Let the Music Play

We welcome September with a song! September is not only Classical Music Month but National Piano Month.  An individual’s language development as well as overall development can be positively influenced by music. Listening to a variety of music genres builds an appreciation of the art that lasts a lifetime.  

An individual’s reading comprehension can also be positively influenced by listening to music.  Celebrate this month by brushing off those old LPs, 8-track, cassettes, and CDs and fill your world with music.

Can Listening to Music Help Your Child with Language Development and Reading Comprehension?

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Friday Night Lights, Coming Soon!

It’s almost impossible to believe that August has come and will be leaving in a few days!  Time flies when you’re running at land speed records in a million different directions. First day of school pictures have been taken and posted, ‘normal’ routine has started, and “Friday Night Lights” will soon be starting! Those “Friday Night Lights” can help build language as well as social skills more than you have thought. 

“Friday Night Lights” harkens memories of high school football, marching band, and hanging out on the bleachers with your friends.  Add adulthood and a family and “Friday Night Lights” might not conjure up the same warm feelings as it once had. Running to the restrooms, purchasing way too much from the concession stand and  listening to complaints of being bored or the seats are too hard…..ah yes, “Friday Night Lights”. Preparing your family for these evenings can only make those “Lights” shine brighter.  

Just like the football team, cheerleaders and marching band, your family ‘team’ needs to practice for the big night as well.  How do spectators practice? Read on.

Go to practice games and rehearsals.  Chances are the local middle and high school teams and marching bands are practicing daily.  Take advantage of these less formal settings to PRACTICE sitting on the bleachers. Take note of any  issues related to the bleachers (seats are too hard, sitting up high is scary, being able to see through to the ground is scary) to find the areas that are most comfortable for you and your family. Visit the restrooms. Locate the changing area if needed.  Bring your family members in to the restrooms to become familiar with these surrounds so there won’t be any issues when there are larger crowds. Experience the sounds of the practices to decrease being alarmed during a game. The whistles on the field, the marching band playing the fight song, the cheerleaders cheers, all of these sounds are new and can be very upsetting.  Help your family anticipate these sounds. 

Learn the lingo. If a family member is non-verbal, create signs that have simple messages – Go Team – to get them to be part of the fun.  Practice simple messages for family members with limited language – Go! – Fight! – Win! A football game is language rich.  Choose one or two words that will have the most meaning and practice at home and at practice games. 

Recognizance. Get the low down on your local “Friday Night Lights” game by making it a date night or going alone.  Take note of how crowded certain sections of the bleachers become. When the marching band plays (typically there’s a pre-game and of course the half-time show). Where the cheerleaders stand. If there is a mascot. And maybe the most important piece, what is offered at the concession stand. These pieces of information will help you to better plan and anticipate your family’s needs during the game. 

Concession stand mania.  So much of the game is about the food and rightfully so. Make a plan for how your family will make purchases. Make that plan very clear to everyone to avoid melt-downs at the stadium.  Create a snack board of the items at the concession stand (You have this information because you went to the game alone before.). Not only does a snack board provide a visual cue for everyone, put gives non-verbal members of the family a way to communicate their choice without play the ‘yes/no’ or ‘point and cry’ game. 

Set a time limit, initially. At the onset of the season, you may need to make it very clear when or how long your family ‘team’ will be attending the event.  You want to leave the game on a high note. Setting this parameter may avoid a melt-down when it is time to leave. Give a concrete time that may or may not necessarily be associated with the clock.  Because of your recognizance trip, you have the information you need. Give warnings prior to departure time (“After this song, we are leaving.” “When the cheerleaders finish we are walking to the car.”). Expand the amount of time you spend at each game you attend, if only by 10 minutes. 

Don’t forget, this is fun! Time together is the biggest victory of all!  Enjoy!

Yours in Speech, 

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

Sweet Dreams

Preparation for the start of a new school year is well under way for many.  As you may have noticed, the sun is setting a little earlier as we inch our way from summer into fall.  Late nights chasing fireflies and roasting s’mores gives way to sports practices, music lessons, and therapy sessions. There are many ways to begin to prepare you and your family for the inevitable change of schedule, none as important as remembering the critical role SLEEP plays in our lives.  Young and old, sleep is one of the more overlooked aspects of healthy living.  

