by Phillip Kindschi | May 8, 2018 | Occupational Therapy
April has come and pass, but it brought warmer weather…and MAY! Finally!! For many reasons, April AND May are always very special to TherapyWorks. We celebrate these months in clinic for reasons that are dearest to our hearts.
Reason 1: April, honors and celebrates Autism Awareness throughout and on a specific day as well; April 2nd marked the 11th annual “World Autism Awareness Day“. Autism does not end in April and it certainly does not become less important after the 2nd day of the month. Join us in celebrating autism awareness month throughout the month of April by finding ways to support the community and foundation. Autism prevalence is now one in every 59 children in America. Show your support for people with autism by wearing the Autism Awareness Puzzle Ribbon or simply adding the ribbon to your FB profile photo, not just in April, but throughout the year! A simple gesture can go a long way sometimes. Learn more about the diagnosis and what you can do to help the cause by visiting “www.autism-society.org” and/or visiting their Facebook page: “facebook.com/AutismSociety“.
Reason 2: “Occupational Therapy Month” is apart of April as well! We sure do love our O.T’s. here at TherapyWorks. Without these wonderful therapists, we wonder where the treatment would come from. O.T.’s treat so many children and adults with challenges such as Autism, DHD, Brachial Plexus, Sensory Processing, Fine Motor Skills and Sensory Developmental Delays. We would be lost without them as they have helped so many of our kids overcome challenges an surpass expectations. Just like Speech and Physical therapy, Occupational Therapy is very important to our growth and development in this world. Occupational therapy has been around for 101 years, starting back in the WWI era as ‘reconstruction aides’ in 1917. Helping our soldiers is an amazing way for a segment of an industry to begin! To all the O.T.’s here at TherapyWorks and the other hundreds of thousands across the globe, keep working wonders and healing hearts! You make this world a better place! THANK YOU! 
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Reason 3: “Better Speech & Hearing Month” means we celebrate all the SLPs out there doing their part to help everyone enjoy everyday sounds! We have a special spot for them as well as our OT’s & PT’s. Speech, language, and swallowing disorders result from a variety of causes, such as a stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, Parkinson’s disease, a cleft palate, or autism. This is where those special therapists come. With a Masters in hand, just like Occupational Therapists, they play a huge role in helping to strengthen the critical motor skills needed to live a happier life. There is a misconception out there about SLPs. Speech-language pathology is not simply restricted to adjusting a speaker’s speech sound articulation to meet the expected normal pronunciation, but also to help with speech fluency, language development, working with augmentative communication devices, Apraxia, literacy, voice difficulties and feeding/swallowing problems. So when you think about it, they do so much more than help with pronunciation and fluency. They’re our everyday heroes! So THANK your SLP when you get a chance, they deserve a lot of praise. MAY IS THEIR MONTH!
Also check out these related posts:
Autism – Where does it come from?
Could my child have autism?
What is Occupational Therapy?
by Phillip Kindschi | May 19, 2014 | Speech Therapy, Speech Therapy, Speech Therapy, Speech Therapy, Speech Therapy, Speech Therapy
May is Better Speech and Hearing Month! The speech pathologists at TherapyWorks assist children with delays in the areas of speech and language, articulation, fluency, feeding, swallowing, oral-motor skills, autism spectrum disorders, sign language, augmentative communication, and sensory processing dysfunction. In addition to the numerous specialized techniques our therapists use to help our clients achieve their goals, TherapyWorks now offers PROMPT intervention techniques.
PROMPT stands for “Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets.” It is a hands-on way of teaching the mouth how to make correct sound and speech productions. It was originally developed by speech pathologist Deborah Hayden, who began her work in the 1970’s with children and adults with communication deficits. In addition to addressing articulation impairments, PROMPT emphasizes a holistic approach to intervention which includes examining the speech, language, and interaction skills of the client and centering therapy around the individual’s strengths and weaknesses.
