The Power of Playground Communication Boards

children using a playground communication sign

Discover the significance of AAC Awareness Month in October and explore the transformative power of playground communication boards. In this insightful article, we delve into the world of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), shedding light on its importance for individuals with communication challenges. Learn how playground communication boards foster inclusivity, encourage social interaction, and promote language development among children, all while making outdoor play areas accessible to everyone. Join us in celebrating AAC Awareness Month and discover how these communication tools create opportunities for communication, empathy, and connection. Explore the ways you can support AAC initiatives and make a difference in the lives of those who rely on AAC, both on the playground and beyond. #AACAwarenessMonth #PlaygroundCommunication #Inclusivity #AACSupport

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Learning to be Social

The calendar doesn’t lie.  How is it we are only 10 days away from Valentine’s Day!? With all the attention on sharing love and kindness on that day (as well as every day), we need to take a moment to pause and take into account the skills that bring people closer are really hard to learn.

Some loved ones pick up on social cues and nuances without issue and others require a very clear explanation.  As parents, taking the time to frame acceptable and unacceptable  behaviors for your family’s values is crucial.  Society dictates a number of ‘unwritten’ rules, which makes learning these skills even more difficult for some. Providing a safe environment to discuss and process these ‘unwritten’ rules is important at every age of development. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) provide a nice resource for families focused on this area of speech and language.

Your friendly speech-language pathologist would be happy to help you and your family with any questions or concerns you may have related to social communication, social skills, or social pragmatics.  Please feel free to give Kelly a call at 440-471-7190 to set up an appointment.

Yours in Speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

 

Hope in the New Year

Happy New Year!  It’s a new decade filled with hope! Hope for a year filled with much health and happiness! Hope that the closets will organize themselves!  Hope that somehow, someway tiny building blocks will no longer find themselves in the path of an adult walking barefoot. Hope that dinner will be made and eaten without issue.  Hope, hope, hope! 

Hope is what keeps us all moving forward.  Setting goals or evening having ideas of what hope can bring to the New Year is expected at this time of year; so long as this hope isn’t a disguise for bringing the feeling of failure to the New Year as well. 

Sessions with a Speech-Language Pathologist is filled with the promise of hope and belief in your loved one.  Your therapist believes in your loved one and his/her language potential all the while continually promoting your good work at home and navigating the developmental process to guide you all towards mastery and success.  Walking out of a therapy session, you and your loved one should have a renewed feeling of strength to continue working on the specific skills, techniques, etc. until you see your therapist again. 

Cheers to the New Year filled with much hope, happiness and health!

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Sensory Sensitive Holiday Fun!

December has arrived and as with every year, it seems as if the calendar speeds up during this festive time.  Packing in all the shopping, decorating and taking in the holiday fun can seem overwhelming. The elves at Lakeshore Speech Therapy took a little time to compile a one stop list of events in the Northeast Ohio area that are sensory friendly.   These events are not only sensitive to the amount of unnecessary smells, sounds and sights, but often the pace of the event is slowed as well as those ‘working’ the event have been given some information on how to best engage with individuals with special needs.

We hope you are able to take a few moments and enjoy these events with your loved ones. 

Yours in Speech, 
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

A Candy Plan!

Orange plastic pumpkin basket spilled over with candy pouring out

You’ve planned the costume, you’ve walked the route, you’ve practiced knocking on doors… a few more thoughts to help make your family’s trick or treat evening sweet.  

What will you do with all that candy?  Once your loved one sees her/his bounty of sweetness, she/he may not want to part with a single piece. Create a plan and share that plan well before that candy is in your house.

Will your family spend the last minutes of Halloween counting and sorting candy?  Will there be a huge candy trading event in the middle of your living room? Providing a plan for the evening can make a difference in ending the evening on a sweet note. 

Create a ‘buy back’ program if you would prefer your loved ones not have free access to that much candy.  Make your program work in a way in which your loved one will receive a certain number of dollars, stars, tokens, etc. when they ‘trade in’ a certain number of pieces of candy.  Check with your dentist to see if they are offering a buy back program. 

Create a ‘decorate a gingerbread house’ program.  Decorate a box with pictures of gingerbread houses.  Put candy that could be used to decorate a gingerbread house in the box.  You now have everything you need to decorate your holiday gingerbread house. 