Please take a moment and read through these two articles not only to understand the role sleep plays for children learning, but some techniques that make help increase your loved ones sleep (as well as your own). 

Children and Sleep

12 Sleep Tips for Kids with Special Needs

Sweet dreams!

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Prior Planning Goes the Distance!

Changes in schedules and routines are completely expected if not expected.  As we approach the July 4th holiday, evaluating the changes in schedules and routines – PROACTIVELY – will provide for a much more enjoyable holiday experience for everyone! 

Last year, one of the blog posts was dedicated specifically to preparing for the July 4th holiday.  We invite you to revisits that post as the information continues to be ever important.  These proactive steps do not end with just the holiday. As you are devising your summer plans, it is helpful to be aware of the resources within different venues and activities that are designed to meet the needs of individuals with special needs.  

If you are visiting the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo, you should be aware of these services available to you and your loved ones.

Going to an Indian’s game at Progressive Field? Check out these resources and these and these. 

Headed to the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse?  You are going to want to be aware of this information.

And if your summer plans take you to Cedar Point, you definitely are going to want to read this information. 

In general, before you head off to any vacation or stay-cation destination, check with the facility to inquire of what materials and resources are available onsite to address the needs of individuals with special needs. 

Yours in Speech, 

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

It’s All Routine

This month we’ve focused on schedules and free activities to fill those schedules. This week we are discussing routines and the importance of routines related to speech-language development.  Personal, familial, classroom, or therapy routines provide a framework of certainty. Within these routines are the skills and expectations that help to introduce and maintain speech-language skills, social pragmatic skills and increased independence with executive functioning skills.

Take a moment and replay your morning routine back in your head.  Do you brush your teeth before you wash your face? Do you take a medication right away or do you take it with your first cup of coffee? It’s easy to picture yourself completing your morning routine and if something is off, you know it immediately.

Routines for infants and toddlers provide a number of opportunities to practice important speech-language and social skills. Anticipating the steps, sequencing steps, learning the vocabulary associated with the steps are all skills infants and toddlers need to develop meaningful associations with language and action. Daily routines provide the repetition of vocabulary and actions leading to independent participation in these routines.

Routine for school aged children can provide a calming environment for anticipating activities as well as expectations throughout the day.  Similar to infants and toddlers, sequencing steps, learning vocabulary and making associations provides the foundation for increasing successful independence throughout the day.  Routines also give the child the opportunity to learn the expected behaviors and unwritten social rules in a repeat practice setting. Daily routines facilitate conversations between child and adult to specifically explain and model appropriate social and behavioral expectations.

Routines for older children and young adults create a setting where focus can be more on new skills and independence versus the actual steps.  These routines are not only part of the day, but provide the opportunity to increase independence and demonstrate expected behaviors and social skills which should be the focus of mastery for young adults.  Routines at this age also provide opportunities for increased independence imperative for vocational and secondary education settings.

Individuals who have tendencies to become rigid regarding implementation and execution of routines, such that any variation creates adverse behaviors need to have their routines continuously changed.   This does not mean the target task or activity needs to change, however change when the task or activity occurs. For example, night time routine might go tv time -change in pjs – brush teeth – book time – lights out. Consider changing to book time – brush teeth – change in pjs – tv time – lights out or some variation.  You know your loved one best and will be able to determine how often the change needs to occur.

If you have any questions or need a sounding board regarding routines, please reach out to your speech-language pathologist.

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

It’s Fun and It’s Free!

Last week the blog focused on creating schedules (If you didn’t get a chance to read it, feel free to do so now, we’ll wait.).  This week we will mention some of the fun and FREE opportunities in the Greater Cleveland Area you might consider adding to your schedules.

