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 ...

Books continue to be my heroes in my school position, sometimes showing up to save me from ennui when I least expect it. I was recently doing a pull-over sort of session in the literacy center (the kindergarten class is nearby and my room is, well, not), and spied the colorful cover of Alphabet Rescue, by Audrey Wood and her son, Bruce. ...

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 ...

This time of year, especially in the Northeast, it can seem like everyone is struggling with Seasonal Affective Disorder, including our students. It's cold, it's dark, and the smallest thing can set us off! As SLPs, we can be good counselors to our students and encourage positive self-talk for all sorts of occasions.  Self-talk ...

Last year I wrote a post, a la Oprah, about my favorite (speech therapy) things! Since it is that time of year again, I am going to discuss one favorite, recycled item! In the clinic I do some work for over the summer, there is an amazing long, transparent tube. I cannot tell you how much I have coveted this tube and wanted to take it ...

With Halloween coming next week, Pumpkin Circle is a picture book you might want to consider using in your therapy. Pumpkins are a surprisingly rich context for eliciting language! Kids love them, and in a way, they are fruit, an activity (carving jack o'lanterns), a scary symbol, and a link to the curriculum, all at the same ...

Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz  Why, if I had a brain I could... [singing] I could while away the hours, Conferrin' with the flowers, Consultin' with the rain. And my head I'd be scratchin' While my thoughts were busy hatchin' If I only had a brain.   In last week's blog I talked about the characteristics of the ...

When I first started to become interested in using picture books as contexts for intervention in my public school SLP position, I was really happy to find Books are for Talking Too, by Jane Gebers. It was clearly just the resource I was looking for at the time - a guide specific to SLPs detailing the power of using picture books. Many great ...

According to Wikipedia, ''Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon.'' I never told George Lucas this, nor did he ask, but it was because of ...

Joint Attention is two people sharing the same point of attention. It is being in the same moment at the same time. It is a basic skill for learning - EVERYTHING. Think of joint attention as the wall that supports Humpty Dumpty. The wall holds Humpty up, until of course, someone pushes him off. My first lesson in Joint Attention I learned ...