bklyn speech

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY (the brick and mortar) ! It has been a total dream come true working with your families, becoming a part of the community and expanding our team over the past three years. Thanks for coming along for the ride! We are SO grateful and can’t wait to see what comes next! 🤍🌈💭

We had a ROARRRRING good time celebrating Halloween!

Cue “We Are The Dinosaurs” by 🦖🦕🤍

⁣On Tuesdays we wear and VOTE! 🙌🏻⠀
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Some days we pose for ridiculous selfies. 😂⠀
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Everyday we try to “spread acceptance like wildflowers”. 🌼🌺🌻⠀

🤍, team bklyn speech⠀
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✨⁣This took my breath away ✨⠀
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A powerful instance of independent expression and brilliant self-advocacy during a moment of frustration from a child that communication is very difficult for. A crucial reminder that communication is much more than the spoken word and looks different for so many of us. Don’t forget to slow down and listen. It’s SO magical to be understood 🪄 ⠀
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happy halloween from all of us ! 🧠👶🗣❤️
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We had an absolutely INCREDIBLE first meeting of tonight at . It was so amazingly heartwarming and encouraging to meet (and reunite with!) such an enthusiastic and diverse group of local pediatric therapists. Looking forward to our ongoing collaboration with each other and the families we work with! Thanks to this crew for going on this journey with us 🤍

⭐️LOCAL PEDIATRIC THERAPISTS- please read!!!⭐️
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Extremely excited to announce ’s collaboration with to found . We are THRILLED to be launching this collaboration between local pediatric therapists in order to strengthen our networks, create community, collaborate and have fun! ✨
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If you are a local pediatric therapist, PLEASE join us for our first monthly gathering on Wednesday, September 8. 🍻🍔
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We would love if you would help us spread the word so that we can expand our network! Looking forward to meeting, learning and chatting with you! Follow for all the latest! 🧠👄👂🏼💪🏻