Children and adults who can benefit from the use of PROMPT techniques include those with phonological/articulation impairments, developmental delay, dysarthria, dyspraxia/apraxia, hearing impaired, autism spectrum, and fluency disorders.
More information about PROMPT is available at their website www.prompt.org
DeeAnna Cook, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist at TherapyWorks
by Phillip Kindschi | Jan 7, 2014 | Uncategorized
Excerpts taken from Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Practical Strategies for Successful Treatment presentation by Margaret A. Fish, MS CCC-SLP
Childhood Apraxia of Speech or CAS can be defined as a childhood disorder in which the ability to produce consistent and accurate mouth movements for speech is impaired, when other neurological/muscular deficits are not present. The primary impairment is the ability to plan and execute complex sequences of movement required for understandable speech.
Children with CAS require intensive, frequent speech therapy sessions to improve their ability to coordinate motor movements required for speaking. Some early red flags for CAS include:
No sensory deficits, muscle weakness, or other neuromuscular impairment- Child understands more words/sentences than what he/she uses
- Late in attaining first words- usually after age 2
- Limited number of consonants and vowels in spoken words
- Limited babbling or talking
- Tendency to produce single consonants and vowels, rather than longer words or phrases
- More frequent loss of previously produced words
- Use of signs/gestures for functional communication, rather than using words
- Child’s speech is largely unintelligible, especially to strangers
If you are concerned about your child’s ability to make understandable
speech, here are a few guidelines for speech sound development:
- By age 2, parents (or close family members) should understand 75-80% of what their child says. The child’s speech will not sound adult-like.
- By age 3, parents and strangers should understand about 75-80% of what the child says.
- By age 4, the child should be able to produce long sentences and tell short stories about their day. They should be understandable all the time, but will likely have trouble producing some speech sounds like ‘r, th, v, l.’
- By age 8, all speech sounds should be correctly produced in conversational speech.
DeeAnna Cook, MS CCC-SLP
Clinic Therapist TherapyWorks
by Phillip Kindschi | Sep 4, 2013 | Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy
Your child’s care and progress is our number one priority at TherapyWorks. We have all heard the phrase “it takes a village”, well it truly does to care for a child with special needs. Do you know who is or should be on your child’s team? For example, did you know that a child with cerebral palsy should be seen by an orthopedic doctor every 6 months to year for hip and spine x-rays because they are at greater risk for dysplasia? Many times families are referred to various specialists without fully understanding what that person’s role is in their child’s care. The following is a list of the most common specialist that may be apart of your child’s team.
Therapist: Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Speech Language Therapist and provide therapeutic services
Orthopedic Physician: Specializes in treating conditions and injuries involving bones and connective tissue, including tendons and ligaments
Neurologist: Specializes in study, diagnosis and treatment of injury and disease of nervous system. These include brain, spinal cord, muscles and nerves throughout body.
Pediatrician: Specializes in the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents The age limit usually ranges from birth up to 18 years.
Developmental Pediatrician: Developmental pediatricians focus on developmental, behavioral and learning
issues from infancy through young adulthood
Geneticist: Evaluate, diagnose and manage patients with heredity conditions or congenital malformations
Vision Therapist: Also known as vision training. This treatment is used to improve vision skills such as eye movement
control, eye coordination and teamwork. This is performed under supervision of optometrist, or orthoptist
ENT: An ear, nose and throat doctor specializes in diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the ear, nose, sinuses, throat, face and neck.
Psychologist: This specialist evaluates, diagnoses, treats, and studies behavior and mental processes. Clinical psychologists and school psychologists work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts
Psychiatrist: Psychiatrists are medical doctors who must evaluate patients to determine whether or not their symptoms are the result of a medical illness, a combination of medical and mental, or a strictly mental one
If you are unsure if your child should be seeing one of these specialist please consult with your therapist and pediatrician for a recommendation. It is very important that if your child is seeing one of these specialists that you please inform your therapist so that they can collaborate and be informed of and changes in plan of care.
by Phillip Kindschi | Aug 6, 2013 | Uncategorized
An article review
Original article written by Sue Buckley and Gillian Bird
The Down Syndrome Educational Trust, Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 1993, 1(1) 34-39
As a speech pathologist and a new mother of a beautiful baby girl who has Down syndrome, I am very interested in finding out ways to help children with Down syndrome acquire language milestones faster and more efficiently. This article was shared with me several months ago, and I would like to share the highlights with you.
