Articulation Station for the iPad

Check out one of our favorite iPad apps for articulation therapy - Articulation Station by Little Bee Speech!

Here are some features of the app:

Flashcards - Flashcards, with high-quality images that children will enjoy, help target sounds. Children can tap the card if they don't remember the word, and the app can repeat the word to serve as auditory reinforcement.

Rotating sentences - These sentences are sentences that repeat, with only the target word changing. Each sentence has picture prompts and audio reinforcement.

Unique sentences - The unique sentences are new sentences for every target word in the application, which adds up to over 1,300 unique sentences. Each unique sentence has on average 3 words with the target sound in it. For example in the sentence, “Penny rode the pony in the park.” “Pony” is the target word but the initial p sound can also be practiced on “Penny” and “park.”

Level 1 stories -  Repetitive stories are paired with picture prompts and audio reinforcement. Each story has multiple target words which maximizes practice opportunities of the target sound in a story environment. At the end of each story there are comprehension questions which helps the child with spontaneous speech.

Level 2 stories - These stories are designed for more advanced readers. They are longer stories with larger vocabulary and provide even more opportunities to practice the target sound in a story environment.

Data collection - The data collection feature makes tracking your child's progress a breeze. You can sort scores based on date, sound and position, passed, or notes taken. You can also access specific session details and repeat words, sentences, or stories not passed in that session.

Links:
Mommy Speech Therapy's app details
App store

Speech stickers

Check out this new iPad application from Serious Tree called Speech Stickers. Fun characters and a simple interface make this app great for helping young children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech or severe articulation disorders. The app works on the most basic phonemes as well as CV and VC syllables.

Read more details and a review of the app here: http://consonantlyspeaking.com/posts/2012/06/abcs-4-slps-a-is-for-appsapraxia-of-speech-speech-stickers-review

Tips for managing picky eaters

Many parents experience the woes of picky eating at some point in their child's development.

A child's negative eating behavior can adversely affect the mealtime experience and can have a

detrimental effect on the child's health and development. There are a number of strategies that can be utilized to best manage picky eaters, including:

• When introducing a new food, it's OK if your child is not ready to eat it. Try encouraging him to interact with the food in a less invasive way. Consider introducing a food interaction hierarchy for introduction of novel foods. Gradually progress through the following levels: tolerating on the table/plate, touching, smelling, kissing, licking, biting, chewing, and swallowing.
•  Create eating tasks that are challenging yet accomplishable so that your child can experience success. For instance, with a novel food, encourage your child to start with kisses and licks instead of bites.
•  Gradually increase demands of eating tasks over time. For example, while your child’s first interaction with a novel food may be taking five licks, her next interaction may be two bites.
•  Introduce an “all done” bowl. Do not allow your child to leave the table until all of the food on his plate is either ingested or interacted with (pick up, kiss, lick, etc.) and placed into the all done bowl.
• Continue offering new foods many times, even if these foods were refused in the past. It may take children longer than expected to become comfortable with new foods. Be patient and persistent.
• Verbally praise all positive mealtime behaviors. These can include sitting at the table, picking up a spoon, tasting a new food, or taking bites of a preferred food.
• Ignore any negative mealtime behaviors. These include verbal protesting, pushing foods away, letting food fall to the floor, etc. Use timeouts when necessary in the event of disruptive mealtime behaviors.
• Use a timer or visual schedule to encourage your child to stay at the table for the duration of the meal.
• Make sure that all family members are on board with strategies used at home. The more consistent the mealtime rules and routines are, the more effective they will be in promoting positive feeding behavior.

Laugh & Learn Apptivity Case for the iPad

Does your baby want to play with your newest toy? Try out the new Laugh & Learn Apptivity Case for the iPad, and now everyone can play with it!

The sturdy case will protect your iPad from dribbles, drool, and sticky little fingers. Busy beads and a handle are great for go-anywhere play, and free Laugh & Learn apps mean plenty of learning fun!