Bklyn speech is SO excited to announce the grand opening of our pediatric therapy center! ✨
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Here’s a sneak peek of our space! We can’t wait to see you here soon 🧠🗣❤️
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Taking advantage of sunny ☀️ mornings for some (bundled up!) speech in the park. SO many things to see, hear, play with and talk about 🐜🐦🐶🌳
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Whether we meet inside, outside or online- together we will always find a SAFE, fun and productive way to learn... because communication can’t wait! 🏠🏕💻
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If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, PLEASE DON’T WAIT! Contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation and let’s figure it out together. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️
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SUCH an important reminder for everyone working with children, ESPECIALLY during these crazy times. ✨
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If your child could benefit from individualized support (in-person or virtual) or if you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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Science 🖤
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So grateful. So hopeful. So READY for this to be over.
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What a privilege it is to work with such a team of extraordinary, creative and dedicated parents. One family pitched a tent at the park this morning so we could do outdoor speech comfortably and safely in the rain 🌧. These little ones are learning and thriving rain or shine🌞! COVID can’t hold them back 💪🏻👶🏻❤️😷
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An important reminder on this rainy day 🧠☀️🌈❤️
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Now, back to this week’s series about how to 👶🏼 during bath time 🛀🏼🧼🧽
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Today we are going to talk about “NARRATING” bath time 🎤
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Children learn language by listening 👂🏼 to those around them speak 🗣.
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Leta use rich and well developed language to narrate bath time activities and observations. 👀 “You are so dirty from playing in all of the dirt at the park! We have to use a lot of 🧴 to make you clean again! Did you have fun at the park today? You went on the big slide so many times with your friends!”
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Let’s use a variety of VERBS- “That duck 🦆 is SWIMMING so quickly!” “You are SPLASHING and MAKING big waves today!”
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Let’s use a variety of ADJECTIVES- “That is such a SILLY, WHITE beard you made with the soap 🧼 !”
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Let’s explain what you are currently doing and what will come next! “Let’s clean 🧽 all of your animals and then we will wash you 👶🏼 ! After we are done we will come out of the bath and go eat dinner 🍽 . Grandma and grandpa are coming over to eat pizza 🍕”
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⭐️It is important to pause and allow baby to process what you are saying and give them a chance to respond⭐️
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Providing this narrative is crucial to language development and can easily be incorporated into bath time and all day long! 👏🏻👶🏼
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If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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My TC, Columbia Univeristy crew and I were SO fortunate to honor 💚World CP Day 💚 during class tonight with a guest lecture from my brilliant colleague, dear friend, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) guru, and all around incredible human being, Jen Posner.
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We spoke about how EVERY human being has a fundamental right to communicate and how it is OUR jobs as SLPs to make that possible 🗣🧠. We all promised to PRESUME COMPETENCE and to work hard to enable and empower those in our care. 💪🏻👶🏼❤️
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Thank you JEN!!!! Jen Posner
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⭐️WORLD CP DAY ⭐️
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Proud to wear 💚GREEN💚 today to celebrate some of the most resilient, inspiring, brilliant, creative, strong, life-changing little humans I am honored to work with everyday.
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Children can teach you SO much,if you are willing to listen. Let’s work together to spread kindness, acceptance and awareness today and everyday 🌈💚👶🏼
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Back again today to talk about how to 👶🏼 during bath time 🛀🏼🧼🧽
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One of my favorite language elicitation techniques, verbal routines, are so much fun to use during bath time. The idea of a verbal routine is that the caregiver produces a particular script and baby then takes their part and completes that script... then something exciting happens! 🎉 🎈
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During bath time, we can use the verbal routine “ready, set.....” “GO!” to engage in play! 🚿 💧
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For example, we can fill a bucket with water and say “ready, set....” and when baby says “GO” we can dump the water out. 👶🏼We can use the same routine with splashing, dumping a bucket of toys in the bath, turning the faucet on, opening the drain and watching the water go out... the options are endless! 💧☀️🌈
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The idea is that baby knows what exciting thing will happen and also knows they have to communicate in order to make it happen! They listen to your words “ready set...” and then take their turn “GO” in order to start the fun! 👶🏼❤️
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At first, baby may just grunt or vocalize when it’s their turn and you may have to model “GO”. But quickly baby should catch on and learn their role in the verbal routine! Don’t forget to pause and look at baby with anticipation so they know it’s their turn to speak! Don’t begin the activity until you give them a chance to say their part!👏🏻
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Please have fun with this! Learning to communicate should be FUN!!

