Airdrie Speech Path

Happy Stampede! A great way to take part in stampede with a calmer atmosphere :)

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/giddy-up-grits-event-a-game-changer-for-special-needs-kids-families-attending-stampede

Happy Mother's Day!

AAC apps on sale for Autism Awareness Month :)

Today, we were playing the Humpty Dumpty game in a session where you build the wall and it’s like Jenga - you take out the bricks one by one and try not to let Humpty fall. Well, my little friend, who loves cars, grabbed his favourite purple hot wheels driving it right through the wall like a scene from an action movie. New language erupted just like the bricks!

So much fun and learning at the ASHA conference in Boston this past week 🤩: informative sessions, new ideas, effective activities and strategies… Can’t wait to bring it all home!

Hope everyone’s getting excited for school! I know many of us had our school open houses today. It’s always thrilling to find out where classrooms are and which friends will share classes. The transition from summer to school is a good chance to pull out some back-to-school books (or read them online) and get in the mood for school, as well as help support those first few days 💕

Some interesting, well-laid out literature on early gestures development:

About 16by16 – First Words Project Good communication development starts in the first year of life and goes far beyond learning how to talk. Communication development has its roots in social interaction with parents and other caregivers during everyday activities. Your child’s growth in social communication is important because it ...

Loved this from Airdrie Community Links. I'm a big proponent of play! It is great for speech and language.

☀️🤸‍♀️Happy Summer everyone!🏖☀️

Fun for Mother’s Day!

I’ll be extending Spring Break by a few days. Hope all those of you who are on Spring break are having a great holiday 😀

“Kids do well if they can”

Hoping it’s not too late to send some Valentine’s love!
HAPPY VALENTINE’S EVERYONE!

Getting Christmas gifts? Here are a few great toy ideas that encourage speech and language 🤩

Best toys and gifts: a speech therapist’s list! What to get for baby? For the 1- year old? For the 2-year old? There are SO many options. It’s hard to know what’s going to be interesting to a young child for m…

Everyone loves a good treasure hunt!

(...and, of course, everything is sanitized between sessions 😉)

🇨🇦Happy Canada Day!!!🇨🇦
We live in a wonderful land. It's nice to be able to get away and enjoy it and come back and help the people in it! ❤

I love this concept so much. I have many children on my caseload who use echolalia to communicate. A positive first step as their communication partners is to interpret their echolalia and repeat their intended meaning purposefully.

A few ways to teach your child to say, "Daddy"
1. During Peek-a-boo, substitute the word, 'Daddy', for, 'Peek-a-boo' when Daddy plays.
2. Similarly, as part of Hide-n-Go-Seek, call out "Daddy!" when Daddy is found.
3. Print pictures or make a photo book of pictures featuring Daddy to label. Keep amongst your child's toys or storybooks.
4. From the window, watch Daddy leave and return. Call out, "Daddy!" when you hear him coming.
5. Call or video chat with Daddy when he is away. Tell your child, "Let's call Daddy. Where's Daddy? I see/hear Daddy! Hi Daddy!"

As a follow-up to my last post, here is a pic featuring the joys of reading with our kids. Also, a shout out to all the mothers out there. Happy belated Mother's Day! I'm always so amazed and inspired by the mothers I get to work with and all you do for your kids!

Here is the guy who made me a mother 12+ years ago!

Reading is sooo fantastic for speech and language development, it can never be emphasized enough. Plus, what's more fun than cuddling up with your little and enjoying a book together? Here are some ways to make it even more fun 😁

One reason not commonly considered that demonstrates why working on /r/ is important 😂.

On that note, if your child is having difficulty producing the /r/ sound, try incorporating growling, "grrrr", into some fun, play-based activities. The coarticulation of the /g/ sound positively affects the production of the /r/ sound as raising the back of the tongue for /g/ helps the tongue get in position for /r/. Growling also encourages the tongue to be tight and tense and helps prevent the jaw from dropping.