Check it out here: http://www.fisher-price.com/en_us/brands/babytoys/products/66016



Fostering independent eating

Children have a natural drive for independence and control from a very young age, especially when it comes to eating. By allowing your child to self-feed and participate as fully as possible in the meal, you create valuable opportunities for children to be exposed to a variety of foods and practice essential skills. 

To foster independent eating, provide your child with the right tools:

• Provide utensils that are easy for children to manipulate.
• If using a plate, choose a small plastic one. Use small plastic bowls and cups too. Use child sized spoons and forks made of metal or plastic. If children have not yet mastered spoons and forks, allow them to eat with their hands. Self-feeding facilitates acceptance of foods.
• Children learn skills by watching others and by trying the skills themselves. Model positive eating behaviors for your child. This means showing your child exactly what to do rather than just telling him what to do.
• After age 18 months, try to avoid feeding your child as much as possible. Developmentally, children at this age are ready to be fully independent eaters.



Sassy Less Mess Toddler Self-Feeding Spoon

• It's OK to get messy! The sensory experience of getting messy can foster greater exposure to and acceptance of foods. Allow your child to attempt self-feeding as much as possible, even it means making a mess.

Classroom Strategies For Bilingual/Multilingual Newcomers

Have new students entered your classroom who speak little to no English? Here are some tips you can use in your classroom to help your new student out.

1.     You might first introduce colors, numbers, shapes, body parts, and survival vocabulary. Once your new students know these words they can do a variety of classroom activities.

2.      Next, introduce with the school environment vocabulary. You might make flash cards of the items they see in their classroom.

3.      Perhaps assigning the new student with a buddy will help! The ideal situation would be to pair an older bilingual student with a same-language newcomer. During the adjustment phase, the buddy can explain what's going on. This is a good self-esteem builder for a bilingual buddy and a new friend for the newcomer. You may want to rotate buddies so that students do not become too dependent on one person and the bilingual buddy does not miss too much work.

      The newcomer’s buddy might:

• Help them learn the classroom routine.
• Sit with them at lunch.
• Learn how to communicate with them using gestures and short phrases.
• Teach them the beginning vocabulary.
• Include them in games on the playground.
• Play student-made vocabulary games with them.
• Learn a few words of the newcomer's language

4.      Make a picture dictionary. To make a picture dictionary, staple sheets of construction paper together and have students cut pictures out of magazines. Use categories which complement your curriculum. Encourage students to add to their Dictionary whenever possible. This is an excellent cooperative learning activity that mainstream students can also do!

5.      Make a vocabulary poster. Have students work in groups. Assign each group to a particular category. Have kids cut out pictures from magazines and label them to create large posters of categories of common vocabulary words. Categories might include food, clothing, body parts, colors, animals, playground scenes, family groups, classroom, street scenes, house and furniture, or transportation. Display the posters in your classroom!

Learn more about raising bilingual children here.

Brain scans can help with early intervention for autism

New National Institutes of Health findings published in the American Journal of Psychiatry reveal significant differences in brain development in high-risk infants who develop autism starting as early as 6-months-old. Although autism is typically diagnosed around ages 2 or 3, this abnormal brain development can be detected during the infant's first year of life, before the appearance of autism symptoms.

From an article in Autism Society about the findings:
"The study followed 92 infants from 6 months to age 2. All were considered at high-risk for autism, as they had older siblings with the developmental disorder. Each infant had a special type of MRI scan, known as diffusion tensor imaging, at 6 months and a behavioral assessment at 24 months. The majority also had additional scans at either or both 12 and 24 months.

At 24 months, 30 percent of infants in the study were diagnosed with autism. White matter tract development for 12 of the 15 tracts examined differed significantly between the infants that developed autism and those who did not. Researchers evaluated fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter organization based on the movement of water through tissue. Differences in FA values were greatest at 6 and 24 months. Early in the study, infants who developed autism showed elevated FA values along these tracts, which decreased over time, so that by 24 months autistic infants had lower FA values than infants without autism."

These differences can be used as clues for early intervention, which can improve symptoms of autism such as problems with social interaction, behavior, and communication.

Links:
The article in Autism Society
Typical signs of autism