If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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Today let’s talk about another method to 👶🏼 during bath time 🛀🏼🧼!
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Let’s gather a bunch of bath toys! We can use anything- toys, containers, cups- anything that strikes baby’s interest is perfect! No need to get fancy. Instead of immediately putting these toys in the bath with baby, let’s keep the toys out and encourage baby to choose which object he would like to play with before putting it in the tub. 💧
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You can hold up two choices, “do you want the cup or the bowl?” “Do you want the fish or the duck?”🐠🦆 “Do you want the big one or the little one?” Encourage baby to choose one object, either verbally OR by pointing (if we are not yet producing words) OR by looking (if we are not yet pointing). As soon as baby chooses in his own way, validate him “you chose the duck🦆! Here you go” and immediately give him the object.
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We can then spend a minute or so playing with this toy together. Next, we can move this toy to the side and present another two choices. 👶🏼🧽
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We can incorporate yesterday’s tip by giving baby silly directions to follow using the chosen object. “Let’s wash the duck’s head!” “Let’s wash the fish’s tail”
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If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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We are back today with our next segment of 👶🏼. Over the next week we will be discussing tips to facilitate early language skills during bath time 🛀🏼🧼!
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Today let’s talk a bit about how to develop your child’s “receptive language” or your child’s understanding of language. Before children begin to produce first words they understand a wide variety of words. Even when first words emerge, babies often understand much more than they can express. 🗣🧠❤️
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I love working on receptive language during bath time because baby is right in front of you and it is MUCH easier to keep their attention (instead of having to chase them around the house!) 🤦🏼‍♀️🏡
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Today, lets work on following directions by telling baby which body part to “wash” while in the bath🛀🏼.You can tell baby,, “You wash your head! Yay! I love the way you washed your head!” If baby cannot follow the direction on their own, help them! Not only are you providing practice following directions, you are also providing a rich language model of what is occurring during bath time and exposing baby to a variety of novel vocabulary. 🧽🧴
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Take turns with this! “You washed your head! Now what should I wash?” Maybe baby will point to his tummy. “Great idea! Now I will wash your tummy!” Does baby like to bring a special toy into the bath with them? Involve the toy in the game too! “Now that your tummy is all clean let’s wash Elmo’s tummy!”
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After the bath we can practice this same skill with drying off, putting on lotion and getting dressed!🧴👚👖
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This tip targets SO many crucial speech and language skills in the context of an activity that you have already allotted time for! No need to carve out special time for speech and language development practice! 🌈⭐️
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If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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Teaching sure looks different this year.. but together we can do hard things 💪🏻 👩🏼‍🎓🧑🏽‍🎓🗣🧠
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(swipe for instagram vs reality 😂)
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Concerned about the lack of social opportunities for your child during COVID-19? Still unsure about fall school plans?🤷🏼‍♀️
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We had such positive feedback from our summer RECESS, Virtual Social Group, launch that we have decided to continue the fun to ensure that your child’s social skills continue to develop regardless of your fall plans 🌞🌈💥
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Practice crucial social skills while laughing and having fun with peers! Contact us today to reserve your spot in our fall session- spots are limited! 🧠🗣
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Today’s tip of the day to while playing outside is playing with environmental sounds 👶🏼❤️🌈
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Did you know that environmental sounds such as cars honking 🚗 (beep beep), birds chirping 🐦 (tweet tweet), and babies crying 👶🏼(wah wah) are common first words!
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Talk to your baby about all of the sounds you hear when you are exploring outside🌳🌞. Have fun with it and get creative. “Did you hear that? I think I hear a train coming 🚃! Choo Choo!” Everything can make a sound. Since there is little pressure associated with these sounds, baby will often imitate them! Soon, baby will begin to associate the production of these sounds with the objects that make them and perhaps begin using them on their own! 👏🏻
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If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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Don’t forget to SMILE under those masks this week! 😀👶🏼🗣🧠❤️

Thanks for this awesome mask 😷!!!

Today’s tip of the day to while playing outside is introducing verbal routines! One of my favorites! 👶🏼❤️🌈
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Verbal routines such as “ready set go” and familiar songs can be easily incorporated into outdoor fun 🌞! Playing on the swings? On the slide? In the stroller? In the sprinkler? With bubbles? 💧🌳 Let’s try this...
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Make eye contact with baby and say excitedly READY, SET.... then just wait and look 👀 at baby expectedly. As soon as baby 👶🏼 makes a sound... say GO and push the swing, run with the stroller, start the sprinkler, blow the bubbles etc. Laugh 😂 together and have a good time! After a few moments stop 🛑 the preferred activity and try again! Eventually, as you repeat these activities baby should start saying GO independently in order to request their desired activity 🚦
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This will work toward developing 💥 social, expressive and receptive language skills all while having some everyday outdoor fun! 👏🏻
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If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.