Create a ‘week long candy plan’.  Divide a shoe box into 7 sections. Place one or two pieces of candy in each section.  Give your loved one the opportunity to choose the candy in one section every day. 

Whatever your plan, share it with your loved ones well before the candy starts pouring in the house.  Make it very clear where the candy will be stored and what the plan will be once it is collected. It may feel like you’re taking the fun out of the candy collection, rather you are providing the framework for a fun and enjoyable evening from start to finish!

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Costume Creations!

Dressing-up, costumes, masks and make-up….some would say these are the best parts of Halloween and others would beg differ significantly.  While the stores are filled with the newest versions of costumes, consider making one that best ‘fits’ your loved one. One that ‘fits’ her/his physical body, sensory needs, and emotional needs.

Consider costumes that follow the ‘less is more’ theory.  Less different pieces of a costume, more focus on making the pieces ‘scream’ exactly the theme or character of the costume. 

  • Jeans, t-shirt, bandanna around the neck  – you have a cowgirl/boy
  • Jeans/leggings, t-shirt, bandanna around the head – depending on your fold the bandanna, you now have a rocker or a pirate
  • Larger sized white t-shirt (your going to want a pair of pants of sorts under it :)) 
    • draw a face on it – you have a ghost
    • Add black dots on it – you have a die
    • Add black lines on it – you have a zebra 

Consider costumes that do not have tags or items that will distract your loved one to the point where she/he is unable to focus on walking, the party, etc.  While adorable and fun, things like fringe, beads, sparkles, and sequins can create an entirely different issue. In this category lives masks and make-up. While both of these items bring a lot to a costume, please consider staying away from these if you know your loved one will be distracted or upset by these additions. 

Consider costumes that can go over the layers of possible winter gear that may or may not be part of your evening.  Given the weather, being prepared to add or take away a layer on a moments notice will make the difference on the stress level of the evening. 

Consider incorporating the phrase “Trick or Treat” on the costume itself if your loved one is non-verbal or might ‘freeze’ .  Somehow, someway, make the words part of the costume – add a simple button to the costume with the words ‘Trick or Treat’.

Consider practicing wearing the costume around the house – remember practice makes permanent.  This gives your loved one not only the time to become familiar and comfortable with the costume, but will give you time to troubleshoot potential issues (ie: costume too long and possibly a tripping hazard, costume too tight/loose, etc.).

Prior planning with the costume will prevent unneeded stress and potential unexpected behaviors so you can all enjoy a fun evening being together. 

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Fall into Fall!

How it is that September is just about over?  While we continue to enjoy the final days of warm weather, living in Northeast Ohio, we all know what will be knocking on our door much sooner than later.  It always seems like there are so many outdoor activities in the summer months and as soon as the mercury drops below 60, everyone retreats into hibernation mode. 

Enjoying the area’s many Fall activities and festivals gives not only the opportunity to spend valuable time together, but the time to practice and experience a variety of language rich activities.  These language rich activities are the foundation and play an extremely important role in a child’s language development and maintenance. As a parent/caregiver, you naturally provide these opportunities to practice language skills naturally.  This article provides information to not only validate your hard work, but provides information for more or different techniques that can be added to your repertoire.  

Speaking of Fall activities, please take a moment to research the many different and wonderful opportunities in your area for you and your loved ones to enjoy together.  If you are in the Northeast Ohio area here are a few activities to fill your calendar:

Northeast Ohio Family Fun article #1
Northeast Ohio Family Fun article #2

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC. 

Take Time To Celebrate!

School is officially in full swing across the country!  This too is the time of year where you may be receiving a lot of information related to your child’s development and skills in comparison to same age peers. Too often we lose sight of typical development, especially if our child is developing on their own time.  The information is shared in this blog not to make anyone feel bad about their child’s development or skill set, rather to celebrate those skills and provide clear information of what would be expected related to language development at the END of their specific school year. 

Your Child’s Communication Development: Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade

Ultimately, if your child’s skills are moving forward, regardless of the pace, he/she is making progress and there is much to celebrate!  Take the time to celebrate every small step forward!

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.