on Sunday, April 1. My son Doug's birthday is April 1. The fifth annual World Autism Awareness Day was April 2. World Autism Awareness Day ''aims to increase people's awareness about people, especially children, with autism. The day often features educational events for teachers, health care workers and parents, as ...

Recently, I have been doing workshops on the topic of AAC. One frequent question from parents has been ''Will AAC prevent my child from speaking?'' The answer is no. Decades of research have proven that AAC systems don't impede the development of speech. Rather, AAC provides a means for individuals to communicate and express their wants, needs, ...

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 ...