Due to changes at the workplace, which are mainly fiscally driven, my current work position is expanding and I will no longer treat children solely in the preschool. Now, some of my days will be split as I will be back on the road in homecare therapy for a few hours a week. It's been more than 3 years now since I left homecare and the birth to ...

While some patients in skilled nursing facilities are there for short-term stays in order to receive various therapy and nursing services, others will remain with us for months, years, or possibly for the rest of their lives. We expect to see some patients again due to the progressive nature of some disorders. Others might return unexpectedly to ...

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 ...

Dear Kathie: ''Chad is 5 years old and ‘very' autistic and non-verbal. He covers his ears with his hands when there is a loud noise, such as a fire alarm, or even when he anticipates a loud noise, like a balloon that he thinks may pop. How can I help him, his classroom teacher, and his parents? - Payton, speech-language pathologist My ...

Today I want to share one of my favorite apps to use with preschoolers who have receptive and/or expressive language delays. It's called ''Monkey Preschool Lunchbox,'' and is a mere $0.99 to download onto your device. Below I have listed the overall layout of the app in bullet points. The concepts that the app addresses are in ...

All behavior has a function and purpose. There are five main functions of undesirable behavior, and four of them go hand-in-hand with autism. It is important for the speech-language pathologist and the entire team to recognize how any particular behavior is reinforced and enabled. Avoidance Do children and adults with autism ...

  Core words are a relatively small amount of frequently occurring words that are found in every language and make up about 85 percent of the vocabulary used. Core words are powerful and are the basis for communication. They are found in speaking, reading and writing and are mostly comprised of pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and ...

Working with young children with verbal apraxia in a preschool classroom poses many challenges. However, as we all know, there are also numerous opportunities for creative problem solving, especially with various technology and software programs at our fingertips. Today I would like to share a technique that has proven to be quite ...

Dear Kathie: ''Larry speaks so loudly. I can hear him coming from way down the hall in school. No one wants to sit by him in the lunchroom and his teacher is pulling her hair out. I've talked to Larry's mother and it's the same at home, in the library and at McDonald's. Any suggestions? And is this really in the realm of speech therapy for a ...