Things are Looking Green – Practicing Concepts

shamrock

Green is the color of the week. Shamrocks and leprechauns; rainbows and pots of gold. Everyone is Irish if not for just one day this week! So many ways to incorporate the fun of St. Patrick’s day into building language and communication.

Vocabulary abounds! Focus your loved ones attention on colors (especially green and gold), holiday specific vocabulary (leprechauns, shamrock, rainbows) and describing words (big/little and bright). Review these vocabulary words and give your loved a better understanding of the words they will hear more of this week.

Concepts of the season! Help your loved one pay more attention to under and over (as in rainbow), start and finish (think parades) and big and little (as in leprechauns). Building understanding of concepts will help your loved on not only follow directions this week but for the weeks to come.

Preview of what is to come! Remember to prepare your loved one for any changes or festivities that you and your family might be part of as part of St. Patrick’s day. Parades and crowds can be difficult to manage without proper warning. Anticipating and sharing the schedule of the day or celebration may prove to be the needed support to ensure everyone enjoys the day.

Enjoy your week of green fun!

Yours in speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Imagine…Create….Language : Stem and Speech Therapy

new school year

We are a quarter of the way through 2019 already!  Hard to believe how fast time flies…..especially when you are having fun.  March ushers in a month of leprechauns and basketball and the strange time of year when it’s still not warm enough to go outside but staying inside isn’t the best option either. It’s that time of year when ideas and creativity to keep our loved ones engaged and busy don’t come as easy as they did a few weeks ago.

We have your back and hope our ideas spark new life into your family’s March schedule.

Introduce basic S.T.E.M. activities like making your own bubbles or making your own robot.  Spending time to create opens the door for imagination as well as language. You don’t need to be a computer programmer to build your collection of S.T.E.M. activities.

  • Idea #1: Build a Robot
    • Collect different boxes, toilet paper tubes, plastic containers, etc.
    • Grab a few rolls of tape and string or yarn
    • Create a ‘problem’ that requires your loved ones to have to make a robot to ‘fix’ the problem. Problems like too many socks are getting lost in the wash or nobody knows when the garbage is full.
    • This activity will work on helping your loved ones better understand directional and location concepts, follow directions, ask for help, name items, work with others, share, etc.
  • Idea #2: Practice Continuing Patterns
    • Collect different dried foods – pasta, beans, cereal, dried fruits
    • Create patterns (basic to complex) and have your child continue the pattern
    • Flip roles and see if you can continue the patterns
    • This activity will work on helping your loved one with sequencing tasks, vocabulary, patterning, following directions, etc. – skills needed to master math and language goals.
  • Idea #3: Build a Roller Coaster
    • Collect paper tubes from toilet paper, paper towels, and wrapping paper, tape, and marbles or small toy cars.
    • Explain to your love one you are going to create the next big roller coaster for the summer!
    • Tape together some tubes, cut other in half and create a roller coaster to go in your cardboard amusement park!
    • Use a marble or small toy car to test out your coaster!
    • This activity will work on helping your loved one with shared attention, vocabulary, directional concepts, following directions, listening, taking turns, etc.

Your S.T.E.M. activities do not have to be complex or expensive.  Play with some of these ideas and if you and your loved ones create a masterpiece, share it with us on Facebook!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

The Month of Love

expressions of love for everyone

February – the month of love; loving and caring for our family, our friends, our significant other. February gives us the opportunity to show our loved ones what WE see when we look at them. When you look at your child, spouse, friend, what do you see? The unevenness of their eyebrows? The gray hairs? The blemishes? The love handles? No! You see the light that they give. You see the love in their eyes – the window to their soul. You see the kindness they share. You see how amazing they are, have been and will be.

So how does this relate to speech and language? Too often when a loved one experiences a speech-language deficit – regardless of the severity – we are quick to explain this deficit to others in front of them. This is not to say that we need to ‘hide’ this deficit or only speak of it in hushed whispers when our loved one is not in earshot. This is to say we need to be more aware of how we explain our loved one’s communication style.

Our loved ones tune into everything we say and do, especially when they know we are talking about them. Challenge yourself to first, listen to how you describe or explain your loved ones speech-language deficits; second, work to change this dialogue to create a more positive uplifting exchange.

When we first meet someone and they address your loved one who experiences a language deficit, consider using phrases that explain their style of communication versus their inability to talk.

  • Instead of “He doesn’t talk ….” try “My son communicates using gestures ….” or “My daughter communicates so well with her device….”.
  • In place of putting your child on the spot to perform, “Say Hi….say hi” try incorporating the use of visual and verbal cues to encourage your loved one’s communication – (while waving your hand slightly) “My son waves to say hi when he meets a new person.” You may be surprised at your loved ones eagerness to imitate and ‘show off’ their skills.
  • Acknowledging your loved ones hard work may result in increased willingness to carry-over difficult skills to a variety of settings. Instead of insisting on your loved one maintaining eye contact when greeting/talking to others, try using phrases like “My daughter is working so hard on making eye contact when talking to friends and family, we are so proud of her.” or “Eye contact can be hard for my son, but he is really working hard on it, he’s doing a great job.” Your loved one may look as though he/she is not paying attention to what you are saying, but they are and want to make you proud.
  • Parents and caregivers, without thinking, will answer questions asked specifically to loved ones as a way of protecting or helping. Instead of immediately answering a questions, try silently counting to 10 to give your loved one time to process the question. If after 10-15 seconds (which can seem like a 10-15 hours) use sentence starters to help your loved one – “I go to…..” or “My name is….” Your loved one will be much more aware of what is expected as well as how to answer the question. If your loved on uses a communication device being navigating to the page or buttons that have the information. Begin the response as you would modeling it with words and gesture (by pointing) to the button that would complete the answer.

These changes, while seemingly small, can make a significant difference in how your loved one perceives her/his ability and desire to communicate with others.

February – the month to show our love!

Yours in speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Get Cooking!

Get ooking with speech language skills

The weather stations are all predicting record cold in the next few days.  Record cold means staying in the house. Staying in the house means lots of ‘together time’. Use that time to promote language use and development and have fun as well.

These frosty days are perfect for working together not only on language use and practice, but beginning to develop some independent functional skills that promote a sense of independence and pride. You have all you need to accomplish this in your kitchen.   Cooking, baking, food prep….functional and filled with language.

Creating in the kitchen builds a sense of togetherness and promotes language development and use.  For most, food is a motivating force to decrease inappropriate behaviors, increase language use as well as social skills.  For loved ones that are not motivated by eating different foods, you may be surprised at their willingness to help in the kitchen and be around different smells, tastes and textures (all great ways to start introducing new foods to limited palates).

Below are links to wonderful resources that not only promote cooking and baking as therapeutic tools, but provide free materials for everyone (young and old and in between) to participate in together time in the kitchen.  

Collect and print your favorite recipes to make a special recipe book.

But on your favorite chef’s apron, roll up your sleeves, and get to creating delicious foods and of course – memories!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

It’s Okay!

It's Ok - book cover

It’s Okay!  This week the message is short, but it comes with an assignment and that’s Okay.  

The book “It’s Okay to be Different” by Todd Parr is a favorite in some homes (the author of this blog to be exact).  The message is simple and speaks to everyone, young and old.

This week, go to your local library and take out a copy of “It’s Okay to be Different” and read it out loud every day.  It’s guaranteed to make you and your loved ones smile.

Some families (again the author of this blog) adopted a specific line as a reminder that it’s OK; especially when a loved ones difference cause frustration or hurt feelings.  “It’s Okay to eat macaroni and cheese in the bathtub.” was enough to calm those hurt feelings or frustration.

Go ahead, get the book. It’s Okay!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Boxing Day!

empty-cardboard-boxes-

Here’s to the success and survival of the big day!  Given the millions of new toys that may now ‘live’ in your home, nothing is quite as exciting for some children as the boxes that once housed those toys. Why is that a thing? Generation after generation have been stymied by the same question.

Who are we to question? Turn those hours of climbing in boxes into therapy opportunities.

Large or small, playing with boxes, or any toys, is a wonderful way to practice shared attention, turn taking, and sharing. These exchanges, for a moment or a while, are so important to developing conversation skills, play skills, and social skills.

Large boxes – let the creativity go wild. Large boxes are ideal for creating a playhouse, cave, tent, or castle. Add a few blankets and pillows and a flashlight and you have the makings of hours of imaginative play.  Not only are these great vessels to take imaginations to the outer limits, these are wonderful oases of quiet. The language opportunities are never ending. Every empty box needs decorations. A few crayons and stickers and a masterpiece is born. Requesting crayon colors or stickers or continuation of the activity are all ways to get a little language practice in with no one being the wiser.

Medium boxes aren’t just for sweaters or shirts anymore. Line the floor with opened boxes and create games of moving in and out of the boxes – lily pad jumping, indoor hopscotch.  These games can incorporate vocabulary and language concepts of in, out, go, stop, more, waiting for your turn, etc. All important skills for developing and practicing language.

Small boxes – the gems of the box family. Tape these closed and use as building blocks – great for individuals with dexterity issues. Build box towers. Up, on top, bottom, more, help, crash, boom, uh-oh – vocabulary and language concepts waiting to be part of the tower construction.  

Once the boxes lose their charm, it’s off to the recycling bin! However,  the opportunity to practice language and social skills will never lose its charm!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Simple Holiday Social Skills Practice for Families

christmas

It’s the final countdown until the big day (cue Europe’s 1986 hit song)! The lists have been checked twice, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and all that’s left is the wait… the long wait until we can rip open those gifts!

And when those gifts are torn into, we wait with bated breath, hoping our loved ones not only enjoy the presents, but also remember to say “Thank you”—or at the very least, acknowledge the others in the room.

Nothing derails holiday fun faster than demanding your child say “Thank you” to Auntie dear for footie pajamas, only for them to erupt into a stream of whining excuses about how hot those PJs make their feet.

Give yourself an early gift this year: take a few moments before the festivities begin for some simple holiday social skills practice. Setting clear behavioral expectations ahead of time helps everyone—big or small—know what to expect.

