The Chattering Speechie

🤍 🌊

An oldie but goodie - It can be hard to see a touch screen in the sun and we know most can’t get wet, so what’s a family to do? Learn more in our blog post + download free swim displays https://talcaac.com/dont-let-your-summer-be-a-bummer/

Respecting fluctuating capacity means accepting inconsistency.

All the text in blue bubbles shows the harmful things that our kids get told when people do not understand or respect their fluctuating capacity.

So what do I mean?

I mean I accept that my kids can’t consistently Do The Things.
Some days they can and other days they don’t have the capacity.

It’s not a question of effort. It’s not them being ‘behavioural’.
It’s a reflection of their sensory systems, emotional systems, fatigue, health, and a ton of other things.

Back in the day I expected consistency.
If I saw my kid do something one day, I would then expect them to do it again the next day.

When they didn’t, I would have a big emotional response.
I would be so unbelievably frustrated. Because surely it was reasonable to expect them to do it again? I mean, they had already shown me they could.

Understanding fluctuating capacity was a game changer.
It was essential to understand that it’s a case of ‘can’t’, not ‘won’t’.

It means I can provide dynamic support to my kids to match their needs. It means I can (usually) do that without the big emotions.

I don’t do it perfectly. Because as you know, I have my own fluctuating capacity to deal with.

I get it wrong some days.
I also get it right some days.

Expecting consistency leads to disappointment, shame, a negative self image. Because many of us can’t perform consistently, despite our best efforts.

Before you come for me, yes, we absolutely still have goals for our kids. We do model the skills, we do scaffold, we do support. We do all that. As our kids mature, we do tend to see all their skills develop- the support they need from us is going to change.

We just do it with empathy. We appreciate the times that they are able to Do The Things, and we don’t presume misbehaviour or noncompliance when they can’t. We meet them where they are at. We support them. And make sure they know they are not alone or a disappointment to their adults.

Does that make sense?
Words are feeling hard right now.

Em

I mean…same 😂 except my dog is losing his hearing! ⁣
⁣
I was chatting with a student about why they come to speech therapy because they said they don’t need it anymore. Hmmmm maybe if that’s true, it’s time for dismissal 🤔🤔⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

My new desk calendar finally came!! 🤍⁣
⁣
I love to organize and stay on top things this way. ⁣Plus I get to use all different colors of pens!!
⁣
How do you organize?! ⁣
•⁣⁣
•⁣⁣
•⁣⁣
•⁣⁣
•⁣⁣
•⁣⁣
•⁣⁣
•⁣⁣

I’m wrapping up the year with homework packets and I thought I’d give you a peek inside! ❄️
⁣⁣
Here’s what I included: ⁣
❄️ Parent handouts with communication strategies for my early communicators (these are on TpT-dm for the link)
❄️ Color sorting mats for my students working on 1+ word utterances from (These are free on TpT) ⁣
❄️ Around the house sorting mats for students working on vocabulary from (these are on TpT)⁣
❄️ Playdoh and kinetic sand
❄️ Crayons and a coloring book
⁣⁣⁣
Do you send anything home for winter break?⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
•⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

My students may not like playing dress up, but they sure do like dressing dolls! 👩🏽‍⚕️👨🏼‍🍳 👨🏻‍✈️ ⁣
⁣
I found many of these outfits at the dollar tree! They fit in perfectly with the community helpers theme too. ⁣
⁣
Does anyone have a good doll that they use with them??

Police officers, firefighters, and more!!👩🏽‍🚒🧑🏻‍🌾👮🏼👨🏿‍⚕️👩🏼‍🏫⁣
⁣
Here are a few of my favorite ways to target community helpers: ⁣
⁣
▪️completing simple interactive books introducing the target ⁣
▪️playing with Fisherprice’s people & vehicles (I found these at target) and Lakeshore Learning’s Community Block Play People⁣
▪️reading ”Stop!” Said the Cop by Boardmaker Core First Learning⁣
▪️playing doctor (found my kit on Amazon) ⁣
▪️watching & listening to videos like the Community Helpers Song by Little Angel⁣
▪️using interactive books by Adapting for Autism pairing the community helpers to places in the community ⁣
⁣
What are some of your favorite ways to target community helpers??

Use Your Words by Jennifer Carrier 📖 ⁣
⁣
This is easily a new favorite book of my mine for talking about inclusion. 🤍⁣⁣
⁣⁣
This book features a young girl with autism as she grows up. It is such a cute story based on a real kiddo named Ava!⁣
⁣⁣
I think all classrooms and homes need this book in their library! It is our job as adults and educators/parents/family members/etc. to promote inclusion. This book is a great start!⁣

Link:
https://a.co/d/1Nsut7k

This Treasure Hunt Bundle is 50% off today for the sale!! ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Grab an empty paper towel/toilet paper roll and hunt for treasure chests throughout the room/building 😃⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Flip over the chest to work on either speech sounds, vocabulary, WH questions, categories, or more language concepts 💭 👄 ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I like to dress up as a pirate to make it more fun! ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
This is a perfect activity for next week as Tuesday is Talk Like a Pirate Day 🏴‍☠️ 🦜 ☠️ ⁣⁣
⁣
How are you celebrating??⁣
•
•
•
•
Link ⬇️
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-and-Articulation-Treasure-Hunt-Bundle-Sept23HalfOffSpeech-7262373

Arrr you looking for pirate themed activities? ⁣🏴‍☠️ ⁣
⁣⁣
Check these out 👇🏼⁣
▪️themed and leveled interactive books targeting actions (i.e. fighting, swimming, walking, etc.)⁣
▪️digging for treasure or buried items in kinetic sand⁣
▪️matching pirate themed vocabulary such as parrot, ship, and hat⁣
▪️reading a pirate themed book like The Pirates of Scurvy Sands by Jonny Duddle ⁣
▪️sorting coins and jewels ⁣
⁣
Make it fun by dressing up as a pirate with a costume or eyepatch! ⁣
⁣
What are some of your favorite activities for the pirate theme??