Today’s tip of the week to while playing outside is “narrating” your outdoor adventure 🌳🌞🌻! SUCH an important one!
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It’s as simple as talking 👄!! When you are out on a walk, playing at the park, or searching for a cup of coffee ☕️ ... there is so much to see! As you explore, TALK to your baby 👶🏼 about all of the things that you see 👁, the things that you hear 👂🏼, where you are going and what you will do next.
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Bonus points if your child expresses interest in something, by looking at it, pointing to it or grabbing it and you are able to talk about that together 🗣. “Oh wow! That is a really big truck🚚 ! I wonder where it’s driving? That looks like a digger truck, I wonder if it has a hole to dig somewhere? Do you see the big shovel it uses to dig?” You get the idea! 💥
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During your “talking” or “narrating” you can pause to give your child a chance to participate in the exchange, however they are able! That may be eye contact, a nod, a grunt, a point, or a word! “But my baby 👶🏼 doesn’t answer me!!!” Even if baby does verbally respond, they are taking it ALL in 👂🏼. Children develop their receptive language, or understanding of language, before they start to speak 🧠. The more language they hear and the more interaction they get on a daily basis, the better off they are!!👏🏻
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If you are concerned that your child is not reaching their speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.

Concerned about your child’s speech, language, social, or feeding development during COVID-19? Let us help you access the support that your child needs during these uncertain times.
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Contact us today for a complimentary phone consultation. Now serving Park Slope and surrounding Brooklyn neighborhoods. 🌞🌈👶🏼❤️
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Hopefully we are all having some (masked 😷, socially distanced) outdoor fun these days so lets talk about how to use our strategies while playing outside! 🌞🌻🌈
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The first method- POINTING!👆🏼
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When we are outside whether we are playing at the park, walking the dog 🐶 , riding in the stroller, or taking the trash to the curb there are SO many things to look at 👁 and talk👄about. Pointing is a powerful first way that baby learns to request, direct and comment.
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If your baby is already pointing, you can use the following strategies to help baby use pointing to expand his communication skills.
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-Directions! Ask baby, should we turn this 👉🏻way or that 👈🏻way? Allow baby 👶🏼 to point the direction they would like to go and then continue your walk in that direction!
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-Expand! If baby points to something that he finds interesting, use this opportunity to acknowledge that you see what they are pointing to and talk a bit about this object together. “Oh wow! That is a really big tree 🌳 blowing in the wind 💨 !”
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-I spy! Play a fun “I spy” game; ask baby- do you see something that is very tall 🏢 ? Do you see something that moves quickly🚘? Allow baby to point and show you what he observes and then you do the same!
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If your baby is not yet pointing, the above activities also apply! You can modify them by noticing what baby is LOOKING 👁 at and by YOU pointing 👆🏼to that object to help encourage baby to follow YOUR pointed finger and eventually also realize the power of pointing!
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If you are concerned that your baby is not reaching his speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary phone consultation. 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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Paused. Listening and learning. Black lives matter. We stand with you ❤️

Let’s review all we learned this week about how to by facilitating play!
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We discussed the following strategies which can help baby develop early play skills 🧠❤️🗣👄!
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🧸Choose a “toy of the day”
🧸Follow your child’s lead
🧸Model, model, model
🧸Rotate your child’s toys
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Did you miss the explanation of any of the above stages? See the previous posts from
this week’s series for tips and tricks!
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If you are concerned that your baby is not reaching his speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary consultation. We are providing virtual 💻📱evaluations, consultations and therapy during 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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The final strategy to develop play in young children is rotating their toys! 🧸 🏈
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When children see the same, large volume, of toys everyday they tend to stick to their favorites and overlook the rest as old news. Or even more likely.... 75% of the toys are on the bottom of the toy box- untouched and totally forgotten about. 📦
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Let’s try this! Only leave a few toys out in the playroom and put the rest away out of sight (a closet, Tupperware etc) Every week take the old toys away and put a few from the closet out. Suddenly, your child will be more interested in the “new toys” due to their novelty! Rotate weekly!👶🏼🌈👏🏻
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With this small change, your child will be more likely to explore a variety of toys and thereby expand their play skills! 🧠💪🏻
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If you are concerned that your baby is not reaching his speech and language milestones, contact bklyn speech today for a complimentary consultation. We are providing virtual 💻📱evaluations, consultations and therapy during 🧠👄🗣👶🏼❤️.
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