Our area libraries are a treasure trove of fun, educational and for the most part FREE activities to fill the days of summer. Don’t forget for older children – most schools assign summer reading projects, inquire if the library is running a special group specific to your school’s summer reading.

Cleveland’s Metropark system is amazing and offers so many activities for young and young at heart. Besides the free concerts throughout the area, the Cleveland Zoo is FREE on Mondays!

Recess Cleveland is offering a free and fun event every Tuesday through the month of June!

Cleveland Public Square offers free events throughout the summer! Of particular interest is the Summer Splash. This free, family event in Cleveland Public Square is designed for children 2 to 10 years old. It takes place every day of the week from June 1-August 31 from 11am-4pm.

Great Lakes Science Center is offering FREE admission on June 23rd!

Let’s not forget the many FREE festivals throughout the area this time of year!

There are many adventures waiting for you and your loved ones! Pick one or twenty and prepare to share wonderful experiences together!

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Plan for the Day

note book with daily routine

It’s finally here…. JUNE!  Days are longer…much longer. Weather it warmer…. much warmer. Everyone is home… school’s out…..everyone’s home…. all day.  Did we mention the days are longer?

While June ushers in a time a carefree days and weeks, pay attention to just how important a daily routine (dare we say schedule) is for your loved one’s success, ease of mind, and ability to manage behaviors.  

“But we just finished a school year worth of schedules!”

We hear you, but these summer routines and schedules are a lot less time specific.  Summer routines and schedules make the ‘unknown’ day more concrete. They also provide the adults with a reminder or recap of the day.

Resources for creating schedules are available online.  Use simple pictures of places and events or if your loved on is literate, use text.

There are many different types of set-ups for schedules or routines you might want to consider.  Ultimately, create a combination of different types that suits your family’s needs best.

Object schedule: Using objects that represent the events throughout the day may give your loved on the visual support needed to easily transition from one activity to the next.  This also provides a concrete explanation of the expectations throughout the day so there is no ‘arguing’. It’s so much easier to ‘blame’ the schedule for completing a non-preferred task. “I’m sorry, but the schedule says it’s time to clean-up. Check the schedule.”

Picture schedule: Simple clipart pictures or actual photos can serve as  visual reminders for the schedule or routine of the day.  Providing a method of indicating the event is complete provides a very concrete message for your loved one.  Some suggestions to show an event is complete include turning the picture over, removing the picture from the schedule, or placing a check-mark next to the picture.

Text Schedule: If your loved on is literate, consider a simple checklist for the day’s events or using a white boards to catalogue the schedule for the day. These types of schedules can include exact times as well as specific locations.

High Tech: If your loved one is more comfortable using a ‘smart’ device, consider using the calendar built in to the operating system or a daily planner app (free ones are the best when trialing this support). Work with your loved one to set up the calendar, make sure to include alarms or notifications for each event. Using a ‘shared’ calendar provides everyone the flexibility to add or change items accordingly.  

 

Providing visual supports and schedules to loved ones gives everyone the opportunity to enjoy the lazy days of summer more successfully and with much less stress.  The speech-language therapist at Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC will be happy to provide more ideas and assistance with developing visual supports specific to your loved one’s needs.

 

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC

What It Takes

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)  is “the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 204,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students.”

What does this mean?  What does it take to get ASHA certified? How do  speech-language therapist maintain this certification?  How do I know if my therapist is ASHA certified? These questions are not only a great way to start the search for a speech-language pathologist, but realize the work and expertise your very own speech-language pathologist has to maintain to serve you and your loved one.

Being ASHA “certified” means the speech-language pathologist holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC), a nationally recognized professional credential that represents a level of excellence in the field of Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP). Therapists who hold an ASHA certified Certificate of Clinical Competence have met rigorous academic and professional standards, going beyond the minimum requirements for state licensure. A Certificate of Clinical Competence is only issued to those professionals who have completed a master’s degree (or doctorate degree) from a graduate level Speech-Language Pathology program at an ASHA accredited institution of higher learning,  passed the national exam adopted by ASHA and completed a 9 month ASHA clinical fellowship under the supervision of a speech-language pathologist that has their CCC. This is in addition to any requirements set forth by the state board of licensure. Needless to say, the work does not end once a speech-language pathologist has fulfilled all of the requirements indicated above. To maintain this certification, in 3 year intervals, a speech-language pathologist must completed 30 hours of ASHA approved professional development. This is separate from the necessary requirements to maintain the state board licensure. For a more in depth explanation of ASHA and the process to acquire the certificate of clinical competence, please visit the ASHA website.

You can be confident that a speech-language pathologist who holds their CCCs is a professional who is dedicated to being informed and studying the most recent developments in the field, provides the highest level of care, and is being held to a higher standard of professional growth.  We at Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC are proud to share that all of our speech-language therapists are ASHA certified.

 

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

 

Better Speech and Hearing Month

May starts Better Speech and Hearing Month.  It’s that time of year to raise awareness about communication disorders and the role of Speech-Language Pathologists.  The Speech-Language Pathologists at Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC. are in incredible group of dedicated professionals. Collectively we share over 200 years experience treating individuals with speech-language deficits.  We, at Lakeshore Speech Therapy, share a passion for our profession, compassion for our clients and families, and dedication to do what it takes to make a difference in the lives of those we treat.

This week’s blog is short and sweet with a very big message.  As we begin the month of May, the month of Better Speech and Hearing, we thank YOU for entrusting your care and the care of your loved one to us.

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

In Anticipation of Summer

Last week of April – hard to believe how quickly this year is flying by. Many schools will be out for the summer in one month and the lazy hazy days of summer will be upon us.  There is still a good amount of time to get to those warm sunny days.

Anticipation …. so exciting … so nerve wracking …. so the cause of many behaviors.  Anticipating something good or something less pleasant can set a loved one down a path of unexpected behaviors.  Anticipating the end of the school year, the beginning of swim lessons or the change in schedule can really affect behaviors more than one might anticipate, especially if communicating is difficult for an individual.

Creating a plan, anticipating the anticipation, may result in a more positive transition for you and your loved one. Here are a few tips to consider.

  • Timing – be aware and truly plan out how much in advance you will mention or discuss a change.   Consider the end effect on your loved one when determining how far in advance to share information.  A trip to a major amusement park, while exciting, if shared too much in advance could result in your loved one being fixated on this information for weeks or months.  Springing summer camp on your loved one the morning of the first day, may result in a complete melt down or increase in negative behaviors.
  • Making everyone aware – Make sure everyone who is aware of the change knows when or if your loved one will be made told.  The people around your loved one need to also know your game plan for revealing the change or event. Well meaning family members and friends may ask your loved one direct questions about the change or event before you have had an opportunity to execute your plan. This is definitely a ‘surprise’ you and your loved one do not need to navigate.
  • Create a tangible ‘count down’ to the event or change – Your loved one may need the ‘count down’ to the change or event to be very visible and presented in such a way that they can access this information independently.  Sharing a specific date or time or simply saying “Later this summer.” may be too abstract and create more anticipation (and perhaps behaviors).
    • Use a calendar with the date of the event well identified (stickers, arrows, pictures) and have your loved one cross out each day to the event.
    • Create a count-down chain .  Each day, your loved one removes a link of the chain, visually getting one step closer to the big event or change.  You can use clothes pins or paper clips or any item you can link together to create the chain.
    • Create a simple social story that explains the event and when it will occur.
  • Give your loved one the language to communicate – make sure to include a way in which your loved one can make comments or ask questions about the change or event.  Make a simple communication board with pictures or photos.  Think about the phrases your loved one might want to express:  “I’m excited” (use a picture of excited), “I can’t wait.” (use of picture of a clock or watch), “Tell me again.” (use of picture of talking), “Who will be going?” (use a picture of a silhouette of a person), “How much longer.”(use of picture of a calendar), etc.

A little up front work on your behalf could really make a huge impact when helping your loved one adjust, plan and anticipate a change or up coming event.  Mention this to your speech-language therapist, she/he will be happy to help.

Yours in Speech,

Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.