- Many children with Down syndrome show the ability to learn to read single words at early ages, between 2-4 years old.
- Children in the study showed that they could understand what they were reading.
- Reading enhanced spoken language development and articulation development.
- Every child is different. Some children with Down syndrome may not show interest in reading until they are school aged or later.
- Start by teaching familiar words, such as family names or words the child already comprehends or uses. Match words with pictures of these objects using flashcards. Use ‘errorless learning’ by prompting the child to complete the activity without allowing them to make a mistake. (You may have to guide his hand to the correct flashcard, rather than letting them choose one for himself.) As he becomes more confident and familiar with the activity, slowly offer less and less help until the child can complete the activity correctly on his own.
- As the child learns more and more words, you can begin to combine words to make phrases and sentences. Always make sure the child understands what he is reading.
The article ends with a parent’s personal account of how teaching her daughter to read has improved her speech development, academic achievements, and language use and comprehension.
To my friends in therapy and my little one at home, all I can say is “Get ready for flashcards! Let’s read together!”
by Phillip Kindschi | May 29, 2013 | Uncategorized
Parents, are you afraid that your child will forget everything they’ve learned over the summer break? Including what they’ve learned in speech-language therapy? It’s pretty common for students to leave the school building at the end of May without taking with them some of the knowledge and skills we’ve worked hard all school year to teach them. If you want ideas to maintain their articulation skills, below are some suggestions provided by a school speech-language pathologist:
- Ask for a current word
list with your child’s target sounds from your child’s speech-language pathologist at school. It can be words or pictures of the words. You can also “Google” or search online (or in dictionaries if you’re old school) for word lists with their target sounds. Remember, their sounds can be found in different positions of the words (initial, medial, final). Make copies of the pictures of the words. If you are given written words, your child can draw what they think the word would “look” like and make copies of their drawings, or again, you can search for your own pictures online, in magazines, etc. After you make several copies, color your pictures and cut them out. With these cut outs, you can play “Go Fish”, matching/memory games, “Bingo”, etc. You can also incorporate these pictures into family game night (ex. If your child rolls a 5 on the dice, he has to say 5 words correctly before he can take his turn at Monopoly).
- Go for a scavenger hunt. Try to find as many items on your list as possible while discussing the target words.
- Make a craft. Flip through magazines, newspapers, comic books, etc. and find pictures or words that include your child’s speech sounds. Cut them out, highlight them, underline them, and make a collage. You can modge podge a flower pot, a folder for their speech words, etc. The sky’s the limit!!
- Leave copies in your car. As you’re driving your child can practice. Making this a habit all school year is a good idea too!
- Keep a word journal. Every day, give your child a new speech word that includes his sound. If your child is unfamiliar with the word’s meaning-look it up! Write the definition, a silly sentence, and draw a picture! If your child is too young to write, let him trace the word and then draw the picture after he tells you a sentence or something about the word.
- Finally, keep a sticker chart. This is a great visual tool that I use in my classroom to keep track of who completes their homework on a regular basis. For example, every day your child completes their speech homework, they get a sticker. In my classroom, once their chart is full, I let them pick a prize out of my treasure box! You will know what motivates your child, so you can decide/negotiate what his prize will be. Maybe it’s a special snack, a trip to the movies, or a new toy! Whatever works with you!
Remember to consult with your child’s SLP regarding what speech sounds to target and at what level your child is working at. They are a great resource for ideas over summer break. They can also supply materials, worksheets, etc. Hopefully, these ideas will make speech homework more enjoyable!
Sydney Page M.S.,
CCC-SLP
TherapyWorks
