How To Help Navigate Emotions: Emotional Balance Communication Boards

Introduction:

As parents, caregivers, teachers, therapists, humans, we strive to help children navigate the complex world of emotions. Emotions are a fundamental part of our daily lives, influencing how we think, feel, and behave. For children, understanding and managing emotions can be especially challenging. Understanding and managing these feelings are  crucial for their well-being. Learning how to effectively and clearly express emotions can be challenging for children and adults alike.  A powerful tool that can assist in this process is emotional balance communication boards. These boards not only assist with effective communication but provide clear options for dealing with these big emotions. 

Understanding Emotional Balance/Regulation: 

Being able to clearly explain to adults and children alike how being emotionally balanced or regulated involves recognizing and managing one’s emotions in a healthy and constructive way.

Organizing and naming emotions:

Giving children and adults the exact words to name specific emotions is extremely powerful. When emotions run high (or low) having the tools to either give a child a voice by using a communication board or provide a visual reminder is imperative. 

Grouping emotions is a common way to organize  a communication board specific for emotional balance/regulation. For example: 

  • Sad, Tired, Sick, Bored: Low states of alertness and down feelings.
  • Happy, Calm, Focused: The optimal state for learning and socializing.
  • Frustrated, Anxious, Nervous: Elevated states of alertness and intense feelings.
  • Angry, Terrified, Jealous: Extremely heightened states of alertness and intense feelings.

Providing visual reminders

Once an emotion is communicated, providing options to support the child or adult as they manage validates their feelings and teaches life long skills for maintaining emotional balance. 

For each group of emotions identified above are specific techniques that are easy to incorporate in any situation. For example: 

  • Sad, Tired, Sick, Bored: eating or drinking something, asking for a break, talking to a trusted person
  • Happy, Calm, Focused: ready to work, ready to learn, listen for instructions
  • Frustrated, Anxious, Nervous: counting to 10, taking deep breaths, asking for a break
  • Angry, Terrified, Jealous: asking for space, taking a walk, getting a drink of water

 

Benefits to Children and Adults

  • Increased Independence: Using emotional balance communication boards empower children and adults to express their emotions independently, leading to increased confidence and self-esteem.
  • Improved Emotional Literacy: Consistent use of emotional balance communication boards can improve an individual’s emotional literacy, helping them better understand and manage their feelings.
  • Empathy and Understanding: Using emotional balance communication boards promotes empathy and understanding by encouraging children and adults to recognize and respect others’ emotions.

Tips for Use

  • Daily Check-ins-  Use the emotional balance communication board for daily check-ins 
  •   Practice Techniques and Strategies:  practice the strategies that can help children move from one emotional group to another (e.g., deep breathing for moving from heightened state to calm state).
  • Encourage Open Communication: Create a safe space for individuals to discuss their emotions and ask for help when needed

Conclusion:

In conclusion, incorporating emotional balance communication boards can be a powerful way to help children and adults identify, understand, and regulate their emotions. By using this framework, parents and caregivers can support individuals in developing essential emotional skills and techniques that will benefit them throughout their lives.

Following Your Schedule: How to get Back on Track

note book with daily routine

Holidays can be a time when the normal routine is disrupted. It’s time to get back on track and follow your daily routine.

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Talking and Growing: New Year’s Resolutions for Speech Therapy!

child giving high five to adult

A brand new year is days away, and that means we get a chance to make some new resolutions! This year, let’s think about making  some special resolutions for speech therapy.

**Practice Every Day:**

One resolution could be  to practice your speech exercises every day. Turn practice into playing a game.  The more you practice, the better you will become!

**Use My Special Words:**

Use the special words your speech therapist teaches you as much as possible. These words help you talk smoothly, and they make you  feel super proud!

**Speak Slowly and Clearly:**

Work on speaking slowly and clearly. This way, everyone can understand you when you talk. 

**Tell More Stories:**

Make a resolution to tell more stories or help your child tell more stories. Share your adventures, dreams, and funny moments. It’s a fun way to practice talking.

**Ask Questions:**

 Ask more questions and join in conversations. Questions help you learn new things, and it’s a cool way to make friends!

**Read Out Loud:**

Reading out loud is like a speech party! Pick your favorite books and read them to friends, family, or even to a pet. It’s great practice!

**Be Patient and Positive:**

Sometimes, it might feel tricky, but you might want to promise to be patient. Stay positive and celebrate even the small wins. Every step is a step forward!

**Thank Your Speech Helpers:**

We help each other, and this year, thank your speech buddies. We’re in this together!

**Try New Sounds:**

Be adventurous and try new speech sounds. It’s like a fun challenge to make your speech even more awesome!

**Celebrate Progress:**

At the end of each month, celebrate the progress you’ve made. Maybe treat yourself to something special. Yay for progress!

So there you go, friends! These speech therapy resolutions are yours for the taking. Let’s make it an amazing year of talking, growing, and reaching new speech goals together. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead! 

boy reading book to dog
children working with teachers at a table
child giving high five to adult

How to Prepare for Gift Giving and Receiving

Getting and giving gifts can be exciting but hard for some individuals. Preparing for this time of the year helps to make everyone’s celebration special.

