Caroline Theron Speech Therapy

Autism in girls
Poster from

Happy 2024! First day back at work and sharing some of my favourite toys, activities and books. I use these over and over by expanding the complexity as each client develops.

CVI support for a CP kiddie. We’ve been focusing on “The Cookie Baker” story and now it was time to put the story into action with a cookie baking session. Lots of mess and fun was had

WC government has pledged R68 million to support students with autism Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier announced in late March that a R68 million injection of funds would be used to improve learning facilities, staffing, and teaching materials at existing schools that serve students with autism.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy year ahead. Just a reminder that I’ll be starting sessions again from 9 January 2023 🎉🤩

After years of work, I finally graduated today with a Masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology

To all Somerset West families (see the flyer above ☝️)

Posting on behalf of a SLT colleague in Cape Town:

Speech Therapy Practice seeks the following:

Speech-Language Therapy Locum
To start immediately
Registered with the HPCSA
Own transport is essential
Caseload to increase
Experience working with school-aged learners with special needs
Speech Therapist to work in the Southern Suburbs

Interested applicants to contact: 072 784 7446

Highly recommended training for professionals and parents who are wanting to learn alternative and augmentative communication strategies

I had the most spectacular time away in Turkey. Was exactly what I needed to refresh after a great but busy year. I will be back at work next week and replying to messages and emails in the next few days.

Absolutely LOVE using books in sessions. Especially to focus on verbal descriptions, sequencing and info. recall. I use picture cards or toys with the story to allow the kids to engage more interactively

Makaton Training in Somerset West

We are so excited to be hosting Makaton training at Dawn! Our staff will be attending and we have a few spots open for other therapists/teachers/parents to join! Please contact us on [email protected] if you want to join 🌈

Absolutely fantastic post! Thank you Nutripaeds for the share

Join me on Expresso tomorrow morning where I’ll chat about colds and flu in babies - the do’s and don’ts! See you at 6:20am.

Something so important to always be aware of

AUTISM AWARENESS DAY
I took this photo of the state of my desk (which also represents the state of me) a couple of weeks ago after an intense day of therapy sessions. And no matter how chaotic it looks, it represents how dedicated the kids and the family’s I get the privilege of working with are and how much effort goes into facilitating development and acceptance of neuro diversity for these kids. I often look back at my professional path and think “how on earth did I land up working in the field of autism or did it find me?” But no matter what, I wouldn’t change it! With love, acceptance and the right support (and lots of hard work, let’s be honest…) we witness how much autistic people thrive. To all that walk this journey, know that you are doing an amazing job and you have an army behind you!!!

Finally found some crazy straws. These are so beneficial for kids to develop their oral motor skills. It works on lip seal, tongue retraction, cheek strength, correct jaw position, and more. And it can be soothing and could possibly help kids to increase their attention. I found these ones

PUBLIC LIBRARIES: How have I never thought to visit my local library? You can take out 20 books for a month! That’s 20 different books I can use in therapy at a time. It was my first visit today and I was overwhelmed with the choices so started with a few options BUT WOW!!!!! I encourage all parents to expose their kids to the wonderful world of books (and to treat yourself to some too)

As hard as this year has been, I also cannot forget all the triumphs that have been made. This year has reminded me of the importance of connection, patience, and understanding it’s okay to not always be okay. May 2021 leave us with valuable lessons learnt and that we use 2022 to take more time to grow, embrace challenges and to appreciate all the small achievements made

Craft activity for the holidays. Thank you for this gorgeous kit

I felt very emotional today as I headed towards the UCT vaccination centre to receive my J&J Booster shot. We have the opportunity to make a difference by doing something so simple like getting a Covid vaccine. By 8am this morning, there were already many people in the queue to get their J&J boosters but only 1 person receiving the Pfizer vaccine! We need to do better and we need to do more to ensure our beautiful country and the people in it are protected from not only this virus, but the devastating socioeconomic impact it has had #ɢᴇᴛᴠᴀᴄᴄɪɴᴀᴛᴇᴅ

I often get asked by parents what toys they should buy for their child. I buy toys with a very different aim at times as I look at how can I use them across different age groups to target different goals.

For my early language developers I use the bus and people to create a play act around picking the people up, driving around and dropping them off.
Target nouns such as: bus, boy, girl, home; verbs: walk, sit, go, stop; prepositions: in, out, on, off, up, down; social words: hi, bye.
Pragmatic skills such as turn taking, joint attention, staying on task, etc can also be addressed.

To target language concepts and grammar: toys can be used to develop pronoun understanding and use such as he, she, they; using -ing verb endings such us: sitting, climbing on the bus, waiting, driving, etc.; targeting questions who, what, where; describing location e.g. the boy is next to the bus, in front of, behind, etc. And many many more goals.

Facilitated play (with an adult) with toys, like the bus and people, can be useful at home to model simple play ideas and to layer language onto those interactions. Other times, kids need toys that they can see an immediate effect and enjoy playing with more independently. You don’t need a huge amount of toys. Think about what the child likes, are the toys durable and can withstand being thrown around, can you use them to expand on language as the child develops, and does it help the child to explore at their development level?

The most important “tool” for interaction and engagement is not the toy, but the person behind the toy.

Remember that personal interaction while playing is priceless!!!!

Yes yes yes!!!! Such an important reminder of the importance of teaching a variety of functional communication skills which we can do through modelling

So many reasons to talk- and it’s NOT JUST REQUESTING!! ❤️❤️

Starting my 3 weeks of leave with a good deed. Quick and painless and every donation of blood can save up to 3 lives

No matter want, little one’s get overwhelmed or upset and this can often result in a tantrum or meltdown. I always say to parents that it’s a hard thing to go through with your kid but setting consistent and clear boundaries are so important to ensure kids develop the ability to self regulate, to understand limits and to develop their overall social-emotional skills

My mom taught me the value of being present, showing up and always doing things to the best of my ability. She never glamourised motherhood nor complained about it but I knew it was hard at times for her because with the good, comes the challenges too!
To all the mothers out there, thank you for always supporting your kids, through all the achievements and failures too. And for ALWAYS showing up and giving what you can....💛

Today might of been April Fools day but for me and so many other healthcare workers it was an incredible day. I am so grateful to have been able to receive a Covid-19 J&J vaccine. Thank you to at Gatesville for the superb and efficient service