This guide is here to help you understand what happens in speech therapy, how therapists work toward your child’s goals, and ways to feel more engaged and connected along the way.
Continue readingPrivate Speech Therapy: What You Need to Know
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One tool that stands out in its versatility and practicality is the static communication board. When it comes to inclusive play areas like playgrounds and pools, static communication boards are not only effective, but they also offer unmatched ease of use, durability and accessibility.
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July marks Parks and Recreation Month, a time to celebrate the vibrant public spaces. We turn our focus on Lowell, Massachusetts, where an innovative approach to inclusivity has made a significant positive impact on the community.
Continue readingHow To Create Genuine Connections:Powerful Impact of Communication Boards
Playground communication boards have emerged as a powerful solution to bridge the gap and facilitate meaningful relationships, especially for individuals with communication challenges.
Continue readingHow To Help Navigate Emotions: Emotional Balance Communication Boards
Introduction:
As parents, caregivers, teachers, therapists, humans, we strive to help children navigate the complex world of emotions. Emotions are a fundamental part of our daily lives, influencing how we think, feel, and behave. For children, understanding and managing emotions can be especially challenging. Understanding and managing these feelings are crucial for their well-being. Learning how to effectively and clearly express emotions can be challenging for children and adults alike. A powerful tool that can assist in this process is emotional balance communication boards. These boards not only assist with effective communication but provide clear options for dealing with these big emotions.
Understanding Emotional Balance/Regulation:
Being able to clearly explain to adults and children alike how being emotionally balanced or regulated involves recognizing and managing one’s emotions in a healthy and constructive way.
Organizing and naming emotions:
Giving children and adults the exact words to name specific emotions is extremely powerful. When emotions run high (or low) having the tools to either give a child a voice by using a communication board or provide a visual reminder is imperative.
Grouping emotions is a common way to organize a communication board specific for emotional balance/regulation. For example:
- Sad, Tired, Sick, Bored: Low states of alertness and down feelings.
- Happy, Calm, Focused: The optimal state for learning and socializing.
- Frustrated, Anxious, Nervous: Elevated states of alertness and intense feelings.
- Angry, Terrified, Jealous: Extremely heightened states of alertness and intense feelings.
Providing visual reminders
Once an emotion is communicated, providing options to support the child or adult as they manage validates their feelings and teaches life long skills for maintaining emotional balance.
For each group of emotions identified above are specific techniques that are easy to incorporate in any situation. For example:
- Sad, Tired, Sick, Bored: eating or drinking something, asking for a break, talking to a trusted person
- Happy, Calm, Focused: ready to work, ready to learn, listen for instructions
- Frustrated, Anxious, Nervous: counting to 10, taking deep breaths, asking for a break
- Angry, Terrified, Jealous: asking for space, taking a walk, getting a drink of water
Benefits to Children and Adults
- Increased Independence: Using emotional balance communication boards empower children and adults to express their emotions independently, leading to increased confidence and self-esteem.
- Improved Emotional Literacy: Consistent use of emotional balance communication boards can improve an individual’s emotional literacy, helping them better understand and manage their feelings.
- Empathy and Understanding: Using emotional balance communication boards promotes empathy and understanding by encouraging children and adults to recognize and respect others’ emotions.
Tips for Use
- Daily Check-ins- Use the emotional balance communication board for daily check-ins
- Practice Techniques and Strategies: practice the strategies that can help children move from one emotional group to another (e.g., deep breathing for moving from heightened state to calm state).
- Encourage Open Communication: Create a safe space for individuals to discuss their emotions and ask for help when needed
Conclusion:
In conclusion, incorporating emotional balance communication boards can be a powerful way to help children and adults identify, understand, and regulate their emotions. By using this framework, parents and caregivers can support individuals in developing essential emotional skills and techniques that will benefit them throughout their lives.
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Continue readingTalking and Growing: New Year’s Resolutions for Speech Therapy!
A brand new year is days away, and that means we get a chance to make some new resolutions! This year, let’s think about making some special resolutions for speech therapy.
**Practice Every Day:**
One resolution could be to practice your speech exercises every day. Turn practice into playing a game. The more you practice, the better you will become!
**Use My Special Words:**
Use the special words your speech therapist teaches you as much as possible. These words help you talk smoothly, and they make you feel super proud!
**Speak Slowly and Clearly:**
Work on speaking slowly and clearly. This way, everyone can understand you when you talk.
**Tell More Stories:**
Make a resolution to tell more stories or help your child tell more stories. Share your adventures, dreams, and funny moments. It’s a fun way to practice talking.
**Ask Questions:**
Ask more questions and join in conversations. Questions help you learn new things, and it’s a cool way to make friends!
**Read Out Loud:**
Reading out loud is like a speech party! Pick your favorite books and read them to friends, family, or even to a pet. It’s great practice!
**Be Patient and Positive:**
Sometimes, it might feel tricky, but you might want to promise to be patient. Stay positive and celebrate even the small wins. Every step is a step forward!
**Thank Your Speech Helpers:**
We help each other, and this year, thank your speech buddies. We’re in this together!
**Try New Sounds:**
Be adventurous and try new speech sounds. It’s like a fun challenge to make your speech even more awesome!
**Celebrate Progress:**
At the end of each month, celebrate the progress you’ve made. Maybe treat yourself to something special. Yay for progress!
So there you go, friends! These speech therapy resolutions are yours for the taking. Let’s make it an amazing year of talking, growing, and reaching new speech goals together. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead!