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Teletherapy Tips for Families

drawing of therapist performing teletherapy

As we are all beginning to adjust to teletherapy as well as online or elearning, we thought it best to share some tips to make you and your loved ones time in therapy, albeit significantly different than ever before, more successful. 

  1. Count on some sort of technology failure – if you count on the fact that the mic won’t turn on or your wifi will be running slow, you won’t panic when it does happen.  If there is a technology failure (on your side or on the therapist’s side), the first thing to do is breathe. Next calmly begin to troubleshoot. Prior to the appointment, you may want to trial the mic and speakers on the device you intend to use for therapy.  If your bandwidth on your wifi is slow, as those in your home to stay off the network or not engage in activities (streaming videos) that use a lot of bandwidth. If the session can’t happen, you can reschedule. Flexibility is key.
  2. Create a “Therapy Space” or designate a “Therapy Space” for the duration of the session.  You may want to create a ‘Therapy in Session’ sign with your loved one and hang it on the door of the room you are in for the session.  If you will be in a shared living area, you may want to consider the use of a headphone and mic combination. This will decrease the amount of background noise your loved one will hear as well as the therapist. Consider scheduling therapy at a time when others in your family would be napping or engaged in more quiet activities as well.  Creativity is key. 
  3. Count on staying with your loved one for the onset of the therapy session. For individuals that may need support to pay attention, consider this time extra snuggle time.  Have your loved one sit on your lap or very close to you during the session to help guide her/his attention to the therapist. This is time for your loved one to receive the critical therapy services needed as well as a time for YOU to better understand the techniques used to elicit specific behaviors, actions, and sounds from your child.  Teamwork is key. 
  4. Listen to the therapist and therapy session.  Remember, this is your loved one’s therapy time, not necessarily yours.  While it may be hard, refrain from answering the therapist’s questions for talking for your loved one. You may consider the situation/task that the therapist is asking your loved one to do is too difficult, but creating these situations to ‘push’ your loved one to the next level is necessary in progress towards mastery of goals. Trust is key. 
  5. Carryover of all the new skills learned during the therapy session (both for you and your loved one) is extremely important for everyone! You will have new skills to support your loved one as he/she works on speech-language skills.  Share what you have learned with others in your family. Help everyone realize the necessary supports to help your loved one succeed. Practice is key. 

Keeping in mind the importance of flexibility, creativity, teamwork, trust and practice will ensure your loved ones success with this different approach to speech-language therapy.  

More information about the telepractice services offered at Lakeshore Speech can be found at www.lakeshorespeech.com/telepractice or by calling 1-440-417-4190.

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Special Gifts

This message is short and sweet.  First and foremost an open apology for seemingly abandoning my post writing these blog message this month.  While I wish there was a great explanation, but all I really can say is life definitely gets in the way of the best of intentions!

Second, we at Lakeshore would be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to thank each and everyone of our amazing clients and families.  You appreciate your trust in us to provide your loved one’s therapeutic services.  We are thrilled to have  you all as part of our Lakeshore Family.

Lastly, please take a moment to look around to see all the amazing gifts in your world this holiday season.  These gifts aren’t wrapped in festive paper with a bow.  These gifts are wrapped with your arms and love.  Enjoy these gifts this holiday as we will enjoy ours.

Happy Holidays!

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Revving up the holiday season!

The holiday season is revving up to get ready to roll.  While we acknowledge there are significant stressors for you and your loved ones at this time of year, we could also consider the stress and comfort of extended families and friends. It is not your job to do everyone else’s job, however, taking a few moments to realize the impact you and your loved ones have on others could make family and friend gatherings more enjoyable for everyone. 

Providing information about characteristics that are unique to your loved one, may create a more tolerant and understanding environment.  A simple phone call, text or email to the host or hostess the explain those ‘quirks’ that you and your immediate family may not even notice.  For example, let the homeowner know if your loved one needs to see all the bathrooms upon entering a new location or if your loved one may go around the home and close all the doors.  

Help your extended family and friends better understand your loved one’s form of communication.  Share his/her successes and any ‘triggers’ that may exist (ie: asking more than 3 times to clarify a phrase or word).  Provide a few simple tips for the best way to engage your loved one (ie: asking yes/no questions or asking questions about the here/now vs past/ future).

Anticipate situations that may prove to be very stressful not only for you and your loved one, but the host/hostess.  Communicate that you may be bringing a different meal for your loved one to enjoy vs eating the traditional meal. Share that your loved one may take a ‘break’ during the meal and what that can be expected (ie: your loved one may need to take a  break in a room where you can guide your loved one to quiet area).

Open and host communication and preparation can create a setting where everyone enjoys their time together creating memories!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Therapy Speech, LLC. 

Making a Self-Care Plan

All of the clocks have finally all been changed  (except for one, there is always ONE clock in the house that just never quite makes the cut and is never changed), the Halloween decorations have been put away and what is that sound? Silence. The calm before the Holiday Season frenzy.

Take a few seconds of this ‘down time’ to focus on realizing the importance of self-care.  Parents and caregivers of individuals with special needs typically do not stop to worry about themselves. Not only is this pattern unfair to your loved ones, but more importantly, it is not fair to Y.O.U.

Consider the five minutes it takes you to read this blog post as the start of your self-care routine.  Consider taking this time to make a plan for yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to refill your tank so you can cruise into the Holiday Season ready and rejuvenated.  

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC