Favorite speech and language products lately...

I often get asked about books/games/toys that I would recommend, either to other SLPs working with children or to parents of children I am working with.

Here are a few things I love and use OFTEN:

1. "That's not my ____" books by Usborne Books.

If you haven't heard of Usborne Books, you should check them out. I am often wary of things that are sold by consultants (like Usborne Books), however I will say that these books are amazing products. I have used them for years and will continue to do so. In particular, the "That's not my ___" books are awesome for working on a variety of language targets with young children (usually I would use these with 2-6 year olds, depending on the child's skills). The simple illustrations are great and the inclusion of touchy-feely elements on each page offer the opportunity for sensory stimulation as well as vocabulary expansion. That's Not My Bunny and That's Not My Snowman are among the many titles available in this collection.

2.  The Mystery Box and Guessing Game by Lakeshore

These are two products that work well both together and separately. The Mystery Box and Guessing Game are both great tools to work on things like describing items using adjectives, matching items to pictures (The Guessing Game is a box full of objets with corresponding pictures), making inferences ("What do you think is inside the box?"), turn-taking, and more!

3.  Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Tap & Teach Drum

I am not always wild about toys that make lots of electronic "noise," but there are ways that such toys can be used in an educational fashion. This is a cute, inexpensive drum toy that can be used with littles to work on cause and effect skills (turn on the drum - when the child taps on the top, it lights up and makes a variety of sounds which are typically rewarding to a child), imitation of motor skills (tap the drum either with it either on or off and encourage the child to imitate you with language like, "do it like me!" or "now you do!" or "your turn!"), and social language skills such as joint attention, turn taking, and three-point gaze.

4.  The Articulation Station Pro iPad Application

This has been an old favorite of mine for the past few years now. The app developers have added great updates and the app has become one of the staples in my articulation therapy sessions. It's a little on the pricey side (currently $59.99), however there are sales every now and then that will bring that price down. I've seen sales occur in November around the time of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association national convention. The app includes all sounds in American English and has a variety of activities under each to work on increasing the child's accuracy. There are even tips for parents or therapists for eliciting correct production of the sound. In my personal opinion, this app is so valuable that I purchased it one year with my classroom budget for my school iPad as well as personally purchased it on my private device.

5.  The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game

This is a great game that I use in my therapy sessions for a variety of functions. It is great for turn-taking and memory (remembering what the different symbols on the spinner indicate) as well as for use as a reinforcer during articulation drill activities.

Of course there are many other products that I love for a variety of reasons, but these are a few things that I use on a regular basis for a variety of functions. I am a HUGE proponent of using the same tools in a variety of ways - why have a ton of materials that can only be used for one function each? Instead, I recommend having a collection of materials that could each be used in many ways. Sometimes this takes some creativity and planning on the part of the therapist (or parent), but it's a great mental practice in addition to just smart planning!

Have a wonderful day :)

~Mrs. Wells.

The L sound!

Sometimes the L sound is a tricky one for kiddos! If your child has been working on the L sound in speech therapy or if you've noticed at home that your child has difficulty saying words with the L sound in them, here are a few quick tips/activities you could try.
*The most common substitution for /l/ (the LLLL sound) is /w/ ("Wuh") which results in producing "weaf" instead of "leaf." This is a phonological process/error pattern called "gliding."*

-Show your child how to make their tongue go "UP UP UP" in his/her mouth by pointing to your own tongue as you raise it UP to the roof of your mouth behind your top teeth.

-say "la la la" like you are "singing" (sometimes we refer to /l/ as the "singing sound")

-gently touch the roof of your child's mouth behind the top teeth (we call this the "alveolar ridge") to show them WHERE exactly to put their tongue (we call this a "tactile prompt" or a touch cue)

Below are some picture cards from a blog I found (Testy Yet Trying) that could help shape your home practice.

You could:
-practice all of the words one at a time by simply looking at them on your computer or phone screen,
-print out the pictures and practice them like flash cards,
-print out two copies of the pictures, cut them apart and play a memory/matching game with them
-print out two copies of the pictures, cut them apart and hide them around the house to play a hide and seek type game...then have your child say, "I found ____!" when they find each target picture.
-play a game with your child and have him/her say one of the target words prior to each turn
-produce one of the target words incorrectly (example - say "WAKE" instead of "LAKE" while pointing to the "lake" picture card) and have your child correct your error and show you/tell you how to say the word correctly

(click on the picture to make it larger)

For other sounds, check out THIS PAGE on Testy Yet Trying's blog! (click link!)

Remember - keep things fun and light-hearted while you practice with your littles. 

Happy talking!

~Mrs. Wells

Final Consonant Deletion Activity

In very young children who are just beginning to talk, it is common for them to leave off (or "drop") the final consonant sound. For example, the word "dog" might be produced "do-." As you can imagine, this error pattern can make it difficult to understand what a child is saying.  By the time a child is age three, we like to see this error pattern eliminated (meaning we like to see three year olds producing final consonants in words).

