by Anne Page | Jun 3, 2015 | Blog
Lots of activity here this summer. Since I am a school based SLP, I am taking advantage of some time off and upgrading my website. I am building it on my own, an ambitious project, I know. Here is my new logo, which I love. It’s upbeat and cheerful (like me). Stay tuned for lots of fun changes and new products. Warning: I will probably make some mistakes. So if you are here and things look weird, don’t worry I will figure it out.
by Anne Page | May 26, 2015 | Blog, Freebies, Inspiration
I am so proud to be one of the 140,000 speech language pathologists in the United States. We change lives-that’s our superpower!
You hold the key to helping each child you work with develop his communication skills to his full potential.
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. Sponsored by the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), this is the time of year for SLPs to promote awareness of communication disorders and let our co-workers/colleagues know what we do.
But really, how many people know what we do?
I work in a school setting and have been talking to the teachers to let them know how we can work together as a tean to help students learn and grow.
I explain it during IEP meetings and eligibility meetings, never assuming that they already know what I do.
This year I created a poster/handout to add another layer to the process. “What’s Speech Got to Do with Academics or How Can an SLP Help a Classroom Teacher”is a great tool to promote understanding of the role of SLP’s in the school setting.
Collaboration is key.
Bulleted points link specific speech language skills to Reading and Writing, Math and Classroom Presentations and Social Skills. Click here to get your free copy.
Another handy resource (and yes it’s free too) explains the difference between speech and language. Click on the picture for your copy.
Finally, one more fun freebie to help promote understanding of what we do. “But What Does It Mean? 10 Tips Explaining Speech and Language Evaluations in Parent Friendly Language”. This is a free gift for signing up for the Beautiful Speech Life email list. The sign-up is here at the top of the page.
Keep doing what you do my speechie friends, you are making the world a better place.
by Anne Page | Mar 22, 2015 | Blog, Updates
Over the next month Beautiful Speech Life is undergoing some changes in terms of appearance. Please bear with me as I complete the re-design. I’m working to make design changes to make this site as user friendly as possible.
by Anne Page | Mar 14, 2015 | Autism, Inspiration
(Note: I found this in a tucked away journal. It was almost written two years ago when I was doing some of my clinical experience for my master’s degree.)
May 2012
Hugo doesn’t speak. When I first saw him he had a lot of physical ticks and throat clearing. He loves the iPad. My strategy was to gently move into his space physically and match his energy. He is quiet and there is a sweetness about him. For the first few sessions I sat next to him on the couch. My supervisor, had been working with him and would say “my turn”, take the iPad and model a sound. When he made a sound (any sound), he got the iPad back. So I started there. Hugo likes to play animal games, especially animal puzzles. I would consistently say the name of the animal as it was on the screen. With time, Hugo would look up each time for eye contact and a smile. I started signing the animal name along with saying it. Hugo started imitating the signs.
This became our routine. Hugo was starting to make a few different sounds but still routinely says “t”. One day, after 35 minutes of our 45 minute session, he turned off the iPad and started to leave. I followed his lead, figuring he either needed to go to the bathroom or go swing in the jungle room(he had OT after our session). He started to run, but I held his hand and gently said “no running, let’s walk, hold hand”. He lead me to the swing. He was swinging for a while, looking at the colorful animals painted on the walls. I followed his eye gaze and signed the names of the animals. When he finished swinging, he stood up and hugged me. That was a first. He had held my hand before but never initiated a hug! I think it was a sign of affection and thankfulness.
One month later…
We were having our usual session of Hugo looking at the iPad and making animal puzzles. After 35 minutes he closed it and was ready to go. I said 5 more minutes but he wasn’t interested. Again, I followed his lead because I had a hunch that he wanted to go back to the jungle room. He wanted to run again (we didn’t). When we got there, he pointed to the large elephant and said “t-t” and looked at me. I signed it for him and he had a big smile. He did that with each animal (pointing and smiling, not just looking). I really got the feeling that he was making the connection for the first time between the animals in the iPad puzzles and the animals on the wall! Generalizing is so hard for children with Autism. It was so exciting to be able to witness that realization on his face. For a second, I felt like Anne Sullivan.
The following month:
Hugo was consistently imitating signs for animals!
Sometimes, we have to let go of our treatment plans. We have to remember that children with autism process and absorb information at a different pace than we do. If you can be patient and gently join them at that pace, they may surprise you.
by Anne Page | Feb 24, 2015 | Freebies, Ipad Apps, Quick Therapy Tips for the SLP and SLPA
Here is a great tip for when you are short on time (uh-everyday?). Get the Doodle Buddy app for your ipad. You can quickly photograph worksheets and the kids can use their fingers to draw lines and write. Even better you can use the stamp feature, which comes with audio! Also it has a great tic tac toe feature that I use for quick, fun articulation practice.
Here, I just wrote the words with my finger, then chose a stamp. Put on one stamp per production, a great way to get many productions!
Click here to read my post on all the great ways to use
Doodle Buddy. And the best part? It’s FREE!
This is all part of Kim Jarvis’ Quick Tip Tuesday Linky Party, so click on the pink pic to head on over to The School SLP for some more amazing ideas!
Hey there I’m Anne Page. I help heart centered SLPs and educators put the fun in functional communication. 