Message me for links!

I’m baaaaaack! 😃 Last year I decided to take a little break from social media to reset! Because of that, I thought I’d reintroduce myself and see if we have anything in common 🤍⁣
⁣
Hi 👋🏼 I’m Courtney! I currently work in Rhode Island at a private school for kids aged 5-21. ⁣
⁣
Here’s a few fun facts about me:⁣
🌊 love the ocean ⁣
🧳 traveled for 6 weeks this summer outside of the country⁣
🏈 excited for Georgia football to be back⁣
🐶 have a 12 year old dachshund⁣
🍣 love sushi⁣
💜 love Taylor Swift⁣
⁣
Do we have anything in common?

To kick off the back-to-school season, I have created this handout/classroom poster to remind you that “Supporting AAC is a piece of cake!”

Just follow the acronym “CAKE” and you’re sure to start the year off on the right foot!

I was planning to create a visual reminder for my special education classrooms to help them remember some of the most important tips for successful AAC-use, and then I thought it might be helpful for some of you, too!

I included my top tips and mindset shifts when I work with all of my AAC-learners and users within the acronym CAKE!

When families or staff ask me advice for supporting their AAC-users, I always find myself coming back to the same important ideas:

C-Connect!
A- Acknowledge!
K- Keep modeling!
E- Encourage & Entice (don’t demand or require!)

If you think this handout would be beneficial in your classrooms or as a handout for communication partners, head on over to my TPT store to download this version (as well as a couple other color schemes) for free!

Don’t forget to save and share this post if you think others might find it helpful! 🥰

We’ve got this! 🙌🏻

Grab the free printable PDF here! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Supporting-AAC-Classroom-Posters-and-Handouts-FREEBIE-AAC-is-a-piece-of-CAKE-9932904

SAY WHAT YOU SEE!

When supporting emergent communicators, we can honor the messages that they are already communicating to us - sometimes in non-conventional ways. Many times we observe certain behaviors, and we attribute meaning to those behaviors in our heads.

[child squints and squeals with delight] I might think to myself: Oh they love this. Let's keep blowing bubbles.
[child moves away and covers their ears] I might think to myself: Oh man, they are over-stimulated. Let's get their comfort fidget and give them time to calm down.

One strategy we can use to support emergent communicators is to verbally say what we see [e.g. you are smiling] and make our best guess at what that might mean [e.g. I wonder if you like this book!]. This strategy is a one-two punch of "verbal referencing" and "attributing meaning" to what we see.

We already do this silently in our heads, but let's say it out loud and pair language to it. In the book example, I might use AAC and point to "LIKE" as I say, "I wonder if you LIKE this book!" This is one way of using AAC in a meaningful and relaxed way.

If this sounds familiar, it's because this is not a new idea! 🙂 I've shared this graphic in the past, and it is one small example of work from brilliant minds in the field of AAC. The Project Core has a lovely annotated bibliography citing the history of research behind attributing meaning to communicative acts. https://www.project-core.com/attributing-meaning-to-communication-acts/

👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼

Check out these FREE CEUs!!!

Bumper and all of their accompanying tools are free! They can be found at their new address :https://cdn.sanity.io/files/p6bm7moz/production/99d189ab413e0ccab0329aaa52658ad68b2f7875.pdf

For those of you who were interested in the possibility of a Bumper Poster - our fantastic printer / distributor has created a 12 inch X 18 inch high quality print of Bumper! The poster is printed on 80 # card stock - so good and thick!

Pricing is $5.67 per poster (+S&H) You can find out more at this link: https://www.store-autismlevelup.com/product-page/bumper-a-whole-body-learner-poster

Image description- Our Meet Bumper: A Whole Body Learner Poster. Bumper is an groovy nonbinary robot (adorable) around them are explanations of how they take in information from the environment and engage in whole body learning . For example Mission Control label points to Bumper's head and reads sensing, analyzing, processing, communicating. Under Bumper is the question "What do you look like when you are learning?" The free downloadable tool has a blank Bumper page for kids to complete - We've seen Pre-K teachers use it and we've used it ourselves when giving college lectures ❤️💛

Important reminder! 🙌
📷 Unknown

Graphic Credit: .therapist

I’m wrapping up my Summer Break homework packets and I thought I’d give you a peek inside! ☀️⁣
⁣⁣
Here’s what I included: ⁣
☀️ 101 screen free activities from screen free week! (This is free if you google 101 screen free activities) ⁣
☀️ Social communication calendars for June and July (these are free on TpT from speech rocks)⁣
☀️Summer language activities targeting specific concepts like categories, plurals, pronouns, and verbs (these can be found on TpT by Speech Tea)⁣
☀️Articulation calendars for both June and July⁣ (these can be found on TpT by (the busy speech mom)
⁣⁣⁣
Do you send anything home for summer break?⁣⁣