1. Practice Holiday Greetings

For the most part, saying hello is simple. However, given the excitement of the day, gentle reminders go a long way.

  • Roleplay entering the room: Practice walking through the front door and saying “Hi” together.

  • Eye contact alternatives: If direct eye contact is challenging, coach your loved one to look at the person’s chin or forehead instead.

  • Non-verbal greetings: Practice waving, using the ASL sign for “Hi,” or sharing a simple smile.

  • Set clear boundaries: Spell out unexpected behaviors clearly ahead of time (e.g., hiding behind adults or running straight under the table).

2. Offer Alternatives to Hugs and Handshakes

For some children, physical touch can feel overwhelming. Provide your child with comfortable alternatives to hugging:

  • Fist bumps

  • High fives

  • A friendly wave

Pro-Tip for Relatives: If you have family members who might feel hurt without a traditional hug, reach out before the gathering. Briefly explain why physical boundaries are important for your child and tell them how they can support you.

3. Prepare for Gift-Opening Disappointment

Disappointment when opening gifts isn’t unusual, but practicing reactions in advance makes a world of difference:

  • Practice with silly items: Wrap up everyday items like spoons, rocks, or paper towels. Practice unwrapping them, smiling, and saying “Thank you!”

  • Create a secret signal: Make a plan for duplicate gifts. Channel your inner baseball coach and establish a subtle gesture (like tapping your shoulder) that communicates: “I know you already have this. We will exchange it later—just smile and say thank you for now.”

Social Skills Practice Makes Permanent

In all of these scenarios, remember: practice doesn’t make perfect—practice makes permanent.

Through it all, whether behaviors go as expected or not, try to find the joy. Find something to laugh about, and cherish those small moments that fill your heart.

Happiest of Holidays!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Holiday Prep – Make the Holidays Memoriable – Part I

AAC and Communication Tips for a wonderful Thanksviging

Preparing Loved Ones for the Holidays is the Best Gift of all!

The weather reminds us the season of Holidays is at hand. Cooler days and nights, leaves and snowflakes falling.

While your are prepping your house for the Holidays, don’t forget to prep your friends and family as well. Earlier this year, we suggested ideas for making your loved one’s time celebrating the 4th of July more enjoyable. Now is the perfect time to begin preparing for you and your family to create an environment during these Holidays that supports your loved one as much as possible.

Location of celebration.

While your family may have always celebrated the Holidays at Aunt Millie’s house, is it really the best place? Does Aunt Millie’s house have enough room so your loved one can comfortably participate in the festivities? Does Aunt Millie’s house have a place where your loved one might be able to ‘escape’ the whirl of activity? You may need to suggest a different venue for the Holiday celebration, a venue that better supports your loved one. If a venue change is not possible, you may need to suggest or abridge the time you spend at Aunt Millie’s to a time frame that better supports your loved one.

Time of celebrate.

Is there a law stating all Holidays must be celebrated at dinner time? This year you may need to suggest a different time of day to celebrate the Holidays, a time of day when your loved one is at her/his best. Holiday brunch? Holiday lunch? Holiday snack time? You know your loved better than anyone. When she/he is at their best, YOU are able to relax and enjoy the festivities as well.

Timing of events.

Is the best part of the celebration held for later in the day or evening? Can the highlight of the day be the first thing that happens? Relieving the anticipation of the highlight will decrease unexpected behaviors, which better supports your loved one.

This is not a finite list of considerations.  These are examples to get you thinking of the best plan for you and your family. These are examples to begin your prepping for the Holidays to best support your loved one so ultimately everyone can enjoy being together for the Holidays.

 

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Press Pause

pause button

The clock is beginning to tick….loudly!  Time to pack up the Halloween decorations and get ready for the mad dash of the Holiday season!  There is no escaping the hustle and bustle of the Seasons.

Typically, we share information to help to improve a loved ones communication or self-regulation; this week we are focused on Y.O.U. – the caregiver, the superperson, the parent, the great juggler of all! Why would we spend a week thinking about YOU?  The answer is simple….YOU are just as important and need to be cared for as much as everyone else in your world.

Take 5 more minutes after you read this blog to focus on the person that keeps all the gears of your family’s life running smoothly – YOU!  We realize this is easier said than done. Let’s get to work before your 5 minutes is up!

Where do/can you find a quiet moment? At the grocery store? At line at the bank? On break at work? Sitting in the waiting room at Lakeshore Speech? When we say a moment, we mean it.  We aren’t talking about a 2 hour massage (while that is a great thing in itself) or a 1 hour meditation session. We are talking 5-10 minutes. Don’t brush this step off, think about it, really think about it.

What helps calm you? What re-centers you? What makes you smile? Does listening to a certain song bring a smile to your face? Does looking at pictures of vacation lower your blood pressure? You know immediately what brings you calm. Keep those items close at hand, especially during the busy days ahead.

Now put it all together on your schedule – DAILY.  Reserve those moments for yourself. Make an appointment with yourself every day….. every day! Use your time not to plan for what will happen later or what you have to purchase or what you need to wrap, but to calm and rejuvenate yourself.  

Those few moments may make the difference in creating a less stressful, more joyous Holiday Season.

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.