The Power of Playground Communication Boards

children using a playground communication sign

Discover the significance of AAC Awareness Month in October and explore the transformative power of playground communication boards. In this insightful article, we delve into the world of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), shedding light on its importance for individuals with communication challenges. Learn how playground communication boards foster inclusivity, encourage social interaction, and promote language development among children, all while making outdoor play areas accessible to everyone. Join us in celebrating AAC Awareness Month and discover how these communication tools create opportunities for communication, empathy, and connection. Explore the ways you can support AAC initiatives and make a difference in the lives of those who rely on AAC, both on the playground and beyond. #AACAwarenessMonth #PlaygroundCommunication #Inclusivity #AACSupport

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Teletherapy Tips for Families

drawing of therapist performing teletherapy

As we are all beginning to adjust to teletherapy as well as online or elearning, we thought it best to share some tips to make you and your loved ones time in therapy, albeit significantly different than ever before, more successful. 

  1. Count on some sort of technology failure – if you count on the fact that the mic won’t turn on or your wifi will be running slow, you won’t panic when it does happen.  If there is a technology failure (on your side or on the therapist’s side), the first thing to do is breathe. Next calmly begin to troubleshoot. Prior to the appointment, you may want to trial the mic and speakers on the device you intend to use for therapy.  If your bandwidth on your wifi is slow, as those in your home to stay off the network or not engage in activities (streaming videos) that use a lot of bandwidth. If the session can’t happen, you can reschedule. Flexibility is key.
  2. Create a “Therapy Space” or designate a “Therapy Space” for the duration of the session.  You may want to create a ‘Therapy in Session’ sign with your loved one and hang it on the door of the room you are in for the session.  If you will be in a shared living area, you may want to consider the use of a headphone and mic combination. This will decrease the amount of background noise your loved one will hear as well as the therapist. Consider scheduling therapy at a time when others in your family would be napping or engaged in more quiet activities as well.  Creativity is key. 
  3. Count on staying with your loved one for the onset of the therapy session. For individuals that may need support to pay attention, consider this time extra snuggle time.  Have your loved one sit on your lap or very close to you during the session to help guide her/his attention to the therapist. This is time for your loved one to receive the critical therapy services needed as well as a time for YOU to better understand the techniques used to elicit specific behaviors, actions, and sounds from your child.  Teamwork is key. 
  4. Listen to the therapist and therapy session.  Remember, this is your loved one’s therapy time, not necessarily yours.  While it may be hard, refrain from answering the therapist’s questions for talking for your loved one. You may consider the situation/task that the therapist is asking your loved one to do is too difficult, but creating these situations to ‘push’ your loved one to the next level is necessary in progress towards mastery of goals. Trust is key. 
  5. Carryover of all the new skills learned during the therapy session (both for you and your loved one) is extremely important for everyone! You will have new skills to support your loved one as he/she works on speech-language skills.  Share what you have learned with others in your family. Help everyone realize the necessary supports to help your loved one succeed. Practice is key. 

Keeping in mind the importance of flexibility, creativity, teamwork, trust and practice will ensure your loved ones success with this different approach to speech-language therapy.  

More information about the telepractice services offered at Lakeshore Speech can be found at www.lakeshorespeech.com/telepractice or by calling 1-440-417-4190.

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Learning to be Social

The calendar doesn’t lie.  How is it we are only 10 days away from Valentine’s Day!? With all the attention on sharing love and kindness on that day (as well as every day), we need to take a moment to pause and take into account the skills that bring people closer are really hard to learn.

Some loved ones pick up on social cues and nuances without issue and others require a very clear explanation.  As parents, taking the time to frame acceptable and unacceptable  behaviors for your family’s values is crucial.  Society dictates a number of ‘unwritten’ rules, which makes learning these skills even more difficult for some. Providing a safe environment to discuss and process these ‘unwritten’ rules is important at every age of development. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) provide a nice resource for families focused on this area of speech and language.

Your friendly speech-language pathologist would be happy to help you and your family with any questions or concerns you may have related to social communication, social skills, or social pragmatics.  Please feel free to give Kelly a call at 440-471-7190 to set up an appointment.

Yours in Speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

 

Hope in the New Year

Happy New Year!  It’s a new decade filled with hope! Hope for a year filled with much health and happiness! Hope that the closets will organize themselves!  Hope that somehow, someway tiny building blocks will no longer find themselves in the path of an adult walking barefoot. Hope that dinner will be made and eaten without issue.  Hope, hope, hope! 

Hope is what keeps us all moving forward.  Setting goals or evening having ideas of what hope can bring to the New Year is expected at this time of year; so long as this hope isn’t a disguise for bringing the feeling of failure to the New Year as well. 

Sessions with a Speech-Language Pathologist is filled with the promise of hope and belief in your loved one.  Your therapist believes in your loved one and his/her language potential all the while continually promoting your good work at home and navigating the developmental process to guide you all towards mastery and success.  Walking out of a therapy session, you and your loved one should have a renewed feeling of strength to continue working on the specific skills, techniques, etc. until you see your therapist again. 

Cheers to the New Year filled with much hope, happiness and health!

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Sensory Sensitive Holiday Fun!

December has arrived and as with every year, it seems as if the calendar speeds up during this festive time.  Packing in all the shopping, decorating and taking in the holiday fun can seem overwhelming. The elves at Lakeshore Speech Therapy took a little time to compile a one stop list of events in the Northeast Ohio area that are sensory friendly.   These events are not only sensitive to the amount of unnecessary smells, sounds and sights, but often the pace of the event is slowed as well as those ‘working’ the event have been given some information on how to best engage with individuals with special needs.

We hope you are able to take a few moments and enjoy these events with your loved ones. 

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Revving up the holiday season!

The holiday season is revving up to get ready to roll.  While we acknowledge there are significant stressors for you and your loved ones at this time of year, we could also consider the stress and comfort of extended families and friends. It is not your job to do everyone else’s job, however, taking a few moments to realize the impact you and your loved ones have on others could make family and friend gatherings more enjoyable for everyone. 

Providing information about characteristics that are unique to your loved one, may create a more tolerant and understanding environment.  A simple phone call, text or email to the host or hostess the explain those ‘quirks’ that you and your immediate family may not even notice.  For example, let the homeowner know if your loved one needs to see all the bathrooms upon entering a new location or if your loved one may go around the home and close all the doors.  

Help your extended family and friends better understand your loved one’s form of communication.  Share his/her successes and any ‘triggers’ that may exist (ie: asking more than 3 times to clarify a phrase or word).  Provide a few simple tips for the best way to engage your loved one (ie: asking yes/no questions or asking questions about the here/now vs past/ future).

Anticipate situations that may prove to be very stressful not only for you and your loved one, but the host/hostess.  Communicate that you may be bringing a different meal for your loved one to enjoy vs eating the traditional meal. Share that your loved one may take a ‘break’ during the meal and what that can be expected (ie: your loved one may need to take a  break in a room where you can guide your loved one to quiet area).

Open and host communication and preparation can create a setting where everyone enjoys their time together creating memories!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Therapy Speech, LLC. 

Making a Self-Care Plan

All of the clocks have finally all been changed  (except for one, there is always ONE clock in the house that just never quite makes the cut and is never changed), the Halloween decorations have been put away and what is that sound? Silence. The calm before the Holiday Season frenzy.

Take a few seconds of this ‘down time’ to focus on realizing the importance of self-care.  Parents and caregivers of individuals with special needs typically do not stop to worry about themselves. Not only is this pattern unfair to your loved ones, but more importantly, it is not fair to Y.O.U.

Consider the five minutes it takes you to read this blog post as the start of your self-care routine.  Consider taking this time to make a plan for yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to refill your tank so you can cruise into the Holiday Season ready and rejuvenated.  

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Costume Creations!

Dressing-up, costumes, masks and make-up….some would say these are the best parts of Halloween and others would beg differ significantly.  While the stores are filled with the newest versions of costumes, consider making one that best ‘fits’ your loved one. One that ‘fits’ her/his physical body, sensory needs, and emotional needs.

Consider costumes that follow the ‘less is more’ theory.  Less different pieces of a costume, more focus on making the pieces ‘scream’ exactly the theme or character of the costume. 

  • Jeans, t-shirt, bandanna around the neck  – you have a cowgirl/boy
  • Jeans/leggings, t-shirt, bandanna around the head – depending on your fold the bandanna, you now have a rocker or a pirate
  • Larger sized white t-shirt (your going to want a pair of pants of sorts under it :)) 
    • draw a face on it – you have a ghost
    • Add black dots on it – you have a die
    • Add black lines on it – you have a zebra 

Consider costumes that do not have tags or items that will distract your loved one to the point where she/he is unable to focus on walking, the party, etc.  While adorable and fun, things like fringe, beads, sparkles, and sequins can create an entirely different issue. In this category lives masks and make-up. While both of these items bring a lot to a costume, please consider staying away from these if you know your loved one will be distracted or upset by these additions. 

Consider costumes that can go over the layers of possible winter gear that may or may not be part of your evening.  Given the weather, being prepared to add or take away a layer on a moments notice will make the difference on the stress level of the evening. 

Consider incorporating the phrase “Trick or Treat” on the costume itself if your loved one is non-verbal or might ‘freeze’ .  Somehow, someway, make the words part of the costume – add a simple button to the costume with the words ‘Trick or Treat’.

Consider practicing wearing the costume around the house – remember practice makes permanent.  This gives your loved one not only the time to become familiar and comfortable with the costume, but will give you time to troubleshoot potential issues (ie: costume too long and possibly a tripping hazard, costume too tight/loose, etc.).

Prior planning with the costume will prevent unneeded stress and potential unexpected behaviors so you can all enjoy a fun evening being together. 

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Practice Makes Permanent

children trick or treating with pumpkin baskets

We’ve shared the idea of “practice makes permanent’ in previous posts. This technique is ever important when preparing for an evening of ghosts and goblins and candy acquisition – aka, Halloween. You may think it’s too early and there are so many days to prepare before the end of the month, however we all know how quickly the days fly.

Practicing for an evening of trick-or-treating does not have to look like ‘practice’ or be announced as such. Take a walk on the trick-or-treat route you intend to follow during the day. Make sure to point out various landmarks as well as the changes (different decorations, leaves falling off the trees, etc.). Expand that practice walking the route as it begins to get dark, note the street lights turning on as well as pointing out how the houses may look different, but are the same during the day or night. If your loved one enjoys a good map, make a map of your route and fill in the landmarks together.

As the day draws closer, practice trick or treating from room to room in your house. Close the bathroom door and have your loved on practice trick-or-treating for toothpaste or a toothbrush. While it sounds silly, it’s a safe non-pressured way to practice this exchange as well as gives you a marker for future experiences (“Remember how we did this at home for toothpaste?”). Trick-or-Treating for everyday items (ie: while getting dressed or cleaning a room) may also be the ticket for ‘fun’ buy in for a less enjoyable activity.

Share with neighbors and family the ‘practice makes permanent’ theory and request a practice time that is more similar to the actual event. While your loved one may need a few rounds of practice, it will soon make sense how the exchange of events will occur and the pay-off is well worth the time invested in practicing. Note: the pay-off does not necessarily need to be candy. While candy may be a delight and preferred, practicing these skills can result in the acquisition of other items not necessarily of the sugar food group sort.

A final round of practice making permanent may be partaking in some of indoor or less conventional trick or treat options in the area. Here are a few links that may help in planning these practice sessions:

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, practice makes permanent which can significantly decrease unexpected behaviors which creates a less stressful situation for EVERYONE to enjoy!

Yours in Speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Fall into Fall!

How it is that September is just about over?  While we continue to enjoy the final days of warm weather, living in Northeast Ohio, we all know what will be knocking on our door much sooner than later.  It always seems like there are so many outdoor activities in the summer months and as soon as the mercury drops below 60, everyone retreats into hibernation mode. 

Enjoying the area’s many Fall activities and festivals gives not only the opportunity to spend valuable time together, but the time to practice and experience a variety of language rich activities.  These language rich activities are the foundation and play an extremely important role in a child’s language development and maintenance. As a parent/caregiver, you naturally provide these opportunities to practice language skills naturally.  This article provides information to not only validate your hard work, but provides information for more or different techniques that can be added to your repertoire.  

Speaking of Fall activities, please take a moment to research the many different and wonderful opportunities in your area for you and your loved ones to enjoy together.  If you are in the Northeast Ohio area here are a few activities to fill your calendar:

Northeast Ohio Family Fun article #1
Northeast Ohio Family Fun article #2

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.