If your 3+ year-old is having difficulty producing final consonants, it's a good idea to chat with a Speech-Language Pathologist to determine if therapy is appropriate and/or if there are things you could do at home to help your child increase final consonant production.  For some children, simply helping him/her LISTEN more critically to notice that there is indeed a sound at the end of a word can help him/her begin to produce these sounds more.

Choose some CVC (consonant vowel consonant) or VC (vowel consonant) words that are meaningful to your child and plan a simple play scheme around one or two of these words.  Every time you produce the target sound, bring extra emphasis to the final sound (produce the sound louder with your voice, clap as you make the sound, tap the child's arm as you make the sound, etc.).  An example activity could be popping bubbles. Blow bubbles with your child and show your child how to POP the bubbles while saying "POP!" "POP!" Make that final /p/ sound extra-loud! Maybe even POP a bubble as you produce that final /p/ sound.

The Speech Chicks, a great SLP blog, has a good free resource for working on final consonants (Click to check it out!):
Final Consonants
I've personally used this resource with some of my students and really like it!

Happy talking :)

~Mrs. Wells

Articulation Troubles... {The /S/ Sound!}

This school year, I have a good number of students who come to work with me on improving articulation skills. Many of these students are working specifically on the /s/ sound. A common error pattern for a child who has difficulty producing S correctly is making the sound with his/her tongue protruding through his teeth. This results in the sound coming out more like a "th" sound as opposed to a good, clear SSSSS. Try it! Say "snake"...and now say "snake" while sticking your tongue out while you say the "s." Sounds kind of messy, does it?!

Verbal reminders to "keep your tongue inside your teeth" can be helpful, as can using a mirror so the child can WATCH for his/her tongue to "sneak" out in an errant fashion.

Here's some blog posts I've found with more tips for working on clear production of the /s/ sound:

http://communicationstationspeechtx.blogspot.com/2013/01/articulation-tip-simple-cues-for-s-sound.html

http://2galsspeechproducts.blogspot.com/2011/03/eliciting-sounds-s.html

http://www.chicagospeechandmore.com/2013/01/04/speechtherapy-tips-for-producing-the-s-sound/

As always, feel free to post questions or e-mail me at rlwells1 AT ilstu DOT edu with questions regarding this post, articulation skills...or anything speech/language-related!

Happy speaking!

~Mrs. Wells

HOORAY FOR SUMMER!!

Here comes summer, ready or not! Ok...I'm definitely ready {someone has a wedding to prep for that is just over 2 months away!}, but I also have a lot to wrap up here at school over these next few days. I know my educator friends and colleagues can relate :).

I'm currently working on putting together some packets of home practice materials for the students I worked with this school year and was thinking I should also post a blog update {Blogging is something I wish I could make myself take more time for!} with some summer suggestions. However, a quick Google search gave me a super-awesome find: a blog post "Practical Speech Therapy Activities for Home Practice" (click the link!!). Basically, this great blogger wrote a bajillion ideas...so there is no need for me to re-invent the wheel in an inferior fasion!  Check out her ideas!

As I wrote in the letters I am sending home with my speech kiddos...The biggest tip I can give you regarding summer speech practice is to keep things light-hearted and fun! Practicing clear speech, smooth talking, and all of the other things we worked on this school year is important, but try not to make it feel like intense drilling or work. One suggestion I like to give is to play a favorite game together while taking turns asking or answering questions before each turn while using clear, smooth talking. Or, you can choose one of your child's speech sounds (SH for example!) and take turns prior to each game turn saying a word with that sound in it in a clear manner.

Happy Summer! I am looking forward to hearing about the adventures each of our students has over the next few months when we return in the fall.

Oh....if you haven't heard....I am trading my name in for a new one in August! When we start our new school year, I will be Mrs. Wells! A MUCH easier-to-articulate, shorter name (albeit further down in the alphabet ;)) is more fitting for an SLP, wouldn't you agree?!

Take care,
~Ms. Matyasse-almost-Wells :)

Top 75 Speech Pathology Websites for 2015 as published by Kidmunicate!

Hello and Happy December!

I came across an amazing resource today and I'm so excited about it!  Kidmunicate, a pediatric SLP clinic in Pennsylvania with an outstanding follow-worthy blog, has an article on their site listing out their top 75 SLP websites as well as short descriptions of each.  I just wish there were more hours in the day to read each of these at length!

Naturally things like the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and Autism Speaks are listed.  However, there are also lesser-known gems such as personal blogs with information for therapists (think: great ideas and resources to have in your tool box!) and parents (think: advice from other parents, information about developmental milestones and suggestions of things you can do at home to increase your child's communication skills).  Anyone with a vested interest in speech-language therapy should check out this informative article/list.

Without further ado, I bring you:

Top 75 Speech Pathology Websites for 2015! (click link!)

Enjoy!

~Ms. Matyasse

Shared Post: Targeting Communication Skills over the Holidays!

I came across this post today and love the author's practical suggestions for incorporating purposeful language enrichment in your family's daily lives this busy holiday season.  Enjoy!

10 Ways to Target Speech and Language During Christmas.

~Ms. Matyasse