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 ...

Earlier this past week, one of the teachers I work with, Jamie Zarmanian, shared with our preschool classes this fabulous recipe for pumpkin spice Play-Doh. The entire classroom smelled like cinnamon cookies! The texture was perfect - soft, but not sticky and children really seemed to enjoy using a different type of Play-Doh to roll, ...

This is the last week of my Piccolini Perfecto Pasta creations. Please take a look at my previous two recipe posts for ideas on how to create a delicious rainbow of flavors and nutrients using Barilla's Piccolini vegetable pastas. The third and final recipe includes the Mini Rotelle (aka mini wagon wheels), wonderfully made with spinach ...

Last week I introduced my latest pasta passion--Barilla's Minature Piccolini veggie pastas! I also shared one of my own creations using the Mini Pipe Pasta. This week, I have a new recipe using different vegetables and a different sauce. These pasta dishes are a great way to incorporate vegetables into your picky eater's diet! ...

This week I would like to share my most recent love affair with food for little ones: Barilla's Piccolini Pasta with Veggies! Each box of pasta ''contains 25 percent pureed fresh in-season vegetables.'' There are three different types that Barilla currently makes, shown below: From top to bottom: Mini pipes made with carrots and ...

If you have been reading this blog since its inception three years ago (the first post was published October 1, 2008) then you will know that when I began writing my weekly posts, I was working in a home-based birth to 3 program. It was that experience that prompted me to contact ADVANCE with the idea to create a speech and language therapy ...

This week as part of our speech-language lessons, we are continuing the theme of apples along with the story of Johnny Appleseed. The story has really been a hit with the children! It is only six pages long, but in each segment there is a new action. The students are learning how to identify the actions, describe the pictures and sequence all ...

This week I am sharing the yummy food secrets of a wonderfully creative woman, wife and mom who I met through a mutual close friend several years ago. Rebecca has two little girls, ages 2 and 4, and loves to cook for and with her family. See below to read how the Food Network and ''Dora the Explorer'' have helped to shape the way she ...

This week instead of a recipe, I would like to share a fun lesson that expands on the apple theme from last week's recipe post. This is a lesson I created and implemented with my occupational therapist colleague and is an imaginative mix of communication and sensory-enriched activities! The Story of Johnny Appleseed The lesson began with a ...

...is perfect throughout the entire month of September! Apples are in season; why not use them in your speech and language lessons? There are so many different types of apples...Granny Smith, Fuji, Red and Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Rome Beauty and the list goes on. They vary in color, shape and texture. Some are sweet, others sour. This ...