Let’s be honest, even children who do not have Autism spectrum disorder can benefit from social skills lessons. Thanksgiving is a time when you get together with a lot of people that you may not see frequently. Many of the people may be elderly too. Kids are expected to get dressed up, be on their…
Yes! Using baby sign language is a great way to help young children communicate their wants and needs before they are able to say them verbally. This often eliminates frustration because they are able to communicate with you through some modality. Most 9-month-old babies can make simple signs to communicate basic needs. You can start…
Many parents ask, what they can do to help their children start talking? One of the best thing you can do as a parent to facilitate speech and language skills in your child is give them opportunities to communicate with you. Withholding increases the amount of communication opportunities your child has each day. Plenty of…
“ooo-ahh” “wawa” “mama” “ball” “woof” – Your mouth moves differently to say all of these sounds and words. Start paying attention to the way your mouth moves to make certain sounds. Then, try working on words with your little one, during play or daily routines, while exaggerating how your mouth moves to make the sounds…
The Best Toys Are the Toys That Do Nothing: Choose Open-Ended Toys A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) compared traditional toys to electronic toys. The report concludes that traditional toys result in better child-caregiver interactions. These interactions provide multiple communication-learning opportunities. Children learn by doing. Open-ended toys do not have batteries…
1. Read Slowly Children learn more from books when they are read slowly. It will sound very weird to you to read so slowly, but trust me: it will help! You can also add longer pauses at the end of each sentence. 2. Point While Naming Pictures Talk about pictures. Point to them as…
That is such a hard question. Some children really love the pacifier and some do not. Pacifiers can be soothing for babies and toddlers as well as parents, especially in stressful situations. So, if you need it and your child is 3-years-old or younger totally do your thing. But, if your child is older than…
Music brings language to life. Music can help your child communicate and can make language learning fun. Music can also help by soothing, calming, distracting, and by changing the mood. Music has a place throughout your child’s day, from a happy song you sing in the car, to songs you sing during play, to the…
Offering choices is an alternative to yes-no questions. Offering choices allows your child to answer with a wider range of responses, gives your child some control, and offers more opportunities for communication. Offering choices can let child know that language is a powerful tool that can be used to control their environment. Giving your child…
The way we talk to kids is important, as moms and as speech therapists. If we want our children to act a certain way or complete a task the words we use matter. Tell and Don’t Ask: In high school and college, I worked as a pediatric dental assistant. Dr. Joe taught me, never…
Hi there! I’m Katie Dimond, mom of 2 boys, speech pathologist, and founder/director of Crossroads Speech Therapy. I am a huge advocate of reading. My mom and dad always read to me as I was growing up and it instilled a love for reading. Reading sparks the imagination and it inspires creativity, increases vocabulary, and…
If your child is falling behind or struggling academically, a Speech Therapy referral probably isn’t on the list of things you think would help. But the truth is, Speech Pathologists are uniquely qualified to target some of the root causes for academic challenges. When this is first presented to parents, it may seem strange and…
As a Speech Pathologist, I teach parents to try and incorporate at least 45-minutes of play-time into their daily routine with their child to facilitate language learning. While this can happen in chunks of time throughout the day, there has been a recent study showing that feedings/meal times are a great time to use language…
“How much TV is OK?”… “What shows do you recommend?” I get these questions from parents ALL the time. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the recommendation is to prioritize creative, unplugged playtime for infants and toddlers. I think if you can do this: Great! But, let’s be real. Sometimes parents need a break…